In most communities, Christmas Eve Masses, especially those celebrated in the late afternoon and early evening, attract large numbers of people. Among these people are students home from school, relatives visiting from out of town, and local Catholics who, for various reasons, do not worship with the community on a regular basis. It is, as one greeter in my local parish said one Christmas Eve, like having the whole family home: we may not get to have our usual seat, but it sure is nice to have everyone around the table again.
Hospitality in church is more than the simple greeting we receive when we enter our local Walmart. It is a basic form of offering Christian love. It is a first step in the essential mission of evangelization that belongs to every Christian. When we offer hospitality to another baptized Christian, we acknowledge our unity in the body of Christ. When we offer hospitality to one who is not Christian, we acknowledge our unity as children of one God who share a common human dignity. We never know if our hospitality will lead someone to join our parish or seek baptism, but we can be pretty sure that a lack of hospitality will turn people away. Especially at Christmas, when our liturgy is marked by a sense of great joy, hospitality should be evident to each person who joins our assembly.
Nurturing a sense of Christmas hospitality could begin with the preaching in Advent. On the Third Sunday of Advent this year, for example, we hear in the second reading that “Your kindness should be known to all.” How might that kindness be exhibited to the people who will join us on Christmas Eve? How might we replace derogatory comments about “Catholics who only show up at Christmas and Easter” with an eagerness to make room in our usual pew for some of these visitors?
- Invite individuals and families to serve as greeters or ministers of hospitality on Christmas Eve, welcoming each person who comes to the church.
- With due regard for fire regulations, set up additional chairs where possible ahead of time and assign two or three greeters to escort people to available seats as the church fills up.
- Distribute an attractively designed Christmas newsletter that includes a calendar of parish events, information about parish activities and opportunities to serve, pictures of the catechumens, a mealtime prayer for the Christmas season, and a link to the parish website.
- Also include invitations to those who want to learn more about the Catholic Church, complete their Christian initiation through Eucharist and/or confirmation, join the parish, celebrate marriage (or have their marriage convalidated), or have their child baptized.
In the end, will the visitor to Mass in our community on Christmas Eve want to return next week or have one more reason to stay away?
You can find more seasonal resources on our Advent and Christmas page, here.
Originally published in Today’s Liturgy © 2015 OCP. All rights reserved.
Paul Covino
Paul Covino received his master’s in liturgical research from Notre Dame and has worked for more than thirty years in pastoral liturgy. He is the editor of Celebrating Marriage and currently serves as director of Campus Ministry at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts.