Another Way

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.
—Matthew 2:1-12

The star had heralded the dawn
but vanished in the day.
The road that led you there was gone—
you took another way.

The sigil had not ceased to burn;
the star shone out the same,
but you were no more what you were
who'd seen a brighter flame.

Up to that hour you'd known the night,
a sky where all was dim,
and now you stagger in the light—
all you had known dislimns.

The world of starlight breaks apart,
the pieces rearrange.
So, too, the fragments of your heart
beneath the infant's gaze.

You travelled far to look on him;
now he has looked at you:
You breath comes short; your vision swims;
your world is all made new.

And where there were no roads before,
new ways have opened wide.
The world itself an open door
spills out a glorious light.

Adoración de los Reyes Magos by El Greco, 1568 (Museo Soumaya, Mexico City) – Museo Soumaya Plaza Carso, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35846297

Bright Star

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
—Isaiah 60:1-6

When wise men turn from learning
the strictures of the page
to seek a bright star burning,
an infant as their sage,
the wisdom of the ages
our wisdom crosswise turns:
a key unlocking cages,
the light for which we yearn.

Our ordering and knowing
have all been rearranged
by that one bright star glowing,
and we shall all be changed.
We shall no more flee danger,
but kings shall leave their thrones
to bow before a manger
when Christ is king alone.

Though now the way is hidden
and hope is pale and wan,
yet that bright star is given—
To us is born a son.
His brighter morn is coming
that never shall grow dim,
the sun of justice dawning:
Come, let us follow him!

Incised third century A.D. sarcophagus slab depicts the Adoration of the Magi, from the Catacombs of Rome – translated as, “Severa, may you live in God”, Severa being the woman buried in the sarcophagus and likely the figure to the left of the inscription. Photo By Giovanni Dall’Orto – Own work, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3926530

Prayer to Mary

In the beginning, God did shape
the sun, the moon, the stars,
and in the end he'll recreate
this weary world of ours,
but now the one who made all things
stares wide-eyed as he he hears you sing.

O Mary, here you hold the word
that makes creation new,
and holding him you hold the world—
Let us draw near to you
to shelter with him in your cloak,
for he is all our life and hope.

The son of heaven has come down
to bear with us the hurt:
The one who sleeps in your arms now
has joined us in the dirt,
then in the strength of your embrace
enfold us, too, into his grace.

And here beneath the stars he made,
teach us the song you sing
that waits for his eternal day
and trusts him in all things.
And pray for us, that we might be
his own in bright eternity.

Mary nursing the Infant Jesus. Early image from the Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, c. 2nd century By Unknown author – adapted from the quoted page., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=507221

Prayer to St. Joseph

How often did you wake and weep,
admitting you were not enough
to hedge the days and guard the sleep
of those, above all else, you loved?

And if you slept, to drown in dreams
disastrous as the ancient flood,
that echoed with imagined screams
while you stuck helpless in the mud?

But there were angels in the night—
like sentinels the watch they kept
and filled the broken hours with light,
until at last you sank and slept

or rose in haste—and did they show
a flame by night, a cloud by day
to lead you by the quickest road
to Egypt, where his safety lay?

Then, Joseph, when I wake at night
and sleep and peace are both far off,
keep watch with me to see the light
while I, like you, am not enough.

O father of the living lord,
I am not strong; I am not brave.
Keep those I love from fire and sword;
lend me the help your angels gave. Amen.

Joseph’s Dream, Rembrandt, c. 1645 By Workshop of Rembrandt – Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9476806

We Count the Generations

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
—Colossians 3:12-17

We count the generations
and trace the family line 
from Abraham to David—
but oh, what shame we find.

Yet this our God has chosen,
our littleness and sin:
His mercy new each morning
makes God himself our kin.

The glorious son of heaven
on earth has come to live
that we may be his kindred—
our broken bread is his.

Then may I cast off hatred
as he cast off his crown
and bend to serve my neighbor
as he himself knelt down,

and put on over all things
the perfect bond of love,
For God so loved our smallness
he knit himself thereof.

As Jesus Christ our brother
put on our very dust,
so may we love each other
and rise to where he was.

A typical Jesse Tree of the Late Medieval period, detail of the Spinola Hours of Ludwig by the Master of James IV of Scotland, (1510-20) Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29732235

The Army of Heaven

The shepherds keep watch on the hillside,
and shout as the night sky is torn:
An army comes out of the midnight,
but see! They are bending their swords.
For this is the host of God's angels,
who perfectly follow his word.
Their general now lies in a manger,
and all of the earth shall be turned.

