Reconnecting with Christmas
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
With a family of five children and a never ending series of activities on their agenda, Kathleen and Glenn Ahern know how difficult it can be to pause during Advent and reflect as a family on the true meaning of Christmas.
But despite the shopping that remained to be done or the Christmas cards left to send, the entire Ahern family set aside a few hours Dec. 19 to prepare for Christ’s birth in song by taking part in a Christmas Carol Festival in St. Rose of Lima Parish, Freehold.
“It is hard to fit something like this in when there is so much going on in our schedules,” said Kathleen Ahern. “But it is just nice to step away from that, to hear the Gospel and to have time to reflect. It really brings everyone together.”
St. Rose of Lima was one of 14 parishes to host a Christmas Carol Festival during the month of December, with an estimated total of nearly 4,000 people participating in festivals across the diocese. The award-winning program, developed by diocesan director of Evangelization and Parish Development John Boucher and his wife, Therese, is a break from the growing secular focus of Christmas that helps people of all ages connect with their faith during the holiday season.
Click here for a photo gallery from the festivals
“It is a nice way to put the right spin on Christmas,” said Glenn Ahern, who added that the program is also an excellent way to teach his children what they really celebrate on Dec. 25.
“It helps to balance out what they are exposed to in other places and it is nice to let them know that there is another side, a real side to Christmas instead of just the sanitized holiday things that go on,” he said. “This is our way of putting the emphasis back where it belongs.”
Evangelizing Opportunity
The Christmas Carol Festivals invite people to come together during Advent to sing faith-based songs such as “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and “Silent Night.” But singing festive songs is only the beginning.
While each parish adds their own personal touches to the festival, common elements include Scripture readings, individual faith witnesses and lessons about the meaning behind the songs. Parish leaders attend a workshop to learn how to put the festival together and begin their planning as early as the spring, with teams of volunteers from ministries including music, evangelization, adult faith formation and hospitality pitching in to make the festival a success.
The Christmas Carol Festivals are also designed as an evangelization tool, offering a first step back to the Church for those who may have been away or are not actively practicing their faith. Each parish can extend an invitation at the festival for a next step, which can range from volunteering with a social concerns ministry activity to attending a potluck dinner. In past years, parishes have reported new parishioners joining their community as a result of the Christmas Carol Festival.
In St. Aloysius Parish, Jackson, nearly 600 people turned out Dec. 10 for a Christmas Carol Festival. Joan Dwyer, coordinator of the parish’s Catholics Returning Home program, said that the event offered a relaxing and fun environment that was welcoming to all Catholics, including those who have been away from the Church.
“Everybody likes the carols and everybody wants to sing,” she said. “You get such a good feeling of community, that you are together with other people who are enjoying the same thing you are, and it makes you feel part of the whole.”
And while some in the crowd may not have been regular parishioners, Dwyer said, it was difficult to spot them because everyone blended together – which is exactly what the festival strives to achieve.
“Nobody stood out,” she said. “It was meant to make everyone feel part of the group, to feel that they belonged.”
Faith Seekers
While the Christmas Carol Festival has grown each year since it was implemented, this year’s attendance numbers were an overwhelming increase from last year. In several cases, parishes that were holding the event for the first time had hundreds of people turn out.
Among those parishes was St. Joan of Arc, Marlton, where an estimated 800 people participated in their Dec. 5 festival. St. Joseph Sister Eleanor O’Connell, pastoral associate in St. Joan of Arc, attributed their large turnout to strong promotional efforts and the encouragement of pastor Msgr. Richard LaVerghetta, who urged parishioners not only to attend but to bring friends and family who do not regularly go to Mass.
The overwhelming response also showed that people recognized that it was a rare opportunity for a spiritual experience during the busy holiday season.
“We don’t really have an arena to sing Christmas carols together. Many people under 40 don’t even know them,” Sister Eleanor said.
When it came time to sing “The 12 Days of Christmas,” Msgr. LaVerghetta explained the significance of each of the days and divided the attendees into 12 groups, each singing their own part of the song.
“People loved it,” Sister Eleanor said. “And they competed against each other to sing the loudest.”
For many young people, the most well-known Christmas songs are popular classics like “Jingle Bells” or “Frosty the Snowman.” But the Christmas Carol Festivals are a venue to introduce more traditional Christian carols to a new generation while helping older participants rediscover those songs, which are largely absent from radio stations and rarely heard outside of a church setting.
“It is important for the young people to hear some of the carols like ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,’ or ‘First Noel.’ These were songs that when I was young, we used to hear all the time,” said Jeff Surgent, one of the coordinators of St. Rose of Lima’s Christmas Carol Festival.
“And I think those are the songs that really make Christmas alive in your heart,” he added. “The words that are in those songs really tell the story of the Christ child and I think it is really a message that needs to not only be reminded to the adults but also be embedded in the children.”
And regardless of what brought participants to the festival, they all seemed to have one thing in common at the conclusion of the event – a cheerful smile and a renewed joy and excitement for the coming of Christmas.
“I think that people leave the Christmas Carol Festival in the Christmas spirit,” said Surgent. “It is something that they can spread to wherever they go.”
