Daily Signet

O Beloved Spirit,
I seem so far away from the star, 
so far after its light that I may
never be virginal enough to be born.
I seem so far away from the star, O God,
So far below its light that I may
never reach the death I need to die.
I seem so far away from the star, O God,
and I can’t even tell if it’s so far behind
or so far ahead. How can I find the Babe?
I don’t seem close enough to the earth
to hear it from the angels,
nor do I seem close enough to the heavens 
to map it in the skies.
Yet, from my youth the tides of my heart 
have been pulled by its light.

And so I look in places 
where one would not expect: 
as in a manger for a King
or in a stable for a God
or in the day-to-day for a Birth.
Renew my hope, guide my search,
teach me to trust the star’s pull.
In your image.  Amen.                 

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Remembrance of the El Salvador martyrs: in 1980, Maura Clarke and Ita Ford (Maryknoll nuns), Dorothy Kazel (Ursuline nun) and Jean Donovan (lay Catholic missionary) were raped and murdered by the security forces of the El Salvador government for their resistance to the regime and their aid to the oppressed people