The concept of the flash mob - where a group comes together, seemingly by random, to perform some kind of dance, song, or skit - has been all the rage on social media. If anything, they have been kind of overblown and over done. All of which makes the next story so interesting.
Out of Detroit comes the story of Catholics coming together to form a "Mass Mob" (or a "Flash Mass," I guess). The group leverages social media to select a church and a mass time, and then shows up a couple of thousand strong to fill the church and turn any random Sunday into a Christmas or Easter mass.
For those that participate, they get to tour the churches of the local Detroit area; taking in their beautiful artwork and architecture. For the regular parishioners, they get to feel that feeling that only comes from being a part of a massive and motivated faith community.
Let's be honest - churches are dying, parishes are closing, and mass times curtailed all because people just don't go to church anymore. Unfortunately, it becomes a vicious cycle as it is the community of the people attending the mass that make the mass - the voice singing in the choir, the person handing out communion, the woman next to you shaking your hand at the sign or peace, the whole of the building praying for you. Without people, there is no mass, and another church shutters its doors.
The mass mob is attempting to change that. Can they be successful? Ugh. Theirs is a long and uphill battle. But it is a fight they are undertaking, and I pray that they're able to inspire folks to take that step and come back to mass.
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