Merry Christmas to All
Our priests and staff members would like to wish all our parishioners a Blessed Christmas.
“We desire to be able to welcome Jesus at Christmas time, not in a cold manger of our heart, but in a heart full of love and humility, in a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.” St Teresa of Calcutta
“The grace which was revealed in our world is Jesus.. He has entered our history; he has shared our journey. He came to free us from darkness and to grant us light. In Him was revealed the grace, the mercy and the tender love of the Father.” Pope Francis
Christmas message from our Parish Priest, Fr Ignatius Yeo.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Peace be with you.
Christmas is a time for exchanging Christmas presents and this is a good tradition if it reminds us that Jesus Christ is God’s great gift to us, and it creates an easy way for us to show our love and appreciation for others. And when we happen to get something that we really wanted, we experience an intense feeling of happiness. And when we happen to give something that someone else really wanted, we experience an even more intense feeling of happiness. These feelings while are good, but they are passing. Our human heart cannot be satisfied by any mere thing, by any mere present, no matter how valuable or desired it may be. A material or physical present satisfies a material and physical desire or need, but as human beings, the core of our lives is not material nor physical but spiritual.
At first, the joy of the new toy is marred by the fear that we may lose or break it – material things can get lost or broken. But even if it survives, after playing with the new toy for a couple weeks, we get bored with it. We start looking around for a new version. But that does not happen with true friendship. Our true friends are living gifts, always new, always there to share our experiences and invite us to share theirs. A true friend is another person, a spiritual being who can know and love us and be known and loved by us. Our true and faithful friends never “wear out” like new toys; they keep giving us a living joy to life.
In the same way, God was not satisfied with giving us gifts that would wear out. He desired to give us a living gift, an ever-flowing fountain of joy. And so he gave us the gift of his perfect friendship – the gift of Himself, the perfectly faithful friend who will never fail us, no matter what we do – we never had to fear that he will be lost or broken. He is “Emmanuel”- God with us. That’s the power of Christmas. For those who have considered God as a God who is far away and uninvolved in their lives, to those who have struggled to feel hope in the midst of what they are facing — today He gives you this promise, ‘I will be with you.’ Not distant. Not uninvolved. Not uncaring. Not out there, somewhere. But here, close, with us. That’s the source of Christmas peace and joy – true, lasting, Christian peace and joy found only in Christ, in the members of His Mystical Body the Church.
My wish for you is that you may find Him “Emmanuel” in this family of St Anthony. I am sure I have, thank you one and all for being His real presence to me.
Merry Christmas brothers and sisters, family of St Anthony!