A Christ-Mass Poem

How often I forget

The day that You were born

The glory of Your Nativity.

What a night it must have been

In a world so dark and frightened

So long estranged from You, O God

To see Your face shining bright

Amidst the forgotten and the low

The poorest of the poor.

Yet You made Yourself forgettable

You made Yourself meek

The King of Kings, yet born

In the lowly form of man

In the barren world of Earth

So long imprisoned by sin.

I cannot comprehend

Why You love us so

Much that You would come

Into this world for our sake

To be with us

To bring Your orphans home.

We can never deserve

All that You gave us

Just by Your birth

The most joyous day in history

The Eucatastrophe of the story of mankind.

In that day, in Your Incarnation

All was accomplished, all evil defeated

Even before Your victory was known;

The works of the devil

And the failures of man

Were expunged by the promise

Of the birth of the Messiah

Christ the Lord

Emmanuel.

My words cannot express

The well of joy in my heart

The fire of gratitude and thanksgiving in my soul;

All the shadows of my life

All the sins I have done

Everyone I have met and seen

With chains around our necks

And shackles unseen around our wrists and feet

With an arrow through our heart -

All were broken and discarded.

Yet in Your most holy prison break

You rescued us from the tyranny

Of Satan, the world, ourselves

You set the captives free.

But why would You do this?

What need have You of us?

You do not need us

Yet You love us

As You love Your Father

And He loves His Son

In the family of the Spirit.

By the love of Your most holy family

The blessed Trinity

You gave Yourself for us

That we may be reconciled to You

And that Your children may come to see one another

With the eyes of love with which You see

This Artwork that You Created

And the life You have breathed into Your children -

The very image of You.

Let all stand still!

Let all look up and see

And feel the warmth of God

And the love He has given this day!

It is the birthday of His Son

The Feast of the Nativity

Of the entrance of myth into fact

Of truth into history

Of love into sin

Of light into darkness!

O God, I love you

My Father, my Brother, my Advocate!

May Your most blessed and holy mother

Queen of Heaven and Earth

Give us the joy and the love she felt

As she carried her child, the Son of God in her womb

And in her Immaculate Heart

As she gave birth

To Emmanuel, God-Saves, Holy Messiah, Christ the Lord!

And may our souls magnify that light

The light of the love of God

To all those who live in the darkness

Of sin, of sickness, of doubt,

And for the souls in Purgatory -

For none are beyond the love of God!

Nothing can separate us from Him!

Even the bounds of this world

And the veil of original sin

And the armies of Satan

Cannot prevent Our Lord

From embracing us as His own!

I pray for all blessings and goodwill

All tidings of joy and love

In this holy Mass of Christ

This Christ-Mass of the Nativity.

God bless!