Churches laud Covid warriors in Xmas messages

BENGALURU: With the state government announcing night curfew from Thursday, Christmas celebrations will mostly be confined to the homes of people even though permission has been granted for midnight mass on December 24. But hardly anyone is complaining and church priests have called for a quiet and safe Christmas with some dedicating this year’s celebrations to Covid-19 warriors who have been fighting the pandemic since March.Leading the way is The Mar Thoma Syrian Church on Primrose Road where a large Christmas tree has been erected in dedication to those fighting Covid-19, including medical professionals, pourakarmikas, enforcement personnel and essential services staff. “The tree assembled out of discarded edge banding tape used by carpenters is a dedication from our church members to those fighting the pandemic,” said Rev. Charley Jones, head of the church.Rev. Peter Machado, Archbishop of Bangalore Archdiocese, said Christmas brings the message of hope mainly during these testing times. “Jesus Christ is present in our sadness and will bring us out of this misery that we are facing due to the pandemic. Even the first Christmas in this world came amidst a crisis and people had risen to the occasion, like how people from all over the city came forward to help the needy at the time of the lockdown,” said the Archbishop, expressing hope of a new beginning.The Catholic church has advanced its midnight mass timing on Christmas-eve to 7pm with a restricted number of people, as per Covid protocols. The archbishop has advised worshippers to return home before the curfew comes into effect and urged police personnel to go easy on those returning home after the service.Rev. Mathews Mar Makarios Episcopa, Diocesan Bishop of Bangalore and Chennai Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church diocese of Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, said Christmas is the time of joy, fellowship and sharing, and this year’s festival is being celebrated in the midst of a pandemic — “it reminds us about human limitations in confronting different life situations”.Rev. Prasanna Kumar Samuel, Bishop, Karnataka Central Diocese, Church of South India, in his message said this Christmas, our attitude towards religion must change. “The true message of Jesus is to reach out to the poor, needy and the elderly beyond the walls of religion and accepting all faiths. In this situation of uncertainty, everyone must go that extra mile to serve the community, to rise from failures and disappointments...,” he said.