John Rodrigues

Udupi, Dec 26: The Festive Mass of the birth of Jesus was celebrated on December 24 at 7 pm in the Church premises of St John the Evangelist Church, Pangla. The Celebration began with the Carols Singing at 6:30 pm.

Thereafter, the festive mass was celebrated by the Vicar General of Udupi Diocese, Msgr Baptist Menezes. The Concelebrants were the Parish Priest, Dr Leslie D’Souza, Fr Vincent Coelho and Fr Lawrence Mendonca.

Msgr Baptist Menezes preached the homily and in his reflection highlighted three points to ponder upon. He said that Christmas means ‘sharing, thanking and appreciating’.

After the Mass, a Christmas Cake was cut to share the Joy of Christmas. Fr Leslie thanked everyone for the support and co-operation rendered by the parishioners. Three children of the parish were awarded prizes for winning the Elocution competition at the Diocese level.

The ICYM organization of the Parish then took over the dais to make the parishioners feel more joyful by conducting games and the Christmas Cake draw. The entire atmosphere was so peaceful and joyous. About 2000 parishioners had gathered for the Christmas Mass.