Lo! Newborn Jesus
Soft and small,
Wrapped in baby’s bands
By his mother’s hands,
Lord God of all.
Lord God of Mary,
Whom is lips caress
While he rocks to rest
On his mother’s breast
In helplessness.
* * * *
* *
Lo! Newborn Jesus
Loving great and small.
Love’s free Sacrifice,
Opening men’s arms and eyes
To one and all.
--Christina Rossetti, The Complete Poems, [London: Penguin, 2001].
P. 83, 84
How can a man comment on the Virgin Birth of Jesus? Virginal Conception, Virgin Birth! It takes a woman’s touch; a man by nature
shies away from the soft intimacy of Christina Rossetti’s tender words.
Joseph, the man, and all men by necessity stand on the outside
looking in nervously on the birth event.
His world, and ours, is shattered by the trusting surrender of Mary to
our God. We men are bystanders, but the
sword that pierces Mary’s heart will pierce ours also.
“The busy world is hushed, the dear Christ enters in.” The surrender of Mary calls for our own
surrender, not just once, but many times.
It is the high and holy responsibility of Joseph to model and to teach
the Christ child what it means to be a man in the midst of this wicked
world. In our own way, with children
everywhere, we also in our small measure bear that same responsibility. Mary cannot do that; it is neither her
calling nor her gift.
Joseph, what has Mary done?
Her action will define the very calling on your life and ours. None of us are left outside the stable
door. We kneel shoulder to shoulder with
you beside the manger looking in and watching.
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