FOR CHRISTIAN FAMILIES, Sunday just gone marked All Saints’ Day, and today we celebrate All Souls’ Day.

In the Catholic tradition, November is traditionally the month for remembering the dead. Honouring the dead is an important part of Irish identity.  

This year All Saints’ Day, a holy day of obligation, fell on a Sunday which is also a holy day of obligation. One Mass for two days of obligation. I’d be lying if I said I did not consider this a win.

Last week, a writer in the Irish Times said that he stopped going to Mass 22 years ago and that every Sunday since he felt grateful to be free of the obligation. Arguably, if Séamus O’Reilly felt the need to discuss this sense of relief in a national newspaper there is still part of him that recognises that going to Sunday mass is an important tradition for many families.

Many people who do not attend Mass believe that the churches are empty. This is not my experience. I attend Mass every Sunday with my family or at least the children (four ranging from aged 5 to 17) I can manage to round up and get out the door on time.

OK, perhaps that is a white lie that I will have to confess: I attend most........

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