Love Us Out Of Sin

by Fr. Gabriel L. Lamug-Nanawa

I.

Metal rusts, hard rocks crumble.
And innocent water droplets
Carve a painful intrusion.
Even tall Acacia trees die,
They dry up and crash down.

This world is full of holes,
Full of hurt and unbearable woes.
Sin feeds on every man, woman, and child.
Gnawing, munching, trying
Persistently till they end up dying.

The salesman Satan succeeds
In vending possessions, power, and pride.
He lures us slowly, yet constantly
Then grabs us by the throat
And lodges his filthy fingers firmly around our
hearts.

II.

Yet every year we are invited
During this season that we be reminded
That in the midst of all sin and suffering
There is a God who will not cease loving
Every man, woman, and child.

Within our pitiful lot love lives.
And neither the strongest pain,
Nor the darkest evil
Can smother the burning flame
Of God's irrepressible love.

For God's love is steadfast,
Steadfast unto death.
But not like a formidable wall,
Tall, thick, old, rough, moss-laden,
Stale, lifeless, and cobweb-covered.

III.

His is love which
Has every reason to stop but doesn't.
His is the love which makes
The falcon fly fearlessly
Against the strong surging wind.

It is the candle's flicker
Which pushes against the darkness
Which continually seeks to envelope it.
It is the God who chose to be
Born of a Virgin from Galilee.

You freely chose to come
Into our frail and fragile world;
In a cold, damp manger.
You embraced our hurting humanity,
And let us gaze at your Divinity.

This poem was written in 1996 by Fr. Gabby when he was still a Junior Scholastic. It won for him Second Prize at the Jesuit Christmas Literary Contest. Fr. Gabby is now missioned to Banteay Prieb in Cambodia together with Scholastic Regent, Nono Ordonez.