3 minute read
A Christmas Legacy of andFamily Faith
Celebrating Christmas with World Language
Christmases in the southeastern state of Veracruz, Mexico, were a wonderful time for me to see family, to get in touch with my ethnic roots, and to learn more about my family’s culture. I was born into a COGOP family on my mother and father’s side, so our Christmases have been different from those of other Mexican families. In the downtown area of my parents’ hometown, Tres Valles, you could see the many wonderful decorations in the store displays and in the city square, and Christmas songs could be heard pouring out from homes and businesses. It was a marvelous display of colors, lights, and sounds.
While most families would celebrate the traditional posadas and go to evening mass, every Christmas Eve, my family and I would go to our local church for a Christmas Eve service where our pastor would preach on the wonderful coming of our Lord and Savior, and members of the church would share testimonies of the marvelous things God had done in their lives. After spending time in fellowship with our brothers and sisters at the local church, our family of 30-plus aunts, uncles, and cousins would head to my paternal grandmother’s house for Christmas dinner. As our main matriarch, her house was always our meeting hub. As a family, we would sit at the dinner table, pray over our meal, and give thanks to God for allowing us to spend time together. We would enjoy a delicious dinner of roast turkey with several fixings, and for dessert, we had the traditional manjar and hojuelas. While we enjoyed our meal, we would share memories, new stories, and a few jokes.
My grandmother has since passed away, but I still remember how welcoming her home was, and how she chose to decorate her Christmas tree with various types of chocolate candies and lollipops. That would ensure that her grandkids would help take down the decorations!
I cannot give an account of the “traditional Mexican Christmas” because mine was very different, and I am grateful for it. Through my grandmother, parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, I learned to celebrate the season for its true purpose—our Father God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to come to this world to show us the Father and to suffer and die for our sins. What greater gift could we want?
The World Language Department wishes you blessings this holiday season!
