December 01, 2023 – Pastor’s Note

Advent Scrooge
The First Sunday of Advent is always my opportunity to be an Advent Scrooge. At least since I entered seminary in 2011, I have been very strict, with myself (and, as pastor, with church music and decorations) about respecting the season of Advent. I do not listen to any Christmas music or do any Christmas festivities until the night of December 24^th. Why? Because the Church is very wise, and she knows that the joy and celebration of major feasts is best prepared for and enhanced by a period of fasting and simplicity. The analogy I always use is Thanksgiving: do you enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner more if you show up to the table with an empty or a full stomach? The same is true with Christmas – the more we front-load Christmas, the more the day itself feels like stumbling over a finish line than it does the beginning of a season of celebration.

Now, liturgically I am 100% correct. However, culturally I understand that others may not want to be or may not be able to be as strict as I am about this. My advice, then, is to try to split your Christmas preparation and celebration into two distinct phases: before Dec. 17^th, and Dec. 17^th and after. Most of the first part of Advent speaks about the Second Coming of Christ, and the Church’s mind only turns towards the preparation for the birth of Christ on Dec. 17^th. On that day, we begin the famous “O Antiphons” (that “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is based on) and we start reading the Gospels about the Annunciation, Joseph’s dream, the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist, and Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth. The longer you can wait for your Christmas traditions, the more you will appreciate the day itself (and all the days through Jan. 07 when the Church continues to celebrate Christmas with gusto!).

Christmas Schedule
Christmas is complicated this year because it falls on a Monday. This means that Catholics have two Mass obligations: the 4^th Sunday of Advent (which falls on Dec. 24) and Christmas. To reiterate: every Catholic must go to Mass twice in the course of Dec. 23 – Dec. 25. You can read some explainer articles, and creative solutions, at The Pillar, Adoremus, and CNA (2017).

The Assumption schedule is as follows:

4^th Sunday of Advent

• Sat., Dec. 23 – 5:00pm (English)
• Sat., Dec. 23 – 7:00pm (Spanish)
• Sun., Dec. 24 – 9:00am (English)

Christmas

• Sun., Dec. 24 – 5:00pm (English)
• Sun., Dec. 24 – 9:00pm (Spanish)
• Mon., Dec. 25 – midnight (English)
• Mon., Dec. 25 – 11:00am (English)