By Patricia Ng
BUKIT MERTAJAM, PENANG — The parishioners of the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, Permatang Tinggi, Bukit Mertajam, celebrated the Winter Solstice festival and Christmas on December 22, 2023. The focus was to gather the sick and the elderly of the parish together with non-Catholics living in the vicinity of Permatang Tinggi to bring Christmas cheer to the participants. Their caregivers were also invited to attend.
Msgr Henry Rajoo celebrated a multilingual Mass and the elderly parishioners responded enthusiastically as they were able to hear the homily in their own vernacular languages.
After Mass, the volunteers helped to wheel the sick and the elderly to St Mary’s Hall where the event was to be held.
The organising team, together with the parish ministries, prepared various games and programmes to entertain the guests. This included a Christmas pageant presented by the children in the English Catechetical Ministry, Tamil songs and dances performed by the Tamil Apostolate and Christmas carols sung by the Youth Society, dances by the Chinese prayer group and St Stephen’s Altar Servers’ Society. The appearance of Santa Claus during the event delighted everyone. It was really wonderful to see the various ministries coming together in unity to bring love and joy to the sick and the elderly.
Sr Jessica from the Little Sisters of the Poor conducted various games for wheel-chair bound attendees who eagerly participated in them to win attractive prizes.
Fr Augustine Wong was present at the event and took the time to mingle with the sick and elderly while entertaining them with his jokes. The attendees were also delighted to have photos taken with him.
The participants were then treated to lunch comprising delicious local dishes prepared by the Women’s Group and other volunteers.
During lunch many of the attendees were thrilled to be able to reminisce with old friends and take trips down memory lane. They exchanged handshakes and hugs upon seeing their old friends who were now in their twilight years.
The parish priest, Fr Louis Loi, who was not able to be present during the event, sent greetings via a WhatsApp call to wish all those present a happy and blessed Christmas and to convey his hope that everyone would continue to embrace the spirit of Christmas in order to share laughter and joy, and to create an atmosphere of love, peace and happiness in the parish.
The event for the sick and elderly concluded on a very happy note with Santa Claus distributing Christmas gifts to everyone present.
