The Hands that First Held Mary’s Child

Every year I look forward to this fourth Sunday of Advent. The readings finally bring us closer to the mystery of God being born among us. Some years there are only one or two days of preparation for the Great Feast. Very rarely do we have the opportunity to enjoy the full week of expectation.

On Friday of Week Three we began reading the account of the birth of Jesus according to St. Luke. That day we heard of the plight of Zechariah and Elizabeth as the angel announced they would birth a child in their old age. Luke continues in the Saturday reading announcing that Mary of Nazareth will also conceive – a child who will be holy and called the Son of God. There is a hint her of the man Joseph to whom she was engaged. Now, here we come to the Fourth Sunday of Advent, with a return to the gospel of Matthew and who do we find – a sleeping Joseph! The angel appears and settles Joseph’s concern about publicly dismissing the pregnant Mary. Joseph awakes from his sleep and takes Mary as his wife.

There is such a burst of surprise, wonder and awe in these birthing announcements. Frequently my prayer focuses on the feelings Elizabeth and Mary experienced in facing these wondrous events. More recently my thoughts are turning to Zechariah and Joseph in the midst of their struggles to believe. I share with you a hymn I have grown to love. Perhaps it will also help you move into the human reality of this mystery. Thomas Troeger the hymn text writer muses on what Joseph as man, as father may have felt, feelings that well-up as he cradles the child, as he is overwhelmed by the dream memory, as he gently holds the tiny form in his palms.

The tune that is suggested for this hymn text is RESIGNATION. You can find that in most hymn books. In Catholic Book of Worship III it is number 538.

-Sister Loretta Manzara, CSJ

The Hands that First Held Mary’s Child

1. The hands that first held Mary’s child

Were hard from working wood,

From boards they sawed and planed and filed

And splinters they withstood.

This day they gripped no tool of steel,

They drove no iron nail,

But cradled from the head to heel

Our Lord, newborn and frail.

2. When Joseph marveled at the size

Of that small breathing frame,

And gazed upon those bright new eyes

And spoke the infant’s name,

The angel’s words he once had dreamed

Poured down from heaven’s height,

And like the host of stars that beamed

Blessed earth with welcome light.

3. “This child shall be Emmanuel,

Not God upon the throne,

But God with us, Emmanuel,

As close as blood and bone.”

The tiny form in Joseph’s palms

Confirmed what he had heard,

And from his heart rose hymns and psalms

For heaven’s human word.

4. The tools which Joseph laid aside

A mob would later lift

And use with anger, fear, and pride

To crucify God’s gift.

Let us, O Lord, not only hold

The Child who’s born today,

But charged with faith may we be bold

To follow in his way.

Reprinted under OneLicense #A-711091

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