Sunday, October 30, 2016

10/23/16 Through 10/29/16

10/23/16 Through 10/29/16

Sunday
Lord all I have has come from Thee
Yet I exalt as if from me
Every good and holy thing
Is but a gift that You did bring

Why should I boast of what is Yours
My foolish pride Your heart abhors
The prayer that's uttered full of pride
A foolish bluster cast aside

Yet sitting there among the crowds
A humble prayer that pierces clouds
My eyes I cannot raise to see
Oh Lord be merciful to me

Monday
How has Satan bent us low
For oh, these many years
May we rejoice to finally know
An end to all our fears

The weight of sin will pull us down
To walk with crippled gait
The touch of Christ will lift the frown
And help us stand up straight.

Tuesday
A shortage of vocations found
Within the church today
It seems that many men have frowned
Upon the holy way

The priesthood was the first to go
But marriage followed too
When contraception came in vogue
Adultery followed soon

Divorce a commonplace event
Within the church today
For laity have also frowned 
Upon the holy way

There is a purpose to the time
We spend upon this earth
It's more than just a social climb
To gather all we're worth

A husband's called to give his life
In answer to the call
And sacrifice to love his wife
That they may never fall

And women also answer to 
The call of Christ the King
When they a life of love imbue
And fond submission bring

Vocation comes from hearing well 
The gentle loving call
And answering, we then excel
By giving Him our all,

Wednesday
My every breath another gift
Your word oh Lord I search and sift
The narrow gate a scary thought 
When listening to all You taught

Have I trimmed down throughout these years
Or is this all just thin veneers
The saints have shown the simple way
But I care not the price to pay

I know some last will then be first
I know, for love, I truly thirst
But know myself and dread the thought
To hear You say, "I know you not"

Thursday
No reason now to be cast down
Though weakness and our sin abound
He gave us armor, sword, and shield
Against the darkness here to wield

Be fully dressed, prepared each day
To face perverted, evil ways
In present darkness still aware
The sharpest sword is still a prayer

Friday
Simon and Jude are not mentioned that much
But called as Apostles and martyred as such
Faithfully spreading the word in their time
Laid the foundation upon which we climb

Will we stand firm and build higher yet
So those who come after may still higher get?
Our job, like Apostles named Simon and Jude
Is to lead all the hungry to this holy food.

Saturday
Why jockey for position
To find the highest place
When our most true ambition
Should be to find His grace?

Sunday, October 23, 2016

10/16/16 Through 10/22/16

10/16/16 Through 10/22/16

Sunday
In pride we're blind, but Love can see
The weakness of humanity
No battle won by strength or might
But through the cross we win the fight

When Moses stood as on the cross
Then Israel would have no loss
But when his arms grew tired and weak
The force of evil then would peak

We cannot tire of doing right
If we expect to win this fight
The cross becomes for those who see
A trusty sword,. . . humility

Monday
Created for the works of good
Each christian soul most rightly should
Be sharing how the Lord has blessed
And bringing Christ to all the rest

Why store the grain and waste the chance
For gospel teaching to advance
By freely sharing Christ convey
For grain unused will rot away

Tuesday
Let all Thy works give thanks oh Lord
Let faithful ones receive reward
For making known the holy way
Their steadfast love You will repay.

Wednesday
Just look around and you can see
How much the Lord entrusts to thee
Then working hard on His return
Much more is given you will learn

But if you waste your time below
What pain and darkness you will know
For with the blessings come demands
The worthless steward never stands

Thursday
Kindle fire within our souls
Bright with many glowing coals
Radiating so intense
It warms whoever travels hence

Fire that chases dross away
Fire that purifies our way
Exquisite flame for cutting through
The bars that separate from You

For blessed the land that calls You Lord
Without all wickedness explored
Whose freedom used for common good
Discover true nirvana would

Friday
We see that day leads on to night
We see that anger picks a fight
We see that water flows downhill
We see destruction from self-will

And yet we mask our emptiness
With pleasures planned to ease the stress
Just killing time so we don't see
Before us lies eternity

The more we turn away from Him
And try to satisfy each whim
The more we self-absorb and splurge
We find amusements more a scourge

Great sadness comes from revelry
And seeking pleasures just for me
But joy in frank humility
And peace through light and purity

Friday PM
Take me through the fire of love
And purge my sinful soul thereof
Attachment to my base desires
By cleansing me in holy fires

Saturday
Each member gifted in some way
To bring the harvest in each day
Each tree appointed to bear fruit
Or else the master will uproot

Though branches sway with foliage fine
We hear the Master there opine
I've fertilized this all around
But find no fruit, so cut it down

Oh Lord you threaten not the weak
But the gifted, strong, and sleek
Each one produce as granted them
Or find themselves at last condemned

Sunday, October 16, 2016

10/9/16 Through 10/15/16

10/9/16 Through 10/15/16

Sunday
What leprosy infects the soul
And keeps us from becoming whole
A different kind of leprosy
That just infects the way we see

We judge ourselves entitled to
The many gifts received from you
When we should have a grateful heart
And learn to thankfulness impart

Monday
The Queen of Sheba recognized
The wisdom that the king provides
And Ninevites repented when
The prophet Jonah preached to them

But in our day they look for signs
And observation quickly finds
That most prefer the yoke of sin
To tempering the beast within

Tuesday
Outside are signs of that within
The anger, lust, and greed of sin
By water cleansed becomes the skin
Repentance cleanses that within

Wednesday
So difficult to walk the walk
Much easier to talk the talk
Unfortunate we often choose
The easy way, then find we lose

We see the splinter in the eye
And to remove it we must try
Expecting them to freely thank
The one whose eye contains a plank

We love to take the highest place
Then look on others with disgrace
To hear a greeting loud proclaimed
And be a man of honor named

The lawyer and the Pharisee
Exposed to light we clearly see
Are not what others tend to be
But really names for you and me.

