Every Christmas

Chinese New Year Photos at Good Shepherd Church

2010-03-28T20:28:00.001+08:00

Taken at Good Shepherd Church, Setapak, Malaysia. After the 10am Mass.

Christmas 2009 Party for Children - Good Shepherd Church, Setapak

2010-03-21T22:24:00.000+08:00

Christmas Party for the children was held at Good Sheperd Church, Setapak on 19 December 2009. Started with a Children's Mass celebrated by Rev Fr Patrick Boudeville at 10 in the morning. Quite a number of children turned up, especially notable ones were the foreigners from neighbouring countries.

After Mass everyone were treated with refreshment while the Setapak carollers belted out Christmas carols. After that the kids ad a gala time indulging themselves in some games, but Santa Claus took centre stage when he appeared dancing and giving out sweeties. That's when he was bombarded by excited kids stretching out their hands for some sweets.

Enjoy some snapshots:

Christmas is GIVING, really!

2007-11-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

How much we all love Christmas, especially the season of Christmas, the days counting towards Christmas, what to get for our wives, children, friends, and what we gave them last year to make sure they don't get presents similar to the previous ones, etc.

And how much we like to put those (if we could find them) annual Christmas carols CDs and play them on our way to work, at home, and just sing along gleefully as the singers croon the melodic songs away.

And the last minute shopping for wares that are put on shelves in shopping centres only once a year, and oops, not to forget the extra gift wrappers, after paying for all the decors for the tree, the walls, and wherever else we could put up those decors left over unbroken from last year..

Mothers would compete themselves over which cookies would eventually triumph over previous ones and remember a little too late to have made the fruitcake with rum so they would taste better.

It's all so wonderful, and so touching to see the joy and excitement in our children and spouses when opening the presents after midnight Mass, to see the warmth exchange of presents among friends and relatives. Oh, it truly is a wonderful time.

Christians would celebrate the birth of Jesus into the world in which we are all enslaved, and He offers a new hope to us, hope which even the blind could see and reach out to.

Somewhere in our little world, within the confines of which we claim as our neighbourhood, our workplace, even the part of the world in which we would travel through daily commuting to our office from home, if we would but pause just for a minute, there is a tiny voice, out there in this somewhere, a voice that calls out for justice and peace. Not for justice from oppression of rights, nor for peace in a war-torn zone. But justice for the state of poverty in which this person, whose voice is calling out, has no means whatsoever to overcome. The burden of feeding his family of four, or seven. Or even finding a roof for himself.

Or that old woman in our parish who keeps asking for sustenance of one kind or other but upon sensing her approach we would pretend to be headed the other way. Or the kids in our Sunday School whose frequent absence in classes is always the subject our scrutiny and disapproval just because we were not told the state of their broken family. Or that girl whose dressing is the butt of jokes among the kids claiming that she only has a 3-day wardrobe turnaround but it's because she really cannot afford to expand it.

What about the office worker at our workplace who offer to do errands on our behalf for just a few bucks, like paying the summons, paying for our credit cards, sending personal documents, and we even have to put on an attitude and haggle on the 'fee'.

You just need to open your hearts, and not ears, and listen to these cries, these longings cried out from within them, seeking for justice for the state in which they are in, the longing for peace in a broken family due to poverty, not only in monetary but poor in spirit and in morale.

Why not include these people in our Christmas gift list of recipients? Why not set aside some portion of our weekly groceries, pack them in a box and give it to a family who cannot afford but still deserves to see their children being fed well? How about tipping that colleague much higher for seeing that your personal documents get delivered safely and promptly? And what about wiping away that girl's tears by giving her your best but never used clothes?

How about if you start doing it this Christmas? Never too late. Better still, why do it just this Christmas and every Christmas, but do it as long as God is giving you the luxury of enjoying the good things in life? How about that challenge, huh?

