Plenty of room at the Inn: The Nativity Scene Resurrected
By Pádraig Ó Tuama, guest contributor A Lego nativity scene with kataluma created by Jacob Hosanna . As a prophet said, we are capable of so many things, us humans. You may be used to it — the nativity story as told by wonderful, small humans from St. Paul’s Church in Auckland, New Zealand, or the recordings from the early ‘60s of Bible stories told by children in Dublin City. They are charming, beautiful. They are full of such potential and pleasure in the art of the imagination and the craft of storytelling. However, as Pope Benedict XVI pointed out recently (and many others, including Ken Bailey ), the way we tell the story is often unfaithful to the text. Luke’s gospel, from which much of the story comes, records no stable, no animals, and, most importantly, no inhospitality. Luke, normally so kind and gracious, giving so much time to stories of the marginalized, rushes through the birth of Jesus as if it was of little importance. Josep...