Dearly Beloved Parishioners,
Christmas is near, Christmas is here!
The Christmas season is the festive and holy season which brings immense hope to both individuals and the world by offering a message of love, peace, joy and renewal through the celebration of Jesus’ birth.
The Jubilee Year centered on the theme ‘Pilgrims of hope’ will officially end on January 6, 2026, but the world continues to remain in need of God’s love and liberation from the slavery of Sin, Selfishness and Self-centeredness. We watch, with pain, the recent incidents of violence, crime, political uncertainties, civil ethnic terror and devastating wars that have created a world of hostility and economic disaster, plunging people into extreme poverty, hopelessness, homelessness, marginalization and migration.
All the nations are suffering due to the “I”, “Me” and “Myself” attitude of a few world leaders who consolidate wealth and power into their tightened fists, whilst ensuring that others have less. This attitude is often summarized as ‘The art of becoming rich is the art of keeping others poor’ which is so rampant in our days. The ‘fakeness and faraway from the truth and factual reality’ tendency widens the gap of homelessness and hopelessness in our society, nation and world at large. Christmas is all about the spirit of all-inclusiveness, accommodating and accompanying those around us in their journey, on the road to peace, joy and hope, regardless of their circumstances or abilities.
Can I help to build a world with faith in God, wherein our homes become a little place of joy by opening our loving hearts to the less fortunate and the homeless?
A heartwarming story of ‘Wally the Innkeeper’, published in the Readers Digest talks about a spontaneous, sincere act which transformed the Christmas pageant, perfectly capturing the true spirit of Christmas. Wally a large, clumsy nine-year-old boy had difficulty keeping up in school. He desperately wanted a role in the annual Nativity play. He was found unsuitable for any important role and was cast as the innkeeper since it required only shouting out, “NO ROOM! GET AWAY!”.
During the performance which was attended by a large audience, when Joseph and Mary came to the door, Wally delivered his line “NO ROOM HERE! GET AWAY!”. Then Joseph pleaded, “PLEASE! MY WIFE IS PREGNANT! he told them to be gone as instructed by the off-stage prompter. However, as he looked at ‘Mary’, his empathy took over and he went off-script and called them back, with tear filled eyes, exclaiming “There is no room here; but you can have my room!”
In today’s world, we encounter many people who play the “No room at the inn” card. There is no room in their inns. They do not mingle with the outsiders and the outcastes and the cast outs. They often create insiders and outsiders with no room for the latter.
God continues to knock at the door of our hearts every moment of our life. Let us open up the inns of our hearts for Him through care and concern for the apparently “less fortunate” children of an Everlasting God.
A popular song, ‘Heal the World” by Michael Jackson echoes the need of the hour and a wish for the humanity of making the world a better place. “….make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race…”
I pray that we would keep the ‘Inns’ of our hearts open so that willingly and joyfully we would share our goodness, kindness and love through our words and more so in our actions specially to the needy, suffering, less fortunate and to the homeless.
On behalf of our Parish clergy team Fr. Edwin, Fr. George, Fr. Lucas and Deacon Ebin, I wish you all and your families,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2026.
Fr. John Mascarenhas SVD
Parish Priest