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Amy O’Neill (last name changed for privacy) grew up in the Catholic Church, slacked off during her stint in the U.S Air Force and then stopped going to church altogether.

She stayed away for 20 years.

Even during those years, she considered herself Catholic.

O’Neill, 43, is a typical example according to a 2010 CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) survey finding that while 88 percent of U.S adult Catholics don’t attend Mass on a regular basis, they still consider themselves Catholic.

“I just didn’t think I needed to go,” she said. “I grew up in a household where we were forced to go to Mass each week and went to CCD classes. I made my first Communion and was confirmed like the rest of my siblings, but our family life was far from spiritual. When I left home, I just didn’t see the point in going.”

Now that she is the mother of a young son, O’Neill is not only attending Sunday Mass, but also having her son baptized and volunteering as a catechist in her parish.

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After picking my daughters up from Blessed Sacrament Catholic School recently, we made a quick stop at a nearby El Rey grocery store.

As we left the always-crowded store on Milwaukee’s South Side, my 14-year-old daughter, Chiana, commented, “That was the first time ever I’ve been in a store where I didn’t mind wearing my school uniform.”

Puzzled, I asked her why.

“Because I wasn’t the only kid wearing a uniform; all the kids in that store were wearing school uniforms,” she replied.

Sure enough, there were lots of children in the store wearing the plaid jumpers or skirts, navy and khaki pants and solid colored polo shirts, the standard attire of many of our archdiocesan schools.

While I don’t know that every child in the store was a Catholic school student, I suspect many of them were. Those uniformed children made a statement to the community about the strong, vibrant presence of Catholic education in the area.

Our experience was also a reminder for me of the growing Latino presence in our church and our schools.