[[In-content Ad]]Related Stories
Saturday, September 23, 2023
E-Editions
Events
With a family of five children and a never ending series of activities on their agenda, Kathleen and Glenn Ahern know how difficult it can be to pause during Advent and reflect as a family on the true meaning of Christmas.
But despite the shopping that remained to be done or the Christmas cards left to send, the entire Ahern family set aside a few hours Dec. 19 to prepare for Christ’s birth in song by taking part in a Christmas Carol Festival in St. Rose of Lima Parish, Freehold.
“It is hard to fit something like this in when there is so much going on in our schedules,” said Kathleen Ahern. “But it is just nice to step away from that, to hear the Gospel and to have time to reflect. It really brings everyone together.”
St. Rose of Lima was one of 14 parishes to host a Christmas Carol Festival during the month of December, with an estimated total of nearly 4,000 people participating in festivals across the diocese. The award-winning program, developed by diocesan director of Evangelization and Parish Development John Boucher and his wife, Therese, is a break from the growing secular focus of Christmas that helps people of all ages connect with their faith during the holiday season.
Click here for a photo gallery from the festivals
“It is a nice way to put the right spin on Christmas,” said Glenn Ahern, who added that the program is also an excellent way to teach his children what they really celebrate on Dec. 25.
“It helps to balance out what they are exposed to in other places and it is nice to let them know that there is another side, a real side to Christmas instead of just the sanitized holiday things that go on,” he said. “This is our way of putting the emphasis back where it belongs.”
Evangelizing Opportunity
The Christmas Carol Festivals invite people to come together during Advent to sing faith-based songs such as “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and “Silent Night.” But singing festive songs is only the beginning.
While each parish adds their own personal touches to the festival, common elements include Scripture readings, individual faith witnesses and lessons about the meaning behind the songs. Parish leaders attend a workshop to learn how to put the festival together and begin their planning as early as the spring, with teams of volunteers from ministries including music, evangelization, adult faith formation and hospitality pitching in to make the festival a success.
The Christmas Carol Festivals are also designed as an evangelization tool, offering a first step back to the Church for those who may have been away or are not actively practicing their faith. Each parish can extend an invitation at the festival for a next step, which can range from volunteering with a social concerns ministry activity to attending a potluck dinner. In past years, parishes have reported new parishioners joining their community as a result of the Christmas Carol Festival.
In St. Aloysius Parish, Jackson, nearly 600 people turned out Dec. 10 for a Christmas Carol Festival. Joan Dwyer, coordinator of the parish’s Catholics Returning Home program, said that the event offered a relaxing and fun environment that was welcoming to all Catholics, including those who have been away from the Church.
“Everybody likes the carols and everybody wants to sing,” she said. “You get such a good feeling of community, that you are together with other people who are enjoying the same thing you are, and it makes you feel part of the whole.”
And while some in the crowd may not have been regular parishioners, Dwyer said, it was difficult to spot them because everyone blended together – which is exactly what the festival strives to achieve.
“Nobody stood out,” she said. “It was meant to make everyone feel part of the group, to feel that they belonged.”
Faith Seekers
While the Christmas Carol Festival has grown each year since it was implemented, this year’s attendance numbers were an overwhelming increase from last year. In several cases, parishes that were holding the event for the first time had hundreds of people turn out.
Among those parishes was St. Joan of Arc, Marlton, where an estimated 800 people participated in their Dec. 5 festival. St. Joseph Sister Eleanor O’Connell, pastoral associate in St. Joan of Arc, attributed their large turnout to strong promotional efforts and the encouragement of pastor Msgr. Richard LaVerghetta, who urged parishioners not only to attend but to bring friends and family who do not regularly go to Mass.
The overwhelming response also showed that people recognized that it was a rare opportunity for a spiritual experience during the busy holiday season.
“We don’t really have an arena to sing Christmas carols together. Many people under 40 don’t even know them,” Sister Eleanor said.
When it came time to sing “The 12 Days of Christmas,” Msgr. LaVerghetta explained the significance of each of the days and divided the attendees into 12 groups, each singing their own part of the song.
“People loved it,” Sister Eleanor said. “And they competed against each other to sing the loudest.”
For many young people, the most well-known Christmas songs are popular classics like “Jingle Bells” or “Frosty the Snowman.” But the Christmas Carol Festivals are a venue to introduce more traditional Christian carols to a new generation while helping older participants rediscover those songs, which are largely absent from radio stations and rarely heard outside of a church setting.
“It is important for the young people to hear some of the carols like ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,’ or ‘First Noel.’ These were songs that when I was young, we used to hear all the time,” said Jeff Surgent, one of the coordinators of St. Rose of Lima’s Christmas Carol Festival.
“And I think those are the songs that really make Christmas alive in your heart,” he added. “The words that are in those songs really tell the story of the Christ child and I think it is really a message that needs to not only be reminded to the adults but also be embedded in the children.”
And regardless of what brought participants to the festival, they all seemed to have one thing in common at the conclusion of the event – a cheerful smile and a renewed joy and excitement for the coming of Christmas.
“I think that people leave the Christmas Carol Festival in the Christmas spirit,” said Surgent. “It is something that they can spread to wherever they go.”
[[In-content Ad]]