Why are so many Catholics not worshiping at Sunday Mass? In 1972 about 50 percent of registered parishioners participated weekly in Mass. Now about 30 percent do.

Congregational studies is the field of research which examines these trends. Experts in congregational studies say that religion in America is a consumer affair. The product of interest - in this case spiritual life - must first be recognized as a personal need, be the right price, packaged in an agreeable way and available at convenient times. The quality of the religious experience is important but not as important as other factors such as its social value.

One of the social values of religion is that it helps in the rearing of children. Catholic schools, for instance, have been seen as a social value for the moral formation of children. However, that does not translate into Sunday Mass attendance, which is seen as significantly less socially valuable by parents who send their children to the school but do not bring them to Sunday worship. Similarly, so many former Catholics attend other churches that some Protestant congregations have significantly changed ways in which they operate, such as frequency of communion, to meet the needs of a Catholic consumer's frame of mind.

I taught courses in congregational studies in two different schools of theology. My students researched a Jewish synagogue, a Catholic parish, and a couple of Protestant congregations. The goal I set for the class was to discover how each congregation knew God and shared the God they knew. Consequently, my sense of why people do not attend worship is somewhat different than many of the experts in congregational studies.

For instance, I realize convenience is an important issue with Catholic Mass attendance; otherwise, we would not have so many parishioners shopping for the Mass time that fits their social schedule. On the other hand, I believe that Catholic participation in Sunday Mass has decreased for a single and primary reason. The one thing persons who do not join us on Sunday's have in common is that they do not experience God being at work in the church.

The Nicene Creed we pray at every Sunday Mass says that we believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. Anyone who has studied theology knows that our faith is not in the church as an organization but in the church as God's work among us. Some kind of faith that God is at work in the church is essential for participation in Sunday Eucharist.

I say some kind of faith because faith is not the same for all. Faith is different in each person. That is why we recite the Creed together, because only together do we believe and practice the whole of the church's faith.

But in order to join in worship at Mass one must have a prior faith. And this faith either deepens as we mature or fades away if it fails to develop in line with the other aspects of our life as we mature. Faith is tempered by the experiences of life. The things we learn in youth can have lasting value but alone are not sufficient to last a lifetime. Moral principles do not change but the questions put to them do and that means our moral education must advance to meet the questions of life.

Similarly, the spiritual needs of a child for belonging differ from the spiritual need of the adolescent for self-definition or of persons in their 20s for intimacy. The need of the middle-aged person for passing on a legacy differs from the question pressing upon the aging whether life has made sense or not.

Over a lifetime, faith is the resolution of these life questions. Participation in Sunday Mass happens when a person believes God is at work in Christ offering resolution to these questions within the congregation assembled and the worship it shares.

Father Richard Chiola is a certified counselor, pastor of St. Cabrini Parish in Springfield and diocesan director for the ongoing formation of clergy.