For worshipers at San Lucas Episcopal Church, the last two years have been just as painful as they feared.
All of it falls heavily upon the shoulders of the men and women who gathered in a living room on Cherry Street on a recent rainy evening. It was the first night of Las Posadas (The Inns)—nine nightly processions leading up to Christmas that re-enact the journey of Joseph and Mary, mother of Jesus, who were far from home and in desperate need of refuge none was willing to give.
Gathered in the house of parishioner Suyapa Perez, members of San Lucas and a church in Milton prayed together in English and Spanish and, accompanied by a guitar and maracas, sang Spanish carols “The Little Donkey” and “The Fishes in the River” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
Bishop Gayle Harris, who joined the group, spelled out the symbolism—even more painfully obvious this year than when she visited two years ago.
“I am embarrassed and horrified by some of the actions of this country against immigrants,” she said. “How dare we turn our backs and close our doors on immigrants. If we’re doing that, we’re closing the door on Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.”