Spreading The Joy of Christmas in an Evening of Carols
It was an evening of great festivity and merriment as parishioners from all language groups came together for carol-singing on December 8th at SCIC. The event started with a warm-up session where everyone was on their feet singing along to Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child. As the evening progressed, various choir groups sang carols in Mandarin, Tamil, Bahasa Indonesia, Vietnamese, and English, treating the audience to familiar and new tunes.
Fr Dominic also led everyone in prayer and reflection on the meaning of Christmas, emphasizing John 3:16-17, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
Several parishioners came forward to share about what Christmas meant to them. Mr William Gomez shared that Christmas brought fond memories of his late wife baking cakes and cookies, which would fill the whole house with a glorious aroma. He added that Christmas to him is time with family and revealed that his hope for the parish is that it will continue to grow under the care of our priests and that the parishioners will be united.
Also sharing her thoughts was Mdm Lisa Cheng. She said that as a young child who was not a Christian, her idea of Christmas was what she saw in the movies – mainly snow, lights and family dinners – until she heard the story The Little Match Girl. From this story about a dying child’s dreams and hope, Lisa understood that Christmas was about sharing God’s love and blessings with the less fortunate and vowed to do that after converting to Catholicism.
A highlight of the evening was the splendid musical performance by sisters Ivana and Isabel, who warmed the hearts of the audience with beautiful renditions of carols including, O Come All Ye Faithful and We Three Kings on their keyboard and violin.
Enjoy these photos, which beautifully capture the expectant joy of a parish preparing to welcome the newborn King. (by KA)
