La Quinceanera Mexicana: Not Letting The Devil Have All The Good Stuff

Sep 26, 2003 - © Rev. Theodore Bodjanac

In the book of Acts, Paul sought to go into northern Asia Minor. Luke reports that he was prevented from doing so. Then Paul received a vision of the man from Macedonia imploring Paul to come to Greece. Thus Paul and his companions leave the continent of Asia to bring the Gospel to the continent of Europe. Imagine the culture shock! The Greek culture was predominant in Europe, not a subculture as it was in Asia. Paul left an Oriental mindset for an Occidental mindset. Paul would learn how to be "all things to all, in order to save some."

This week I am featuring an article by my good friend and former seminary roommate, Rev. Theodore Bodjanac. Rev. Bodjanac relates how a request for a traditionally non-Lutheran rite can be used to proclaim the Gospel message. In a way, the original request can be called Rev. Bodjanac's "mother from Mexico" vision. I will let Rev. Bodjanac tell you his story. ~john

About four years ago a young woman and her mother came to church and asked me to conduct a quinceañera, which is a special blessing worship service in honor of her 15th birthday. This is a common practice in the Mexican culture to celebrate a girl becoming a woman. I agreed to do this before I really knew what I was promising.

With some investigation I realized that this was a Mexican Catholic tradition. One in which the glory is given to the Virgin Mary with the young woman presenting flowers to the blessed Virgin and asking for her blessing on her life as a woman.

I also learned that most Mexican people are willing to allow the Misa (the mass) to be conducted as the priest saw fit.

While I felt that Jesus had placed a challenge in front of me, I soon realized again that He was also opening a door on such a happy occasion to preach the Gospel. This is a blessed opportunity to allow the brilliance of his grace to beam down into the lives of people who did not know him or His peace.

With the help of a brother pastor I prepared a worship service which was the Common Service in Spanish with a couple of changes. I added baptism for those who would request it during their quinceañera. I added allowing the girl, who is also know on that day as the quinceañera (La quinceañera), to make her first Communion provided that she would study in the Catechism lessons class for adults before her birthday arrived. I added a place in the service for the Padrinos (God Parents) to present the girl with a Bible and other special gifts such as jewelry or flowers. The centerpiece of the service is the sermon which is full length. The service ends with the girl kneeling in front of the altar on her cojín, which is a very fancy pillow, to receive God's blessing on her life as a woman. Some of the girls have asked if, at the very end of the service, they can place their flowers on the altar as a gift to Christ. I allow this and make it a very clear point that this is a gift to honor Jesus Christ.

The copyright of the article La Quinceanera Mexicana: Not Letting The Devil Have All The Good Stuff in Lutheranism is owned by Rev. Theodore Bodjanac. Permission to republish La Quinceanera Mexicana: Not Letting The Devil Have All The Good Stuff in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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