Letter from a Claretian Missionary working in Uganda.

Dear loving Father Angel

Here comes Fr.Joy all the way from Uganda with lots of love warm regards and season’s greetings. Hope that you are doing pretty well in spite of the hard and alarming economic times around you.

The season of advent and Christmas fills our minds and hearts with joy, jubilation and excitement as it did 2000 years ago in the lives of those simple and illiterate village flocks of Palestine. The only speciality of those ordinary biblical personalities like, Mary Joseph, Shepards and Magi was that they were extraordinarily generous to accommodate The Word, Jesus to become flesh/a reality amidst them. Christmas is an open invitation to all of us to recapture this incredible and adorable action of those Biblical personalities, who sacrificed their, time energy and resources to accommodate Jesus in their stress filled life of hardship and toil.

For me, Christmas is the best time to tell you that I love you and I appreciate your efforts of accommodating me and my mission in your thoughts by way your valuable prayers, genuine concern and occasional material assistance.

The year 2011 has been a year of blessings for me and my parish community in our struggle to form vibrant parish community. We could realize most of the programs that we planned for the parish in the year 2011.Our dream project of the construction of the new parish church are progressing slowly but steadily. We were able accomplish almost 80% of the construction work that we have targeted for this year 2011. The global economic downturn also affected us adversely as the cost of building materials skyrocketed during the course of the year.

At the same time, we are extremely happy with the construction work that we have accomplished so far and we are determined to pool together all the resources available to complete this project in the near future. I would like to thank you for your prayers and support for this project and I hope that you will extend your positive support in the future too.

Personally for me 2011 has been a year of great tragedy and pain as I found it so hard to accept the untimely demise of my youngest brother of 39 years old on 24th of May 2011. Now, as the days passed, I have tried to cope up with this tragedy and have started accepting the plan of God. I would like to thank you for your prayers, words of comfort and condolences which of course made me to experience the power of love and friendship. Thanks for being a good friend. I appreciate your sense of creating a little space for me in your busy life.

The balance sheet of the year 2011 gives me all the reasons to appreciate and to celebrate our friendship in this joyful season of Christmas. From the bottom of my heart I wish you a grace filled season of Christmas and a bright New Year 2012.May the babe of Bethlehem bring abundant joy and consolation in your day today life of   struggles and tensions. A Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year 2012

With lots of love and prayers

 Fr.Joy Mampillikunnel cmf, 

Katukuru catholic parish P.o.Box 340
Mbarara Uganda, East Africa.
Ph. 256-714-102-030      ,
Email: joymapkunnel@gmail.com