By Paula Day

It was a celebration of Little Christmas and the universality of the Catholic Church all rolled into one.

Parishioners of Christ Our Hope celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany with a bow to the three astrologers from the East who stood in for all future followers of the Christ Child. The Lithonia Parish also used the 11 a.m. Liturgy on January 5 to rejoice in its own ethnic diversity.

A banner in front of the main altar proclaimed the theme for the celebration: “Christ Our Hope, Christ Our World!” Children in the parish were invited to wear costumes from their family’s cultural background and everyone wore name tags identifying a country of their choice. Christ Our Hope claims first generation families from the Far East, India, Africa, Europe, as well as the Caribbean and Latin America. Father Austin Fogarty, the pastor, is from Ireland.

Chris Jones in authentic Saudi dress, Rudy Liggins in a Moroccan outfit, and Rhori Phillipps in native Filipino costume, represented the three Wise Men of the feast day and brought the gifts to the altar during the offertory procession. Hayley Salandy, dressed as a flower vendor from Jamaica, was crossbearer.

After Communion, children of the parish gathered across the front of the altar area and led the congregation in singing “We are the World.”

“The idea was to capture our diversity and celebrate the spirit of Christ’s coming into the world as the Savior of all people,” explained Patricia Williams, who with her sister, Candace, planned the celebration. Liturgically, Epiphany is the feast of Christmas for Gentiles, Father Fogarty pointed out, because it commemorates the manifestation of the Christ Child as Savior of all people.

“Our parish has a lovely racial mix. It’s a treasure. The spirit of acceptance of racial differences is so evident. That is the epiphany, the real revelation of this feast. The Christ Child is saying, ‘You belong to one another because you belong to me.’”

As is his usual practice, Father Fogarty invited the children to come around the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. “We’re all children of God,” he explained. “God has no grandchildren. Our children teach us to love God. We recognize their openness, their spontaneity, their joy, and we all hunger for this.

“This community is a family parish,” the pastor added, “and our church is like a large family room. It lends itself to gather around as children of God. Bringing the children up around the altar during the Consecration takes literally the words, ‘Let the children come to Me.’”

Vinnie Giardina, father of three girls who are nine, seven and five, says they look forward to this participation. “As a parent I find it makes it a lot easier because they feel they’re a part of the Church. Our kids love coming to Mass.”