Antiphon
O Rex Gentium

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
(cf Isaiah 28.16; Ephesians 2.14)

Readings

Isaiah 7.10-16 | Psalm 80.1-7, 17-19 |
Romans 1.1-17 | Matthew 1.18-25 |

Joseph
from Four Nativity Poems,
by Anthony Wilson

They say there are signs.
Not with her.

I'm no professor
but neither am I stupid.

I asked her who she'd been seeing.
She sat there murmuring 'Angel'.

She went north a few days
—change'll do you good.

The solicitors said to forget it.
'Without proof …' they smiled.

If anything she started to brighten:
'They'll be cousins, same age!'

(I can't be sure,
but I think I saw him, too.)

We left it too late, of course.
The traffic was solid,

some pop idol on the hire car radio
massacring 'Hallelujah'.

We stopped at a Little Chef
on a B-road somewhere in the hills.

Crystal midnight it was,
good as daylight.

Then she grew wild-eyed.
Her bawling, a blunt saw,

cut through me.
It wasn't like in the songs.

Dom Ruberval Monteiro da Silva, OSB. Silence of St Joseph

Prayer

As we wait for the coming of Jesus Christ,
kindle your light in our hearts
to keep us watchful and hopeful,
to open our lives to Christ's coming in many ways through all our days
—even in the least expected ways,
to witness to Christ's ministry and love to our neighbours,
to work together for peace and reconciliation with our neighbours,
to pray for our concerns in this congregation and in our lives.
In the name of Christ.

Claude Balbastre (1724–99). Joseph est Bien Marié [Joseph has Married Well]. Grand Organ of Saint-Roch Church, Paris, played by Arnaud Bahuaud.