LAS Posadas CHRISTMAS SOCIAL LIFE NIGHT OUTLINE GOAL PRE-PLANNING The goal of this Social Night is for the teens to grow Prior to the night, find two people to take on in community by celebrating Christmas together. the role of Mary and Joseph. They could be Core They will also learn about the Mexican tradition of Members, teens, or a couple from the parish. They “Las Posadas.” should be dressed for the part. ABOUT THIS NIGHT ENVIRONMENT This night is set in the town of Bethlehem. Set up your main meeting space like the town Everyone gets to play a part in the Christmas story of Bethlehem. Create nine simple storefronts, as a shepherd, angel, or magi. The Gather has two homes, workshops, and/or hotels out of butcher games played in small groups that break open paper or cardboard boxes, and put them around the Christmas narrative from the Gospels. The the perimeter of the room. The town will be a Proclaim gives a short explanation of the Hispanic life-size board game; so people should be able tradition of Las Posadas. During the Break, another to walk from one “building” to another. Label the game is used, based on the idea of Las Posadas first “building” on one end of the room “Start.” At and traditional Christmas carols. The night ends the other end of the town, create a manger scene. with snacks and fellowship time for all. Label it as “End.” During the Break, Core Members will be stationed at each building dressed as a resident of Bethlehem. designate small groups. The Core Team should be GATHER dressed as residents of Bethlehem. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS WELCOME TO BETHLEHEM (5 min) (5 min) The youth minister should welcome all the teens As the youth enter the night, each should be given to Life Night and introduce any teens at Life Night a “hat” to designate them as an angel, shepherd, or for the first time. The youth minister should open magi. The angels should get a halo. The shepherds in a short prayer. Split all the youth into groups should get a simple headdress – a pillowcase and according to their “hats.” Have a Core Member strip of cloth to tie around their heads. The magi with each small group. get crowns. Depending on the size of your group, use different colors of each of the three “hats” to LIFE TEEN SPOtlIGHT 33 IT’S A LEFT-RIGHT Bethlehem. There was no room at the inn. So, CHRISTMAS STORY! they ended up at a stable. (10 min) • Las Posadas, like a novena, is a nine-day reenactment of this search for lodging. Traditions For this game, give each small group a wrapped vary from culture to culture; generally, people gift. The youth minister or a Core Member should go knocking on doors seeing if they will be let read the version of the “Left-Right Christmas in. There is a song that is sung about Mary and Story” found on page 36. Whenever the word Joseph needing lodging. Half the group is inside “left” is read, the gift gets passed to the left. When the house and half outside the house; each has the word “right” is read, the gift gets passed to the different lines to sing. person to the right. Whoever has the gift when the story ends gets the gift. • At the end of the song, the lyrics talk about how those inside the house did not realize it was Mary CHRISTMAS ScrIPTURE and Joseph, and now that they realize it, they SELECTION immediately welcome them inside the house. (10 min) On the ninth day, Las Posadas is finished with a big celebration for Christmas. Give each small group four cards, with one of the names of the Gospels printed on each card. Show • Of course, for Mary and Joseph, it was no party. a Scripture verse on Power Point and give each They were left to bring the newborn King into group three seconds to decide in which Gospel the the world, placing Him in a manger. verse can be found (sample Scripture selections are on page 37). Then, on the count of three, have • Hopefully you have been preparing this Advent to each group hold their answer up. Keep score; the celebrate the birth of Christ. But are you making group with the most right answers gets a prize. room for Him in your house? At Mass, we say, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to enter under my roof...” What are you doing to make room for the Lord in your house? Do you recognize when He is asking for lodging? PROCLAIM • Revelation 3: 20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Will you let Christ in? Or is your life “LAS POSADAS” TEACHING so busy and so full that there is no room in the (10 min) inn of your heart? As we finish our preparations for Christmas, let’s make sure there is room for This brief teaching introduces teens to the tradition Jesus in our lives. of Las Posadas. It is brief, and sets up the game that they play during the Break section of the Life Night. • During this Advent season we are preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ. Many of us have BrEAK great traditions to help us prepare. We may have an Advent wreath that we light with our family FINISH THAT CHRISTMAS CAROL at dinner each night. We may have an Advent (25 min) calendar to count down the days until Christmas. This game has multiple parts. It brings together • One tradition that comes to us from Mexican the idea of Las Posadas with common Christmas and some Filipino cultures is Las Posadas. carols. Posada means “lodging.” You recall that Mary and Joseph could not find a place to stay in 34 LIFE TEEN SPOtlIGHT Part A: Warm Up (5 min) Have your music minister put together a medley of one-liners from Christmas carols. Tell everyone SEND that when they hear a line that refers to them, they need to stand up and sing along, finishing that line SOCIAL TIME until the next carol begins. For instance, when “We (10 min) Three Kings” begins, all those wearing a crown will stand up. Other options might be “Oh Little Town Enjoy time eating goodies and socializing. Provide of Bethlehem,” “Hark the Herald, Angels Sing,” or snacks for everyone gathered. Take each small “While Shepherds Watched their Flock by Night.” group’s photo with Mary and Joseph, using the Have fun with this and make sure that every group town of Bethlehem as the backdrop. stands at least once. Close in prayer with a Christmas carol and the Hail Part B: Las Posadas (15 min) Mary. Now that everyone is warmed up, invite volunteers to come up front. (Ideally, you want a representative ADAPTING THE LIFE NIGHT or two from each small group.) Tell them that they • For larger youth groups, have each Core Member will each be playing “Finish that Christmas Carol” to leading small groups read the story during the help Mary and Joseph find lodging in Bethlehem. Gather, rather than the youth minister. If they get the answer right, Mary and Joseph get to move to the next house/structure. If they get • If you don’t have a projector, create a handout it wrong, Mary and Joseph stay where they are. If with the Scripture passages and give it to each the teen gets the answer wrong, he/she sits down. small group to complete. As a group, fill out the For the answer to count, the teen must sing. If he/ handout, deciding which Gospel each line of the she gets the answer right, he/she goes to the end Christmas story comes from. Then, go over the of the line. This game can be led by your music answers as a large group. The group with the minister or by another person that is comfortable most right answers gets a prize. singing in front of everyone. • If your music minister cannot be present at the Mary and Joseph should start at the structure in Life Night, cue up the music to various Christmas Bethlehem that has the “Start” sign. Whenever songs on a computer and play them, having a teen finishes a lyric correctly, they move to the teens complete the melody or lyrics. next house/structure and ask if there is room at the inn. Core Members stationed around the town of Bethlehem answer “no” to their request for lodging. This game should continue until Mary and Joseph make it around to the end of the town; the final stop should be the manger. See page 38 for a suggested list of Christmas carol lyrics. Be sure that you have plenty of lyrics so that Mary and Joseph make it all the way around the town to the manger. LIFE TEEN SPOtlIGHT 35 LAS POSADAS GAME IT’S A Left-Right CHRistMas StoRY! Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came When the angels LEFT them to return to heaven, about. RIGHT when his mother Mary was the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, betrothed to Joseph, but RIGHT before they lived RIGHT now, to Bethlehem to see this thing that together, she was found with child through the has taken place, which the Lord has made known Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, since he was a to us.” So they LEFT in haste and found Mary and RIGHTeous man, yet unwilling to expose her to Joseph, and the infant lying RIGHT in the manger.