Liturgical Poems

CHRIST MASS

Little Jesu we greet you

With the angels and shepherds;

On this happy morn,

As the blessed Mother looks on you,

With her love.

Fill our hearts with compassion

For the poor, sick and lonely;

As this is the very best gift

We can bring you this day,

Apart from our love. M.D.

THE JOURNEY

(poem written for Christmass 2003)

A census was a coming,

disturbing the pattern of living

for families hastily returning

to their ancestral abodes

to obey the Emperor's command.

"Must we go now?" said Mary,

"Yes, we must," insisted Joseph,

Even though it was the worst time

(for Mary was about to give birth).

A hard time they had of it,

A long journey,

A wearing journey,

To Bethlehem for Caesar's taxes.

This paying of taxes overshadowed,

or perhaps you might say,

brought into perspective,

with the birth of a babe.

Out of Bethlehem-Ephratah

will come He to rule the earth.

Christmass is about a birth

the messianic birth

but birth too for all creatures

awakening from dark, wooden sleep.

Deo Gratias.

Venite adoremus. M.D.

Bells of Bethlehem silenced,

no heralding the Birth

this Christmass

Disrupted by angry shouts and shots.

Shrieking cries startle

the starless night

from the bewildered.

Alleyways their home.

No child to cradle this Christmass.

The stars sigh

remembering

the One born long ago

in Bethlehem.

They know His birth was special,

Unique you might say,

To cry with the bereaved,

to comfort the wounded,

to mend the broken hearted.

To turn confusion into harmony,

bitterness into forgiveness,

hatred into love.

Bells will not ring this Christmass

yet the angels still will sing

'Gloria in excelsis Deo

et in terra pax

hominibus bonae voluntatis.'

Let Christians everywhere

echo the angels' song

for bells to ring again

in Bethlehem.

Another Christmas

is dawning,

in a world ignoring,

dismissive of values

of dignity and worth.

The prophet cries

can this continue?

Do you not see?

This very way

all will be devalued.

Why have you

forgotten the One

Who entered your world

To bring dignity to all.

But the world answers,

We do not need You

for we have our hope

in our materialism,

in our consumerism,

in our consolidated wealth.

Who gives a thought

to how we came here

Here we are, and here

we have plenty to enjoy,

without thought of how?

Fool, says the prophet

The day comes,

you called to account

by the One Who came

to show you the way,

born in a lowly stable

in a Bethlehem inn.

O Sapienta Instruct us in the paths of knowledge, in the wisdom of Your eternal Word.

O Adonai, Lead us to the burning bush and cheerfully accept Your laws of righteousness. O Radix Jesse Teach us that we can shelter under the shadow of your wings in this vale of tears.

O Clavis David Loosen our tyranny of sin Give us repentant hearts to turn completely to you. O Oriens, Enlighten our minds to the many injustices committed in our war-torn world.

O Rex Gentium Rule all peoples whom You have made from a piece of clay.

O Virgo Virginum The lily among the bramble, Direct us to your beloved Son, Born on Christmass Day.

Rejoice all with the angels

on this holy night, Gloria in excelsis deo at in terra pax hominbus et bonae voluntatis.

INCOGNITO

You came unannounced

save for angels’ delight;

no majestic entrance

onto this world’s stage.

Only Mary and Joseph knew

the Child born that night

was destined to lead

people on a different path.

A path not strewn with gold

but with words of salvation;

a path not leading to power

but to the kingdom of heaven.

Only those with ears to hear

the angels’ bursting delight

with truth and sincerity

kneel in pure adoration.

ADOREMUS.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

Myriads of angels

in the depth of night

fill the starry sky

With gloria in excelsis.

Seraphim and cherubim

Watchers and holy ones,

Angels and archangels

Hover over the stable.

Brightness from their presence

Disturb the nearby shepherds

What means such brilliance?

They ponder in their hearts.

"Fear not”, they hear.

A great thing has happened.

The Messiah has come

Greet Him in Bethlehem.

Angels still sing their song,

Like bells they beckon us,

To sing the heavenly welcome

Gloria in excelsis.

MARY’S CHILD

Mother Mary, what did you feel

as you first gazed upon your first born?

Were you overwhelmed

with the miracle that lay in your lap?

those tiniest feet and fingers,

all so fragile but perfect.

