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Some of you may know that our church hosts a huge Christmas dinner every year for our brothers and sisters who are struggling with homelessness, unemployment, addictions, mental and/or physical illness.  We call it the Cena Navideña.  This year over 350 heaping plates of food were served!   Click here to see a photo album.  I believe there were well over 400 people in our parking lot to celebrate together.  And it was a party!  Check out the video below to get a sneak peek into the festivities:

We are part of a community where there are many starving both physically and spiritually, and we believe that we are called to meet people’s wholistic needs with whatever resources God provides us.   Right before the meal that was assembled with donations of food from our church congregation, Jose and the founding pastor Robert teamed up to share a message of hope based upon the story of Christ’s birth.   Jesus was not born in a palace, but in a stable.  He is able to relate to the poor, the outcast, and the ordinary.  He accepts us as we are, no matter where we’ve come from or what mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Then, as a large extended family, we shared a holiday meal together.  The poverty of family can be just as powerful as physical poverty.   Because of abuse, unhealthy life choices, mental illness, and many other reasons, so many of our brothers and sisters living on the street are no longer in contact with their families.   Many face a crisis of loneliness and depression during the holiday season when they feel like they don’t “belong” anywhere.   We all need a place to belong, and we pray that this time together during the Christmas dinner will remind us to always open our arms to each other in gratitude for how God opened His arms to us through the gift of Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son…”  John 3:16

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