Christmas came early to Canberra when members of the Australia Sri Lanka Association (ASLA) and the Canberra Tamil Christian Fellowship (CTCF) joined the High Commission staff to sing carols in Sinhala, Tamil and English at the Mission’s Christmas celebration on Thursday 6 December 2018. The large audience rose to their feet to join in singing the final carol ' Silent Night’ in all three languages.
Music was provided by local Music group Nada Roo with Subramanium Sukumar also joining in on guitar while ANU student Roshen Fernando accompanied on keyboard.
Father Daniel Benedetti delivered a special blessing and a Christmas message where he said we must be thankful for the opportunities we are given in life, and help our fellow beings in whatever way possible. He also gave thanks for bringing Sri Lankan culture to Canberra through the Christmas celebration.
High Commissioner S. Skandakumar in his welcome address highlighted the fact that despite there being no Christians among the High Commission staff the preparations for the Christmas celebration were done with the same zeal and enthusiasm as for Vesak, Eid or Deepavali reflecting the mutual respect that prevailed for all religious faiths. He thanked the members of ASLA and CTCF and the musicians for their participation and commitment that added value to the celebration.
"The humility that surrounded the birth and life of Christ is something we should all remember and emulate, as it is synonymous with Love, Compassion, Gratitude and Forgiveness" he concluded.
A two minute silence was observed at the end in memory of former High Commissioner in Australia (1986-1989) Dr Wickrema Weerasooriya, who passed away in Colombo on 4th December.
Guests were provided with refreshments by courtesy of the Mission Staff.
