Christmas is right around the corner, and with it the return of our ability to celebrate this great feast of our faith together. Huzzah!
But our return to an in-person celebration of the birth of Jesus is also an opportunity to think about how we have done Christmas in the past and perhaps even make some adjustments.
As part of that effort, here are a few suggestions of possible dos and don’ts for priests, music ministers and all those attending Christmas liturgies this year. (And merry Christmas to you all!)
THE WELCOME
Do: Be Welcoming.
Especially this year, when so many of us are gathering for the first time, one of the most important things a Christmas Mass can do is let people know they are welcome and loved. You made it: This is an achievement.
Our return to an in-person celebration of the birth of Jesus is also an opportunity to think about how we have done Christmas in the past—and perhaps even make some adjustments.
In this regard, those opening moments of the liturgy are so important. If the priest is warm and friendly, introducing himself and offering a few words that set people at ease, he enables everyone to enter into the celebration more fully. If he is not, he runs the risk of missing that opportunity or worse, saying something that makes people uncomfortable.
Speaking of which…
Don’t: Call Attention to the Fact that Some People Have Not Been Here All Year.
When you call attention to people’s absence, you run the risk of making them feel bad about coming. It is counterproductive and contrary to the whole idea of Christmas. We are celebrating Jesus choosing to come and be with us, God’s expression of the depth of his love for us. Shame has no place in that moment. We should be expressing gratitude, not judgment.
When you call attention to people’s absence, you run the risk of making them feel bad about coming.
I’ve seen some priests try to bring the topic up in a positive way, a sort of cheerful “Welcome back, we’re glad you’re here.” This can work, but even a slight awkwardness in tone or one misplaced word can make the whole thing fall apart. The fact is, we do not draw attention to any other group of Catholics at Mass at Christmas. Let’s be consistent and just welcome everyone the same.
THE MUSIC
Do: Play Songs We Can Sing.
First of all, thank you to every single music minister who is out there practicing right now. The work that you do is an essential part of our experience of the joy and wonder of Christmas.
Part of what makes music sacramental is the element of participation. It is wonderful to be able to listen to a great choir speak of the birth of Christ, but when we are able to sing along, it allows us to experience that sense of revelation in a different and often more personal way. It’s one thing to hear the angel choir; it is another to have the chance to sing with them.
It’s one thing to hear the angel choir; it is another to have the chance to sing with them. So please, have plenty of songs (and arrangements) that everyone can sing.
So please, have plenty of songs (and arrangements) that everyone can sing.
Don’t: Sing all the Verses.
I know some choir directors are going to bristle at this, but it has got to be said: When you make us sing every verse of every song, it makes us feel like we have done something wrong and you are punishing us. Even at Christmas, by the third song, that is how it feels.
Whatever we did or didn’t do, we’re sorry. Please do not make us sing Verse 7 of “Joy to the World.”
THE GOSPEL
Do: Think About Involving Children.
The best Christmas Gospel I ever witnessed had little kids acting out the Nativity scene—I’m talking 5, 6, 7 years old. Was it a bit of a mess? Why yes, it was. One kid kept staring at us priests. Some forgot their lines. One of the three wise children wandered off.
But it is also the only experience of the Christmas Gospel that I remember. When kids are involved, we pay closer attention. And a messy, chaotic, unexpected retelling of the Christmas story is also a perfect representation of those events. You think Mary was happy having a baby while lying on straw? Or in the stench of a stable? Or that Joseph wasn’t freaking out after the third or fourth inn?
A messy, chaotic, unexpected retelling of the Christmas story is also a perfect representation of those events.
The reality of the Nativity story is genuinely messy. Adding a bit of that into our reenactments adds a dimension that we miss singing “Silent Night” in hushed tones while we imagine angels flying over starlit fields.
(Truly, don’t tell methis isn’t value added.)
Don’t: Use a Baby as a Prop.
More than once I have watched a good priest finish reading the Gospel, then walk “backstage” and reemerge holding someone’s newborn child. On one level it makes sense. It’s a story about a baby. Why not include one?
But try paying close attention to what someone is saying when they’re holding a baby. It’s impossible. Some people will spend the entire homily worried about what will happen if the baby squirms, or if the priest trips over his alb. (I know this because I am one of these people.)
Babies are not props. Leave them with their parents.
Babies are not props. Leave them with their parents.
PREACHING
Do: Keep it Short.
I know, we haven’t been together for Christmas for two years, you’ve got joy in your heart and things to say!
But meanwhile you’ve got a room full of people, some of whom are anxious about whether we’re all sitting far enough apart (while others are coughing), and all of them having to wear masks the whole time, and also it’s 1 a.m. in the morning.
Really want to have an impact on your congregation? Keep that homily tight. Five minutes tops.
Really want to have an impact on your congregation? Keep that homily tight. Five minutes tops. And don’t just recycle last year’s homily, either—if the audience is laughing before you even start your joke, it’s time to mix things up a bit.
Don’t: Talk about Abortion, Jan. 6 or Transgender Bathrooms.
I’m not saying some of these are not important topics, or that a homily at Christmas can’t be topical. Jesus was born in radical poverty. The Holy Family were refugees. Discuss.
But there’s a temptation when you know you are going to have a large (captive) audience to “swing for the fences.” This is my one chance with these people, we might think; I have to say this while I’ve got them.
There’s a temptation when you know you are going to have a large (captive) audience to “swing for the fences.”
Problem is, there’s an awful lot of “I” in that sentence. As we consider a sermon for Christmas our eyes should be focused on what we’re celebrating, the birth of the Christ child. And our ears should be listening for God’s invitation.
MASKS YES, SANTA NO
Do: Wear Masks.
I know in some parts of the country this is not required. Maybe that means that wearing a mask to church in those places could be perceived as a political statement or as a sign of unfriendliness. Nobody wants that.
But you know what everybody wants even less? The omicron variant of Covid-19. Or frankly anything that’s called omicron, unless maybe it’s a watch or a car that turns into a robot.
You know what everybody wants even less than masks? The omicron variant of Covid-19. Or frankly anything that’s called omicron, unless maybe it’s a watch or a car that turns into a robot.
Everything we’re hearing suggests the omicron strain is very likely going to hit the country hard this holidays. For those of us who are vaccinated and boostered (please get vaccinated and boostered), that hopefully means mostly a bad cold. But for those around us who are not, or who are immunodeficient, it could be life threatening.
If I know that an hour of slight inconvenience will mean greater safety for others—who include not just anti-vaxxers but grandparents, grandchildren and people with other illnesses—isn’t masking really a no-brainer?
Don’t: Have Santa
Having someone play Santa at your Mass…I get it. It’s cute. Everybody probably loves it.
But having Santa show up at Mass is a little like having Rita Moreno in the new version of “West Side Story”: It doesn’t matter how great everything else is, that’s what people are going to remember. And much as I love the big guy in the cherry-red jumpsuit, people’s takeaway from Christmas Mass should not be “Santa was awesome.”
But you don’t have to add things like Santa to the celebration of Christmas to make it a special occasion.
Just as we are invited at Christmas to trust that a child can lead us and save us, as Catholics and ministers, we’re also invited to trust that the spirit of the Lord will be present in our liturgy of celebration, that it will truly nourish and inspire people. We don’t have to make it happen, any more than we made God love us. We can just be present and let him come.
