Asian Mass -- a must attend!

[Lobo, Joseph (Shipping)]

Dear TIPCA Member,

The Annual Asian Mass is one of the most beautiful events of our Asian community. It has been conducted for the past 15 years, and many of our members eagerly look forward to the event. In previous years, there used to be a huge cultural and dance program too, but since the evening became too long, it has been temporarily discontinued for the past 2 years; hopefully it will become a full-day event again in the future.

Here is the program outline for the mass:

Date: September 26th, 2010
Time: 2pm
Location: Notre Dame Catholic Church
Address: 7720 Boone Road, Houston, TX 77072-3595
http://www.notredamechurch.org/
Tel: 281-498-4653
Nationalities participating: Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Korean. (By "Indian" I mean every one of our TIPCA members -- Indian, Pakistani, African, Canadian…-- and the ICH kerala Association)

Agenda: Procession, followed by Mass, followed by free Dinner.

Procession starts at 2pm. This is going to be a grand affair in which all the commumities come into the church, one by one. All parishioners must come in their native or national dress! So, please wear something that showcases your nationality and your pride! Last year (my first time), some of the Chinese ladies dressed like royalty, with all those fancy pins in their hair. It was a sight to behold. There will be literally hundreds of cameras, so expect yourself to be photographed quite often. If you've got an native costume, now's the time to wear it!!

Mass will start as soon as the procession is complete. We are expecting about 1,200 parishioners to attend, so please come early. Notre Dame Church is a new building which can house all the parishoners, but you definitely want a good seat.

Dinner: this will be an event with just 6 dishes -- one from each nationality. It promises to be very tasty, and our Indian contingent, championed by Stella, is arranging a sumptious Mutton Biryani for 1,200 persons. TIPCA will donate $200 for this cause. The entire evening should be finished by 7pm.

Want to take part in the action?!?  Here's how...

CHOIR: Mel D'mello is our representative for organizing the Indian participation in the choir. He is doing an excellent job, and needs our participation. If you have given to our TIPCA choir or to your 'other' church choirs, then you MUST take part in this event. You will enjoy the absolute mastery of more than 130 choir members of 6 communities singing in such a superb way under a very professional Choir Master! Practices have been going on for the 4 Sundays, so please try to join in, it's still early enough for you to pick up all the 6 hymns. The voices are majestic to listen to. You will love being a part of it. Practice is every Sunday at 5pm - 8pm, at Ascension Church, 4505 Jetty Lane, Houston, TX 77072. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4605+jetty+lane,+houston,+tx+77072&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=25.149508,57.392578&ie=UTF8&ll=29.707866,-95.592792&spn=0.006709,0.014012&z=16&om=1. It is on the north side of Bellaire, between Kirkwood and Cook Road. Please do come. A few practices and you and your kids will be champs at the 6 hymns. About half the present choir is made up of school and college kids. Amazing how professional they sound. Please contact Mel D'Mello at:

Email: DmelloM...@Hotmail.com
Tel: 281-207-6564, or 281-755-7594

HOSPITALITY: Michael Lobo is our representative for organizing the Hospitality part of the event. Each community has been given a responsibility, and our job is to arrange the ushers, pass out the brochures, guide the people, help direct the parking, and assist with dinner preparations and distribution. Please volunteer for this effort. We must show everyone else that we too can step up to the plate when called to do so. The Planning Committee meets on the 3rd Monday of every month, and Michael, Luiza and Stella attend it, and give us the feedback. We are coordinating this with the ICH. Please send an email to Michael Lobo at

email: park...@aol.com
Tel: 281-488-6504 or 832-524-6504

Remember, your kids can register in their shool's community hours by taking part in this huge inter-cultural event. They will pick up a lot by taking part in some way. Please do send them next Sunday for choir practice, or contact Michael Lobo if you'd like them to participate in coordinating the event. It will be a great experience for them! The ICH is sending a lot of their young adults to take part and we must show the same support. Let's make our involvement a huge success.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next choir practice on Sunday 25th 5pm at Ascension Church.

Take care y'all, and God bless you and your wonderful family,
Joe+

Joseph Lobo
TIPCA President