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Malls and churches are a lot alike. More often frequented because we need them than because we want them, both of them attract us because we are hungering or thirsting for something.

In recent times, they have grown more and more competitive for our time and presence, most notably on Sundays. Where to take the family to make everyone happy? If submitted to a majority vote, we can figure out which choice usually wins. But does it have to be either/or?

Let me unpack some of the statements I made in the preceding paragraph, which are certainly debatable. Yes, I do think that malls and churches bear some similarities. They each attract crowds of people - or try to. Most churches aren't doing nearly as well today as the more senior among us remember, when the only mass one was a part of on Sunday mornings was THE Mass.

Speaking of masses, malls tend to be more impersonal and anonymous, perhaps by design. They are certainly easy to get lost in. While some folks may prefer the same atmosphere in church, a majority of people typically say they want their church to be more welcoming, more personal and certainly not commercialized or money-focused. Nothing makes churchgoers more irritated - or pastors more uneasy - than having the subject of money dominate a religious service.

Speaking of impersonal forces, there seems to be an increased interest in that subject of late through fascination with zombies and various vampirical legends. Popular fantasies often represent our deeper anxieties. Is this a projection of the fear that, as a society, we are becoming more depersonalized, more like slaves to powers beyond our control, given over to so many crazes, addictions and obsessions?

We do need a certain amount of ritual, of predicable, repeatable activity. Malls and churches each invite their denizens to engage in rituals which, variously, entertain, soothe and challenge. In each, we get to be with other people, wait on lines, hear music and consume things.

I mentioned the hunger and thirst that draws us to each. For some, a Sunday visit to a mall seems the best way to offer something for everyone in the family. But is that necessarily so?

Not long ago, I dropped by one of our local mega-churches (on a Saturday night), which rehabilitated a former strip mall. Not unlike its commercial predecessor, it featured cafes and various children's corners (nurseries) where parents could safely leave their kids while attending a sermon preceded by soft Christian rock in a high-tech gathering space that was quite obviously once a movie house. But there was something more here than just food and fun. A very deliberative pastoral mission was evident, inviting participants to feed a hunger that only the Word of God could satisfy.

I cannot promise that every visit to a church will be as nourishing or fruitful as it really ought be, with full and active participation, but I can virtually guarantee that, unlike a mall, anyone who comes to Mass will leave with more wealth than when they arrived, fed with a food designed to last much longer than the programmed obsolescence of any marketed product and connected to more real persons than any of the casual contacts made during a trip to the mall.

I know I've packed a lot into one sentence, but think about it: What other gathering than the Mass can put a person in contact with angels and saints, deceased friends and relatives and other absent people, all one's family members, the universal Church - and God Himself - all in one hour!

It's true: We are never closer to heaven on earth than when we are at Mass. The same Jesus we receive as food in holy communion is the same Jesus whom the saints and angels behold in heaven. We are connected not just to a lunch counter, but to the eternal banquet. What a bargain!

Most of us tend to want to do something special on Sundays to enrich our lives, which, during the week, are often caught up in routine. With so many options to shop, go to the movies or grab a quick bite somewhere that all the family would enjoy, it is not so hard to plan around a Mass on a Saturday night or a Sunday morning.

It need not be either/or. It is still possible to observe Sunday as "the Lord's day" by keeping whatever we plan in the conscious framework of celebrating God's presence with our loved ones - and our larger family of faith. Most importantly, by recognizing that we have deeper hungers that cannot be filled just by repetitive acts of consuming perishable products, we also realize that the job of parenting also entails feeding our children with the true bread of life, Jesus Christ.

Perhaps I am "preaching to the choir" among likely readers. Yet we all engage from time to time with friends and family who are resistant to weekly Mass attendance. Lent is a great time to make that commitment to be a weekly participant if it is not our usual pattern - or to invite someone else to come and see.

It was obvious that Jesus loved to feed people and give them more than just food that would last for a day. He gave us Himself. What better gift have we to give our families and friends?[[In-content Ad]]

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