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Clawing back Christmas

St Joseph portrayed by Michael O Brien of/in Ontario Canada
Christmas is too cut and dried, it needs re thinking, re-experiencing. Here are three exasperated tries.

Joseph, you don't get nearly enough praise
Was it you who taught Jesus tolerance of sinners?
In one picture I have seen, you bring him flowers to play with.
Mary at times may have had the sense of God with her; did you?
The angel said to you, "If you look after Mary as your wife you will be doing what God wants", but that sense
Must often have deserted you and left you feeling like
A man cuckolded in advance
"Let the Father of the Baby
Gather cherries for thee!"
-----------------------------------

OK Mary you never asked to be called
Mother of God or even Virgin
Especially not Virgin!
You fell a victim to the wrong man and your
Father and brothers could not
For whatever reason get him to
Do the Right Thing
And Joseph came to believe
If he was to look after you it had to be by marriage
And the Baby
Deserved no less--
Unwilling duty-doing on all sides, and you the Culprit
(In many cultures, rape victims are ostracised.)
What space had you to rejoice?
So, Mary, not the saint, but
The one who doggedly cared for
The son who was welcome to no-one;
The one who half-believed
He had a special calling, the one who gave him
House room and temple room
The one who gave Joseph
Loyalty and thanks even when
He was so much too old.

by Jelena Jasovic, Serbia

---------------------------------------
Dear God the dangerous
God the omnipresent
God the source of light and energy
Who cannot make us fraternal because
We just won't listen!
So Mary is the saint of
The rape victim, female or male
The unmarried mother, the dogged carer, the person who
Believes in us when we don't believe in ourselves;
Joseph is the saint of the man who
Does his duty no matter what, even if
He does not always shut up about it
What about a saint for all of us who get bogged down in 
Pointless minutiae? but basically
The Muslims are right: only God is to be praised--
And our fabulous universe.

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