VANCOUVER—Going to Mass once on Christmas weekend is like giving your spouse one gift when you should give two.

That’s according to vicar general Father Gary Franken, who hopes Catholics remember to attend Mass on Sunday and again on Christmas Day, which falls on a Monday, this year.

“Whether Christmas falls on a Monday, Wednesday, or Sunday, we go to Mass on Christmas Day. And whenever that is, we go to Mass on Sunday,” Father Franken told The B.C. Catholic Dec. 7.

“The challenge is they come immediately after the other” this year. The fourth Sunday of Advent falls on Sunday, Dec. 24, while Christmas Day is the next day, Monday, Dec. 25.

Father Franken says that means going to Mass two days in a row, or even twice in one day.

“It’s the celebration of two different Masses. One is the fourth Sunday of Advent and one is Christmas,” he said. “To say you want to do two in one is mixing two things together that don’t go.”

This year, the fourth week of Advent lasts only one day: Sunday, Dec. 24. Anyone going to Mass that morning will be celebrating Advent, not Christmas.

When we have two holy days together ... we still need to make that two different services, two different Masses, two different celebrations.
Father Gary Franken

“When we have two holy days together ... we still need to make that two different services, two different Masses, two different celebrations.”

The same goes for New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, which also falls on a Monday this year. Father Franken said the expectation is Catholics go to Mass on Sunday morning, Dec. 31, and then again for the anticipated Mass that evening or on the morning of Jan. 1.

“The further apart the Masses are in time, probably the better,” he suggested, saying it can help families place special emphasis on each occasion: “This day I’m marking Advent and this day I’m marking Christmas.”

“The bigger picture here is: can you let the liturgy guide your growth in Christian life?”

The U.S. Conference of Bishops released a newsletter earlier this year reminding Catholics in that country to go to Mass twice on Christmas weekend.

“The prevailing view of many canon lawyers is that each obligation must be fulfilled with a separate Mass,” they said. “Thus, when consecutive obligations occur on Saturday-Sunday or Sunday-Monday, the faithful must attend Mass twice to fulfill two separate obligations.”

They added pastors and bishops may grant dispensations to individuals or families “for a just cause and subject to any regulations laid down by the diocesan bishop.”