Five Things about Christmas
Next weekend we celebrate the marvelous birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Advent always goes so fast, even though we’ve gotten four full weeks this year. Maybe you’re ready for Christmas, or possibly you’re in scramble mode. Here are a couple things to prepare for Christmas in our parishes:
- Please pray for the guests that will be joining us. Whether they are travelers passing through or neighbors who don’t come to Mass, please pray for our guests. Ask the Holy Spirit to come upon them and draw them close to Jesus Christ. Jesus deeply wants our visitors to know His goodness. Let’s pray for hearts that are open to His love.
- Prepare your own heart for Jesus Christ. Christmas is only a week away. How do we live this final week of Advent in prayer, generosity, and penance? In a particular way, I encourage everyone to read the Gospel for daily Mass as we approach Christmas. Daily Mass this week will tell the story of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus.
- Come to our Day of Grace at Immaculate Conception on Thursday, December 22. Confession will be available from 6am to 10pm and adoration will be in the Church from 8:30am until 10pm.
- Please exercise hospitality toward our guests and each other. We can do this by simply greeting each other, helping someone find a seat, or assisting an elderly parishioner.
- We won’t be distributing a Christmas book. In years past, we’ve distributed books to everyone who attends Christmas Mass. Some Catholic publishers offer books for $1.50 to parishes. Unfortunately, there weren’t any available titles this year that seemed to be worth the investment.
Just one note about Tuesday, December 27, which is the feast of St. John. We’ll have the normal Tuesday 8:00am Mass at St. Joseph. Additionally Mass for St. John Church’s patronal feast day will be at 5pm in Fryburg. That is a bit of an odd time. Fr. Willig and I are inviting a handful of priests over to celebrate Christmas. Mass at 5:00pm works well to have dinner afterwards and for the guests to make it home at a reasonable hour. With all the stresses that Beacons of Light has put priests under, it is nice to be able to gather for prayer and fellowship.
We’ll be celebrating Mass with all the proper Solemnity of the Octave of Christmas and the parish’s patronal feast day. We will also be praying Evening Prayer at 4:40pm. Everyone is welcome to participate in Evening Prayer and the Holy Mass.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson
