On this the 3rd Sunday of Advent, the Church gives the option of wearing Rose colored vestments. “The Third Sunday of Advent is tradi-
tionally known as Gaudete Sunday, so called from the first word of the antiphon at the Introit, Gaudete (“Rejoice”), taken from the Latin
translation of Phil 4:4-5” ORDO page 13. In some ways it is like celebrating that we are halfway through this time of preparation, or of
waiting. It is hard to believe that Next Sunday is Christmas Eve. Because Christmas Falls on Monday this year and Christmas Eve is on
Sunday. There has been a lot of talk about Mass times for Christmas this year, with priests and the Archdiocese. There has also been a
lot of talk about what Mass requirements are for next Sunday from many people as well.

The Code of Canon Law states “On Sundays and other Holy Days of Obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass”.
Christmas is a Holy Day of Obligation, yet so is the Sunday Mass for the 4th week of Advent. Next weekend the Masses on Saturday
night at 5:00pm and Sunday Morning at 8:00am and 10:00am will be celebrating the 4th Sunday of Advent. The readings will be from the
4th Sunday of Advent. These three Masses will fulfill your Sunday obligation for the 4th Sunday of Advent. However, even though Sun-
day is Christmas Eve, the two Sunday morning Masses do not fulfill your obligation for Christmas. OK, this is getting confusing.

The Masses that do cover your Christmas obligations are the 4:00pm and 9:00pm Sunday night or 9:00am Monday morning. These
three will have the readings for Christmas. These two Sunday evening Masses do not fulfill your Sunday obligation for the 4th Sunday of
Advent. In simple, yes, you should be going to 2 Masses, one for the 4th Sunday of Advent and one for Christmas. Look at the bright
side, Father must be at all of them. No rest for the wicked. Some of our neighboring parishes may have changed or cut their Mass times
for the 4th Sunday and/or for Christmas. I feel like if we start to do that, we will create a lot more confusion for people. It will make for a
busy weekend for many. But cutting Sunday Mass or changing the time of that Mass would likely cause many to miss the Mass all to-
gether.

If you have young children who may ask, “Why do we have to go to Mass twice?” remind them it would be more correct to think, “We
Get to go to Mass twice.” Mass should be something we look forward to and the special Mass for Christmas should be looked forward
to even more. We do not get upset when our sports go into overtime, this is a great time of year for some extra time in prayer.

If you will be travelling this next week to be with family or friends, may you have safe travels and return safely home. If you have guests
coming in, may you enjoy their visit. I know over the years my experience of Christmas has changed. As a child there was that great
excitement, much over what I may be getting for gifts. As I grew up and started giving gifts myself, there was that great joy of giving,
when I just knew I got just the right gift. About 10 years ago when I asked a friend what she wanted, she simply said, “Just get me a can-
dy bar.” I know she loved dark chocolate. I found the perfect gift that year. I found a 10 lb. block of solid dark chocolate. I will never
forget seeing the look on her face when she figured out what it was. It still brings a smile to my face. Many of my siblings have families
of their own now and are starting their own traditions. My gift list has dropped off and I have found that has saved me the stress of buy-
ing a gift that people really do not want. I have also found with the busyness of Liturgies; I enjoy being able to have a little more quiet
time to myself. There likely will be a group of family members getting together again this year, but things have changed over the years.

If you are facing changes in your Christmas traditions this year: maybe a loved one has passed this last year, maybe someone has gotten
married and you now have the In-laws to balance out two Christmases, maybe it is the first Christmas for Baby. All of these will bring
changes, some good some bad. But what should never change is remembering that Christmas is about Jesus Christ.

Blessings,
Fr. Backer