Generation gap.

A big bouquet to Managing Editor Heidi Schlumpf for October's stunning issue! Her Editors' Note "Generation unplugged" introduced perfectly the three great articles and candid interview with Father John Cusick ("If you rebuild it, they will come") that spoke my thoughts and concerns about this "generation unplugged" from Catholicism.

Each article was uncompromising in its honesty, on-target relevance, and low-decibel commentary. Renee LaReau ("We're just not that into you"), Mike Mallowe ("It's Sunday ... do you know where your children are?"), and Gregory Pierce ("10 reasons not to go to Mass, and one really good reason why you should") exposed the wounds, and John Cusick offered hope for their healing. I kept saying, "Yes! Yes!" as I felt each author's heartbeat echo my own sadness and dismay.

Playing devil's advocate to my children's and grandchildren's likely reaction to the articles forced me to re-examine my own seventy-something attitudes and convictions and wonder: Where did either the church or I personally go wrong? Were those old Sadlier CCD books of the '70s that they studied just watered-down sociology tracts as I suspected even then? Is it simply the inevitable fallout of today's culture? Or am I the one out of sync--the dinosaur living in a world as different as Gregorian chant is from hip-grinding MTV?

Many thanks to your contributors and all at U.S. CATHOLIC for acknowledging the hard truth about "the emperor's new clothes" and your collective suggestions for "a new wardrobe."

Mary Pickitt

Lake Wylie, S.C.

It saddened me to read the October cover story ("We're just not that into you") by Renee LaReau. Many of the young adults interviewed cited various extraneous influences that caused them to stop attending Mass. What they seem to miss is the central purpose of the Mass--receiving Jesus in the Eucharist to nourish and sustain our souls so that we may be strengthened to enter into the "pop culture-saturated world" with eyes of faith.

The graces obtained by making time each week to cultivate an intimate relationship with Christ through the Mass, personal prayer, and reception of the Eucharist can't help but make the world a better place, one person at a time.

Diana Buono

Upton, Mass.