Mangaluru: With Christmas just four days away and the season spirit rising with fervour, Mangaluru Diocese conducts a mega vehicle rally to mark the beginning of the festive season. As many as a thousand Christians from four deaneries of the city took part in the rally on their two and four wheelers to spread the Christmas joy throughout the city.
The four deaneries had a procession each from four different routes in a bid to welcome Christmas in the length and breadth of Mangaluru city. The processions concluded at Milagres Church where the Bishop of Mangaluru Diocese Most Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza addressed the gathering and asked them to do good deeds in their lives to spread the essence of Christmas.
“People have shown their love for Christmas through this rally today and remind us that God is Love and Love is God. In a time when there was hatred, fear and other atrocities, Jesus took birth as a messenger of God to spread the message of love and peace. We should all live by the message that he gave us and spread love throughout our lives by doing good deeds”, Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza said.
He also appealed to the gathering to show compassion and respect every human being by saying, “We see a lot of people waiting for help, and we should extend our help to them by invoking compassion within ourselves. Christmas is not a festival to be celebrated only to mark Christ’s birth, we should have the same feeling of Christmas throughout the year to help others.”
As the people gathered at Milagres Church wore red Santa Claus hats, candles were lit by them so as to spread the light to others and welcome the celebration of Christmas into Mangaluru. Milagres Church choir sang Christmas carols in Konkani, Hindi and English while the congregation raised their candles and waved it to the tune.
To celebrate the joy of giving this Christmas season, the Bishop mentioned that he will be distributing Kuswar(Christmas sweets) and clothes to Jeppu St. Antony’s Home inmates on December 23. Mangaluru Diocese will also distribute grocery to families affected with HIV/AIDS and provide construction materials to poor families so that they can build a home for themselves.
The vehicle rally was held through four routes:
- Thokkottu – Pumpwell – Kankanady – Falnir – Milagres
- Suratkal – Tannirbavi – Kulur – Ashokanagar – Urva – Lalbagh – PVS – Bunts Hostel – Jyoti – Milagres
- Vamanjoor – Fermai – Kelarai – Paldane – Shaktinagar – Kulshekar – Nanthoor – Bendore – Balmatta – Jyoti – Milagres
- Rosario – A B Shetty circle – Milagres.
Organizer of the rally and Director of St. Anthony Ashram Fr. Oneil D’Souza, Vice-President of Milagres Church council Ivan D’Souza, Secretary of Diocesan Pastoral Council M P Noronha were also present. The rally was organized under the supervision of Mangaluru City Traffic Police and Traffic Wardens. Head of the Traffic Warden squad, Joe Gonsalves was also present along with a few other wardens.
