Ponggal 2025: A Blend of Culture and Faith to Thank God for All the Blessings
Ponggal is celebrated every year by Indians as sign of thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest. It draws the faith community of all races together for a rich cultural experience. The celebration on 19 January,began with boiling of the milk at the entrance of the church for bountiful blessings followed by mass, high tea, traditional performances and dinner at the Nativity hall.
In his homily, Fr Dom explained two important points of the celebration.
- Sugar canes represent unity since they do not grow alone but in a cluster originating from a single root system. Similarly, we draw our identity from God as children of God and as such we are to grow as one faith community. He said the sweetness from the sugar cane is essential and we too should retain our sweetness of our faith.
- Ponggal rice are sweet and rich because of the varieties of ingredients such as nuts, raisins, ghee which adds taste to the food. In the same way, we all have different personalities and traits but when we come together, it makes the parish a unique place that blends all the characters and talents to make the church alive and colourful.
Fr. Dom praised the leaders of the church for their cooperation noting that the CNY decor was beautifully adorned inside the church while Ponggal decorations were thoughtfully placed at the entrance and in the hall. He remarked that this demonstrated the community’s maturity and Christian spirit in working together as one people of God. SR
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