During the Christmas Octave in 2005, I was particularly struck by the feast days immediately following the celebration of our Lord’s birth. I have a deep love for the liturgy and a great respect for the way the liturgical calendar is set up, knowing that there is a great deal of wisdom and intentionality behind it. So I knew that the Lord had something meaningful to say to me even about the way the Christmas Octave is put together.
If I had been doing it, I probably would have included feast days such as the Presentation of the Lord, the feast of St. John the Baptist, etc. But the Church gives us the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, the day after Christmas. We get a little reprieve with the feast of St. John the Apostle the next day, but the day after that we have the feast of the Holy Innocents who were killed when the Holy Family was forced to flee for their lives to Egypt. It seems like the shadow of the cross looms over us almost before we get the chance to take in the depth and beauty of the mystery of His birth.
Every year since then I have reflected on how inseparable the cross is from the crib, and how inseparable are joy and sorrow. We like to welcome the joy and flee the sorrow, but I have discovered that the happiest people in the world have learned to embrace sorrow and joy alike. In deep reflection on these ideas, I wrote this poem during the Christmas Octave in 2005, and I would like to share it with you now.
The Shadow of the Cross
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the room of the virgin;
Veiled in silence of her womb,
Eternal Word becomes flesh,
And bridegroom is now joined to bride.
O let it be!
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the heart of the maiden,
Thinking of the confusion
This news will cause her betrothed.
How to tell of God’s mystery
Alive in her?
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the carpenter’s pale brow;
O Lord, I am not worthy
To be father to your Son,
Witness to the awesome union
Of God and man.
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the face of the woman
Told of the need to travel
Carrying the weight of the world’s
Salvation, ready to burst forth
Upon the earth.
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the rejected back of
The guardian of the Shepherd,
Forced to find shelter among
The beasts of burden and sheep in
The House of Bread.
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the small body of the
Child, whose first drops of blood made
Him heir of the covenant
Of God with man, but in him is
Old law made new.
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the soul of the mother
Whose son will be a sign of
Contradiction, hated and
Misunderstood by the people
He’d come to save.
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the holy family’s head,
Driven into exile by
The jealousy of a king
Who would destroy little children
To keep his throne.
The shadow of the cross falls
Across the lives of all those who
Follow this One who died so
Mankind might live, and showed that
To serve is to reign; loss is gain;
Weak lead the strong.
The star shines brightest in the
Darkest night, and the sweetest joy
And deepest sorrow both are
Known by those on whom the shadow
Of the cross falls.
Sr. Mary Catherine Kasuboski, T.O.R.
