Christmas in the Missions

I wish you all a very blessed and merry Christmas!!

My first Christmas in the missions was an interesting one. I think that there is no holiday that has more traditions associated with it than Christmas. In every country I have been in, there have been so many different things that have served to make it distinct and special in that place. Uruguay is no different.

One of the most startling contrasts to an American Christmas is of necessity the fact that we are now in summer here. I am aware that for a significant part of the world it is normal for Christmas to be in the summer, but for this Yankee it is almost an insurmountable obstacle to getting into the “Christmas Spirit”.

The hot weather conditions all of the traditions that they have here. For starters, they, like most European countries, principally celebrate on Christmas Eve, with all those who go to Mass, going to the midnight Mass. Of course, since it is summer and the weather is hot, they have their big Christmas dinner after the Mass in the form of a barbeque which will go throughout most of the night. To facilitate that, the “midnight” Mass is celebrated around 9:30. At midnight they celebrate by setting off every firework they can get their hands on. Then on Christmas day, they don’t do much of anything at all (except for those that live near a beach – they of course go swimming).

This year, for the first time in a long time, I offered a Christmas Day Mass as well. I have to admit that I really did not expect anyone to attend. I had the Mass at 6 PM so that there would be a minimum of reasons why not to come, and to my surprise, there were actually people there.

Probably the nicest thing of all though was the kids – they were my Christmas present. There is a small group of boys and girls that have now started to come to church regularly. They are all between 7 and 13 and all of them come without their parents. They come on their own because they want to come even if their parents don’t. Believe me when I say that no one here has a concept of the “obligation” of attending Mass, least of all these kids, and yet they come. That for me is a miracle and a gift. May it also be a sign of a renewal to come…