For as long as we can remember, if you grew up in a Christian house, Christmas Eve was time to spend with family, eat dinner and drive to church at night to give thanks to God for all the blessings.
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not only are we staying away from our family members, but also, churches are not holding the regular Masses and services they would normally do.
Usually, Christmas services would be the most packed of the year. With sometimes hundreds of Christians feeling thankful, some of them standing in the back with their family wearing their best clothes, keeping the tradition alive.
“Pre-COVID it was always a special time,” Sheri Dittman, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Brownsville, said.
“Families from near and far would gather, everyone would come and everyone was dressed up for Christmas Eve. It was a night time and we lit the candle, the Christ Candle and everyone would light their candle from the Christ Candle. Each time, the lights would dim a little bit more and a little bit more until we were in absolute darkness and all you could see are the candle lights. I’m getting goosebumps just by thinking about it.”
Dittman said Christmas was in fact the most special time of the year. All of her children flying home from afar, spending time with loved ones and, of course, singing Silent Night at church surrounded by dozens of faithful believers who would stand and sing holding a lit white candle.
“It was always special. It would bring tears to people’s eyes,” she said remembering. “Christmas is a special time anyway but it gets so hectic, especially if you have young children, because you want to make it really special for them, too. Sometimes, that includes talking about Santa Claus and gift giving, but when you are there at the service, it is all about Christ, that’s when it all comes together and you know this is about Jesus Christ and God coming down and living among us in the form of Jesus; that’s what makes it really special.”
First Presbyterian will still hold an in-person service at the church for Christmas Eve but with some modifications to keep everyone safe. They are only letting people who had reservations attend and will be at approximately 25 percent capacity. Also, candles will be electrical only to maintain social distancing.
Dittman said even though Christmas will not be like it always is, she is happy her children will be able to watch the service from afar.
“The majority continues to want to be online on Zoom,” she said. “We set the sanctuary with cameras, microphones, speakers and we have a projector so that people who are in the sanctuary can also see everybody that is on Zoom.”
Bishop Daniel E. Flores, of the Catholic of Diocese of Brownsville, said the pandemic has made it really difficult for families to gather during Christmas time and there’s a lot of sorrow because people have lost loved ones. He said it helps to focus on God during Christmas.
“Even though it is difficult, it kind of helps us if we focus on the fact that Christmas is a day to remember the closeness of God, because God became one of us,” he said. “This union, between God and us is a source of strength, but it is also a source of hope.”
Flores said Christmas this year will be very different. On previous years, he would say Mass at one of the immigration detention centers for the young people who would have to spend Christmas there. They would also visit jails and nursing homes to help them remember the grace of Christmas.
“Right now it is not possible. There are very few children there, as I understand, compared to other times,” he said. “But also, it is because it is not safe, in terms of the protocol that we follow. It is very difficult because of the limitations that we follow because of the virus.”
Flores will hold a Christmas Midnight Mass at 12 a.m. Friday at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. The Mass will have very limited seating and will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube. He said one of the greatest things of Christmas is to realize the Lord wants us to care for one another.
“One of the central messages of Christmas is that the coming of the Lord is always an invitation for us to think about others, especially those who are suffering, those who are grieving, those who are sick and those who care for them,” he said.
“In a certain way, this year, I think that because we have to focus more on the spiritual meaning of the event, of the birth of Christ, to help us set our priorities and set our sense of what’s really important in our lives. Families have been hard-hit economically, people have lost their jobs, so maybe they don’t have the money to spend on Christmas as they did before, but that’s OK. As long as we can welcome the care that we have for other people.”
