Follow our online Advent Posada journey

In recent years many Diocese of East Anglia parishes have followed the Advent ‘Posada Journey’ tradition and this year the diocese is offering an online version reports Rebecca Bretherton.

‘Posada’ is a Mexican tradition. A young couple dress up as Mary and Joseph and then spend the days of Advent travelling from house to house asking for a room for the night and telling their hosts about the imminent arrival of Jesus at Christmas.

Our modern day ‘Posada Journey’ uses a statue of Mary and Joseph and the donkey instead of a young couple. The statue moves from person to person and family to family during Advent. This gives an opportunity to pray together and share our faith. In 2020, several parishes devised imaginative ways to include the Posada Journey statue in the life of their community despite the pandemic. The Posada appeared in church windows; on Zoom prayer meetings; on postcards; and in church.

The statue isn’t what makes Advent special but, as Catholics, we know that statues and pictures remind us that God is with us in the midst of our lives even in the most difficult of times. The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth at Christmas. We can witness to our faith through sharing these images of the journey to Bethlehem with others.

This year, inspired by Blessed Carlos Acutis, we can use our computers and devices to join the Posada online.

Sign up for the daily Posada Journey prayers the diocese will post throughout Advent, and share them with others.
A prayerful journey with Mary and Joseph throughout Advent will lead us to gifts of gratitude and joy when we enter the Christmas season.

Follow the Posada online journey at:
twitter.com/RCEastAnglia
www.facebook.com/CatholicEastAnglia
www.instagram.com/catholiceastanglia/

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