Thursday
Don't flatter Me with empty word
Don't let such hollow praise be heard
But let me see the things you do
And thus receive My praise from you

Each one created for the Lord
And for each one, are blessings stored
Become what you were meant to be
And find the peace you're meant to see

Friday
No secrets in the world above
No lies within the world of love
All there before us plain as day
The light of Truth, or darkness' way

Fear not to let the truth be known
Fear not your sinfulness to own
The One who feeds the sparrow well 
Can save you from the fire of Hell.

Saturday
Come to Me wherever you are
A soul quite near, or one quite far
I made you for this love of Mine
A love, in things, you cannot find

In beauty of the world you see 
A dim reflection there of Me
A spousal oneness, closer still
But not quite yet My holy will

The only love to mend thy soul
To fill you up and make you whole
Is love in answer to the call
Of One who sacrifices all..


Sunday, October 9, 2016

10/2/16 through 10/8/16

10/2/16 through 10/8/16

Sunday
Destruction and brutality
Have hastened and surrounded me
My voice it seems to go unheard
The lines of right and wrong are blurred

Now write it down in words of stone
The righteous ones are not alone
And faith the size of mustard seed
Can make this nation cleansed and freed.

Monday
Observe the poor along the road
And meet with mercy freely showed
See within the poor and weak
Christ the King, of whom we seek.

Tuesday
Work to find a humble way
To sit with Him and learn to pray
To rest a while, there at His feet
And there His loving eyes to meet

Wednesday
Father, Maker, the great I AM
You sent Your Son as our Paschal Lamb
Thy will be done on earth today
And grant the bread we need this day.

Forgiving others let us win
Forgiveness now for all our sin
Guide me in the way of right
And make me strong in evil's fight.

Thursday
Deceit no place within His house
But truth and love His chosen spouse
There is no place for men of lies
They cannot stand before His eyes

This day I choose to guard my tongue
This day I work to teach the young
The way of love I know is best
The way to find eternal rest

To put away my foolish pride
And walk along the Savior's side
Trusting Him for all I need
And following His faithful lead

Friday
There is a way of good and right
I'm bound to let you know
That leads from darkness into light
And teaches how to grow

It's not enough to clear the weed
And fallow lie the ground
But plant a new and different seed
That happiness be found

Sow the Word, and let it grow
And flourish in the soil
Then harvest much and you will know
Reward for all your toil.

Saturday
A ready heart He found in her
Whom anything would not prefer
To knowing Him yet deeper still
And following His holy will

She found in Him a resting place
And now we call her Full of Grace
How blessed the one who bore the Son
The Virgin Highly Favored One

In every moment treasure found
With every look and every sound
The Son of God upon her breast
The Virgin Mother highly blessed



Sunday, October 2, 2016

9/25/16 Through 10/1/16

9/25/16 Through 10/1/16

Sunday
Everywhere the poor are found
The wooden bell of life will sound
How is it needs that loud implore
We find so easy to ignore?

A judgment made as we pass by
And turn our gaze up to the sky
Attempting not to meet the eyes
For fear of lifting their disguise.

Monday
This day befalls a tragedy
For many in the land
But end it not, with blasphemy
For something from His hand.

Accept it all with grace this day
Forever not the same
Then let the rabble hear you say
Blessed be His name

Tuesday
Let my prayer come before you
Bend Thine ear and hear my plea
Surfeited with suffering
And longing to be free.

Wednesday
What hardened heart has ever known
Success apart from Him
For dissipation's always shown
Alas, another whim.

The kingdom calls for all we own
Hold nothing back at all
Good fortune found in Him alone
In answer to His call

Thursday
Oh, Michael archangel, defender of right
With sword all ablaze, you defended the light
Unwavering, steadfast, and true in the fight
Till all of the darkness was cast in the night

Raphael guide of the lost and confused
The guts of a fish were the things that you used
To drive away demons that killed in the night
Restoring great wealth, and above all, clear sight.

Gabriel, messenger, bearer of news
Sent to the virgin, our Savior did choose
Announcing the time of fulfillment arrived
No longer the world, of the Light is deprived

Friday
Probing the depths of the sea and the sky
Only can prompt, in my soul, to ask why
The God of the morning, and Lord of the night
Would offer His creatures a future so bright.

Saturday
The strangest thing, I now observe
In people, here, that live
The more they freely learn to serve,
The more they freely give.

The more the greedy grab to hoard
And gather up each day
The more they lose of what's been stored
And more that slips away.