Mangaluru : Christmas unfolds to us a great truth: God has decided to become a human child, which brings to fulfillment the prophecy of Isaiah in the Bible: “For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given” (Isaiah 9: 6). The presence of a child attracts us. We feel loved when the child wants to come to us and play with us. God was called a tremendous mystery, a frightening reality, but now Jesus has shown that he is also a loving child.

Christmas asks us to grow. Jesus calls us to grow from our narrow vision and broaden the horizon, to embrace the entire humanity as our brothers and sisters. He challenges us to open wide the doors of our heart and build bridges to welcome, protect, promote, and integrate all the vulnerable people, the poor, and the abandoned. Am I ready to be acknowledged as the universal brother/sister of everyone?

Christmas invites us to creatively develop two crucial things: the culture of encounter and the culture of dialogue with people of different religious faiths and interests. The goal of these meetings and dialogues is to foster friendship, peace, harmony and to share the spiritual and moral experiences in a spirit of truth and love. Our hearts long for justice and when injustice is done we are deeply saddened. Today the farmers, the human rights activists call us to stand for truth and justice. Let us intently listen to their voices. Conflict resolution is possible with loving dialogue with the other. Let us nurture the culture of encounter and culture of dialogue to foster brotherhood and social friendship. We are one family of God.

This year the Christmas celebration is reduced to simplicity. What we save must be shared with the poor. Jesus who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger is a symbol of the poor, who go to bed hungry because they have no food, the homeless that sleep on our streets because they do not have a roof, the unemployed who struggle to maintain their families because they have lost their jobs, those affected by Covid and other diseases and do not have money to pay for their medicines, parents who struggle to educate their children because they cannot provide them with the necessary means. Let us engage with the little ones. That gives us immense happiness.

In view of accompanying the poor, the Christians in Mangalore diocese helped a lot during the time of Covid -19 lockdown, to the tune of nearly 1.5 crore rupees. This year, we are going to focus on uplifting the poor, by helping them to repair their houses and provide for other facilities. Let us join hands to strengthen the weak.
Wish you a happy Christmas and a Bright New Year 2021

Most Rev. Peter Paul Saldanha-Bishop of Mangalore, Mr. Roy Castelino – P.R.O., Rev. Fr. Victor Vijay Lobo –P.R.O., Fr Richard D’Souza, Director CCC and Mr Elias Fernandes, Media adviser were present in press conference.