I work for a non-profit. We minister to the homeless, the mentally ill and recently paroled prisoners who needed a place to live in order be released. We have 9 residences with between 16 and 22 residents (2 men's houses for parolees, a women's house for parolees, an AIDS hospice and 5 houses for those with a persistent mental illness). We also have a Soup Kitchen, a hostel for "street girls," a thrift store and my state’s only "certified" Clubhouse. A "Clubhouse" is a psychosocial rehabilitation center following the Fountain House Model. With the exception of a few paid staff members, a handful of volunteers and some nuns, the residents run the entire operation.
I started as a volunteer helping in the clubhouse's Transitional Employment Unit and got sucked in to doing more and more because the foundress is the most amazing woman I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She's 84 years old, works 16-20 hours a day and never has a day off. She's a former social worker who decided to start her own organization over 40 years ago. She was inspired by Dorothy Day and is driven by her Faith. She's Catholic but the organization is not affiliated with the Catholic Church. Unlike the Salvation Army, those who come to us don't have to sing hymns, like a bunch of trained seals, in order to get their dinner and a bed. However, we do have 10 nuns working for us. 4 are from Guatemala and 2 are from Mexico and for the 9 days leading up to Christmas we do have 4 religious celebrations that are “forced” on the residents. A Christmas Party (as opposed to a holiday party), decorating the residences for Christmas, Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and Los Posadas.
The celebration of Las Posadas (The Inns) is the reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging after their arrival in Bethlehem. The community joins in strolling and singing traditional Spanish songs. Community members choose to side with the innkeepers or with Mary and Joseph and the Angel. Each group has a set of songs and corresponding responses for the asking and the denial, and finally the offering of shelter, which ends with a party and the breaking of a pinata.
Our version of Los Posadas goes like this: We load up the 6 nuns and a dozen residents into a couple of vans and visit 2 sites per night. 2 residents are dressed as the “Pilgrims,” Mary and Joseph (we can't afford a donkey, so I play the part of the ass), and a few others are dressed as angels and shepherds. We walk up to the door banging on various percussion instruments and a few guitars and half of us go inside and we do the Posada song. We sing a verse in Spanish and then the same verse in English. Here’s the only verse I can remember in Spanish:
Outside singers: Venimos rendidos desde Nazaret, yo soy carpintero de nombre Jose.
Inside singers: No me importa el nombre, dejenme dormir, pues que yo les digo que nos hemos de abrir.
English Outside: We are worn out coming from Nazareth. I am a carpenter, Joseph by name.
Inside: I don't care about your name: Let me sleep, because I already told you we shall not open up (it sounds much prettier in Spanish).
In the final verse the innkeepers finally let the Pilgrims inside. Upon entering the home, the Pilgrims are welcomed by the House-Mother/Father who selects a reading from the Bible. One of the Sisters gives an explanation of “Los Posadas,” one of the host-residents reads the appropriate novena. Then the nuns lead a decade of the Rosary and bless the house, we sing a few Christmas Carols, then have snacks, coffee or hot apple cider. After eating and visiting for a while the nuns sing some Spanish Christmas songs and we head outside to bust up the pinada. Our pinatas (residences only) are loaded with candy, cigarettes and bus tokens.
Tonight was my last night driving and I hosted the 2nd Posada. After the 1st house we drove through a ritzy neighborhood known for extravagant lighting and decorations before coming here. I prepared apple empanadas, pumpkin empanadas and my daughter’s “Killer Chocolate Chunk Cookies.” Earlier this week I bought a chocolate nativity set from a store called The Chocolate Bar and gave each Pilgrim a piece of the set as a parting gift. The nuns were horrified when I bit the head off of Baby Jesus!
Feliz Navidad!
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