I came across a very interesting statistic while doing some research. And basically what it said was that more Catholics attend Mass on a weekly basis then Anglicans attend church even though in England there are approximately 25 million Anglicans and only four million Catholics.
One of the interesting things that I've come across is that people of other denominations will say they are not required to attend mass or church but that it is strongly encouraged and that they attend as often as possible and that they are good people and they do what they can. But it definitely seems to me that unless you are required to go then there's a strong incentive not to go. The other thing about attending weekly religious services that you really have to make it an obligatory part of your day every week. So there's no point in saying I think probably maybe I should go and I will try to go. If you do that then you won't go. You have to say that it is absolutely required that you going you have no other choice.
But what also happens is that it just becomes part of your day. For me for example it would feel very odd and out of place for me to miss Mass on any particular Sunday. However I know for other people who never go that it would seem like the opposite. It would actually seem weird if they did go.
One thing I also noticed is that people will think it is very strange for me to attend Mass while I am traveling. However unless there is some extreme reason why I cannot go I will usually attend Mass while I'm on vacation. For one thing I find it very interesting because I get to see a new church that I've never seen before and experience their particular religious devotions and perhaps even see things such as relics or religious paraphernalia and things of that sort. So I find it personally interesting to do this. On top of that it only takes about an hour or two to attend Mass in a particular location. So if you're on vacation for a week then you will be doing a variety of things such as eating out, doing shopping and so on. So to me it's not a big deal to spend one or two hours in church and thanking God for the opportunity to travel.
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