Preparations are underway for a national synodal assembly as Ireland faces a rapid secularisation of society with a subsequent decline in Mass attendance. The challenge will be to discover what can done to make the young, and not so young, feel at home again in the Church and its liturgy. For the majority of young people today the Church is not part of their world. Rather than seeking inspiration there they regard it as dated, impersonal and obstructive. Probably more than previous generations, they have difficulty in finding meaning, purpose and support in their struggles.