It was December and the night time was crisp and chilly. From my doorway I watched in awe as an impressive scene unfolded earlier than me. A candlelight procession of males, ladies, and youngsters praying and singing custom posada songs was making its manner down my neighborhood avenue. Kids dressed as angels led the procession adopted by a costumed Mary and Joseph, who have been trailed by others dressed as shepherds.
Their singing stuffed the night time air. Glowing candles illuminated the darkness. Even the celebrities at nighttime sky appeared to have further sparkle. The procession stopped at pre-selected homes asking for posada (posada means “lodging” in Spanish). They have been refused till they got here to the third and final home—my home—the place I used to be the innkeeper who would welcome them.
When the pilgrims reached my home and requested for posada, I replied, “Aqui hay posada. Bienvenidos.” There may be lodging right here. Welcome. Everybody crowded into my home, about 35 individuals in all. After praying and singing, I served a conventional Mexican meal: tamales, reposteria (Mexican pastry), and scorching whipped chocolate.
This reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s troublesome journey and seek for lodging earlier than the start of Jesus is called Las Posadas. This lovely Mexican custom is widely known throughout Creation in most Hispanic communities.
In my metropolis of San Antonio many Catholic parishes sponsor this cultural and non secular even, which originated in Mexico and dates again to the sixteenth century, when Spanish missionaries launched the follow as a part of their effort to unfold the gospel amongst Mexico’s indigenous individuals.
As a result of it’s a novena, or nine-day interval of prayer, the journey is repeated for 9 nights earlier than Christmas Eve. On the final night time, the parish church is normally the welcoming innkeeper, and Mass is widely known there.
After I hosted Las Posadas, I considered it as an exquisite custom, however after Hurricane Katrina, I noticed it in a brand new mild.
On the finish of every night time, a festive celebration with meals, prayer, and music follows. Generally a piñata formed like a star, symbolic of the one which guided the three kings to the new child Jesus, is supplied for the kids. They take turns breaking the piñata (symbolizing breaking apart evil) and scramble to assemble the sweet because it falls like confetti (representing God’s grace). It’s a time of rejoicing for having discovered acceptance as a substitute of rejection.
After I hosted Las Posadas, I considered it as an exquisite custom, however after Hurricane Katrina, I noticed it in a brand new mild.
In September 2005 San Antonio grew to become the innkeeper who supplied housing and hope to many displaced by the storm. Working as a contract author for a neighborhood newspaper a number of days after Katrina hit, I walked round a warehouse at a former air power base that had turn into a short lived residence for a whole bunch of evacuees.
Their properties, that the majority sacred of locations many people take with no consideration, have been destroyed.
Row after row of cots had rapidly been arrange for these being introduced in by the planeload on the close by runway. A maze of blankets, rumpled garments, and sneakers have been scattered on prime of cots. Kids chased each other, oblivious of their environment, whereas grownups sat on the cots with vacant seems to be on their faces.
They by no means dreamed they’d be in search of shelter wherever, a lot much less in a metropolis removed from their properties, some informed me. Their properties, that the majority sacred of locations many people take with no consideration, have been destroyed. Their jobs have been gone. A minimum of for now, they mentioned, they’d a spot to remain, and for that they have been grateful.
As I regarded on the faces of the evacuees, I considered how lives can change straight away. Life’s hurricanes can come swiftly with pure disasters akin to Katrina. Different instances, it’s the lack of a job or beloved one, psychological sickness, or flight from one’s nation that makes us homeless.
When hundreds sought posada in 2005, a way of compassion enveloped our group.
When hundreds sought posada in 2005, a way of compassion enveloped our group as we welcomed these much less lucky into our metropolis and our hearts. It was the Christian factor to do. “For I used to be hungry and also you gave me meals; I used to be thirsty and also you gave me drink, a stranger and also you welcomed me” (Matt. 25:35). Isn’t that what Jesus taught us? Isn’t that what Jesus would have executed?
Katrina and its victims have seared the spirit of Las Posadas into my thoughts and coronary heart. Might its message stick with us not solely in the course of the holidays however all year long.
This text initially appeared within the December 2006 situation of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 71, No. 12). Click here to subscribe to the journal.
Picture: Flickr/Athanasius