Were you scared to touch,

as you longed too so much,

not knowing just how delicate

this gift of God is?

Did you ponder on how

the babe would cope

with the outside world

after leaving the warmth of your womb?

As you marvelled these things

did you see the eyes open

for the first time in this world?

The tiny mouth wanting to suckle,

The feet kicking against the outside air.

Very slowly it dawns

this beautiful babe is ours

to love and to cherish until death do us part;

To nourish with milk and meat

To bring up knowing our forefathers,

written in holy script.

All mothers share your wonderment, O Mary

In giving birth to another miracle of God’s love,

Yours was so very, very special.

Being the Child too of the Most High.

A light has shone this day

For every child born

He will be called

Wonderful Counsellor and Prince of Peace

To rule our hearts for ever.

Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes;

Venite, venite in Bethlehem,

Natum videte Regem angelorum,

Venite, adoremus, Dominum.

M. D.

THE ANGELIC MESSAGE

The Word spoken

To ordain creation,

Fulfilled the ancient plan

since the exile of Adam.

When the time was right

In the depths of the night

when shepherds only watch,

Mary bore her Son.

The Word not able to speak

the message of salvation

His humble birth brings

To reopen paradise gates.

The Alpha and Omega

by angelic spirits surrounded;

in the midst of pure light,

a shadow cloaks the crib.

Throughout His ministry

that shadow followed

Until lifted high at Calvary

to reign for ever in glory.

Christ’s story is ours too.

There will always be the cross.

Forgiving when wronged.

Loving when despised.

Yet the joy of the Birth

never does fade

amidst sorrow or pain

loneliness or death.

For Christ is born today.

Gloria in excelsis Deo

et in terra pax hominibus

bonae voluntatis. Alleluia.

M.D.

In the grand silence

of a frozen night,

A striking illumination,

Turned the night

into dazzling day

at midnight watch,

only shepherds awake,

huddled over a dying fire

saw this wondrous sign,

hiding scared faces.

Huddling closer together

Muttering, what is this?

Some great catastrophe

to end or begin?

Interrupted by a voice.

‘Be not afraid’!

Listen to me

A consoling message

to you and all who listen,

A Saviour has been born.

Hurry to David’s city

There you’ll find Him

in a cattle stable

with Mary and Joseph,

Welcome Him as your Lord.

Your first earthly messengers,

simple country-folk

proclaim You as Lord.

Glory to God in heaven,

Peace on earth to all. M.D.

WHEN THE WORD SANG

Creation came into being,

Chaos gave way to order,

Darkness to light.

The ocean dancing with fish,

Land prancing with animals,

With man master of all.

Seasons followed one another,

Dormant winter to spring shoots,

Summer frolicking for autumn harvest.

The word saw His creation

struggling hard to survive

Groaning under its travail.

I must sing a new song

To restore My creation.

A body I must take!

The Word unable

to speak a word

entered our messy world.

In a cave cold and damp

He who is God was born

Unknown to earthly creatures.

Only angels greeted his birth

to shepherds huddled in the field.

Hurriedly, they came to Bethlehem .

Here they found baby Jesus

cradled by His blessed mother

To acknowledge Him as Lord.

Each Christmass celebrates

God’s divine intervention

to put all things right.

So let us cheerfully say,

Deo gratias this Christmas

And again, Deo Gratias.

What can I offer the Christ-Child this year?

After a year of devastations,

hurricanes, floods and fires,

and the never ceasing of guns.

So many dead, homeless, lost;

Fleeing from the known homeland.

Some hoping to start life anew;

Others disheartened and disorientated.

Innocent victims imprisoned.

Some pleading for political justice;

Others seeking non-violence

in a flawed world.

We need you Lord

as the Prince of Peace

in a world that says,

Might is right.

What do you preach

in your swaddling clothes

O mighty God

and Wonderful Counsellor?

This world is no different

from when I was born.

Militaryfeet marched in Bethlehem,

sharp swords slaying innocents.

For those who heard my voice,

Learnt of peace and pity.

To love and forgive

and to trust in Me, their saviour.

At Christmas cast out our sins.

Penetrate our frozen hearts;

Prevent us from stumbling

and walk willingly in Your love.

VENI ADORAMUS.

