St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church
Mass Reservations for Christmas Masses
From the Pastor | Fr. Michael Robinson
Dear Parishioners of St. Elizabeth Seton,
Merry Christmas! It is good to hear that beautiful greeting in these strange times that seem anything but “merry”. We know however, that Jesus was born in strange times also. Even in difficult times, God sends “good news of great joy” and we must celebrate the Nativity of our Lord with joy and seek God’s favor and peace. Our Christmas celebrations this year will be unlike any other year. It is almost certain that we will be celebrating our Lord’s birth outside on the plaza. The bishop has given us the permission to begin the celebration of the Vigil on Christmas Eve beginning at noon. We are planning on having the Mass at Midnight on Christmas Eve at Noon, 2 pm, 4 pm and 6 pm. We have moved up the times to take advantage of the better light and weather. Our Christmas day mass celebrations will remain at 7:30 am, 9:30 am and 11:30 am. We will livestream the noon Christmas Eve mass and the 9:30 am Christmas day mass. We will have about 120 folding chairs set up on the plaza but we are asking you also to bring your own chairs if you would prefer. We are hoping to accommodate 200 people at each mass with proper social distancing between people of different families and you will be required to wear a mask. Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance to the plaza.
In order to assure that we do not have more people than we can accommodate on the plaza we are asking people to make reservations for mass. This will allow us to spread people out over the 7 masses. We will have Christmas music at most of the masses but we are not able to encourage congregational singing (I am sure your hearts will sing). It is hard to predict what sort of weather we might have so please come prepared with proper clothing and umbrellas if it is damp or cold. I am sure that we will not allow anything to dampen our Christmas spirit!
If you are experiencing any symptoms of the cold or flu or if you are immune compromised in any way please remain at home and participate in our live-streamed services.
Our Christmas collections are an important part of our parish budget so I would ask you to please be good stewards of God’s blessings and be generous in your Christmas giving and place your offering in the wicker offering baskets at the entrances to the plaza. The baskets will not be passed around. Thank you for your support and understanding of this. On-line givers can make their offerings on-line and those at home can mail them in if preferred.
We will not “cancel” Christmas, even if the weather proves challenging. Bundle up and dress appropriately for the weather and we will keep our hearts safe and warm. The dispensation from the obligation to attend mass on this Holy Day is still in effect but I am sure that you will not want to miss Christmas! I am also sure that this will be a Christmas that we will talk about and remember for years to come!
Jesus Christ, our savior, was born in a stable - we can do this! I ask our Lord’s special blessings for all of your families. Merry Christmas!
In the love of the Christ child,
Fr. Michael
Christmas Mass Reservations open at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, Dec. 15th
St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church
Email: info@seschurch.org
Website: www.seschurch.org
Location: 6628 Santa Isabel Street, Carlsbad, CA, USA
Phone: 760-438-3393