After a week of traveling from one province to another, I am now present at the Annunciation - Truyen Tin parish in Huong Son district. I was surprised by the rural beauty here and impressed by the huge Christmas crib of this church. Do you wonder why this place is poor countryside but invest in such a big Christmas crib? Is that considered wasteful? But that's not. Let's find out the reason for this with me.
A little information about the Truyen Tin parish
Truyen Tin parish in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province was established on December 25, 2019, to celebrate the Annunciation holiday.
History
Around 1888 at the end of the 19th century during the reign of King Tu Duc (1847-1889), the seed of the Gospel was planted in Truyen tin land. At that time, only a group of people, the late Paul Nguyen Sang, from the outside diocese, now the diocese of Vinh, came to reclaim the land. After that, a number of prestigious and noble clans who were also religious people came and decided to explore. Expand farming and trade by waterway along with the River Ngan Pho.
After 20 years, in 1908, from the simple chapel, the clans joined forces to create a church made of ironwood and medium jackfruit, seven compartments long, over 10 meters wide, construction time nearly two years. At this time, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was a famous church of the Diocese.
In 1918, during the reign of King Khai Dinh, the contradictions, discrimination, and discrimination of the Van Than class towards Catholics pushed Van Trung's parishioners into persecution. Some had to leave the village to flee, wait for a peaceful time to return, and thanks to the strength of uniting parishioners, overcame the ordeal.
In order to reassure the spirit of the parishioners during the persecution, on the other hand, the village parish was also qualified to set up a parish, the superior appointed Father Tuong to take care of the flock. The name Tinh Dy parish was born from that. Around 1918 the parish adopted Mother Annunciation as patroness. In December 1924, Tinh Dy parish again faced a turbulent event, for many special reasons, the name Tinh Dy on the position of a parish was deleted from this event. Tinh Dy belongs to Ke Mui parish, ending 40 years of creation and development. Although superiors still keep the title of Mother Annunciation as the patroness of their church.
After many ups and downs of the times, the faith of Tinh Dy Catholics was shaken, wavered, and somewhat declined. Some parishioners turned their backs on the mother Church, giving up or delaying worship altogether, so the world has the saying "Tinh Dy is half-gone, half-abandoned" and is transmitted through be passed down orally of people, which still resonates today.
Now
Although Truyen Tin parish is still poor and smaller than other parishes, the piety spirit of the parishioners is not small. A parish but with a population scattered from more than 20 km, with such difficult conditions, parishioners still diligently go to Mass, doing their duty so that the parish can develop steadily and walk side by side with other parishes other big. A typical example of the spirit of sacrifice is the Christmas crib project preparing for Christmas this year. Besides, also thanks to the grace and strength from the holy and simple lifestyle of the parish priest, it has brought the parishioners with weaker faith back to the church and faith in God.
The Answer
The AnswerNow we will find out why such a difficult parish makes such a big Christmas.
Because of some reason, the Christmas crib is a sign of God's tender love for mankind.
Through the Christmas crib, it shows the humility of the Son of God, who took on the human condition of being weak, poor, needy, and small, but living among humans.
In Littera Apostolica, the Holy Father affirms: “born in a manger, it is God who initiates the only and true revolution that brings hope and dignity to the despised and marginalized. It's a revolution of love, a revolution of tenderness."
The Christmas crib also invites us to learn humility, love the poverty that God has put on, so the Christmas crib is elaborately and beautifully made to spread His love for people. And the Christmas crib is the witness to that Good News of Love in the faith life of the faithful. We will find it strange to say that why not spend that money to build a house but waste it like that, but for Catholics in addition to living in the present, they also care for their spiritual life and for the next life. And God will not be stingy with anyone because "we give God one, God will give us ten", so investing in the Christmas crib is reasonable and a good thing to do to receive God into our house.
Sacrifices and trying to get a great Christmas crib.
The joy of making the Christmas cribThe process of making the Christmas crib is also very hard and takes time, but thanks to the sacrifices of the parishioners and also thanks to the material and spiritual investment of the pastor, it has created a wonderful Christmas crib and is perfect to welcome a merry Christmas to the parish of Truyen Tin.
The lovely parish priest
Christmas has become a universal holiday, and even non-believers feel the charm of this holiday. Christians, however, know that Christmas is a decisive event, an eternal fire that God has kindled in the world, and must not confuse it with fleeting things. The Christmas crib outside the church is also a Christmas crib and more importantly, each of us also needs to prepare our souls to be ready to receive God into the house of our souls, because our own souls are Christmas cribs.
Christmas is not only for Catholics, but it is also an opportunity for non-Catholics to have fun, reunite with family, and receive the blessings of Christmas.
