Going to Mass once a year at Christmas ‘will not sustain faith against cold winds of secularism and individualism’

He encouraged Catholics to attend Mass every Sunday to ‘keep alight the flame of faith’.

“Jesus wants you to encounter him, not just at Christmas Eve, but every day and especially every Sunday at Mass, an occasional glance once a year will not sustain faith against the cold winds of secularism and individualism,” he told parishioners in his homily in St. Eugene’s Cathedral at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

He added: “It will take more than an occasional prayer to keep alight the flame of faith amid the cold howl of noise and the constant pressure to consume. Let this Christmas be a time when we renew our promise to come and adore Christ the lord every day and not just once a year.”