Yuletide bonds: Young Christians extend Christmas cheer to the elderly in parish festivities

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you John 1512This verse from the Gospel is a simple one but the ways to manifest it are many In the case of fouryearold Liam Gonsalves it means visiting his bestiesmdashMagret Patel 81 and Delphin Angela Patel 64Liam and his mother Shifra Patel stay in the Kharodi village in Malad and Magret and Delphin who are next door neighbours stay a few houses away While Liam has always been in and out of their homes Christmas is a special time for the two elderly ladies and their favourite little guestDelphin Patel lives next door to her sister Magret and adores little Liam who ensures that his mother meets the seniors without failThe practice of visiting the elderly is one of the oldest festive traditions of Christianity but is now dwindling Families like Liamrsquos are among the few who are enthusiastically keeping it aliveA few months ago St Anthonyrsquos Church in Malwani started reaching out to its parishioners The Church identified the elderly in its parish and asked the younger lot to check on them and inform the Church in case they needed something Shifra and Liam were among the first to be part of the initiativeldquoKharodi village is already like a small family Even though both Magret and Delphin mai live nearby through this programme we make sure we take the time out and spend quality time with themrdquo says Shifra who works with a financial audit companyR Titus Fernandez talks to Sienna Borges and Kerwyn Kelawala during one of their visits Borges and Kelawala are a part of St Francis Xavier Churchrsquos initiative to meet seniors at home especially on Christmas day PicSatej ShindeShe tells us that her tiny tot insists on visiting his mais who live alone Every time Shifra is unable to take Liam to meet them he makes his displeasure known The effort is not lost on Magret and Delphin eitherldquoI lost my husbandrsquos three months after I got marriedrdquo says Magret as she rolls the dough for shankarpalis a staple in Kharodirsquos East Indian homes during Christmas ldquoMy brother lives nearby and after my husbandrsquos untimely death I came to live here This is the house I was born inrdquoDelphin who is her cousin adds ldquoI look forward to Liamrsquos visitsrdquo She casts an adoring look at Liam who is busy swinging on his ankles using his motherrsquos arm for supportWill he sing carols and trade jokes with his mais this Christmas we ask Liam He only nods before looking away shyly Clearly his affections are not for usA similar friendship is forming at the other end of the city with 22yearold Sienna Borges and 21yearold Kerwyn Kelawala looking forward to spending Christmas with Titus Fernandez 73 a retired lsquoshippyrsquo living in Dhobi Talao Fernandez has spent most of his life at sea and is now confined to his thirdfloor apartment due to health complicationsA few months ago he received a call from the St Francis Xavier Church in Dabul Kalbadevi where he is a parishioner informing him that two youngsters would be coming to meet himldquoI didnrsquot know what to expectrdquo he confesses Clearly the first meeting went well because the trio already have their Christmas plans sortedKelawala who works at Morgan Stanley says ldquoWe love spending time with Titus He is so much fun He tells us these stories of his travels the things he saw and how he overcame challenges in his life We werenrsquot sure of how this would go but he just wins you over with his wit and charmrdquoBorges who is a consultant at Deloitte and lives at Marine Lines adds ldquoI love meeting new people hearing about their experience and Titus has no dearth of life lessons to impart Wersquore doing something like this for the first time too but I am glad we took this on It has definitely left us for the betterrdquo she addsWhen we ask Fernandez if he is looking forward to the duorsquos Christmas visit he throws his doors open to us as wellldquoDo come along and say hi Just call me firstrdquo he says and suddenly we know the wit and charm his two young friends are talking aboutFor Christians like Liam Borges and Kelawala Christmas is indeed about loving thy neighbour