Fiesta and a History Lesson

Can't figure out how to rotate these pictures

Every parish here, and every chapel, has to have its Fiesta. This is a combination of a relgious
celebration and all sorts of other things that people can get involved in.Some of these fiestas are very eleborate affairs, and some are much simpler - that very often depends on the type of area you are in, because that can determine the amount of money available to spend on the whole operation.

Last night I was in a parish called Pueblo Nuevo to take part in their fiesta. The lead-up to the big day is marked by a novena - in this case, in honour of Our Lady Help of Christians. I was asked to say the mass last night and to preach. Pueblo Nuevo is an interesting parish here in many ways.

Firstly, it is one of the oldest churches in the diocese (despite the fact that its name means, in English, New Town). The altar piece that you can see in the photo is 101 years old and is the original one from this colonial period church. Other things that give the age of the church away are the statues that are to be found in it which are all of a very high quality and have none of the garishness that is to be found, very often, in other, more modern churches.

It is very unusual here to have such an old building that is not in the city centre. This is for two reasons. Firstly, the climate here is so severe that things don't generally last that long. In fact, if the altar piece had been made of wood it would probably have rotted by now, or been eaten by termites. The second reason that its survival is unusual is due to the phenomenon that is, unfortunately, common in many parts of the world - very often parish communities want to have more modern buildings and better facilities and, when they see other parishes building brighter, more spacious, and more striking buildings, they often want an "upgrade".

That makes it interesting to ask why the church in Pueblo Nuevo survived in its original form. My guess is that the answer to this question is actually quite easy to ascertain - poverty. Pueblo Nuevo is what is called here a "Barrio Popular". The thing about a barrio (neighbourhood) that is Popular, is that it is not popular, in the English sense of the word. Barrio Popular means a sort of local authority area which, unfortunately, tends to be almost exclusively inhabited by the poor, the unemployed, and people facing many challenges. These people, simply put, have greater needs for their scarce resources than the building of churches. And, unsurprisingly, these people have a great spirit. As seems to be reflected all over the world, people who have been through a lot and who have to cope with difficult and often precarious situations, are very often open, resourceful, and creative people - with a great sense of humour. Sometimes, in wealthier areas, people can find it hard to let their hair down or they can put themselves under pressure by having high expectations.

Presentation - Image of Mary Help of Christians with a Panamanian twist

The parish priest, Fr. Israel, invited me to join them for the evening and we had a lovely time. Some of the seminarians came and made up a choir and we had a very lively celebration. The generosity of these people is really amazing and they even gave me a presentation at the end of the mass and then, as is considered to be quite normal here, we had a meal with the organising committee.

These occasions are very important for maintaining the sense of community in an area. In fact, in poorer areas, they are probably particularly important (even though they are certainly more modest affairs than those in wealthier areas) because they encourage people to take a break from a daily grind that can be very grinding and to celebrate who they are and what they have achieved.