Archbishop celebrates Christmas with migrants

Jigani, 25th December 2019:
Most Rev. Dr. Peter Machado, Archbishop of Bangalore, expressed his love and compassion for migrants as he celebrated Hindi mass for them on the auspicious day of the Nativity of the Lord. The Archbishop went a step ahead of the customary practice of celebrating Mass in the parish where a lot of people come to celebrate the festivity and rather chose to be with people who are away from their towns and families. Though the prelate has celebrated Holy Eucharist in different languages, it is the first time he celebrated mass in the Hindi language, a gesture that exhibited his love for the poor and migrants.

Rev. Fr. Joseph Beck, C.Ss.R. executive secretary of the commission for migrants in the Archdiocese preached the Word of God and shared the joy of newborn baby Jesus who became human for the salvation of all.

There were about 800 migrants from different parts of the country, predominantly from the state of Assam. People were overwhelmed by the kind gesture of the Archbishop who brought smiles on their faces.

Fr. Paneer Kumar, the parish priest, hailed the arrangements by the migrants. Rev. Fr. Martin Puttuserry SJ, Secretary for Migrants, Rev. Fr. Joseph Nazareth SJ, Rev. Fr. Anand SOLA, Rev. Fr. Bipin SOLA, Rev. Fr. Deepak Bage C.Ss.R, and few more priests and brothers were present for the celebration.