Christ the King Parish in Springfield hosted a Christmas Festival Sing-a-Long on Dec. 20 in the Parish Center which highlighted the Christmas story as told through carols, Scripture and witnesses of personal relationships with Christ.

The program, which was started on the East Coast and is spreading across the country, is designed for use outside of formal church settings in order to help unchurched, inactive or marginal Catholics connect with our Catholic heritage, with the church and with God during the weeks prior to Christmas.

The participatory festival relies on Jesus-centered carols as valuable instruments of proclaiming God's message. The singing of carols is a teachable moment about their meaning when they are being used in our culture between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The hope is that by singing carols together, believers savor God's promises both during the festival event and as they hear the Jesus-centered carols that echo God's voice in shopping malls, car radios and at holiday gatherings.

The Festival addresses the questions: Why choose religious carols over secular music? Why bother with a religious Christmas at all? Why keep Christ in Christmas and what difference does it make to know Jesus?

Carols were accompanied by the parish bell choir, piano, guitar, flute and violin. The festival featured Scripture readings, witnessing and a special performance by their preschool, as well as Father Joe Ring blessing the Nativity Christ Child that was brought from each home. Offerings of gifts of food for the poor were collected and donated to St. Martin de Porres Center.

To quote St. Francis Cabrini, the main purpose, not just of this festival, but "of all that comes our way — is to love Jesus, to speak of Jesus and to make Jesus known."

Madonna Jones is pastoral associate at Christ the King Parish in Springfield.