Not a Saturday-Nighter

I remember when I was in grade school and my parents would take us to the Saturday evening Mass. We attended church a good 20 minutes from home, and I have no idea how Mom got dinner on the table on those nights. I seem to remember a lot of hamburgers and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Deluxe Dinner (the kind that came with a squeezy pouch of "cheez whiz" and that made this weird noise when you stirred it all up...boy that was good stuff...)

Our parish has 2 locations--one is exactly a mile from here, the other exactly two miles away. And once a month the choir I sing with "trades" times with the other, organ-accompanied choir. We sing at the Saturday 5 instead of the Sunday noon.

I'm having a little trouble getting used to that whole setup. We did figure out the logistics of standing everyone in a different space so that everyone can see the choir leader (kind of important!) We are getting good feedback in terms of noticing and hearing that the congregation is singing along; people stop by the choir area after church and compliment the music; so that's all good.

But getting to church on Saturday afternoon is difficult for me. I do make an effort to keep Sunday as a day of rest as much as possible; spending time with friends or visiting family often happen in addition to Mass; household chores that can wait and shopping are put on hold for another day. But Saturday is a busy day. On most Saturday afternoons I am watching football and doing laundry and cleaning up and maybe baking something and most certainly driving someone somewhere. It is not my time to find some church clothes and put together the necessary music for Mass and settle down.

TheDad has mentioned that he enjoys the Sunday noon Mass because we have an unhurried morning. You're not all hassled and bothered when you get to church. Not so on a Saturday afternoon. Saturdays are all about hassle and hurry.

Different families have different schedules, and it's nice that the Church offers Masses at many different times. But we enjoy our Sunday-noon routine. It works for us, and it helps us keep Sunday a day apart from the rest.

As I do have to attend the Saturday-evening Vigil Mass once a month with the choir, I'm going to have to find a way to make it work. So if you're a Saturday-Nighter, how do you handle it with your family? How do you make it to church without feeling hassled and hurried? Or have you found a way to lay down that hassle and hurry at the feet of the Cross as you enter the church?