MARY MOTHER of GOD

St. Mary's Cathedral Sandakan ushered in the New Year 2010 with a morning Mass at 8.00am. The celebrant for the Mass was Rev. Fr. Paul Lo. On the day of the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, parishioners gathered at this Cathedral and surprisingly, with attendance despite the celebration of the New Year Eve.

Good attendance at the Mass

Offering

In his homily, Fr. Paul said the Christians has started celebrating this feast since the very first century. Fr. Paul also reflected on Pope Benedict XVI's message in conjunction with the Celebration for World Day for Peace. The Pope was quoted in his theme for the celebration as saying "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation". Protecting creation vis a vis the environment has become a matter of great urgency in view of recent development of global warming in the world. The local intention of building a coal fire plant to generate energy may also have a lasting pollution effect to the environment especially damage to the ecological state of the sea.

To this, Fr. Paul reiterated that the fact the theme was chosen by His Holy Father the
Pope, demonstrated the Church's great concern for the environment especially in the current context. Therefore it is the responsibility of all Christians to "protect creation" to cultivate peace.

Among the parishioners in the Cathedral today were those dressed in green in support of local NGO who is campaigning for renewable energy solution locally. After Mass, a group photo was taken at the entrance of the Cathedral to commemorate the event.

Group photo after Mass.