CHRISTMASS 2014

Bells still ring joyfully

on Christmas Day greeting

the birth of Mary’s Son,

the Redeemer of the cosmos.

God’s gracious gift to us

promised by the archangel.

Jesus born into a world

of fear and oppression

Looking towards better times,

less taxes and checks

More freedom for life

but needing a Saviour.

What does Jesus’ coming

mean for today’s world?

Christians rounded up and shot,

others driven from their homes,

churches ransacked and burnt

fleeing from danger and death.

This is nothing new.

Parents and Jesus fled hastily

escaping the hateful Herod.

Children slaughtered screaming

Mothers wept uncontrollably

in the face of jealous tyranny.

It still exists in many forms,

secular values accelerate

In the world Jesus came to free.

Deliver us, O Christ-Child

to live in your service

by caring for brothers and sisters. M.D.

VIGILATE

The end times it seems,

Lightning killings,

blood splattered on walls,

Who can endure the day of his coming;

Who will stand in his sight?

It began an evening of pleasure,

one taken, one left behind.

They run to and fro in the city.’

O tempora! O tempora!

Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.

It is enough, enough.

Time to ponder why.

Forgotten, to love and honour:

the Lord of all creation

and of righteousness.

Christmas celebrates His coming

teaching love and peace

and to live within all peoples,

Praise to the holiest in the height

and in the depth be praised.

This too is forgotten.

Secular and selfish societies

wonder why, no peace.

The light shone in darkness

and the darkness comprehended it not.

Truth is, His kingdom

will not be destroyed;

it lasts for ever and ever.

Gloria in excelsis Deo

et in terra pax. M. D.

The year of frustration and foiling,

Uncertainty burdening many,

seeking a safer and surer life,

believing in a better and brighter future.

Insulating and isolating triumphed over

“Do unto others as you have done to you,”

Who is my neighbour anyway?

Is he the one knocking on my door?

Even nature itself challenged confidence

Raging rivers ravished land and life,

Rubble upon rubble, past and present.

In a darkened and desperate world.

Despair and desperation need an answer.

What answer? A living hope.

A gift not in sparkling paper,

A royal birth in Bethlehem-Ephratah.

This is what makes Christmass, HAPPY.

M. D.

In a year of violence, no more

than on that night of silence,

when the Word came amongst us

to make us children of light.

‘Four thousand winters past

Adam lay ybounden’

Soon to be rescued by Divine love.

Thanking too the obedient Maid.

0n Bethl’hem’s holy night He

began eating the apple’s core.

Not only for Adam and Eve

but all coming after them.

No wonder the angels sang on that night,

Such wonderful and welcoming news

“Glory to God, peace on earth.

And good will to all peoples.”

All hearts that are not stone

let the angels’ song ring out

in every corner of the world

welcoming the Prince of peace.

Joyeux Noël.

A time of global turmoil,

Democracies faltering,

Nationalism simmering.

Autocracy on the move.

The wilderness and the parched land

shall be glad

and the desert shall rejoice

and bloom like a rose.

A lack of tolerance and acceptance,

Not listening to another,

Ignoring another’s presence,

What of indifference?

Whatsoever things are true …

honest … just ... pure … lovely.

Think on these things.

What for a better world?

Not in the pre-Christmas partying,

Nor in excessive spending nor indulging

Nor in escaping the clamour and clatter.

Then the eyes of the blind be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lane shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

Walk in light, not darkness

to a makeshift manger

in ‘a sorry, poor village’

for ‘a birth too big for this place.’

New things I now declare

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.

God breaking-in to our world.

Sending His beloved Son

To pitch His tent amongst us

Christmas is Thy ‘full-ey’d love’.

See, I am making all things new

…

I am the Alpha and the Omega …

the beginning and the end.

How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given!

So, God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming;

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still

The dear Christ enters in.

Flames raging through bush,

unchastened by the wind.

Choking smoke hazarding vision,

Folks fighting relentlessly

against overwhelming forces.

Animals trapped in bush habitats.

Blackened and soiled land,

Treasured possessions captured,

Livelihoods temporarily shattered,

All is gone.

Where can shelter be found?

Can a new beginning arise from the ashes?

Shelter was on the mind of

two very weary travellers,

a long, long time ago.