The sword that barred Adam from Eden
shall harrow the thorn-woven ground,
preparing the earth to receive him
who sleeps in Eve's daughter's arms now.
For this is the weapon of doomsday,
more power than any can tell:
That God should let death e'er consume him
will shatter the strongholds of hell.

The shepherds sink down in amazement
and cover their eyes and their ears,
and still they are pierced by the angels
with song beyond all they can hear.
For this is the army of heaven
arrayed in its orders and ranks,
who knows that the word has been given,
and all of the earth shall give thanks.

So now they call all to the manger;
the trumpet sounds out the advance
to follow their lord and commander,
surrender to hammer and lance.
The shepherds rise up at the summons,
give heed to their orders and run
to worship God dwelling among us
and tell that all warfare is done.

Rembrandt Annunciation to the shepherds – http://www.facebook.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50707534

Christ Our Light Is Dawning

How beautiful upon the mountains
       are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,
   announcing peace, bearing good news,
       announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,
       “Your God is King!”
Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry,
       together they shout for joy,
   for they see directly, before their eyes,
       the LORD restoring Zion.
   Break out together in song,
       O ruins of Jerusalem!
   For the LORD comforts his people,
       he redeems Jerusalem.
   The LORD has bared his holy arm
       in the sight of all the nations;
   all the ends of the earth will behold
       the salvation of our God.
—Isaiah 52:7-10

How beautiful the footsteps
and steady-beating heart 
that bring to us a good word
and say, “Here is your God!”

Now see what he is doing,
that never yet was seen.
Break into song, you ruined,
for you have been redeemed!

Our sentinels have told it—
O, hearken to their cry!—
and we, too, shall behold it,
the dawn that greets our eyes.

The empty places in us
where shadows made their home,
shine out as morning fills us,
for lo! Our light has come!

For all the days we hungered,
new feasts will fill our lack.
All that was taken from us
will someday be led back.

Stand up and greet the morning,
the promise coming true.
For Christ our light is dawning
and mercy is made new!

Aci Castello Sicily Italy – Creative Commons by gnuckx By gnuckx, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53170013

Hungered

The Lord, from heaven's vistas,

has cast his eye down low—

uncrossable the distance

except by God alone—



to look upon the lowly

and gather all their tears

to water something holy,

a harvest for the years.



For he who sees the evil

devour his own as bread

has come to spare his people.

He sows himself instead.



A seed within the furrow,

a star within the night,

he shall be bread tomorrow,

the nurture of our life.



The wicked shall devour him

as they consume the poor,

and they will fall down pow'rless,

and death shall be no more.



And all who've ever hungered

at last shall eat their fill,

for Christ grows up among us,

and all shall be made well.

Christ Pantocrator By Unknown author – Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5820582

Mary, Mother of God

Includes a detail from Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ (as recounted in Grace Hamman’s Jesus Through Medieval Eyes): that Mary took off her kerchief and used it to swaddle the infant Christ.

You took your veil to swaddle him—

no shame before your God

but, Eden-like in Bethlehem,

held him against your heart.



So we, against the winter wind

prideless, defenseless stand.

Oh, wrap us up as you did him

who rested in your hands.



The night is long and bitter cold;

we wait to see his face,

Mary, who did the savior hold,

teach us to feel his grace.



In any warmth that wraps us 'round,

in any comfort's touch,

we hope his mercy may abound

who needed you so much.



And if we cannot feel his love,

then pray we can feel yours,

that earthly love maybe enough

to show us heaven's doors.



Mary, we are your children now,

as helpless as was Christ.

Come swaddle us as in that hour

you cradled paradise.

Madonna Advocata (Hagiosoritissa) aus dem 7. Jahrhundert By Asia – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61627017

Needy

Man’s maker was made man, that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that the Truth might be accused of false witness, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.
St. Augustine of Hippo

God's only Son begotten,

through whom all things were made,

the light that shines in darkness,

is blind by lantern-flame.



The Word in the beginning,

on Mary's breast he lies,

knows only warmth and milk now,

and wordlessly he cries.



Then come you now to Bethl'em;

make firm your feeble steps:

The love of God unending

is drawing his first breaths.



Come running with the shepherds,

as swift as angel hosts,

for heaven's throne stands empty:

A manger overflows.



And he who fills us hungers;

the living water thirsts.

God's Providence among us

is needy at his birth.



And she who bore him whispers—

the Word hangs on her voice.

This midnight, God is with us.

Come to him and rejoice!

“The Manger”, photograph by Gertrude Käsebier – Camera Notes, Vol 4 No 1, July 1900, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5151764