VIATOR WEB

December 2014

no 65

Christmas a mystery that reaches out to us!

Celebrating the Feast of Christmas automatically conjures up images of Mary, Joseph, Baby
Jesus, cattle, and beasts of burden. The crib scene is imprinted in our imaginations, as are
also the written texts that describe that event in Bethlehem. And that crib scene is very
important, since it gives us something to see while
it is reaching out to us. Like every other symbol, it
conveys what is greatest about human beings. Is
it not the purpose of a mystery to lead us beyond
ourselves, to distance ourselves from the security
of what we know in order to move toward a promise that is being fulfilled?
In our parish churches, visits to the crib are important moments, not only because they suggest
Christian imagery, but even more so because they
provide our faith with space in our senses as so
many ways of making our faith even truer and
more active.
Human beings do not primarily use reason to face mysteries. It is through lifes different
events that things mysterious arise. And we live those events before we reflect upon them.
We grapple with a mystery before letting it determine the course of our life. We tame a
mystery; we learn to live with a mystery and to
let it show us the way. A mystery nourishes the
conviction that comes forth from an encounter.
That is what makes the Christian mystery of the
Nativity a time of dialogue, a time of encounter
on a level of our existence that surpasses reason.
The symbol makes that possible.
I was raised in a family in which, year after year,
we set up, under the Christmas tree, our
traditional crib scene, a heritage from our
grandparents. It was unthinkable to imagine
expressing in any other way the mystery of a God
who comes to be reborn among us. My mother

would have said to me: What were you thinking, my son? Those kinds of things do not change!
And yet, that is exactly what we are speaking about: the need to express our faith in a way that is
inculturated, different, and adapted to the reality of our world. We must let the crib scene suggest
modern words to us and accept the extended hand of the mystery of God made human for us.
I love the notion of symbols. A symbol is said to be ambiguous, leaving space for many different
interpretations. A symbol does not indicate; rather, it evokes and calls forth. In other words, a
symbol creates an encounter among the unknowns of our existence. It challenges the human
being in its need for relationships over and above itself by suggesting the name Emmanuel.
Thus, the mystery ceases being the refuge of the uncertainties of our existence that we are to
hold as true and suggests a place where we can encounter and delve more deeply into all our
questions.
Each time that we approach a manger scene, we inevitably run the risk of an encounter. The
expression of the characters suggests it and the beauty of the scene calls it forth. The mystery
then starts moving and wends its way to the depths of our existence as an insistent invitation.
In each of our cultures, celebrating the Nativity means encountering the need for interiority
and the means to express it. The tradition of crib scenes helps us to go back into the history of
the Church. A crib scene captivates our regard, generates closeness and interiority, and evokes.
Over and above all of that, it remains a catechetical moment: it is found on the personal path
of the visitor and becomes a time of visitation.
The December issue of VIATOR WEB wishes to present four different perspectives provided by
four confreres from different parts of the world: Canada, Japan, Ivory Coast, and Bolivia.
What were those confreres asked to do?
To choose a crib scene that represents their culture.
To present the uniquely different aspects of that crib scene.
To tell us about the cultural sensitivity to the mystery of the Nativity that it evokes.
To Jacques Houle of Canada, Serge Bationo of Japan, Philippe Nri Kouassi Ka of the Ivory Coast,
and Jos Antonio Izaga of Bolivia, I wish to express the heartfelt recognition of the International
Viatorian Community for their contributions. Thanks to those contributions, we will be able to
even more intensely live out the mystery of the Nativity, of a God who comes to meet us as He
did some two thousand years ago: in a spirit of humility and with great respect for a mystery.

The members of the General Council join me in wishing all Viatorians

a Feast of Christmas that is a source of hope
and a New Year of 2015 that comes to us
with all its great challenges!

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A Beautiful Story about

a Native American Manger Scene
Jesous Ahattonia!

Jacques Houle, C.S.V.

