Christmas Greetings from Fr. Gene

Dear Msgr. Tom, Fr. Carter, Fr. Jean, Deacons, all the Parish and School Staffs and my dear loving people of the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows - St. Anthony's,

Greetings and well wishes from Fr. Gene.

As we begin the season of Advent, it's a perfect opportunity to pen these few lines as a thanks for your love and warmth. I continue to seek and discern God's will in my day to day events, as I minister to the parishioners in all walks of their lives.

In the month of October, we celebrated the bible week and had special events to know the word of God in a deeper way. People live in utter poverty and in an unhealthy situation. The only way to bring them out of this misery is the education of children and adolescents. So we began two educational programs for our village and surrounding poor areas. One is called "Adopt a Child Program" in which educational funds are provided for a student for a year, both Catholic and Hindu, especially from poor families. The second program is the "evening study center" for students of the village. There are several hours of power outage in a day in this rural area. Arrangement is made in the church premise with inverter (battery operated light source) power for 4-6 hours where children can utilize this opportunity to get their homework completed, supervised by privately employed teachers.

We are close to the end of moonsoon season, which primarily affects rural areas due to the poor drainage system. People live in thatched houses; the rain water invades the living areas and demolishes the mud walls and roof. People go days without work, food and shlter, but are resilient; they pick up the pieces and rebuild what was destroyed. People also live in an unhealthy situation that exposes them to several diseases. Stagnant waters and damp areas are breeding places for mosquitoes, which cause several viral illnesses. We invited public school National Social Service camp (boy scouts), who rendered their time and services to clean the streets, drain stagnant water, and plant a number of trees in and around the village.

To make a long story short, these have been very interesting days in my life. This Christmas is going to be a lot different from the past. Though there are several difficulties, God chose me to be with these people at this time. It reminds me of His chosen time to be with us; that's what we celebrate at Christmas.

Thank you for your support and guidance while I was with you. I will not forget all of you in my daily Mass and prayers. I promise my prayers for your special and family intentions on Christmas Day. Please keep me in your prayers.

I love you and wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and wish you all a happy and healthy New Year 2015.