When Hope Becomes Reality

Each year as I prepare my Christmas homily, I often think about sharing the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914. It is a marvelous story that began when some German soldiers along the western front fighting British soldiers began singing “Silent Night” and lighting candles. The British soldiers heard the Christmas carol being sung and were so moved they began singing “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Gradually soldiers from both sides started to emerge from their trenches and exchanged greetings with one another. Though afraid it could be a trap, they moved closer and started shaking hands with one another. This led to the exchanging of simple gifts, like chocolates, cigarettes, pins, and morsels of food. They even played a game or two of soccer. Of course both sides had soldiers who had been killed. The soldiers assisted one another in burying their fellow soldiers who had died. The scale of the truce was never repeated, as commanders quickly clamped down on fraternization, making future truces unthinkable. This story remains a poignant story of compassion and a powerful symbol of hope, reminding us that shared humanity can transcend conflict. It is a story that reminds us that hope can become reality.   

We are seeing a story of hope becoming reality unfolding in our Church. Because I had to write this article before Christmas, I can’t say how our Christmas Mass attendance compared to last year. However, I can tell you that on Sundays and weekdays we are definitely seeing an increase in our Mass attendance. From 2014 to 2024 we saw Mass attendance decrease. In the last year we have seen this turn around with month to month increases generally being between 6% - 11%. We are not back to the numbers we enjoyed in 2014, but we are better than we were in 2019, 2023, and 2024. Last Easter Sunday, we went from 1,765 in 2024 to 2,235 in 2025. Our Christmas Masses increased 12% from 2023 to 2024. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. 

We can ask ourselves, “what happened?” What did we do that prompted this change? But I believe we have a more important question to ask: What do we do as a result of this increase and hopefully future increases?

If we ask ourselves the first set of questions, we will be tempted to pat ourselves on the back (which isn’t a bad thing) and rest on what seems to be some success. This is a certain formula for us to remain constant or even slip backwards again. If we ask ourselves the second question, we will continue to move forward and will do what our Diocese and in fact the greater Church has been challenging us to do – We are seeing a story of hope becoming reality unfolding in our Church. Because I had to write this article before Christmas, I can’t say how our Christmas Mass attendance compared to last year. However, I can tell you that on Sundays and weekdays we are definitely seeing an increase in our Mass attendance. From 2014 to 2024 we saw Mass attendance decrease. In the last year we have seen this turn around with month to month increases generally being between 6% - 11%. We are not back to the numbers we enjoyed in 2014, but we are better than we were in 2019, 2023, and 2024. Last Easter Sunday, we went from 1,765 in 2024 to 2,235 in 2025. Our Christmas Masses increased 12% from 2023 to 2024. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. 

In January we are going to share goals that our Parish Pastoral Council has constructed for us. Our Diocese is now requiring us to submit goals, much like we submit an annual budget. In setting our goals, the challenge will be not to ask ourselves how do we get to the goal, but what do we do when we get there. If we put in place now what we need when the goal becomes reality, it is actually the more effective way of assuring that we will meet the goal. 

So ask yourself, what do we look like if we have the crowds of people we do on Christmas and Easter attending Mass every Sunday, not just on Christmas and Easter? What do we need to have in place so people feel they are welcomed, belong, and growing in their relationship with Jesus? I will give you a hint. We will need to figure out how to be mission focused, like Jesus and the apostles. A great thing to envision as we enjoy the new life we see in the manger.