My dear people of God,
Christmas is celebrated pracically throughout the world, but unfortunately for many the celebrations are focused on the externals – decorations, gifts, parties, dinners, etc and the real meaning of Christmas is absent. Christ must be the centre of our celebrations for there is no Christmas without Christ!
For us therefore it is a celebration of FAITH. We believe that Christ, the Son of God was made flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary. It is a celebration of HOPE. The problems in the world – wars, injustices, persecutions, corruption, immorality, etc and also the difficulties we may experience can make us feel insecure and afraid.
However, the mystery of Christmas that we celebrate renews in our hearts the conviction that in whatever situation we find ourselves, we are not alone, because God is with us forever. Jesus, our Lord has come to be with us and is our travelling companion and shares our jouney in life through joys, struggles and trials.
Above all, Christmas is a time of LOVE. We celebrate God’s love of us: “God so loved the world that He sent His only Begotten son!”
Christmas is God’s LANGUAGE OF LOVE for us. To celebrate Christmas we are invited to speak and promote this language of Love.
When people speak the language of love, wonderful things will begin to happen everywhere:
Nations will begin to share their resources and talents with one another and reach out to the poor.
Races will begin to treat one another with dignity.
Religions will respect each other and work to promote peace and harmony.
Families will live in harmony.
Everywhere people wil clasp their hands in friendship.
And so, my dear people of God, let us celebrate Christmas by personally speaking the language of love and promoting it among all we come into contact with.
May you have the gladness of Christmas which is HOPE, the spirit of Christmas which is PEACE and the heart of Christmas which is LOVE.
A BLESSED CHRISTMAS & A SPIRIT-FILLED NEW YEAR to all.
Yours devotedly in Christ,
Archbishop Nicholas Chia
Comments
Your call to bring Christ in every Christmas celebration is timely and needy. Let us remember Christ, the Prophet of Love and expand our hearts by enjoying that Divine Love.
For your kind information, we have a Christmas worship (puja) in our Ramakrishna Mission Temple at 179, Bartley Road, Singapore at 7 pm to 8.30pm on 24th December. This is a regular practice followed universally by all the centres of the Ramakrishna Mission for the last 100 over years.
A real presence of Christ is felt during that puja. If you encourage your followers to attend such worships and send them, they are most welcome to our temple to attend. This will enhance our brotherhood as children of ONE GOD, but called by various names.
Kindly accept my humble respects (NAMASKAR) at your holy feet.
Yours sincerely,
PRAKASH KAMANAT
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