Now that 2025 is over and 2026 has begun, this may be a good time to look back at our Sunday Mass attendance from last year—especially in comparison with previous years. I share weekly attendance reports, but unless you are tracking those numbers in a database, it can be hard to see the bigger picture.

As I have shared before, these numbers matter to me because they help me make decisions about Mass schedules. When we have a holy day of obligation, for example, it helps me to know what percentage of the parish attends Mass in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, or Latin. That is one reason why, for instance, we usually offer more Masses in Spanish.

Our average Sunday attendance in 2025 was 2,832 people across our nine Masses that satisfy the Sunday obligation. Our largest Mass continues to be the 12:00 noon Spanish Mass at the Cathedral, with an average attendance of 671 people. In fact, our four largest Masses are all in Spanish, with the second-largest being the 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Boniface. Our smallest Mass is the Traditional Latin Mass, with an average attendance of 138 people.

By language, our weekly averages in 2025 were: 1,872 people at Mass in Spanish, 649 in English, 174 in Vietnamese, and 138 in Latin. By location, an average of 1,662 people attended Mass at the Cathedral, 842 at St. Boniface, and 328 at St. Joseph.

What I find particularly interesting (as someone who loves numbers) is this: when we consider the location of each Mass and the size of our churches, 48% of our available seating is allocated to Spanish Masses, yet 68% of our Mass attendance is in Spanish. Because of that, taken together, our Spanish Masses are technically over capacity. Meanwhile, 32% of our capacity is allocated to Masses in English, but only 23% of our attendees come to Mass in English, which means we are using only about half of the capacity—and we could easily accommodate 600 more people at our English Masses.

Compared to the last couple of years, every one of our Masses has increased in attendance. Our combined weekly average went from 2,140 in 2022, to 2,468 in 2023, to 2,616 in 2024, and to 2,832 in 2025. And while two of our Masses are over capacity every weekend, overall we could still accommodate at least 1,000 more people—about 600 of them at Masses in English. So please keep inviting people to join us for Mass. There is still room in the inn.

As you read this email, I am traveling to San Antonio to attend the Cathedral Ministry Conference. This conference, which takes place every other year, is a great opportunity to visit with rectors and staff from cathedrals across the nation.

I should be back in time for weekend Masses to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday. Please pray for a fruitful conference and for safe travels. Know that I will pray for you as well, especially during Mass at San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio.

Knights in Action: A heartfelt thank you to the Knights of Columbus for a wonderful breakfast today and for helping make our celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord so special.