This, and many other excuses can be used for not honouring our obligation to go to Sunday Mass. Here are some of the common excuses, and things you can say to your friends and family to encourage them to come to Mass every Sunday.

I am too busy to come to Mass every week

• We can always find time to do what we want to do.

• If Jesus is the most important person in my life, shouldn’t I give Him some time?

• There are many different Mass times at different parishesSaturday Vigil Mass and Sunday evening Masses.

• God gives us everything that we have. We can afford to give him
  one hour a week. One hour a week for our Creator is no big deal. Think of it as our favourite TV programme time. That’s all it takes.

I can’t be bothered to get out of bed on Sunday mornings.

• Come to Mass on Saturday night or Sunday night.

• It requires a bit of sacrifice in our lives to make time for
  Mass. We sacrifice ourselves for our children and family. We should do the same for God.

• Sure it requires an effort. But every good thing requires us to
  give something of ourselves in return. God repays our efforts in ways that we cannot see.    

The Mass is boring. Why should I bother ?

• The Mass is not entertainment. It is worship of God. Thus it is
  unlike anything else that we do. It is a hard prayer and it takes time and effort to understand. We get more out of the Mass if we put more into it. Read about it, pray about it. Prepare yourself beforehand. Listen to the readings, the prayers, the homily. Participate in the music and responses.

• We watch boring TV programmes. That doesn’t stop us watching TV.

My children go to a Catholic school. That’s enough.

• Nothing is enough for God. He gives us EVERYTHING.
  We should try to give Him as much as we can, and help our children to understand this.

• It is important for your children to develop the habit of Sunday Mass.

• We teach our children manners and behaviour, we should teach them to worship God.

• Parents are the primary educators in faith of their children.

• If we want our children to have the best, the Mass is important.

• They won’t develop the habit of Sunday Mass
  without modelling from their parents and seeing others at Mass regularly.

I pray at home. That’s enough.

• We have a ‘hunger’ for God, personal prayer is
  essential for all of us. The Mass is the greatest prayer we can offer to God. It is the prayer of Jesus himself.

• It is an opportunity to pray together with the
  parish, and to encourage them and to be encouraged and strengthened by them.

• We receive the body and blood of Christ at Mass. The Mass is
  the greatest prayer there is.Our faith weakens when it is not nourished by regular Mass and sacraments. The sacraments are the ‘petrol in the tank’ for our spiritual life.

• Our prayer leads into the Mass and our prayer is
  fed by the Mass. The Mass is the greatest prayer that the Church gives us.

 Where does it say that I have to come to Mass ?

• The commandment: “Keep holy the Sabbath Day” and “You shall worship the Lord your God”

• The precepts of the Church and Church law make it
  clear that we have an obligation to come to Mass every week. None of us likes being told what to do, but the Church is our Mother, and mothers usually know best !

• The Church asks us to in her documents and the
  writings of the Popes. It’s a bit like saying ‘I belong to the tennis club, but never pick up a racquet’. Clubs and societies have rules of membership, and not following them means that we don’t belong. If we want to belong, we need to abide by the rules.

• The Church isn’t just there for when we want it. The Church wants us as well.

• The long tradition of worshipping God on the day
  of resurrection. Going to Mass on Sunday is as old as Christianity itself. By doing so, we show our loyalty and love to Christ and His Church, our hope for salvation in the next life, and are united in faith and charity with the Catholic community.

• It’s doing what God wants us to do.

I know that God loves me. That’s enough

• Every parent tells their child that they are
  loved, and they show it in actions. Jesus shows us his love in giving Himself to us in love, through the Mass.

• We need to acknowledge God’s love, regularly. To
  thank God for what He gives us, to ask his forgiveness for our sins, and to pray for what we need.

• We have an obligation to worship the Creator.It
  would be an insult to receive all the gifts we have received from God e.g our eyesight, our health, nice home etc, without thanking Him with a little of our time.

I live a good life. I don’t need to come to Mass.

• We all lose our focus sometimes. The Mass is the best way to focus on what is important.

• No man is an island. We all need help. The Mass gives us the help we need to continue to live a good life.

• We all need to be strengthened in our faith. The Mass is the best way.

• The Mass helps us to measure how we are going in living a ‘good life’.

I get help from my family and friends. That’s enough.

• God’s grace comes to us through the Mass and the
  sacraments. This is the best help for us. This is ‘supernatural’ help that comes only from God.

• We ‘hunger for God’ in ways that we cannot always
  know or express. Coming to Mass ‘feeds’ this internal or spiritual hunger in our life.