Fashion statement: the Mexican custom of lovingly dressing the baby Jesus reminds us that he's part of our human family.

I VIVIDLY REMEMBER THE NIGHT MY FRIENDS LUPE AND JUAN invited me to their home to celebrate the clothing of the Nino Dios, the statue of the baby Jesus, on February 2, the feast of Jesus' Presentation in the temple (Luke 2:22-38). Faithful to the tradition of keeping Christmas for 40 days, the nativity scene was still in the living room full of light, colors, and small gifts, as it had been since the beginning of Advent.

Family and friends slowly gathered, bringing delicious goodies to share. The Nino was already in the manger, placed there by the family and the padrinos--Jesus' "godparents." Before the celebration the padrinos dressed the child and took him to church to be blessed by the priest. He was back home now, because the divine infant only goes to church to be born (on Christmas) and to be blessed (on Presentation). Jesus' true home is where the family lives.

Without any announcement Lupe began the rosary. We prayed and sang traditional hymns and the last songs of Christmas. After the rosary, litanies, and other popular devotions, the godparents passed the statue around the room so we each could venerate him with kisses and arrullos or lullabies. Then the Nino Dios was placed in a special box and put away with the rest of the nativity, to return with the first week of the next Advent. This devotion is called Candelaria (Candlemas), or the clothing of the Nino Dios.

Just as the menu of tamales, pozole (stew), atole and champurrado (thick, porridge-like drinks), traditional punches, and some small gifts for children are indispensible parts of the celebration of Candelaria, so the role of the padrinos is key.

CHOOSING THE PADRINOS IS EASY. ON THE NIGHT OF JANUARY 6, when the church celebrates Epiphany, the coming of the Magi with their gifts, family and friends gather in the grandmother's house or in the house of a person who shares the same tradition and spirituality. There they share the Rosca de Reyes, a round bread in the shape of a crown that is decorated with dried fruit. The baker places a little plastic statue of the Nino Dios in the bread, and whoever gets the statue in his or her piece is the padrino for that year's celebration. That person's family will host the dinner on February 2 and also will choose the clothing for the statue. While the idea of clothing a statue may seem odd to some American Catholics, it is actually quite common in many parts of the Catholic world, from Europe to the Americas.

Though the most common tradition is to be a godparent for one year, in central Mexico some padrinos serve for three consecutive years. In this case the padrinos clothe the child in three different manners: as a newborn baby in the first year, as a king in the second, and in the third year as the Nazarene, the suffering Jesus.

But the clothing may also differ based on family custom. Some may choose the Nino de las palomas, the "Child of doves." Others may dress the Nino as St. Jude, St. Juan Diego, or St. Francis of Assisi. Some people even dress him in the soccer uniform of the Mexican national team for good luck in the coming season or in the World Cup, just as sometimes we dress our own children in our favorite team s colors.

Regardless of the style of dress, what is perhaps most important to the Candle-mas celebration is the participation of the padrinos, through which they become part of the host family. Just as the birth of Christ makes God a part of the human family, so Candelaria makes the human family more like God's, extending beyond the circle of blood and kinship.

The padrinos might not know the story of the Nino Dios, but by participating they become part of a larger story, the meaning of which is found in the community's celebration of God's presence among us, whether in the tenderness of the newborn Jesus or in the pain of the Nazarene. It is this Nino Dios, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived among us and who still accompanies us in our families and communities.

BEING A PART OF LUPE AND JUAN'S celebration reminded me of my family's traditions as well as my Mexican culture and identity. But that night I celebrated not just a culture but God's presence manifested in the beauty of a child and the fulfillment of what that child preached many years later: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

The task of caring for this child should be the model of our care for each other, regardless of where we came from or how we got here. The Nino Dios reminds us always that we are a single human family, joined by the miracle of God becoming one of us.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Nino Dios before Christ 

The celebration of the Nino Dios was born in the Xochimilco Valley, sometimes called the Mexican Venice for its picturesque canals. Its date coincides with an Aztec feast celebrating Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, the gods of rain and water. The Aztecs asked for a fruitful harvest season and sought the purification of the seeds and themselves. The feast included meals made out of corn, representing prosperity and abundance.

According to legend, a footprint appeared in the corn paste prepared in honor of the birth of the gods. In 1532 a Christian missionary said the footprint was from the Ninopa, which means "child of the people." He showed them a statue of the baby Jesus, which the people accepted and took into their homes.

This tradition is still at the heart of people of Xochimilco. The padrinos keep the Nino for the full year and create a special room for him in their home. A procession with flowers and song accompanies the statue. When the Nino gets home, he will be treated as one of family's own children.--Miguel Arias

By MIGUEL ARIAS, senior editor for Spanish media at Loyola Press in Chicago.