North Java Church Holds Momentous Natavity Play

Photo by Fr. Matt Kawiak
Youthful members of Holy Family Parish presented a Nativity play, Sunday at Holy Family Parish in North Java. It’s believed to the location’s first full-scale Nativity play in possibly 50 years.

By Matt Surtel Batavia News Assistant Editor

Published by Batavia News on December 21, 2016 at 12:30am

NORTH JAVA — Two children walk down a church’s center aisle dressed as Mary and Joseph
They’re accompanied by more youngsters dressed as shepherds and angels — the stuff of any Nativity play.
But an event on Sunday marked a special return of sorts at Holy Family Parish. Church officials and organizers believe it’s possibly the location’s first true Nativity play in as many as 50 years.
“It honestly happened very organically,” said children’s liturgy teacher Molly Haungs. “We were talking about Christmas and the things we like to do for Christmas. The church once had a Christmas pageant, and the idea was we would do a play.”
Nativity plays were once very common at Christmas time, said Rev. Matt Kawiak, Holy Family’s pastor. But they often took place in conjunction with religious schools. As the latter began closing or consolidating from the 1970s onward, the chances for full-scale plays dwindled.
Holy Family Parish’s play took place during the parish’s regular 10 a.m. Mass.
“We found a Nativity play online and rewrote it so it would be our own, and reflect the things we would want our kids to know, understand and work around,” Haungs said.
About 20 youngsters participated in the play — reflecting the parish’s growth, Haungs noted, since its youth program had only about four children four years ago.
Does a traditional Nativity play still have relevance to young people, in an age of smartphones and wireless entertainment?
Haungs noted the lessons the youngsters gleaned from characters including a second innkeeper, who was too caught up in managing the place to realize what was happening.
“I think that’s kind of our lesson for our day and age with how busy we get and overwhelmed with life in general,” she said. “We can still make room for Jesus. It ends up being this lesson that’s not just for them, but it’s for the adults.
“I know that’s true for me as I’m teaching,” she continued. “There’s a kid that says something that’s so profound and so simple. That’s kind of what this play is about.”
Kawiak said it harkens to a larger impact.
“From my perspective, I see people, families, always searching for purpose in their life,” Kawiak said. “ ... If they’re searching for God and following His will, it’s what they find or doing in life.
“The fact they can share their faith, and that the parents are helping poor families in the community — the fact they’re teaching their children about the importance of God in their life, if that what brings them happiness and helps them grow as a family, I think that becomes contagious,” he continued. “Then it’s passed around the community and that’s why it’s growing.”