Advent
Las Posadas: An Invitation to Hospitality
Tue, 12/11/2012 - 3:16pm — TessaW
By: Maura Moser
Beginning this Sunday, December 16, through Christmas Eve many Catholic communities will celebrate Las Posadas. In this Advent procession, the faithful re-enact the journey of Joseph and Mary as they seek shelter, or posada, and are repeatedly turned away until finally welcomed into a home where a celebration takes place.
Las Posadas is a communal expression of faith that reminds us of the humble beginnings of Jesus Christ and how the idea of welcoming the stranger began with his own birth. The theme of migration and invitation to hospitality would continue throughout his earthly life -- from the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt to escape persecution to Jesus’ itinerant ministry. As Blessed John Paul II asked in his World Migration Day message in 2000, “How can the
Advent and the Year of Faith: a Time for Renewed Spiritual Commitment
Tue, 12/04/2012 - 2:45pm — TessaW
By: Tessa Winkler
Are you ready? No, I'm not asking if you've decorated your Christmas tree or crossed items off of your shopping list. Have you considered how you will embark on the journey of faith that is encouraged of each of us during this season of Advent and, particularly, in the Church's "Year of Faith?"
In his "Motu Propio," Porta Fidei, Pope Benedict XVI declared October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013 as the "Year of Faith" and invited the faithful everywhere to "communicate Christ to individuals and all people in the Church's pilgrimage along the pathways of history." The season of Advent is the perfect time to get serious about preparing ourselves for a new year filled with faithful service.
