The Rev. Mr. Grinch

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Dec 09, 2005

Please don't tell anyone at the USCCB, but the latest craze in Christmas-morning church services is...to have no church services.

Thus far the trend seems to be confined only to the "megachurches," some of which can offer a handy DVD for families to pop into the new machine from Walmart that appeared under the aluminum Xmas tree. And it applies, curiously, only when Christmas falls on Sunday. All very confusing for American Catholics, who have been told that when a holy day falls on Monday, you can skip Mass that day, to avoid the unspeakable hardship of going to church two days in a row.

So you're wondering: How long can it be before Catholic bishops decide to eliminate the requirement to attend church services on December 25-- you know, the day popularly known by the contraction of the term 'Christ's Mass'-- if that happens to be an inconvenient date?

Personally, I say it never happens. Doesn't your diocese take up the collection for the priests' retirement fund that day?