Next Sunday, December 25th is Christmas Day, the Feast of the Birth of the Son of God.
Christmas worship will take place on Christmas Eve, December 24th at 4:15 PM. A service of carols takes place before Mass. On Christmas Day, December 25th the Mass of Christmas is at 10:15 AM, preceded by a service of carols.
Even though some people have little church participation in their lives, the Feast and Season of Christmas is often the time when they will once again come to church.
I invite you to encourage family members and friends and co-workers to join you for Christmas worship. Sometimes people who have been absent for a while or who are not Catholic are nervous about coming to Christmas Mass; they feel people will be looking at them and judging them; they feel they will not know what to do and thus embarrass themselves.
Assure your guests that there are no expectations; people come as they are and just be themselves; they may pray as they wish and enter into the worship in a way that suits them. The name of the game is “Gracious Hospitality”.
Let us be gracious and welcoming to visitors, making space for them and be thankful for them. Their presence and their prayer enrich the prayer life of the parish. They are a Christmas gift to each of us.
Father Steve Adrian
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