"Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus," Mary Queen of the Universe Basilica and National Shrine, Orlando, Florida
“The Son Receives from His Father”
In honor of St. Joseph
by Br. Stephen J., MIC
The wind of day has died down.
Now the restful dark shrouds the world
With shreds of cloud shielding the face of stars
And the new moon about to be born.
In the up-cast shadow of earth
The Child awoke, shivering:
Dark dreams of future fears to suffer,
Future pangs to endure, have chilled the gentle warmth of sleep
With harsh foreshadows cast.
He now arose to seek a second warmth,
The gentle comfort of His mother’s arms
And father’s kindly touch and tranquil breath
Released from carpentry and outward cares,
Their secret heart, which only the humble and Childlike
Might enter.
Through the door half-closed
He glimpsed His Abba bowing, on his knees,
Hands raised to heaven as if to embrace
The firmament empty of all but its Creator.
And that Creator was an “Abba”, too,
His Father and the Father of His father,
Of Whom this earthly Abba was but an icon,
But an icon written true.
His eyes, now closed, were keen and precise at work,
And warm and thoughtful toward the poor and weak,
His lifted hands, a mute appeal for mercy,
At day dispensed both skill and charity.
Sliding to His own knees in the doorway,
The Child raised up His arms like Abba did,
And raised His soul into the burning world of Love
Next which our world of shadow is just an atom
Or rather nothing. As before all time
He had given, and been given, all His Being
In the timeless unity of three Persons,
So now he offered once again in time
Devotion copied from the carpenter
Wordless.
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