Father Eric Cruz, pastor of St. Luke’s parish in the Bronx, and Sister Julia Suarez, J.P., director of the HANDS Community Center at St. Jerome parish in the Bronx, will lead all in praying the Rosary. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua, will offer a Gospel proclamation.
“Join us in walking and praying in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers who – as the Holy Family sought a place to stay – have been knocking on the doors for legislative shelter, or ‘Posada,’” the organizers requested in a statement. The three-hour event is part of the immigrant advocacy efforts of the Pastoral Migratoria of the Archdiocese of New York.
The Posada walk and prayer route will proceed from the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua (116th Street and Prospect Avenue), then to the Office of State Sen. Luis Sepulveda (900 Rogers Place), before visiting the New York Police Department 41st Precinct (Longwood Avenue), before ending at Corpus Christi Monastery (Garrison Avenue).
The coordinators note that this year the Pastoral Migratoria chapters of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Archdiocese of Baltimore “will join us simultaneously to elevate our voices for immigration reform.”
Posada is a Mexican tradition that invites people to walk in prayer with Mary and Joseph as they seek shelter. Communities go door to door with the Holy Family, requesting shelter until they are welcomed. Once they are welcomed, everyone enters and prays. Parish organizers note that on Dec. 16, they and many of the faithful will be celebrating more than 15 years of “walking and praying in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers.”
The Gospel Proclamation to be read by Bishop Espaillat will be Luke 2:1-20, which reads in part:
“While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”