AT NAZARETH

AT NAZARETH

Those were simple, sunlit days at Nazareth

when happy voices floated on the air,

when in and out the cottage and the workshop

children followed Jesus everywhere.

His mother, Mary, watched them all benignly,

noting with tender eyes each childish need.

On one she smiled; to one she whispered softly;

to this one's bruise, to that one's tears, gave heed.

And then an avalanche of doughty warriors:

they stormed the carpenter with mock alarms,

and seized their prey, his curly wooden shavings,

and forced his willing hands to mend their arms.

O Jesus, lead us too. Your other children,

to Mary's loving care and Joseph's skill.

They'll bind our wounds and mend our broken weapons

so we can battle on, brave-hearted still.

Sister M Josephine OSU

Life of Mary - Poetry. Marian Library Collection

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'Broken weapons' and 'battle on' refer to spiritual warfare

'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places'. Ephesians 6:12

From 'A Silence full of bells'