Las Posadas & Migrants Day

In my heart, Mary and Joseph, I will journey 
with you and others for "Las Posadas."
Carrying lanterns, we sing joyfully and walk along with brave Joseph.
He leads poor, tired Mary on her little donkey.
From house to house we go, asking to come in, to find a quiet place 
for the young mother who is about to give birth.
"We have no room. There's no room for you!"
On and on, we travel in hope, following an angel.
Finally, on the ninth night, on December 24, 
we find shelter for the holy pilgrims.
Your holy child is born in a borrowed stable.
We will feast and sing and rejoice.
The long, hard journey has ended.
This newborn child shall bring us so much joy.

Las Posadas Prayer for Children

Somewhere in a file there is a copy of the Las Posadas service from at least 25 years ago which was one of the Advent services -- White Gift?-- at St. Andrew's United Church in Sudbury. In those ancient times we had lots of kids in Sunday School and a couple of children's choirs so it was a big production.  Los Posadas recognizes the demanding journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph and is celebrated in Spain and Latin American countries. Even though the image above is cheerful the play we used noted that it wasn't easy and that there was rejection along the way. 

Las Posadas begins on December 16th and continues until Christmas, nine days later.  It's appropriate that today, December 18th is International Migrants Day, which acknowledges those who are on the move for a variety of different reasons, economic and environmental and  personal safety. 



Migrants whose boat sank in the Mediterranean

There are many barriers, actual and metaphorical, in the world we live in, and the United Nations is calling for a new international strategy, an updating of the Global Compact for migrants and refugees who now number more than 70 million souls.

There is a Banksy image of the Mary and Joseph reaching a wall on their journey, which is likely the wall in the West Bank, but which could be the US/Mexico border wall or representing the patrols on the Mediterranean which repel migrants from Africa and Turkey. Keeping people out  may seem like a solution but ultimately this is global challenge which will need more than barriers to address. 



Banksy