"When should we take a seat if we come late?"

Now I hope no one is planning on coming late. Mass starts at 5 p.m. occasionally, there is a good reason for coming late. When you come late you should find a seat as quickly as you can. Don’t be afraid to go to rows near the front. There are, of course, less distracting times to take a seat: before the Scripture readings, just as we all stand for the Gospel reading, before the Homily, and anytime thereafter. Just quietly take a seat. The important thing is not to gang up in the entrance to the chapel or line up along the walls when there are plenty of spaces in the pews.

Some people have the strange idea that they “own” a particular spot in the pews where they most often sit. And, if it is taken, they grudgingly hang the wall. There is no such thing as ownership of a seat these days. There once was a time long ago when families bought “family pews” and would sit in them every Sunday. It was a money-raising scheme that really wasn’t theologically sound.

Some remembrance of that hangs mysteriously in the minds of older Catholics. However, for modern university students some old ideas should pass completely away. One is the idea that Catholics do not sit in the front pews. Why do you suppose back pews fill up first in Catholic churches? In the Bible Belt, Protestant Churches tend to fill up front in most cases. I invite sociology majors to study that habit and give me some insights as to the reasons why. Or, is it just a myth?