Canada

For someone from Quebec, stories about Christmas and manger scenes can take on many
different manifestations. I have chosen a historical one, as well as one based upon a Native
American song and a Native American artist. The reality of what we sometimes call the first
nations is one of our patrimonial treasures. That is what gives me the opportunity to present
a manger scene that is out of the ordinary.
At the time when the winds of colonialism were blowing west from Europe, the Gospel
crossed the ocean and took root in French Canada, which was then called New France. Samuel de Champlain, who founded Quebec in
1608, was a profoundly religious man and
brought missionaries along with him. Through
their intermediary, Christian traditions were
imported into North America, including traditions connected with the birth of Jesus.
Thus it was that, in seventeenth-century
Quebec, Christmas was celebrated with
solemnity. The Ursuline Sisters were already
fashioning little wax Jesus figurines for parish
churches and for home manger scenes. At that
same time, something similar was happening
in the faraway mission of Georgia Bay in
northern Ontario. During their festivities, the
Huron Indians used to sing Jesous Ahattonnia,
a poem adapted to the music of a popular
French tune.
That poem was written, probably during the
1640s, by Father Jean de Brbeuf, a Jesuit
missionary. He wrote it for the Wandat Native
Americans, whom the French called Hurons
because of their distinctive hairstyle.
Father Brbeuf, being an accomplished teacher, used song and music to recount the story of
the birth of Jesus and to have it committed to memory. His technique was a simple one.
Using the Huron language, he inserted pious words into a well-known tune in the style of
many Christmas songs brought from France. Christians take courage, Jesus the Savior is
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born. Listen to this good news, announced by an angel. Jesus has been born! And the song
speaks of the night, the star, the Magi, the child, and the poor little crib.
In the Wandat dialect, Jesus has been born becomes Jesous Ahattonnia! It was under that
title that Father Brbeufs song, as a tale and as a Gospel story, was transmitted orally among
the different Native American nations. Then, the story goes on to tell how, in a poor barkcovered shack in the middle of a snowy-white forest, a little baby was born a little baby
who was destined to become a Great Chief beyond the great extent of the salty waters. His
father, a hunter, and his mother, wearing a deerskin robe, surround him with a great deal of
tenderness.
Father Brbeufs song and his beautiful story spread far and wide among the Native
Americans, even those who were not Christians. It was repeated among them from generation
to generation, never forgetting that the black robe (Father Brbeuf) had obtained it from
his chief. The winter moon was shining brightly when the birds took flight. The Great Chief
had sent angels to replace them and, before the stars lost their light, wandering hunters
had heard the words Jesous Ahattonnia (Jesus, your king, has been born) being sung.
And so a Native American artist by the name of Keena Karohnia Whata, who was familiar
with the song and the story of the Nativity that had been carefully preserved and transmitted
by her ancestors, joined that tradition to another tradition that had come from France and,
more particularly, its Provence region. That tradition brings with it little saints made of
clay (santoun in the language of Provence) who help to depict and to communicate the
mystery of Christmas.
Keena was born of Micmac and Mohawk parents in Montral in February, 1949. After studying
the fine arts in Ontario and Quebec, she went to visit different Native American tribes in the
western parts of the United States and Canada. She studied their rituals, their cultures, and
their clothing. Returning to Quebec in the early 1970s, she began working in ceramics and
used the glazed clay to transmit her culture, her traditions, and happily the story of the
Nativity. Following the French tradition from Provence, she fashioned little Native American
saints.
Keena died on January 11, 1995, which makes even more precious the large and the small
manger scenes that she left behind for us. In her fingers, Joseph became a brave hunter and
Mary a Native American mother with braided black hair. They stand in loving amazement
before their little baby, bathed by a full moon wishing us the joy of Christmas.

Aha yaunna torrehntehn yataun

Jesous Ahattonnia...
Follow in his footsteps.
His love is calling us.
Jesus has been born!

