The final month of 2015 had been packed with various works carried out by the ICPE Mission NZ. Advent, was a time we used reach out to people preparing them to welcome Christ at His birth. We went for a number of outreaches, namely to St. Brendan’s School at Heretaunga (2 – 4 Dec), helping out with Christmas decorations, singing carols and blessing the folks at the Vincentian Rest Home (9 Dec), and we also had the privilege of proclaiming the gospel to the streets of Wellington (19 Dec). The street outreach was done with the presence of some of our congregation from St. Gerard’s.
All this was geared towards the peak of our celebration – Christmas Day. Christmas Eve’s celebration started with carols, a sign language presentation and a dance presentation by the children. This was followed by vigil mass as we welcomed the birth of our Lord. On Christmas Day too, we celebrated mass with fellowship with the congregation afterwards and later the same evening we had a community celebration over varieties of international cuisine and exchange of gifts.
2015 has been a truly blessed year and what better way to close it than in thanksgiving and praise to our Lord which we did by spending an hour adoring Him in the Blessed Sacrament an hour before midnight on then welcomed the New Year with a mass; probably the very first one in 2016 for the whole world. We closed last year with hearts filled with gratitude and we look forward to 2016 with great hope
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