John and I love to begin our Christmas day with focus on Jesus, who is the reason for celebrating Christmas! For us, the best way was to attend the 9.30 am Eucharistic Mass Celebration at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, to welcome The Lord Jesus with worship and songs of praise and thanksgiving, as well as receive Him in Holy Communion.
Fr. Andrew Manikam, our Assistant Parish Priest was the celebrant that morning. In his homily, in the light of the Gospel reading for Christmas day: John 1:1-18, he emphasized and elaborated on the word, Emmanuel, which means God is with us. He assured us that God has been and will always be with us, in good times and bad times, in our joys and sorrows, in our brokenness and messiness, and in every moment of our life's journey. Fr. Andrew exhorted us to take home the word, 'Emmanuel', ponder and embrace it, then welcome God unceasingly with faith and trust, and experience His power, grace, love and mercy unfurl in our lives. I was deeply touched by Fr. Andrew's gentle reminder to allow our true and living God, the All-knowing, Ever-loving and Ever-merciful One to reign in our lives!
Victory is ours because Jesus Christ has come! Remember...Jesus is the reason for the Season!
We rejoice, we rejoice....Our Lord, Our God is with us...within us!
This Christmas, we were all invited for lunch at David (our elder son) and Kellie's home for their twin-daughters' birthday celebration. It was a day of triple rejoicing and merriment, as their lovely daughters were also born on Christmas Day, just 4 years ago.Great home-cooked food by Kellie and her cousin, May with an Italian theme of seafood spaghetti, oven-baked chicken, sardine quiche, vege-salad and mashed potatoes, to name a few of the many varied food-fare served.
Having spent a lovely time with our family members, relatives and friends, John and I left for home around 3 pm to rest as I was a little unwell and groggy, having taken a cough syrup earlier. Though I was down with a bad cough two days before Christmas, but miraculously I was very fine on Christmas eve to be able to bake two large plates of apple pie for my family which went unhindered for about 7 hours...praise The Lord!
Later, my sister and niece, as well as Darren (our younger son) and family, adjourned from David's home to spend the rest of the evening at our home. Understandably, David and Kellie were unable to join us as they had house guests and still managing their daughters' ongoing birthday celebration. Nonetheless, a big chunk of apple pie (half a plateful) had been generously distributed to them, on special request.
Haha...fortunately for me, all of us had a heavy fill during lunch at my twin grand-daughters' birthday event, so I just needed to dish out an all-in-one meal, 'Hokkien Mee' (a local noodle that is favoured by many) for dinner and served apple pie with ice-cream for dessert.
Simple and easy, huh! These are such favourites of my family.
(Click here for the apple pie recipe, if you're interested)
The joyous Christmas day passed by so quickly and by 10 pm, all have dispersed but WITH A TRACE as these sweet memories are chronicled lovingly in this blog of mine.
My beloved John and I were really happy and delighted with our Christmas day and truly treasure such joyful and merry occasions, and bonding with family and relatives!
- 26th December - John and I joined our Catholic brothers and sisters of BEC MARS in a pot-luck Christmas celebration in the late evening that lasted quite late into the night. Wonderful fellowship with games and singing Christmas carols, as well as gorged ourselves with the fantastic spread of food and desserts.
- 27th December - Had a wonderful lunch at Minmax Restaurant at PNB Darby Park, KL with our family members in celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary.
- 28-30th December - My darling John and I had a fabulous 3days/2nights stay at Sungai Klah Hot Springs Park, Sungkai in Perak. A perfect getaway to relax and enjoy nature's marvels.
- 31st December - John and I treated his mum and an old friend for buffet 'Dim Sum' lunch at Meisan Szechuan Restaurant, Quality Hotel City Centre KL. At night, John and I, together with Steven and Sook Wan, John and Mary Boi, and Michael supped at a nearby Chinese eatery to usher in the New Year 2010 and exchange greetings. We then adjourned to Steven and Soke Wan's home to fellowship further. January 1st, being my birthday too, I was greeted with the usual birthday song and blessings by these wonderful friends. Michael pleasantly surprised me with a birthday cake (I was touched by his kind and thoughtful gesture). Retired to bed almost 2 am on the first day of 2010! Hmm....got to get up at 8 am to start the New Year's day in church, which we did!
No comments:
Post a Comment