Bishop Brian Cole reminds us that God comes to us in littleness with inspiration from Sr. Chrysostom Koppes’ poem A Christmas Song. Bishop Brian Cole and the diocesan staff wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and Happy Holiday celebrations.
A Christmas Song
by Sister Chrysostom Koppes, O.S.B.
O little stars, shine out, shine out
And little winds blow still,
And all you smallest angels rout
High seraphs from the hill
That looks upon a little town
And holds a secret sweet,
And little paths, run down, run down
To beckon little feet.
For littleness shall rule tonight
And little gentle hearts and true;
For littleness is full of might,
And God is little, too.
Transcript
Hi, I’m Bishop Brian. I want to share with you a poem which first appeared in the December 1939 issue of the Catholic publication Commonweal. The poem is entitled A Christmas Song, was written by Sister Chrysostom Koppes, who was a Benedictine sister.
[See poem above]
For littleness is full of might and God is little, too.
This poem was published in December 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, when strong men and authoritarian governments were on the rise, a sense that only that kind of exercise of power was true power. And yet a Catholic sister wrote a poem that celebrated God being little, too.
The Christmas season, every year that we approach it, is a time to remember that God was little too in entering in Bethlehem with the birth of Jesus. In the time of Jesus’ birth, Caesar was reigning, a sense that only might and authoritarian power was the only way to exercise power.
You and I, as believers, continue to celebrate the idea that in littleness we find might because God has been little and in that little fragile place, true power, true Christ-like power emerges. That is what you and I are called to continue to proclaim, to believe and to say that is true and to live as if it is true always and forever.
So we live in a time when other folks are offering other ways of exercising power. Authoritarian governments are on the rise across the globe, and yet we celebrate the Christ and we celebrate this poem where littleness is full of might and God is little, too. That is the story that you and I are called to proclaim.
It’s not a little story. It’s a grand story. It’s a true story where we find God’s light and God’s love and God’s grace and God’s mercy and God’s joy and God’s power, and the God who is willing to be little to be the Christ child who then holds all things together in and through his life. That is what you and I are called to celebrate this year as you welcome people into your churches as you gather for liturgy and proclamation.
As a next Christmas season emerges, it does so with a story that is eternal and ancient, and this is the story of God, God was little too. And because of that, you and I have a God that we can believe in.
Amen.