Different cultures came together in music and song to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Multicultural Christmas Carols, hosted by the Divine Word Missionaries in Sydney and Brisbane.

The SVD Marsfield Community hosted its annual Christmas Carols Festival and St Mark’s Parish, Inala hosted an ecumenical, multicultural Carols evening in Brisbane.

The Marsfield event featured carols sung by various ethnic groups, including Vietnamese, Chinese and Indonesian, as well as other groups including the St Anthony’s Parish Choir, the St Arnold Janssen Chapel Bible and Breakfast Group, the Handmaids of the Lord Community, the Holy Trinity Community and of course, the SVDC/SSpS combined choir.

Provincial, Fr Henry Adler SVD welcomed those taking part in the Carols Festival, saying that while in Australia Christmas is set amongst holidays, cricket and the sounds and smells of summer, there are also many other traditions from around the world that make up the fabric of Christmas in Australia.

“There are special traditions from different countries that mark this season out from all the others on the calendar,” he said.

“The great mystery of the Christmas celebration is unexpectedly wrapped up in swaddling clothes; a helpless baby boy, born so many years ago, in another part of the world.

“But this baby boy was God, who became one of us. He became God-with-us. That’s the real story of Christmas, God becoming one of us.”

Meanwhile at St Mark’s Parish in Inala, the Ecumenical Christmas Carols attracted people from the parish, from the Inala community and surrounding suburbs.

Pastoral Associate for the Parish, Sr Philomina Mathew SSpS said St Mark’s took the initiative to host he event and welcomed all the Christian churches in the local area who wished to come together as one people of God to retell the story of Jesus, to sing the carols, and to celebrate joyfully the birth of Jesus.

“The different nationalities of the leaders and church communities truly represented the multicultural face of the suburb of Inala and other South Brisbane communities,” she said.

“United under the banner of Jesus Christ, the birth of Jesus was celebrated with one heart and many voices!

“It was a prayerful and enjoyable experience of love and fellowship for everyone who attended.”

After a welcome from St Mark’s Parish Priest, Fr Stephen Pilly SVD, a member of the Ngutana Lui Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Centre gave the acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land.

Rev Carol Palmer, minister of the Anglican Church in Inala led the gathering in opening prayer, followed by the ‘Unfolding of the Christmas Story’ where episodes were presented by the various choirs from different Christian communities and multicultural groups. The minister of the Uniting Church in Inala expressed the vote of thanks and led the closing prayer.

Fr Stephen gave the Christmas message, saying that Christmas is a time of celebration in joy and gratitude because God so loved the world that he sent us his only Son to be among us, to be God with us – the Emmanuel.

“And so, the message of Christmas is one of Joy, Peace and Love,” he said.

“As followers of Jesus we are called to share that same joy, love and peace with everyone we encounter.”

Both Carols events, at Inala and Marsfield concluded with a shared multicultural meal.

Other SVD communities were also involved with Christmas Carol events.