Prayer

We remember today, O God, Herod's slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem. Receive into the arms of your mercy all victims of violence, by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants, and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Coventry Carol (Anon. 15th c. or 16th c.), sung by Anúna, arranged by Michael McGlynn, Saint Bartholomew's Church, Dublin December 2015.

Impulses of Deeper Birth
Felicity Currie

Where can the persecuted find a berth,
A stable land that can be called a home?
No company of shepherds or of cattle,
Just bombs and drones that give birth to death’s rattle.
Grave beckons whether you lie still or roam—
You might as well be born under the earth.
Whether we choose to celebrate or mourn
No meaning lives unless Life is reborn.

A Life that rescues the lost birth of good,
Gives truth and justice hope and strength to be
And recreates a world of could and would:
The will that conquers power and will bring
A birth that lasts and changes everything—
A birth not of the self, but empathy.
—December 2012