3850(IV)_Celebration of Love, Peace and Joy!

By Fr. Antony Kishore, SDB

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 27 December, 2015: On December 25, 2015 Don Bosco Technical School had its colorful Christmas celebration. Around three hundred students and staffs both from Don Bosco School and Don Bosco caring center were present for the Celebration. The celebration began at 9 am with welcoming words and message of Fr. Andrew Tin Nguyen SDB the delegate superior of Mongolia. Since there are very few Catholics in the school, in his message he spoke about meaning of Christmas celebration in depth. ‘Christmas is a feast of love and sharing, Jesus gave himself totally for humanity and in our part we should be able to do the same to the certain extent, he said.” After his message the students and the staffs came up on the stage with various Christmas carols, New Year songs, dances, Christmas poems, fashion shows etc. There was an exchange of gifts among the students and the staffs. Then Salesian community offered lunch and gifts to all the students. In the evening on the same day the school staffs and the salesians gathered together in the living hall of the Salesians to continue to share the joy that they were feeling in a smaller scale as a family. The teachers came up with very creative concert which delighted all the persons present there.

On December 26, 2015, Don Bosco caring center children went around for Christmas carols and to give Christmas greetings to all the catholic institutions located in Ulaanbaatar city. The FMA sisters served lunch and then gave Christmas presents to our children at Orbit, located at the outskirts of the city of Ulaanbaatar.

On December 27, 2015, in the morning at 10 am there was another big celebration in Sts Peter and Paul cathedral, the feast of the Holy Family. In this celebration all the Mongolian parishes and 20 priests were present. The Holy Eucharist was presided over by His Excellency Bp. Wenceslau Padilla. In his Homily he spoke in great length about the year of mercy. The birth of Christ is the birth of God’s mercy to humanity, he said,” followed by concert, in the church hall, organized by Fr. Andrew Tin Ngyen SDB. In the evening on the same day the Salesian family got together to have a Christmas party. There were 7 Salesians, 6 FMAs and 16 Salesian cooperators. It was indeed a wonderful exchange of love, peace and joy of Christ.