Pilgrims Among Us (Las Posadas - Introduction)
Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 06:48:00 PM PDT
In Mexico tomorrow, families and neighbors will begin the traditional novena (nine days) in preparation for the Nativity of Christ, Las Posadas. For each of the next nine nights, the faithful will reenact Joseph and Mary’s search for a place to spend the evening so that Mary could birth Peace among us, Jesus Christ. Los peregrinos - the pilgrims – will go from home to home, only to be turned away at two homes before reaching the third, where they will be invited in.
On Street Prophets tomorrow, we'll begin las Posadas as well. We'll walk with modern-day peregrinos, with some of our Brothers and Sisters who are also seeking a room at the inn, a place at the table, a voice in our midst - but who all too often encounter doors that are closed to them. Seeking shelter, seeking peace, they are turned away.
Each night we'll welcome los peregrinos into our midst. Come on inside tonight, and learn a little bit more about this tradition, and about how we'll celebrate it on Prophecy Street between now and Christmas Eve.
There's many different ways to celebrate las Posadas, but a few common themes. First, although Mexico is certainly caught up in the commercial fervor that is Retail Christmas(TM), las Posadas are an unambiguously religious activity. We'll start each evening with a brief reading from sacred texts.
After the reading, I'll offer a brief reflection on the evening's pilgrims. Storytime, if you will, about those who knock at the doors of our inns, only to be met with silence, or worse. We'll open the doors of Prophecy Street to their story. In Las Posadas, the community kneels around the family's nativity scene to pray; our community will gather and pray* for the 'holy family' that we've welcomed into our hearts each night.
Following prayers and perhaps a song or two, in Mexico Las Posadas will culminate with the breaking of a piñata.
What? A piñata for Christmas? Well, yes – nine of them, in fact - one per night. These aren’t your Spongebob Squarepants piñatas, either, or Finding Nemo, or even a flying Santa to be thwacked with a stick. The piñatas that will be struck over the next nine nights are traditional seven-pointed stars, one point for each of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Of course those who swing at the piñata are blindfolded, just as we ourselves are so often blind to our own failures to live up to our ideals and to our expectations of ourselves, especially when it comes to how we treat those who are "the least among us". As we swing at the piñata we persevere, striking at our selfishness, our greed, our anger and bitterness with a stick until we've shattered them, and are blessed with showers of endless compassion and mercy, as sweet as the dulces that rain on our heads from the broken papier-mache star.
Las Posadas are uniquely Catholic, and uniquely Mexican as well. "Catholic" means "universal", of course, and while our Posadas here will have their roots in Catholic tradition, we're all needed to welcome the stranger at our door. Here in los Estados Unidos, in this pre-election frenzy where candidates score points based on the viciousness of their plans to lock our country's doors, well... perhaps todos somos Mexicanos ahora - We are all Mexicans now. Perhaps that makes 2007 an appropriate year to usher in Christmas with the traditions of our Mexican Hermanos y Hermanas.
We are called to be the shelter for those who have none. It may be as simple as buying some extra toys to leave with a "giving tree" at a local mall, or donating money to help a shelter provide a meal or a blanket to those who live on the streets this winter. Or perhaps it’s working within our spiritual community to open eyes and hearts to the needs of those with whom we break bread or stand in a circle. Maybe it’s not remaining silent when some who are among us are demonized by others for their own political gain. Los perigrinos are among us always, knocking at our doors. What do we hear? To whom do we open our door?
Las Posadas traditionally begin with a confessional rite. Tonight let us begin our novena by examining our own hearts, our own consciences, and naming and asking forgiveness for the doors and barriers we erect to keep us from being present to one another.
Yo confieso ante Dios todopoderoso y ante ustedes, hermanos y hermanas, que he pecado mucho de pensamiento, palabra, obra y omisión,
Por mi culpa, por mi culpa, por mi gran culpa.
Por eso ruego a Santa Maria, siempre Virgen, a los ángeles, a los santos y a ustedes, hermanos y hermanas, que intercedan por mí ante Dios, nuestro Señor.
I confess to almighty God, and to you, my Brothers and Sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. I ask the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my Brothers and Sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Amén
May the Spirit that unites us all have mercy on us. In being showered with mercy, may we endeavor always to be merciful and compassionate toward one another.
Las Posadas
(this page will be updated nightly with links to each evening's story...)
*=meditate, hold in good and active thought.
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