A young woman in labour,

Nothing but a barn to be had.

Enough thought the two.

Hustle of day gives way to

the temporary silence of the night.

Stars in their orbit

offering celestial light to shepherds.

Their watching suddenly interrupted

by fear and trembling.

‘Do not be afraid’,

only good news I bring.

A Child is born this night

to drench life and hope in all,

even in the darkest days.

Venite! M.D.

Darkness covered the earth swiftly,

Seemed the plagues of old returning,

Merciless the silent enemy devouring,

Throwing life into contradictions.

Loved ones struggling to breathe,

Families grieving their dead,

Hospitals confronting the unknown,

Where is mercy and pity?

The enemy marched on and on.

Over highways, seas, valleys and hills,

With its contagious weapon,

Only one combative weapon—lockdown.

Many simply hated that word,

Freedom not to be denied,

The wise thought otherwise.

Welcoming Wisdom early at her gate.

Our sufferings have wearied us,

Prepare a way home,

Advent with her candles offers

Hope—Faith—Love—Joy.

O comfort! O comfort!

‘Full ey’d love’. Bid us welcome to

Bethlehem afresh. Ponder anew.

‘And shall we then no voices lift?’

M. D.

The candle of Hope,

barely glimmered,

its light so dim.

Lockdown imposed again.

For so many folks

‘twas lock up time.

Months of aloneness ahead

for so many elderly, like

a rudderless ship.

Who can endure such loneliness?

Shrieks of heartache anguish

haunted many a neighbourhood.

Another souls succumbing to Covid.

Nearby hospitals overflowing;

Nurses replacing loved ones,

Keep watch beside the dying.

Who can endure unrelenting grief?

Midst this scary Covid spread,

Love continued reaching out.

Many comforting, feeding, clothing.

Love has endured all this suffering.

That Love came at Christmas,

Lighting the candle of Hope

to dispel all shades of darkness.

All will be well, very well,

The Advent candle of hope

shines again to lead the way. M. D.

Christmas bells ring with joy

celebrating the age-old message.

A Saviour was born

in lowly Bethlehem.

Bethlem-Ephratah, so small

a village of little repute.

Invited, ‘come and see’,

What shepherds and wise men saw.

Today, this royal city,

Circled by man-made wall

symbolizes a forgetfulness,

what wisemen and shepherds saw.

Yet Christmas morning still

rises with its wing, as

that first ray of light shines

on the holy Mother and Son.

This blessed and peaceful scene

turns spears and swords into

pruning hooks and ploughshares,

producing a fruitful harvest of love.

That love, Divine Love,

a Christmas gift to all.

Come and sing joyfully

The new creation song. M. D.

A year of many devastations,

hurricanes, floods and fires,

and the never ceasing of guns,

innocents fleeing their homes.

They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;

… And they shall walk and not be faint,

We need you dear Lord,

the Prince of Peace

in a world that says,

Might is right.

O Virgo Virginum, the lily among the brambles,

Direct us to your Beloved Son.

It is enough, enough.

Time to ponder why.

Forgotten. Love and honour

To the Lord of all creation.

The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad

and the desert shall rejoice and bloom like a rose.

What do you preach

in your swaddling clothes

O mighty God

and Wonderful Counsellor?

Love thy Lord with all your heart and soul,

And your neighbour as yourself.

Yet this world is no different

from when I was born, long ago.

Military feet marched into Bethlehem,

with sharp swords slaying innocents.

A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children … because they are no more.

In a world seemingly bleak,

Forget not the Prince of peace

with His unconditional gift

of wondrous love to all.

How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given!

Veni! Adoramus! M. D.

Bombs destroy Peace,

Ruthless revenge deports Mercy,

Tyranny demolishes Justice,

Deceit defies eternal Truth.

Never needed more

‘The Truth from above’

Years of delusion and destruction

‘don’t turn me from your door.’

Please let me in to hear

How to right these wrongs,

We ‘as heirs to endless woes’

Need some very ‘special grace’.

Where to find ‘special grace’?

A promise made in heavenly time

For God to send in endless love

His only Son, a Redeemer be.

In a darkened, deluded world.

A light does shine brightly

Making angels sing gleefully

The night we call Christmas.

‘Glory to God and peace to men

Now and for evermore.’ M. D.