“They were overjoyed at seeing the star…” [Matthew 2: 1 -12]
Moving west for days that blended into a forever now
our minds locked into each other’s vision
and the star
defied all the knowledge we had hungrily held
each night it called us
the calm and steady trust brought to us
by that flickering light
was nearly drowned
by the pinched face and the slicing words
of this hungry king whose fear
assaulted us
from the moment
we gave him our cause
That night we did not share a word
of what we felt
we slept
we allowed our dreams
to wrap us in a cloud
And when we found the child we gave them
of our treasures
and our hoarded dreams
and whispered
Leave
so that what our hearts can barely contain
when following this child’s eyes
will survive
until none need stars
to call them on
Christmas 2022
One of your best!
ReplyDeleteJack McClung
Joseph, I love this poem...so hopeful and enlivening...thank you for this Christmas present! Rich
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Thank you!🙏🏽
ReplyDeleteYou had me at the title! Beautifully expressed. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAmen . . . Awomen . . . ebr
ReplyDeleteThe title alone drew me in -- right to --"that flickering light
ReplyDeletewas nearly drowned
by the pinched face and the slicing words
of this hungry king whose fear
assaulted us" right to my own need for advocacy and selflessness in the face of so much that needs fixin' now.
Thank you for this angel-sent message.
Patricia
Amen!
ReplyDeleteOn this day December 23, my 80th birthday, you write about that Star that I have been following for all of those eighty years. Until "None needs stars" is entering the Promise Land! I think?
ReplyDeleteWe have been taught to sing, "This Little Light of Mine, I'm gonna let it shine...everywhere I go...." It is worth considering
DeleteDear Friend ,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing God's message of light, hope and joy through spoken words. Enjoy this Season. 🙏🏻🕯🙏🏻🕯
Fr. Joseph, that star for me, while fighting for my life in the hospital some seven years ago and the days and years that followed, was the glimmering light of hope that assured me that I am loved and defied all the knowledge I had hungrily held about God. An encounter that transcended catechetics, rubrics, and religion, and makes them tertiary, if not petty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this offering in the tradition of T.S.Eliot’s Journey of the Magi.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a wonderful gift.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for such a heartfelt present. Blessings always.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Joseph, for the wonderful way your mind and heart work together!
ReplyDeleteEyes to see and ears to hear...what a gift you have given to those of us who struggle at times by being blind and deaf. Thank you, Joseph.
ReplyDeleteJoe, sj- your poem is The Star that leads us into the forever and calls us on into 2023 until….
ReplyDeleteDeep gratitude!
Joanne in St Louis who sent this on to us by Mike Harter,sj
What our hearts can barely contain...Now, that's some Goodness, Joseph!
ReplyDeleteSimply…..thank you
ReplyDelete