I really should have posted this before Christmas.

Paxpdx, writing over at Street Prophets:

In Mexico tomorrow, families and neighbors will begin the traditional novena (nine days) in preparation for the Nativity of Christ, Las Posadas. For each of the next nine nights, the faithful will reenact Joseph and Mary’s search for a place to spend the evening so that Mary could birth Peace among us, Jesus Christ. Los peregrinos – the pilgrims – will go from home to home, only to be turned away at two homes before reaching the third, where they will be invited in.

The third entry had me sitting at my desk crying. It’s easy to say it’s “their problem” from up here in Canada, but we slam plenty of doors here to. This winter it was one of the seasonal farm workers that keep the farming economy of southern Ontario alive. He was diagnosed with cancer this past summer, and allowed to stay in Canada for treatment. However, when his children tried to get permission to spend one last Christmas together with him, his son’s request was denied. Fortunately, in this case, the media storm caused officials to reconsider and allow both children to visit.

The door is open wide for residents of the “first world”; they would not have needed a visa to begin with (though they still could have been arbitrarily denied entry by the border agent).