Jesus makes incarnate the heart of God, full of creative and merciful love that never stops calling us into the communions of family and church. We make a gift to you of the creative work of two of our sisters who taught and inspired us. Blessings on you and yours.
The Ox and the Donkey’s Carol
poem by Sister Alice Smith, CSJ ~art by Sister Madeline Schimanski, CSJ
The Christ child lay in the ox’s stall
The stars shone great
and the stars shone small,
but one bright star outshone them all.
The cattle stood in the cleanly straw,
and strange to them was the sight they saw.
The ox and donkey watched with awe.
The shepherds ran from the uplands wide,
the sheepbells tinkled, the angels cried
joy to the dreaming countryside.
The three kings bowed at the stable door,
their raiment trailed on the dusty floor.
They saw the sign they had journeyed for.
The kings came last in a lordly throng.
The shepherds ran in the space of a song,
But the beasts had been there all night long.
Noel Noel Noel
Keeping Faith Today 