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Christmas in Japan
Serge Bationo, C.S.V.
Japan

Christmas (which is written

in Japanese and which is
pronounced Merii Kurisumasu Merry Christmas ) is a Christian feast
celebrated each year to commemorate the birth of Jesus. In Japan, Christmas is not a national holiday, since only one percent of the Japanese population would be Christian. Before all else, it is a commercial holiday in
the Land of the Rising Sun, just like Halloween or Valentines Day.
Since there are very few Christians in Japan, Christmas is more of a commercial holiday than a religious one here. Rather than with Midnight
Masses, religious Christmas songs, a stuffed turkey, and a magnificent
family meal, the Japanese have adopted Christmas in their own particular
way. Everything is completely different from what is done in the West.
First of all, it should be noted that, in Japan, December 25 is a normal
work day. Children go to school, people go to work, and stores are open.
But you may be assured that streets are nonetheless very well decorated
with numerous Christmas trees, with electric lights of all colors, with neon
signs, and even with Christmas music to draw clients into stores so that
they can buy gifts for their children. Christmas has become a holiday for
children. For some years
now, the Japanese have
been celebrating Christmas
by purchasing a Christmas
cake (topped with Christmas decorations), which
they eat as a family. This very
popular Christmas cake is
eaten on Christmas Eve. By
way of a little anecdote, in
Japan women are often
compared to this Christmas
cake: if they are older than
twenty-five (a reference to
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December 25), it is said that they are no longer consumable. So, young Japanese
women try to get married before reaching their twenty-fifth birthday.
You can also rest assured that Santa Claus who, in Japan, is called
(Santa Claus) is very much present! This Santa Claus, however, is not the jolly,
bearded, chubby man who God knows how comes down your chimneys to
deposit your gifts under the Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve, it is the parents
who, without great ceremony, deposit a little gift on or near their childs bed.
In Japan, therefore, Christmas is a real holiday, but one that the people have
succeeded, with time, in making their own. Far, far always from western traditions, Christmas in Japan is, above all, synonymous with gifts and love. December
24 and 25 are, for the Japanese people, opportunities to get together with their
friends and to show their faithfulness by exchanging some small gifts.
While waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus, we hope that you enjoyed reading
the preceding paragraphs and we wish you great joy during the coming holiday
season.

As promised, I am sending you a word or two about Christmas

in Japan and a photo of a Christmas crib scene in Japan.
As you will notice, there is no description of a Christmas crib
scene in Japan, since, contrary to the West and to Africa, the
Christmas crib scene is not very well known in Japanese families.
Outside of churches and stores, you will never find a crib scene.
I asked some Japanese priests about what meaning a crib scene
might have in Japan, and it seems that a crib scene simply serves as a decoration in Japanese, Kazari.
Serge

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Christmas from an
Ivory Coast perspective
Kouassi Ka Paul Philippe Nri,
Associate, Ivory Coast

