Arriving at or Leaving Mass Early - without a really good reason

[Elizium23]

I just want to mention a beautiful family in my parish. It is a fairly young couple with a beautiful mom and a smiling dad, and they have three young daughters and a young teenage son who is an altar server. This family comes every week to the Saturday vigil Mass, and they always arrive an hour early. All of them get in line for Confession, and Mom and Dad hand off the youngest girl who doesn't need to go. As I understand it, all the children are home-schooled. It is very heartwarming to see such a lovely family participating regularly in the sacraments like this, as they arrive faithfully and reverently week after week.

[thomasf]

When I was a kid my father would leave the house 5 min before church started and we'd be late every time. And to make it worse, he insisted on sitting right up front. So we'd be coming in late every week and stting right up front. How embarrassing.

That's why when I get to mass late I always sit in the back.