Have a Blessed Christmas

Just got home from the so-called 'Midnite Mass' or Christmas Vigil Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

"So-called" because in my younger days the Holy Mass on Christmas Eve would really be held around midnight, or at least end when it was nearly midnight. But in more recent years, the 'midnite mass' seemed to have started earlier and earlier. But this was more for logistical reasons than anything else, bearing in mind the size of the crowd and traffic control and to make it easier for children and the elderly.

In the case of tonite, the Mass started at 9.00pm as scheduled and, despite the huge crowd, ended at around 10.30pm. A weekend Mass would normally last just slightly over an hour.

Just like other Christmas or Easter occassions, the parishioners strated entering the church (or rather cathedral) as early as 6.00pm, 3 hours before the Mass was to begin. By 7.00pm, the Cathedral was already almost full. How I wish they are equally faithful throughout the year, as pointed out from time to time by the priests themselves.

In order to keep the crowd entertained, the Children Liturgy staged a play at 7.15pm and it lasted for about half-an-hour. The Sacred Heart English Choir then sang from 8.00 to 8.45pm and won big rounds of applause from the congregation. Infact, celebrant Monsignor Primus Jouil at the end of the Mass requested the crowd to give another round of applause to the choir. This time it was thunderous.

Just like other Christmas and Easter occasions, the big crowd spilled out onto the church compound outside and closed-circuit television sets had to be installed to enable the late-comers to follow the proceedings inside. And, needless to say, after the Mass traffic control was a headache for the wardens. So what better way to pass time while waiting for the traffic congestion to ease than paying homage to the crib inside the Cathedral after the Mass. Many also took pictures for rememberance.

The St Simon Church in Likas, the Stella Maris Church in Tanjung Aru and the Church of Mary Immaculate in Luyang, all in Kota Kinabalu, were equally packed and over-flowed. The English Mass at St Simon started at 8pm while the Chinese Mass began at 8.30pm. Traditionally, the Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sabah (formerly Bishop of Kota Kinabalu Diocese), the Rt Rev Datuk John Lee would say Chinese Mass at CMI on Christmas eve and at Sacred Heart English Mass on Christmas morning.

So, to conclude, I wish all my Christian friends and relatives, and of course you my visitors, wherever you are, a Blessed Christmas. I refuse to say Merry Christmas because that seems to imply that Christmas is a time for merry-making and nothing else. As it is, Christmas is already getting more and more commercialised, with the help of Santa Claus which is just a legend. As you open the newspapers lately, there are advertisements everywhere with headings like "Christmas Eve Dinner and Dance" or "Christmas Party with Live Band", as if these take precedence over going to church. And of course, you have the big Christmas Sales and Bargains since November!

May God bless all of us and safely usher us into another new year which is just days away.

(Picture: Pope Benedict XVI blessing children at Vatican on Christmas eve.)