If we are to spend this time thinking of the birth of Christ and making your “holiday” more Christ-centered and spiritual why is it we only get to go to church on Christmas day every 6 years or so when it happens to hit on a Sunday? I have to yet to understand that concept. I am so thrilled this year that we actually get to go to church on Christmas Day. What a better way to keep Christ in your Christmas then to get away from all the gifts and food etc then by going to partake of the Sacrament and think of Christ. I miss Midnight Mass from the old days.
Christmas Eve VS No church on Sunday
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Sally
I am a 50-year-old mom of 5 and Nana of 12 grandkids. I am the Family History Consultant as of beginning of Dec 2006. Not a good day I have to say. I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for almost 28 years. I have served in just about every position available except for the Young Women organisation. My favorite thing to do in life is spend time with my grandchildren View all posts by Sally
I think we should be having our most important gospel learning and spiritual experiences at home. I don’t think holding an extra sacrament meeting not on the Sabbath would improve our celebration of Christ’s coming.
I’d be up for a Mormons Mass, but it would depend on who was speaking.
Our ward is meeting for a combined SM with the other wards that share our building. I feel bad for whoever has to give a talk on Christmas Day, in front of three wards.
Kim, you need to CLARIFY why you would be up for a Mormon Mass….come on now, ‘fess up.
I’d love to give a talk in front of three wards. The bigger, the better.
‘Cause then we can come home and eat tonnes of food like we used to do after Catholic midnight mass.
:) Yep that’s why
ltbugaf
I agree, we don’t need to attend Church on Christmas. But I do enjoy that we get to this year.
ltbugaf you obviously have never spent Christmas at our house if you could think that the most important gospel learning and spiritual experiences happen in our home on that day hehehehhee. That’s WHY I like to go to church on Christmas Day.. .to be able to worship in peace and quiet. And to be able to focus on something other then who is going to clean up that mess that I left behind!!!
For me it’s sort of divided in two. We try to do most of the sacred stuff on Christmas Eve, and all the Santa stuff on Christmas day. Seems like a reasonable system. I’ve had to compromise with my wife, though, who is used to opening one present on Christmas Eve. Pure heresy in my family, but what can you do?
ltbutgaf we had to compromise in our family too.. our first Christmas together was 3 months after we had joined the church and I was equally shocked that they not only did not have midnight mass but that they did not have church the next day either!!
I almost left the church at that time. Then on the afternoon of Christmas Eve I started getting dinner ready with the turkey etc and hubby kept asking if it wasn’t a little too early and I said no we need it for dinner and what is your problem?? Finally he clues in and asks what time exactly are we planning on eating Christmas dinner and I nonchalantly say after we open presents at midnight.
Speaking to a man who not only did NOT open presents in the middle of the night, nor wake up children in the middle of the night nor eat a big turkey dinner in the middle of the night with your entire family, it was ironic how he said we are NOT doing that and my family is NOT going to be eating at 12 midnight but at 12 NOON the next day and the children are NOT going to be opening up the gifts till morning!!
It took a slammed bedroom door and about an hour of tears before he called his family and told them he didn’t care what they did but they better be there by midnight to open presents and to have Christmas dinner.
After the celebrations were done that year we sat down and compromised. He wanted us to join the church and I had to give up midnight mass and going to church on Christmas Day he would have to give up sleeping at midnight. The 2nd Christmas we shared we woke the kids up at midnight and opened presents. Stockings are opened in the morning (Santa comes on his returned trip back to the North Pole and fills stockings for the children that go back to bed like good kids)and we have our big dinner around noon or so.
This year we get to add going to church on Christmas Day and I for one can not wait :) And I am a strong believer of compromise. If someone wants to do something other then I want I just keep giving them more information until they see it my way. :-P
Mum
Yep, you are right. I have to admit that after 11 Christmases I am beginning to get accustomed to the midnight present opening…lol
The same goes with Easter too
Now I need to get you converted to eating at midnight.
oh good grief, yeah RIGHT. no way, not unless i can go for a run before going to bed.
gee Mary and who was it that 2 Christmases ago complained that there was TOO much food? TOO much cheese on the lasagna and that he had gained TOO much weight while here?? :-D
I served in Quebec but never got to see a Quebecois Christmas. My first was in the MTC and for my second I was stationed in the southern reaches of the Canada Montreal Mission, in Ogdensburg, New York. My companion and I still tried to go to a midnight mass, but due to freezing rain we headed home for our own safety.
LOL
Did he?? Kim complain about TOO much food??
Just because I gained too much weight doesn’t mean I thought there was too much food.
ltbugaf
I’m Quebecoise and I live in Montreal, my whole family is Catholic and believe me, despite this i’ve never seen a quebecois christmas nor a catholic christmas so no worries, catholicism is pretty dead here even if people say they are all catholics.
They’re transforming the churches into condos. Go figure.
hmmmm I have a lot of family in Quebece and my immediate family come from a small french town in Sask and I didn’t know there was any other way of celebrating Christmas other then with midnight mass then a reveillon at grandparents home afterwards with the big dinner etc at 2 am or so then again another one at dinner time on the 25th… it was the same when my sask family went back to Quebec… so am not sure why the difference