Tag Archives: Christ our Savior

A Savior is born to us

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Guyana, Religion

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Nativity Play, Sacred Heart RC Church, Georgetown, Guyana
Photo Credit: Facebook Photo Album Sacred Heart RC School in Georgetown

[This is a re-post of my Christmas message 2011, the year I started my blog.]

 

My parents were not church-goers. They never forced me and my four siblings, baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, to attend Sunday Mass. But they made sure we got a good Catholic education by sending us to schools run by the nuns.

As a result of my religious school education, the Christmas Season was much more than time for family get-togethers; Santa Claus; exchanging presents; Christmas trees and decorations; and our traditional Christmas dishes and black cake. Christmas Day was the celebration of the birth of Jesus – the Savior born to us.

The Christmas Novena was an essential part of preparing for the coming of our Savior. During nine days before Christmas Day (December 15-23), I had to get up at four o’clock in the morning to be sure to get a good seat at the five o’clock Novena Mass. A religious custom of the early Portuguese immigrants from Madeira, the Novena has become a part of Guyana’s Catholic tradition.

I recall walking through drizzle towards the rear entrance of our parish church. The raindrops, slanted by the wind, glistened in the light streaming from the large open doorway of the church. When I entered the church, the choir in the alcove overhead, was singing Bemdita Sejaes, the traditional Portuguese hymn to begin the Novena Mass. I did not know what the words of the hymn meant, but it filled my soul with joy.

Christmas Eve Night, at 11:00 p.m. before the Midnight Mass, was the time for the highlight of the Christmas Season: the live enactment of the Nativity of Jesus at Sacred Heart Church on Main Street. (The church, built and funded by the Portuguese immigrants in 1861, burned to the ground on 25 December 2004.)

The year of my first son’s birth, the parish priest at Sacred Heart Church invited me and my husband to play the roles of Mary and Joseph. Our two-month-old son played Baby Jesus. Lying in the manger, he slept through the entire performance. I was relieved. Even a young angel, as she cuddled him at the end of the pageant, did not succeed in waking him.

As recorded in the Gospel of Saint Luke, on the night that Jesus was born, an angel appeared to shepherds guarding their sheep to tell them the good news. “Do not be afraid,” the angel told them. “Today…a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Our planet is in dire need of a Savior. Christ our Savior empowers me to keep up the struggle in the face of injustice, adversity, and hopelessness… and to triumph.

Christ our Savior empowers us with love. Regardless of our religion or non-religion, love runs deep in the heart of each one of us. Let us manifest love. Love conquers all.

The Magic of Christmas

23 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Brazil, Family Life, Festivals, Guyana, Religion, United States

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Christmas StarThe Christmas Star

For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him. Matthew 2:2

 

Our Christmas traditions demand a flurry of activities, some of which can be quite stressful. This year, I stayed clear of the frenzy at the shopping mall. My yearly gift-buying spree ended when the American economy crumbled in August 2008. Since my adult sons no longer believe in Santa Claus, I only put up a Christmas tree and decorations when my spirit craves the festivities.

When my siblings and I were kids, our mother did not put up the Christmas tree and decorations until Christmas Eve Night after we were all asleep. It was a magical moment to wake up on Christmas morning to find a tree with presents stacked beneath it.

In the United States, some homeowners go all out in decorating the exterior of their homes and yards. The Christmas lighting extravaganza holds its own magic for me. My childlike fascination for festive lights has never waned with age.

When it comes to food, every region and country has its own traditional specialties. In Guyana, I enjoyed eating pepperpot with bread at breakfast and black cake at teatime and in every home we visited during the Christmas Season. During the years we lived in Brazil, I carried on our Guyanese Christmas tradition of making black cake and, for breakfast, began having coffee with Panettone – an Italian sweet-bread popular in Brazil at Christmastime. My sons and I buy our favorite brands of Panettone at the Brazilian Shop in Culver City. As my sons no longer appreciate black cake, I have stopped making it and now enjoy the American Christmas fruit and nut cake. Christmas Dinner has its own magic when family members, living apart in faraway cities and countries, come together to share a meal.

A lot more happens during this festive season. There are parties and gift-giving in workplaces; school Nativity plays for those who have young children; Christmas caroling; Christmas Eve Midnight Mass; and a variety of festive shows. We even have Christmas songs and movies.

We can get so caught up in all our preparations, activities, and events that we lose touch with the essence of Christmas: a celebration of hope and joy at the birth of Jesus. You may or may not accept Jesus as Christ our Savior, but this spirit of hope and joy at Christmas was passed on to us through the generations in our traditions of giving and receiving, forgetting our differences, and letting our goodness shine through for all to see. Our transformation in revealing our inner light is the true magic of Christmas.

A Savior is born to us

11 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in Guyana, Religion

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Nativity Play, Sacred Heart RC Church, Georgetown, Guyana

Source: Facebook Photo Album of Sacred Heart RC School in Georgetown

My parents were not church-goers. They never forced me and my four siblings, baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, to attend Sunday Mass. But they made sure we got a good Catholic education by sending us to schools run by the nuns.

As a result of my religious school education, the Christmas Season was much more than time for family get-togethers; Santa Claus; exchanging presents; Christmas trees and decorations; and our traditional Christmas dishes and black cake. Christmas Day was the celebration of the birth of Jesus – the Savior born to us.

The Christmas Novena was an essential part of preparing for the coming of our Savior. During nine days before Christmas Day (December 15-23), I had to get up at four o’clock in the morning to be sure to get a good seat at the five o’clock Novena Mass. A religious custom of the early Portuguese immigrants from Madeira, the Novena has become a part of Guyana’s Catholic tradition.

I recall walking through drizzle towards the rear entrance of our parish church. The raindrops, slanted by the wind, glistened in the light streaming from the large open doorway of the church. When I entered the church, the choir in the alcove overhead, was singing Bemdita Sejaes, the traditional Portuguese hymn to begin the Novena Mass. I did not know what the words of the hymn meant, but it filled my soul with joy.

Christmas Eve Night, at 11:00 p.m. before the Midnight Mass, was the time for the highlight of the Christmas Season: the live enactment of the Nativity of Jesus at Sacred Heart Church on Main Street. (The church, built and funded by the Portuguese immigrants in 1861, burned to the ground on 25 December 2004.)

The year of my first son’s birth, the parish priest at Sacred Heart Church invited me and my husband to play the roles of Mary and Joseph. Our two-month-old son played Baby Jesus. Lying in the manger, he slept through the entire performance. I was relieved. Even a young angel, as she cuddled him at the end of the pageant, did not succeed in waking him.

As recorded in the Gospel of Saint Luke, on the night that Jesus was born, an angel appeared to shepherds guarding their sheep to tell them the good news. “Do not be afraid,” the angel told them. “Today…a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Our planet is in dire need of a Savior. Christ our Savior empowers me to keep up the struggle in the face of injustice, adversity, and hopelessness… and to triumph.

Christ our Savior empowers us with love. Regardless of our religion or non-religion, love runs deep in the heart of each one of us. Let us manifest love. Love conquers all.