Submitted by Fr. Dennis Beason - St. Mary’s Catholic Church
To better understand this ditty, some background:
Catholics celebrate Christmas, preparing four weeks before during Advent through the 12th day of Christmas, Jan. 6, the Feast of Epiphany and carry the crib figures in at Christmas Mass.
With Vigil at four and Midnight at nine
Our Christmas Mass moves even the time
For we believe our God has come
Can we conceive what he has done
The Bells ring out, O Come let us adore
Lift high the shepherd, the sheep and more
The angel, the cow and Joseph and Mary
Down the aisle 'neath wreath so merry
Beneath this wreath, before this altar
O Come let us adore from near and far
We come, we sing, we pray, we kneel
The Babies cry, Gods touch we feel
Lift high the angel, shepherd and cow
With Mary and Joseph our heads we bow
Our God has come, comfort and challenge
The message of peace to every land
To the altar, to the crib, the Babe lift high
Say not "No room" or the child will cry
Say not "Close the door, I'm safe"
But Welcome, Welcome migrant and waif
The coal miners came from lands afar
Say not "I'm safe lower the bar"
Say not "I'm up, pull up the ladder"
It's not my fault if something's the matter
It's Christmas time, no time to be sad
Joyful, Joyful too bad, you're bad
O Come all ye faithful, be true to me
What does the babe ask me to be?
He cries. Is he hungry or cold? He cries.
He wants to be held, alone he lies
Both Mary and Joseph are fast asleep
From birthing and searching, both totally beat
The child cries and no one hears
No one hears unless I hear
Do you hear unless I hear
Listen, Listen and do not fear.
The child cries in many ways
Right here, right now, night and day
Listen, Listen, close not your heart
Look and see even in the dark
Why does he cry? Are we not here?
Well yes, at crib with donkey and deer
The peaceable kingdom, the sheep and the wolf
The Babe and the tiger and angels on the roof
The Tiger. Tiger. Is that the reason
Don't talk about Tiger during this season
The babes cry out, and we should shout
Not blame, but show what we're about
Slippery roads replace two and five
As winter worries that mess our lives
The crops are in, now time to think
No job for one in six about to sink
One in seven has mortgage so bad
May lose the home, O my how sad
One in eight fears flu or hurt
And O, how some just love the dirt
How awful! Did you hear what I heard?
The Babe cries out at another jerk
That loves to blame and share the perk
Of gossip shared and squawking birds
The Babe cries out, why aren't you here?
There's room to spare, no need to fear
This special day, that mitten tree,
At times we give, our love is free
The Babe cries out every day, every night
Come to me, come back together
Don't moan and groan about the weather
The Babe cries out, Come don't miss the flight
The way to heaven is a narrow road
Of daily tasks and sharing the load
Of making room is busy times
The Babe cries out with broken chimes
I hope they ring, we need to fix
The question is, how much we stick
Into our church to make it nice
To patch it up, or pay the price
With lack of priests and prayers so old
The young don't come, why be so bold?
Our numbers are down of those who come
What should we do? MAKE ALL WELCOME
True growth is slow and calls for faith
To hear the call from hectic haste
From years gone by, how this was made
With wood and glass and brick so laid
To make our home both warm and proud
For God and us to hold a crowd
To have a place to greet and visit
The home for family to ask, how is it?
I care for you and so does the Babe
Let's go inside and see where he's laid
As child in the crib and son in the arms
Of mom by the cross let's give a darn
Before we spend three gifts so generous
We need to think, what is within us
Do we hear the cry, just by and by
Tune out the cry that's a daily sigh
The Babe cries out in many ways
The old coal miners bring back the days
Of little churches in every town
But now the coal stays in the ground
This church will stay and gather in
From far away in car, our kin
They'll come and pray if we are here
To pray and share the lasting cheer
The Babe cries out. Are we not here?
Sometimes. Sometimes we're here and hear
Sometimes we're gone when he cries out loud
We're busy like many, we're often unbowed
The Babe cries out in our own home
From spouse and brother come muffled moan
The Babe cries out from ancient fights
The babe cries out from dark for light
For those we miss make Christmas Blue
The pain remains, the tears are true
My Comfort of Faith, reach out and hold
Beyond the gate of darkness and cold
We like the feel of the crib tonight
We like the comfort, but fear the fight
Off challenge to hear the constant cry
The Babe calls out, do we reply?
