When the bookings for seats for Christmas Masses were opened, whatever was available was snapped up within three minutes.
For those who are able to book a seat, it was happiness. Needless to say, those who were not able to book a seat, it was sadness.
And it was also frustrating when some members of a family managed to book seats while the others can't. So it means that they cannot go for the Christmas Mass together.
But why is coming for Mass on Christmas so special? What is so alluring or fascinating about coming for Mass on Christmas?
Maybe it is to pay the annual homage at the Nativity Scene. Maybe it is to recall those moments when we meet up with relatives and friends and exchange presents. Maybe it is some kind of homecoming feeling that can be rather difficult to express in words.
Whatever it might be, we can be certain that it is a God-given moment and not something we can create ourselves.
Yes, the celebration of the birth of Christ is a joyful moment and it also calls for deeper reflection.
The Nativity Scene beckons us to look at the Baby lying in the manger, and we see the promise of God, the Emmanuel, the God-is-with-us.
And if God came to be with us, then nothing would be ever against us, and nothing would ever separate us from God's love.
So, even though the current situation has limited the attendance at Mass, yet we look forward with hope that one day Christmas Masses will be filled as like before.
We look at the tender love of God lying in the Crib, and yet we also know that one day He would be hanging on the Cross, just to save us.
And yet, we also come to see that the sufferings in this earth, cannot be compared to the glory that is waiting for us above.
So, no matter how challenging or difficult life may be, we dare to hope and to look beyond the temporary and into eternity where God will wipe away the tears from our eyes.
And we also feel connected to the family of the Nativity - with Mary and Joseph, with the shepherds, and even with the animals.
Christmas beckons us to come back to renew our relationships with one another and it could be anything from strong and loving relationships to strained and hurting relationships.
Jesus came to seek and search for the lowly, the lonely and the lost. He came to heal and to reconcile.
He came to be with us so that we can come back to God. Jesus came down from heaven and brought heaven to us, so that we can believe that heaven is real and that we can go to heaven.
That is the wonderful mystery of Christmas, and it is essentially about the wonderful love of God for us.
Jesus is the love of God made flesh. May this wonderful mystery of Christmas also be made flesh in us, so that our faith is strengthened as we go forth to love God and to love others.