"That's what Catholics do!"
I was born in Egypt of European ancestry. My mother was Catholic and my father was Jewish - he converted to Catholicism in his fifties thanks to a French Jesuit priest who lived in Alexandria. My sisters and I went to a Catholic school run by Missionary Franciscan nuns from the U.S.A., Canada and Italy. We went to Mass every Sunday with our classmates and on Mondays were asked questions about the homily. In those days children were very disciplined and we enjoyed everything. Of course, we did believe (because we had been told this repeatedly) that it was a mortal sin not to attend Mass. However, once we migrated to Australia we continued to attend Mass every Sunday although we had to get to Church by tram, train or bus as the distances were so great.
It may seem from our background that what was instilled in us as children is why we act as we do today but I must emphasise that although we know that at our age (i.e. in our eighties) it is not compulsory to attend Mass we still enjoy going every weekend as well as any other time Mass is available at our village. Personally I find great solace in following the rituals of Mass and listening to the interesting homilies.
Now, regarding my children and their children I must confess that not one of them attends Mass regularly but they have all sent their children to Catholic schools. I do not know what the future holds for the Catholic Church but I pray that it will still be there for my great grandchildren if and when they are born.