Faithful flock to churches to celebrate Christmas

Ranchi: Tousands of faithful flocked to various churches in Ranchi for the morning mass to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. Compared to a low of 9 degrees Celsius, even a few days ago, the weather on Sunday morning was warmer with temperatures hovering around 13 degrees.
At the 113-year-old St.Mary's Cathedral, thousands attended the midnight mass and the Christmas church services early on Sunday morning, lit candles before the statues of Jesus and Mary, bowing their heads in prayer.
Leading the faithful at the midnight mass, Ranchi archbishop, Felix Toppo, called upon the people to work for peace, brotherhood and amity.
"There is too much tension all around the world. A war has been raging in Ukraine. There are other countries in the grip of severe tensions. The essence of Christmas is sacrifice, caring and loving our neighbours as we would love ourselves. Give up your egos, self interests. Reach out to your neighbours and take care of the sick and needy, just as Jesus Christ tended to the sick, the poor and the needy,” the Ranchi archbishop advised the gathering, in his homily.
At the 149-year-old St. Paul's Cathedral, B B Baskey, bishop of Chotanagpur, led the gathering in an early morning mass.
The birth of Jesus was also celebrated at the Ram Krishna Mission Ashram at Morabadi, Ranchi, where a puja was held to mark the occasion, late Saturday evening. A Swami, dressed as Santa Claus, distributed gifts among the monks gathered on the occasion. “Throughout the ages, avatars or prophets had descended on this earth to show the world the path to attain salvation and unison with the Almighty. All religions of this world bear testimony to the descent of the divine into material existence, who gave us the message of love, peace and brotherhood. It was in 1886, soon after Sri Ramakrishna attained salvation, that Narendranath, while later known as Swami Vivekananda, got a call to follow the path of Jesus and emulate his examples of love, peace and brotherhood. Since that day, on Christmas eve, Christmas is celebrated in all our Mission ashrams. We stand to work unitedly for peace and brotherhood amongst people of all faiths,” Swami Bhaveshananda of Ramkrishna Mission Ashrama, Ranchi, said.
In separate Christmas messages, Ranchi archbishop Felix Toppo asked the people to find inner peace and happiness and work unitedly to ensure love and brotherhood in the society.
"Christmas teaches us to rise above our selfish interests and imbibe truth, love and brotherhood in our lives. It also teaches us to serve the poor, the sick, the oppressed and needy, irrespective of race, religion or caste," the archbishop added.
Ranchi auxilliary Bishop, Theodore Mascarenhas, in his message, pointed out that while the Ranchi archdiocese distributed blankets to help the poor fight cold and gave away educational kits to poor children, there was much more that needs to be done.