There’s always a lot of clamor this time of the year to “keep Christ in Christmas”. I don’t really get into that argument very much; I don’t think there’s a lot of compelling discourse in it. I also think it’s misguided to expect some conglomo company to include the word “Christmas” in its holiday advertising: companies exist to make money and only to make money. Hopefully they do it in a morally responsible manner. But let’s face it: the only interest that retailers have in Christmas is that people buy stuff at Christmastime. Nominal Christians buy stuff at Christmastime and nonbelievers buy stuff at Christmastime. The retail Christmas-industrial complex is only focused on selling stuff.

There’s actually something that I think is more important than encouraging Globomart to include the C-word in their December (and November and October and September and August) advertising campaigns. But it’s not as catchy and the AFA would have a hard time organizing a boycott on this one:

Keep Mass in Christmas.

If you’re not a regular Church-goer, you should be. It’s in the book, you gotta do it. Take Christmas as an opportunity to go back.

Do you remember that story a few years ago how some of the big megachurches were canceling Christmas Day services because they didn’t think people would go? Unfathomable! But truth is stranger than fiction, and I don’t expect much from the megachurches.

Church polemics aside, Christmas isn’t really a point negotiation. Go. Go!

I’m not sure when this “Welcome Home” thing started for returning Catholics and for converts to Catholicism, but it’s become the parlance of people seeking the Truth of Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church. I like it. Come Home for Christmas.

Yes, we have to keep Christ in Christmas. But that’s only half of the deal. Keep Mass in Christmas, too. If it’s been a long time since you went, you can look up the Churches in your area at MassTimes.org. Once you’ve found your best bet, you should put that parish in the google and find their website to double check Christmas Mass times. They’re different than usual. But don’t call asking what time Midnight Mass starts… unless you’re going to church at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where the pope’s Midnight Mass starts at 10:00 PM.

Oh, and here’s another tip: if you’re one of those people that goes for the Christmas-Eve-as-fulfilling-your-obligation thing (which Holy Mother Church allows), then be aware that the place is going to be FREAKING PACKED. Go early. It’s actually easier to get into Church on Christmas Morning than it is on Christmas Eve. Still, some measure of advance is in order. If Mass starts at 10:00 AM, it would behoove you to plan on getting to the parish sometime around 9:30ish. Don’t let it catch you by surprise.

This is your chance to go back to Church. Your friends won’t even think it’s weird that you’re going, since that’s when EVERYONE goes. Go! Keep Mass in Christmas!