Christmas Day

Christmas Day was spent with my church family, which is basically anyone who is hanging the parish at the time. In this case it was the regulars who I spend my Sunday afternoons with and about 60 strangers. Jessica and I had decided to hold a free dinner open to anyone (the way churches in the States have dinners for the homeless) despite not being sure if there was a need for it as we were told even the worst off people around here spend holidays with their families. However, we spent the weeks leading up to Christmas handing out invitations to friends, the elderly, vendors, along with alcoholics and children on the streets who seemed neglected.

As Padre promised to cook for the dinner, I wanted a lot of people to show up since I didn`t want his efforts to go to waste. At the same time, I didn`t want to people to show up because they would mean they had nowhere else to go.

I spent Christmas morning cutting fruit for dessert and then arrived just before it was time to start serving the meal of corn tostadas, beans and chicken. I was so busy handing out food that I didn`t have time to think about where all the people where coming from. As it turned out, Father had announced the meals at the morning masses, but really it didn`t matter if the people were needy from the streets or just liked the idea of eating in Church.

The rest of the day was pretty similar to how I would spend Christmas in the United States. I washed a lot of dishes, attended Mass and participated in a few toasts. Jessica and I opened the presents from our families that we had been hiding from each other for the past few months and ate lots of chocolate.

Normally, I try to be somewhat reflective in this blog, but since it`s holiday season I`m going to give myself some time off. All the best in the New Year to everyone!