And so this is Christmas! And what a lively time it has been. Last night is the big night and day of celebrations. On the 24th, rather than the 25th, people will travel the country to get to their loved ones and have a meal. All through the night of the 24th there are firecrackers going off alongside the street parties. I was so shattered last night when I fell into bed at 1.30am that I slept even through the street party that sounded so loud that it seemed it was actually in the garden!
But that is to start at the end. I had three Masses for Christmas here in the Parish: two last night and one this morning. The two on the 24th were jam packed and even into the choir-loft whereas this morning was much quieter, numbers-wise. All three though had great participation from all of the chapels round the Parish and in each mass there was an acted out Gospel; and this morning we even had an Ecuadorian pageant showing all the various regions of our country here. One of the great traditions here is for each family to bring all the figure of Christ from their family crib so that it can be blessed at Church – water flies everywhere as people seek to get themselves and their Christ figure blessed. Then at the end of each of the Masses there was a scrum to get the wee bags of Christmas sweeties provided from back home.
After the Masses I spent my time phoning home and seeing what everyone was up to back home – where Santa had been etc. Then it was off to a local hotel for a meal with the other St. James guys and then topped off with a film that you just snooze into! A fantastic day – our community Masses here and then off for a bit of relaxation!
We had the last of the large Baptisms – at least I think it’s the last of the large ones. 40 this time, on Saturday past! Of course, one of the good aspects of the large numbers is that the parish is getting more and more recognized so that more and more people are coming. However, the downside is that the I worry as to how deep we are touching their lives – is the message really getting through? A question to ponder for many weeks and months ahead ….
We had a big Diocesan event earlier in the week where the Archbishop gathered us all for a big talk. Unfortunately, although he is an engaging person on a one-to-one basis, he can be a rather dull public speaker so it wasn’t a very lively meeting. It was made bearable by the crack of the other priests round about and also by the nice Christmas meal that was provided at the end.
And, of course, I also hosted our now annual teacher’s meal in the house here. It was all very well when I started here and the staff was only nine but on Tuesday there we had twenty-four teachers around the table. It was a bit of a squeeze and, if it keeps growing, we will have to look for somewhere else. In any case, we sat down to Scotch broth, turkey and a Scottish pudding (I say it was Scottish because it had a wee bit of whisky poured over it). Along with the singing, presents and the dancing that went along with the meal; it was a very enjoyable afternoon!!!! And a great bunch of people.
I went to see Fernando in hospital – he is the father of small Andres that came to Scotland. He is a city hospital having his diabetes looked into. He is a very deep guy and, although he doesn’t come to Church, we always end up speaking about God and religion.
I also spent part of last week visiting the housebound and simple walking around the Parish. It is a real blessing to be able to walk around and see at first hand where people live and the sufferings they have to put up with. I went to visit Greta on Christmas Eve – she is well into her eighties and lives with her son and his family. She suffers from Parkinson’s disease and, as with so many people here, simply cannot afford regular treatment at the doctors. For her and for so many, the struggle goes on and on …..
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