Christmas trees, crib scenes, gifts, and Santa Claus are elements to help us to
understand and to remember the meaning of Christmas. How are we to find our
bearings when, each year, as Christmas time draws near, we observe a multitude of
billboards and newspaper advertisements reproducing the symbols of Christmas
that make children and adults alike start dreaming? The return of Santa Claus, the
lights, and the gifts that glimmer in the windows are all symbols that transmit
many different images, certain of which are of such a nature as to veil the true
sense of the Feast of Christmas. In the Ivory Coast, as in other places, the celebration
of Christmas has become commercialized, a good business opportunity for
numerous merchants who open their stores or who set up their shops outdoors
looking for buyers who have
forgotten to purchase a
Christmas tree or a crib scene
to decorate their home.
But, over and above the
decorations, the crib scene
remains a strong symbol in the
sense that, according to our
faith and our interiority,
according to our level of life and
the consistency of our
resources, according to our
education and the culture to
which we belong, it reveals the
concept that we have of the
mystery of the Nativity.
The crib scene that we are presenting to you is an Ivory Coast representation of the
Nativity. The stable was constructed out of wood and covered with stubble. In spite
of ornaments coming from elsewhere, the figurines are all fashioned out of wood
that grows here locally. Around the baby Jesus lying in a manger resting on a bed of
straw, we can recognize Mary on the left and Joseph on the right; among those
bearing gifts, who have come to express their joy in recognizing the Baby God, are a
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hunter carrying fresh game on his shoulders and a woman carrying on her head gifts destined
for the Newborn One and even for the mother. The two characters on the periphery might
be identified as two of the three Wise Men or simply as Ivory Coast saints. The animals
around Baby Jesus are gazelles, antelopes, and cattle that are native to our country. You will
have understood that this crib scene, chosen for its originality and simplicity, just like all the
others, is based upon the Gospel accounts of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew, while at the
same inculturating this beautiful depiction of the Nativity.
The Catholic tradition of the Christmas crib scene, which came to the West with Saint Francis
of Assisi in the thirteenth century, has continued here in the Ivory Coast. In fact, it helps us
to live out the religious meaning of the Feast of Christmas and serves as a strong tool for
evangelization. It shows that God has taken on our human condition and has lived in conditions
of great poverty. Gathering around the crib provides an opportunity for family prayer during
the Christmas Season and helps people to go to church to have a relationship with God.
The crib scene, one of the most beautiful expressions of popular devotion, is a unifying
element for all Catholics, whatever might be their level of sensitivity. It has also become a
kind of cultural marker that permits us, with due respect for other religious traditions, to
identify ourselves. Setting up a crib scene in our home can prove to be a simple, yet effective,
way of presenting our faith so as to transmit it to our children. The crib scene helps us to
contemplate the mystery of the love of God that revealed itself in the poverty and the
simplicity of a stable in Bethlehem.
The crib scene is a symbol closely bound to the mystery of Our Lords Incarnation. But it is
also an important element for reinforcing the Christian culture, especially in its public
dimension. Christianity is destined to be revealed to others. As a matter of fact, many nonChristians, at the insistence of their children or after the example of their Christian neighbors,
set up beautiful crib scenes in their homes.
All of the characters in the crib scene have their attention focused on the Baby Jesus. That
intimate relationship with Christ is the source of salvation for humanity. Christ invites us to
believe in Him and to live through Him, with Him, and in Him.
In setting up a crib scene, we not only commemorate the mystery of the Nativity, but we
also renew our commitment to Christ. Through the art of the crib scene, we reaffirm our
attachment to our culture while, at the same time, strengthening our belonging to Christ.
May the Child God help us to understand Him and to live by Him.

