This will be the fifth year Prince of Peace will celebrating Christmas as a parish. In 2017 we held our first Christmas with all the Christmas Masses that the two former parishes of Saint Teresa of Avila and Church of the Nativity had usually scheduled. This included two 4 PM vigils, two 10 PM Masses at Night and three Christmas day Masses. In 2018 the Christmas Mass schedule was modified based on how people attended in 2017. That schedule was repeated in 2019. The pandemic limited our Christmas observance to two livestreamed Masses.
This year as we continue to slowly emerge from the darkness and isolation of the pandemic we should consider new ways of coming together at Christmas by making the best use of the resources available to us as a parish comprising two civil communities.
With the decreasing number of priests each year, Father Jim will be the only priest available to celebrate Christmas Masses. It will be impossible to have more than one Mass going on at a time. The excessive effort of setting up and breaking down a gymnasium to look like a church for one vigil Mass only makes sense when there are no other churches available. The Church of the Nativity can safely accommodate in the church proper a larger number of people with chairs placed along the back walls and in the nooks in each row of pews. More seating can be set up in the adjacent hall that can still be conducive to participating at Mass. Beyond the practicalities, there is a profundity to the privilege of celebrating together Christmas Mass in a star-spired stable-styled church in a town possessing the name of the place of our Savior’s birth.
Taking into consideration we are one community centered in Christ, the expected increase in attendance, the size of the church buildings, and having one priest for the celebrations, the Christmas Mass Schedule for 2021 will be:
Friday, December 24, Christmas Eve
4* & 6 PM Church of the Nativity
10* PM Saint Teresa
Saturday, December 25, Christmas Day
9 AM Church of the Nativity
Sunday, December 26, Feast of the Holy Family
8 AM Church of the Nativity
10 AM & 12 NN Saint Teresa
Friday, January 31 Mary, the Holy Mother of God**
4 PM Saint Teresa
followed by Eucharistic Holy Hour for Peace
Saturday, January 1, Epiphany of the Lord (Vigil)
4 PM Saint Teresa
Sunday, January 2, Epiphany of the Lord
8 AM Church of the Nativity
10 AM & 12 NN Saint Teresa
*to be livestreamed
** not a holy day of obligation this year
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in these challenging times.