Our church had 9 Christmas Eve services at 3 venues, including the 23:00 service that ends as Christmas Day begins. But they've nothing on Christmas Day. Which is kind of odd, given the day's name: the Christ Mass. I get it that lots of people want to stay home with their families. Still, an hour for a Christmas service seems like a small price for recognition of a holy day.
We end the Christmas Eve services with Silent Night and the shared candle-lighting (amazing how bright the place gets so quickly). It isn't easy to hold a candle in one hand and manage the phone to snap a picture of yourself and your husband with the other, but she managed. I don't think she was trying to show off; she was just uninhibitedly enthusiastic about lots of things--like the baby she carried after the service.
On the other hand, it's my job to manage my own attitude to the day.
3 comments:
Lutherans, the Swedish ones at least, used to regard the early-morning Christmas service more highly than the Christmas Eve services.
Or so I've heard. That seem to have changed by the time I became one in 1976.
I spilled a little candle wax on my hand, trying to juggle the lit candle and the hymnal.
We have two Christmas Eve services, at 5pm and 10pm, and one Christmas morning service, at 10am. This year was the first time I've had a chance to attend a Christmas Eve service, because we didn't drive to my mother-in-law's house near Houston until very early Christmas morning.
I didn't grow up with services on Christmas Day, so not meeting Christmas Day doesn't feel weird to me unless Christmas Day is a Sunday. We should meet on Sunday, period. 7 services, one on the previous Friday for folks going out of town and 6 on Christmas Eve, is a lot of logistics. I therefore have no problem with no service on a Thursday Christmas morning.
Post a Comment