Dear Friends,
Entering into the Advent season this year, our community has a spiritual program called ‘Advent Reflection - Being together in Advent’. It was a faith journey of our community where we share the richness of the Words of God through our own lives’ experiences.
Being together is usually something simple but 2021 did not allow us to experience this. There were times when we could not afford to do so. But with the change of condition we can now meet, share our experiences in person.
Separation and isolation have deepened our understanding of what unity and intimacy means to us as individuals, to our families and to community. We also learned that during the lockdown there were many lonely people needing our care and support.
To prepare for Christmas, we all went through the waiting and the expectation of Advent. It awakened us to the real meaning of Christ’s Incarnation in ourselves, our families and friends, in the suffering world and in nature. Two thousand years ago, people didn’t make an inn for Jesus, it reminds us that at Christmas we need to make an indwelling for Christ in our hearts, in our community gatherings and in our family celebrations.
The message of Christmas is ‘Emmanuel-God is with us!, never more so when we are with each other. We are the gift to each other. I wish to take this time to thank you all for your continuing support and contribution in many ways, for the life of our parish.
I wish you and your family a Blessed Christmas and a Peaceful New Year!
Fr Hien Vu
Parish Priest