By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

Throughout Advent and Christmas, the Nativity scene that adorns the back wall of Keyport’s St. Joseph Church beckons faithful to turn their hearts and minds toward Bethlehem and the miracle of the Incarnation that took place in that tiny town 2,000 years ago.

And each year, all of the familiar figures – the Holy Family, shepherds and their flocks, cattle and the like, are there amid the landscape set up in the church – which, with Jesus the Lord Church, is one of two worship sites of Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

This year, however, something new had been added: an aquarium in which some 50 goldfish began placidly swimming Dec. 16. The fish had been placed carefully in the tank on the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, by scores of children from the parish who tended them throughout the weeks that followed.

On the last day of Christmas, the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 13, the fish were destined to journey out through the parish, carried away by the children to their respective homes as living symbols of the sublime mystery of Christmas – that God sent his only son to ransom all mankind.

Excitement had been building over the last week of Advent and the days of Christmas as the children continued to feed their fish and looked so forward to taking them home, said Cathy Strauss, pastoral assistant.

“It’s a beautiful Nativity and this year, including a fish tank where the children took care of their own fish” added to the celebration, said Strauss. “Each child knew their fish, they’d point it out saying, ‘that’s mine! They enjoyed being the first to run a fish tank.”

Throughout, the experience, the children also developed a keen sense of the fact that the fish, like all living things, are part of God’s creation. They learned that from the earliest Christian times, the drawing of a fish known as ICHTHYS became one of the most recognized symbols of the Christian faith, Strauss said.

These truths were emphasized during the Jan. 13 children’s Mass where the children, their families and fellow parishioners filled the church nearly to capacity. There, all renewed their baptismal promises and their pastor, Father Rene Pulgarin, and Deacon Glen Mendonca, shared the importance of keeping the meaning of Christmas front and center in their lives throughout the year.

The fish, which had been transferred from the aquarium into small bowls surrounded by poinsettias and candles near the image of the infant Jesus in his hay-filled crib, figured prominently in their discussion. Both Father Pulgarin and Deacon Mendonca explained how fish feature in several miracles of Jesus in the Gospels, including the loves and the fishes.

They shared how drawing the fish out of two, simple curved lines, became an enduring symbol of Jesus that enabled Christians to recognize each other from the earliest times until today.

“It is the oldest way Christians recognized each other,” said Father Pulgarin who noted that the drawing originated during times of persecution. “A person would draw the first curved line and if the second person could draw the second curved line, it meant they were Christian.”

At the end of the Mass, as Father Pulgarin and Strauss prepared to distribute the fish to the children, he shared that some people asked why fish had been added to the Prescipio. “But I said, ‘why not?’ They are part of God’s Creation.”

Taking the fish home, he said, was a way for the children to reflect on that message. “All of you kids, when you take them home, take care of them.” When looking at the fish, he urged, “think about Jesus and ask him to help you do good.”

As the families left the church, the kids were eager to get their fishes and do just that.

Javier Flores beamed as his children, Nicholas, 5, and Emma, 2, prepared to carry their fish to the car. “It’s a great symbol of Christ,” said Flores, who noted that fish appear throughout the Bible. “This was a great way for the children to end Christmas. It was really meaningful.”

Derick Soler, 6, who was there with his grandmother, Olga Vitale, was excited about being able to bring his fish home. As it turned out, his bowl contained two fish and he talked about how he would be able to see them every day. When asked if he had given them names, he shook his head in the affirmative: “Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Fish.”

His response drew a broad smile from his grandmother. The small bowl with its gleaming occupants will be a “reminder that fish are from God,” she said. “It’s really important to see so many young people in Church today taking home the message that Christmas isn’t over and to remember,” the gift of Jesus all year long.