By Charles Phukuta Khonde CICM

Elsewhere we have an article showing how Filipinos have brought the Simbang Gabi to the USA. Here a missionary from the Democratic Republic of Congo discovers a parallel Mexican novena in his American parish. Both articles show how migrants can enrich the Church by bringing and adapting their religious traditions to the countries where they settle.

Advent means ‘coming.’ Hospitality is at the heart of Advent because it is a season of opening doors. During this time the community of Saint Eugene Catholic Church in Wendell, North Carolina, USA, prepares, like all other Christians around the world, for the coming of Jesus, born that first Christmas in a stable. Here, our Advent season is marked by two special traditions among others: the novena preparing us to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12 December, and the Posadas, a novena that prepares us for the celebration of Christmas. The Spanish word posada means ‘inn.’ ThePosadas begin on 16 December and end on 24 December. They are a reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem (Luke 2:2-7).

Christmas Procession

The parish community participates in this novena on the nine nights before Christmas. The first part of the Posada is strictly religious. People process from house to house. Two young people dress as Mary and Joseph and lead the procession with the crowd behind them, symbolic of the journey before Jesus’ birth.

At each home, the people divide themselves into two groups: one group goes inside the house as innkeepers, while the other group remains outside playing the part of the pilgrims. At the first few houses, the group sings a dialogue of traditional verses, asking to be let into the homes. Behind each closed door comes the response that there’s no room for them. As the people walk from one building to another, sometimes carrying lighted candles, they sing villancicos or Christmas carols, preparing peoples’ hearts to be open to the newborn King. For the nine nights of the Posadas, the young people take turns changing roles and costumes. The smallest ones usually want to be shepherds, angels or magi all nine nights. As young as they are, the children are learning to share crowns and wings and staffs. Sharing is what love is all about, and that is what the Posadas teach, in action as well as in word.

‘Enter, Holy Pilgrims’

At the last house, the hard hearts behind the door melt and the joyful chorus, ‘Enter, Holy Pilgrims,’ ushers the participants into the home. On the last night, the Posada ends at the church where the baby Jesus is placed inside the Nativity scene at midnight.

This drama, recreating the Gospel scene, is very well produced. Each evening draws a mixed congregation of parents, their children and young people walking side by side. The procession includes many people dressed in traditional Mexican costumes. Neighbors come out to watch, allowing them to be evangelized by this ancient yet ever new tradition of Mary and Joseph knocking on doors seeking lodging.

Breaking of Piñata

A second activity associated with the Posadas is the breaking of a piñata. Piñatas are often made of paper, glue, balloons, crepe paper, and filled with fruits and candy. The piñata is firmly tied to a rope, and then hung from a pole or a branch of a tree. Someone holds the other end of the rope, pulling the piñata up and down to make it a more elusive target for the person attempting to break it open. All children present take a turn and the people sing a special song while the child follows the directions of others and tries to break the piñata.

When it is broken, all scramble for the candy, fruit and gifts falling to the ground. For the community of Saint Eugene, the piñata is a symbol of faith, hope and love of God. Traditionally, a piñata has seven peaks representing the seven capital sins. Breaking it with a stick signifies virtue, since the stick that breaks the sins plays the part of Christian faith.

Tradition of the Past

After the piñata, dinner is served, every family bringing food to share. A typical meal includes homemade tamales (a Mexican dish prepared with a mixture of meat and chilies and cornmeal, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed), ponche (fruit punch), bunuelos (a thin fried pastry sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar), champurado (hot chocolate mixed with cornmeal and brown sugar) and cookies. The Posadas constitute a powerful and meaningful church and family tradition. These traditions establish family roots and connectedness. They help tie the past to the present, linking year after year, childhood to adulthood, grandparent to grandchild, with shared experiences, values and memories. This cultivates a sense of identity – who one is and where one belongs.

Our Divine Visitor

The Posadas remind us all about the need to show hospitality to one another. The meaning of thePosada, however, is as much about Jesus’ coming as it is about our own readiness to welcome him into our hearts, our homes, and our lives. The doors of our hearts must be open and ready to welcome the Christ who continues to come to us. Advent is an appropriate time to recommit ourselves to this openness. Advent is a season of opening doors so that we can both give and receive this love. Advent is a wake-up call, alerting us and challenging us to become more aware of the Divine Visitor who faithfully knocks at the door of our lives. How we welcome other human beings into our lives is how we welcome Emmanuel (Mt 25:31-46).

What Bethlehem really means

Through the Posadas, we recall the many times we have shut our inner door on Emmanuel. It allows us to reflect about the times we’ve refused to receive the truth, love and goodness that are offered, when we have chosen to be alienated from others or ourselves, when we’ve barred the door to those who need our forgiveness, kindness and compassion. Advent is the time to let in those people who have been standing at the door of our heart for a long time. Bethlehem is not just ‘an event’ that happened and is finished. It is something we must live. In our lives, in the circumstances in which we live, we need to respond to Bethlehem’s full meaning. Through the Posadas, becoming a pilgrim and following Mary and Joseph, each person becomes part of the Christmas story.