Christmas at Good Shepherd, Setapak (2005)

2007-11-05T13:41:00.000+08:00

That year’s Christmas celebration in church was a memorable one. Our parish priest, Rev. Fr. Patrick Boudville, decided to have each ministry present an item or two before the start of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. So my wife and I gathered a few children to sing a carol, Thank You, Lord. For some reason I was unable to look up this song in the Internet, however deep search I applied. Learnt that song when I was a bachelor joining a caroling group from Church of Our Lady of Fatima, Brickfields.

Got a good friend, Reinzie, to play the guitar and I played the harmonica. The children sang very well, but their vocals were not very audible as we were short on mics. Overall, I still think it went well and the song has a very beautiful melody. Here’s the lyrics:

Thank You, Lord, for Christmas
the holly and the leaves
And thank You for the presents
found underneath the tree
Oh I love all these at Christmas
yet still one thing is true
That when it comes to Christmas
I'm thankful most for You.

Thank you for the story
the story of Your birth
And how You came from heaven
to save us here on earth
Oh I love all these at Christmas
yet still one thing is true
That when it comes to Christmas
I'm thankful most for You.

Thank You for the Christmas bells
Your churches proudly ring
And thank You for the carols
Your children proudly sing
Oh I love all these at Christmas
yet still one thing is true
That when it comes to Christmas
I'm thankful most for You.

Finale:
That when it comes to Christmas
I'm thankful most for You.

Click on photos for bigger image :

Christmas is coming soon and if you would like to know how the tune goes, here's a version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zznAkZFf8W8

Carolling in Bangsar

2007-11-04T22:14:00.000+08:00

I guess the best Christmas experiences I had during the younger days still lingers on till today. Mine was carolling. Used to join in the carolling during my school days, my bachelor days, even my married years. It's the season of Christmas and singing all the carols together with other young people, spreading the cheers to homes and families that makes the spirit of Christmas so warm and so nostalgic.

5 years playing the guitar, with 1 or 2 younger guitarists, for the carollers in Bangsar back in the 80's were the best carolling years. The carollers were all in their teens then and we practiced mostly in the home of a simple and very nice Portuguese family. They really treat me very well and like part of the family. Used to have a crush for their daughter, one of our carollers too, but gave it up eventually. Managed to sweet talked to a friend of mine to take up the Santa Claus character and that was the best thing that ever happened to the carollers, cos he was really dynamic and made almost all the hosts danced with him.

At the end of each carolling night (usually 3 nights) we would get together at the last house for supper and talking about the houses and families we visited, which particular carol made an impact, which songs we screwed up, etc.. We would also count the nights offering.

My friend and I would go shopping for Christmas presents especially for the Portuguese family who were ever so kind to allow their home as our carolling base. After Christmas we would all come together for a simple party before the year's end. After that, well, a kind of sadness would start to fill the emptyness, like a Christmas hangover..

Secret Christmas Deed

2007-11-04T21:40:00.000+08:00

Can’t help but to succumb to the spirit of giving, without which Christmas has no meaning for me. Back when i was 16 (1980) just finished my Form 5 exam, me and my buddy planned to give a surprise Christmas gift to a poor family who lives near the Blessed Sacrament Church in Labuan, Sabah (before Labuan was declared Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur). Couldn’t remember if the family have any children. We bought some basic stuff like canned foods, biscuits, etc, put them all in a carton placed it just outside their door before the Midnight Mass was about to begin. What happened next we never knew but I guessed if I were to see their expression upon seeing the gift I would get emotional.

Lonely Christmas

2007-11-04T21:38:00.000+08:00

When I was in my teen Christmas to me was being together with good friends during carolling practices, preparing some word-art late nights to decorate the church altar wall, making crafts out of cardbox as presents for my sisters, attending midnight Mass, hanging around a while after Mass and just taking in the spirit of Christmas all around me at 1am after midnight, walking home alone after that (home was just half a kilometre from church)..

But the next day, on the 1st day of Christmas, the day would just like any other day (cos my parents do not belive in celebrating Christmas, they don’t even attend Mass), only worse. I could literally feel loneliness and silence surrounding me at home. God knows what I did, how I’d survived the Christmas day but I guessed He deemed it fit not to imprint those memories into me.