“Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought

of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people.

It is forgetting self and finding time for others.

It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values.  It is about caring, sharing, forgiving, thanking, serving!

It is about New Life!”

Dear Fr Powell, Family, Parishioners and Friends,

I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a blessed, happy and Christ-filled Christmas and New Year.  For some it will mean giving birth and celebrating new life.  For others it will mean grieving the loss of a loved one, through sudden death or sickness.  For others it will be the pain of separation through the brokenness and human limitations of our lives.  For others it will be to embrace the distance across the miles.  For others it will mean new commitments in marriage and parenthood.  For others it will mean looking forward to new jobs and employments.  For students it may mean planning the future ahead.  For most it will mean asking the big questions of life. 

Whatever Christmas brings knocking on the doors of our hearts, may each one of us have the courage to seek and find meaning in the event of Christmas morning that brings a new Born Christ into our midst and an event that offers hope in the midst of limitations, pain and loss.

I pray that each of us may feel the presence of Christ within our hearts no matter what our present reality demands of us. 

My heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families in the parish who have lost loved ones this year.   May they rest in peace.

Yours sincerely, united in Christ,

Sr. Bernadette Duffy

Holy Cross Sisters, South Africa 7