By BIS Correspondent for BIS Mumbai 

The Don Bosco Parish, Nashik, welcomed Christmas 2025 with a deeply spiritual and joy-filled journey. The days leading up to Christmas and those that followed became a tangible sign of a community that celebrates as one family in Christ.

The Christmas festivities began with carol singing that took the Church to the doorsteps of the faithful. From 15 December 2025, carollers from the Parish moved zone to zone, visiting homes sharing the warmth and hope of Christmas. Each visit became a moment of blessing, especially to the sick and elderly, and those who may otherwise feel alone during the festive season. This door-to-door carolling concluded on 23 December with a round of special carolling at the religious houses on the Don Bosco campus, uniting everyone in one song of joyous praise.

The heart of the celebration was the solemn Midnight Holy Eucharist, where the parish gathered to welcome the newborn Saviour. The main celebrant Rev. Fr. Rixson Nigrel SDB, the Principal of Don Bosco School and Junior College preached on the theme, “there was no place in the inn”. He invited the faithful to look beyond the Bethlehem story and ask whether there is place for Jesus in their own lives today. He urged the assembly to open their hearts and minds firstly to Jesus, allowing Him to heal, guide and transform them, and then to extend that same openness and warmth to one’s fellow parishioners, especially the excluded, forgotten or overlooked.

The Christmas warmth did not end here. The Christmas spirit was rekindled on 27 December 2025, when the parish gathered once again, this time to celebrate the beautiful gift of the family. The Holy Eucharist was presided over by Rev. Fr. Leon Rodrigues SDB, Assistant Parish Priest and Youth Director. In his homily, he reflected on the meaning and mission of the Christian family as a place of love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and faith. He warmly invited everyone to look at the Don Bosco Parish itself as their home and family, where each person is welcomed and loved.

After the Eucharist, 154 parishioners stayed back to rejoice together in a vibrant community gathering organised by the Parish Priest and Rector, Fr. Royal D’abreo SDB and the Salesian community of Don Bosco Parish. The programme featured a lively Christmas carol competition between the parish zones, with each group bringing its musical talent to the stage. Fun-filled games were organised so that every person present, from children to seniors, felt genuine solidarity and togetherness.

The celebration culminated in a festive agapic meal, a true sign of shared life and fraternity. As families and individuals sat together, shared food and conversation, and exchanged Christmas wishes, the spirit of the Eucharist flowed naturally into fellowship. The entire journey, one that began with the door to door carolling to the altar of the Lord, and from the altar to the shared table, gave witness to a parish that is striving to ensure there is always ‘room in the inn’ for Jesus and for one another.