Joyeux Nol - Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad

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From Bolivia to the Crib

Jos Antonio Izaga,
Bolivia

Yes, we send you greetings from Bolivia and desire to be united with the entire
Viatorian Community so as to travel together on the road that will lead us to the
manger. But first of all, we would like to tell you how the Feast of Christmas is
normally celebrated. Although many Christmas customs are being lost, they still
persist among the people living in the highlands. The Aymaras, even though they
do not celebrate the birth of Jesus or the birth of Pachamama (Mother Earth),
nevertheless have maintained, at the heart of their syncretism, certain Christian
rites going back to the first evangelization.
December is the month for changing jobs, for electing authorities, and for celebrating
weddings. During that time takes place the celebration of the Awatiris (little
shepherds). People make little clay figurines of people and animals and, on December
24, bring them to the manger scene in the church. Even though this refers to a
Christian tradition, for them it is more a question of asking the Child to bless their
families and villages by the presence of many animals over the course of the year.
December 24 and 25 are childrens days and people decorate in different ways their
beasts of burden (especially animals in the llama family) with petals of flowers,
hanging them from their ears and their bodies, putting multi-colored sombreros on
their heads, and scattering
flowers as signs of blessing.
Finally, parents give their
children responsibility for
watching the herds, with the
festivities concluding with a
dance. On December 26, the parents bury the figurines in the
courtyard before the Challan
(blessing with alcohol and
cocoa) is given and while each
person is expressing a desire for
the good of the community in
view of the new year.
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After Midnight Mass, donuts are offered in the church. Later, in homes, pinaca
a mild spicy soup, accompanied with corn, roasted bananas, greens, and a goodsized piece of meat is served. Beer and soft drinks accompany the meal.
In the cities, traditional crib scenes are installed in churches. On January 6, the day
of the Three Kings and of children, each family brings their crib scene with the baby
to church so that the Child God can attend Mass once a year and thus be blessed.
This child must be a family heirloom or a gift from a godparent. It is said that, if
the child is purchased, that will bring bad luck to the home. When a person gives
a child, he or she says: Let him be born again!
All Roads Lead to the Crib
At the present time, all of us Viatorians from Peru, Italy, Colombia, Haiti, the United
States, France, Taiwan, Spain, Burkina Faso, Chile, the Ivory Coast, Japan, Canada,
Honduras, Belize, and Bolivia have come to the crib in order to encounter the Child
God, who welcomed us with a banner saying:
Today, on earth, love is born; today, God is born on earth.
In the silence and intimacy of this night, we stand before the Child God, along with
Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. In silent adoration, let us listen to what the Child
wishes to whisper to us that Child who wanted to live with us so that we might
live with Him.
VIATORIANS, BE REBORN SO THAT:
- you can be enchanted by and return to your first love; let yourself be surprised
and strongly influenced by me in our personal encounters; permit me to
encounter you;
- you can consider yourselves loved and sent forth in order to carry Gods joy to
all of those cultures in which you live, being happy yourselves and making
other people happy, manifesting the pleasure of freely serving others.
BE REBORN SO THAT:
- you can continue being Viatorians, announcing the Word, being open to
LISTENING and to dialogue in daily intimacy with me so as to be able,
afterwards, to announce and to nourish the lives of our brothers and sisters
and parishioners who hunger for God. Give them yourselves something to
eat!
Form a community that is simple, prayerful, fraternal, merciful, tolerant, joyful,
ready and willing to die to the little things that disturb your life and the life of the
community. A community that is open to Come and See! A community that is
not a utopia, but that is realistic, always striving to be more and more human,
compassionate, whose members are close to one another. A community of witnesses
and prophets who are coherent and who reflect the face of God.
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Bethlehem, the house of bread, is a community in which you share life, lodging,
and faith around the table of the Bread of Life, of the Eucharist, which is the source
of fraternal living and is necessary for the mission. I have offered myself entirely to
all because, without being in communion, we cannot announce solidarity nor live
it: I am Emmanuel, God among you, especially with those who are excluded. They
all have names: Emma, the poor woman who lives on the main highway; Gonzalo
and many other people, young and old, who sleep under the bridges or under the
porch of the cathedral; drug addicts, who can no longer find meaning in their lives
and who lack affection; young people from poor families who cannot get into schools
because more emphasis is placed on the reputation and prestige of the establishment rather than on the person; young mothers, those who are sick, immigrants.
There was no room in the inn! I am with you and you do not recognize me. We
must educate people and be promoters of life, of justice, of truth; we must be
concerned about the dignity of the person, about families, and about peace. When
you did it for one of these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me
(Matthew 25:40).
Always have something to announce, with joy and hope, as did the shepherds
when they departed after visiting me, recounting what they had seen and heard.
Go forth into the world and announce the Good News. I have come to bring fire,
the fire of transforming love, if you agree to be re-born through me. In my heart as
the God of Love, there is space for everyone! Viatorians, come, let us adore him
and be reborn in water and in the Spirit.
Viatorian brothers and sisters, we, your brothers in the Bolivia community, want
to offer you our best wishes for Christmas with the words of our Pope Francis:
With Jesus Christ, the joy of the Gospel must always be born and reborn. Joyful
rebirth in the Lord and a new year filled with blessings, justice, peace, unity, and
love. A fraternal embrace to all those persons who share our Viatorian charism.

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