The Cradle and the Cross

A Christmas Reflection

He was born in a Cradle

And died on a Cross.

 He had the animals for company at birth,

and two thieves on either side when he died.

 The shepherds came to meet him when he was born,

Three women stood beneath the cross when he died.  

 

Soon after he was born, he had to flee to Egypt.

To be put to death, he was led outside the gates of Jerusalem.

 The shepherds were the first to hear the angels sing,

The fishermen were the first to listen to the  Good News.

 His birth, his life, his preaching, his death had but one message,

The message of the Cradle and the Cross.

 “ You are the salt of the earth” he taught.

Salt has to go into the boiling water and loose its colour and shape,

then only,  it has meaning, then only it can bring taste.

 “ You are the light of the world” he said.

A light, the moment it is lit, begins to die.

Only by giving, only by dying, it can bring light and life.

 

“ I am the bread of life”  he said.

Wheat has to be ground, powdered and  baked in the hot oven to make bread.

And bread has to be crushed, broken and eaten in order to bring life.

 

“Unless a seed falls and dies it remains a single seed”

A seed has to go under the mud and loose its shape and figure and die

then only new life can spring, one to many, death to life.

  “ He took bread, said a blessing, broke it, and gave it”

With these words and actions on the night before he died,

He summarized all he taught and lived.

He was chosen by the Father, Consecrated , sent into the world

To be broken in a Cradle and a Cross and given for the life of the world.

 He was born onto a Cross.

His birth, his life, his teaching, his death has but one theme

The theme of the Cradle and the Cross. 

-           Fr. T.V.George sdb, Christmas 2023