Father is right on the money on that one. Our society is prone to getting Christmas in our faces as soon as the clocks strike Midnight on November 1st. People are so focused on making sure they get the perfect Christmas gifts for someone, and the real meaning of the holiday is lost in the chaos.
This saying also holds true for liturgical ministers. I volunteer to decorate my church for Christmas, and it’s exhausting trying to make sure everything is where it should be. On Christmas Eve, I have to serve at Midnight Mass, and then I have to go back for the early morning 8 am Mass to serve again, and then I volunteered to sacristan for a fellow friend at the 11 am Mass so that she can go home and spend time with family. Then, after Mass is over, I have to go in each pew and discard leftover programs. There is so much running around that I sometimes forget WHY I am doing what I am doing. Most of the time, I end up going home after all the Masses and sleep for most of the day. What good is that?
It is important to remember why we spend this time preparing and for Whom we spend this this time preparing. If we forget that, then why are we preparing in the first place?
