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Somber Christmas Marked In Breezy Point, Rockaways After Sandy

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - For residents living in Sandy-ravaged parts of the Tri-State Area, the Christmas spirit may be hard to come by.

That's especially true of those still out of their homes, or those who lost loved ones.

In Breezy Point, the devastation of Sandy remains evident.

"For many of them, there's a loss of faith perhaps. A loss of hope. A loss of concern. A loss of the sense of the future," Father Michael Gribbon of Blessed Trinity Parish told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.

Christmas traditions have been altered and celebrations have been moved.

"Just based on our own loss. Certainly the loss of what happened in Connecticut resonates with us that there is darkness in the world," Gribbon said.

Gribbon told Haskell his Christmas message is very simple.

"Keep hope alive. They really are so filled with hope and plans and a determination to be restored and renewed in their life down here."

Gribbon told Haskell the story of Christmas portrays Jesus as a light.

"If we embrace that light, and embrace that hope, we can overcome any of that darkness."

 

 

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