In the days prior, I was asked to attend the mass as a member of United Student Government and I discovered that despite the mass’s tradition, low attendance had befallen the ceremony.  “No one shows up,” I overheard, “no one even cares.”  I, myself, was guilty of particular inattention.  I entered St. Paul’s on the night of the 12th wearing nothing more than a purple V-neck tee, a pair of jeans and Nike sneakers, because I had forgotten about the mass entirely. After spending the entire day attending club executive board meetings, when reminded of the mass, I shuddered. Whoops.

What is it about mass that makes it so particularly burdensome, let alone forgettable or easily dismissible?  What makes the Mass of the Holy Spirit—a pure and optimistic celebration of the coming year—such an underappreciated ceremony on campus?

It isn’t an easy task drawing a congregation of 20-something-year-old college students to church.  We have busy social lives, responsibilities to our professors and employers and impatient tendencies.  The church is an archaic institution in an otherwise very modern world.  To sit quietly for an hour, perhaps 90 minutes, void of cell phone usage is, in itself, a chore.

There’s something to be said, then, about the University’s choice to hold the mass at 8:00 p.m. on a Sunday night. Even the forces of God would have failed to draw students away from MTV’s Video Music Awards or the first televised Sunday night football game of the year, let alone last minute “cram time” for those completing—or perhaps even starting—his or her weekend homework.

An 8:00 p.m. mass, especially on a Sunday, disregards the commuter sector of our campus, which comprises nearly half of the undergraduate population. For this, the University must hold itself accountable.  Our Rose Hill compatriots celebrate their Mass of the Holy Spirit at 5:00 p.m. Upon hearing this, I couldn’t help but feel that our Lincoln Center campus had once again been given the short end of the stick.

Poor planning aside, faith itself—the actual desire to attend mass—continues to dissolve among our generation. There are those who have attended church since childhood and will continue to do so. Others, like myself, have momentary lapses of religious interest. Then there are those members of the Fordham community who follow religions other than Christianity, and to them the mass is somewhat irrelevant.

I was born into an Irish/Polish Catholic household, and the 2010-11 school year marks my 13th year of education at a Catholic or Jesuit institution.  I have been baptized, confirmed and served as a eucharistic minister and lector in high school, as well as a leader of reflective retreats. As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, I’m a paying member. Even so, my roots to the church have, with time, withered. My Sundays are typically spent working, doing housework or studying; mass no longer factors into the equation.

About a month ago, following the passing of my grandfather, I would have told you that religion was back in my life.  I even recall myself saying, “I’m going back to church.”  So why haven’t I?  Is it laziness?  Is it disinterest?  Is my life simply so overrun by responsibilities to work and school that I have lost complete connection to my faith?

We’re often asked in our lectures to think critically.  Be analytical.  Use your reason.  So much so, I argue, that the sheer idea of believing in something that cannot be quantified or scientifically proven eludes us.  It’s not as if I’ll suddenly turn over my iPod for a Bible, but faith is a crucial component to one’s soul.

There isn’t much wrong with the Mass of the Holy Spirit.  If anything, there’s something wrong with us.  It is one thing to call myself faithful.  It is something else entirely to practice my faith.  As college students, we neglect giving ourselves time to reflect.  We’re caught up in a technological age in the city that never sleeps.

For some, the Mass of the Holy Spirit has become a necessary and welcome start to the new year.  For others, the mass may serve as an unfulfilled waste of an hour’s time.  To each his own, I say.

But to question the mass’s effect on those who do attend is an unfair and unjust conclusion.  Though the mass must be held at an earlier time to accommodate the entire Fordham College at Lincoln Center community, the idea that a checkered congregation represents utter failure disregards the power of faith.  It is faith that’s in question, in not only myself, but in all.