3/10/19 Through 3/16/19

3/10/19 Through 3/16/19

Sunday

As I journey through this time,

And greater heights attempt to climb,

I need Your Spirit everyday

To guide me in the proper way.

Help me find a strength unknown,

And give myself to You alone.

That I may gladly choose to be

A son devoted unto Thee.

Monday

In nursing home or prison where

The least are oft abandoned there,

Give hope within these bleak confines

That somehow, here, His will entwines.

And comfort bring in simple bread,

The kind on which the martyrs fed.

That there within these lonely halls

They recognize His voice that calls.

Come join your suffering to Mine,

And to the Father's will incline.

Then know within these grim constraints,

He forms you into holy saints.

Tuesday

In praying do not babble so,

As if I were so blind.

Ask not, and yet I clearly know

Your need to be refined.

As no one better knows your need

Than maker of your kind,

For He with living bread will feed,

And give you peace of mind.

Wednesday

A fast will train the will of man

In ways no other method can.

It shows the weak how strong the will,

And shows the strong, much lacking still.

A fast can be sincerity,

Or cloak to hide dishonesty.

The fast to please our Blessed Lord

Is one where evil is abhorred.

Thursday

Ask and receive, seek and you find,

Hearing for ears and eyes for the blind.

Knock and find an open door,

An answered prayer, and so much more.

No snake for fish, or stone for bread.

But with the finest wheat are fed.

And children of a Father kind,

Will only good things ever find.

How often I have overlooked

The gift of which I oft partook.

The body of the King of Kings,

To me in daily Mass He brings.

Friday

Turn not away at any time.

Remember well these words of mine.

For love's an all-consuming thing

And not a single offering.

No haven for the taste of sin

No place for wickedness within

The place of rest I offer you,

So be forgiving, kind, and true.

Saturday

Oddly we should be His own,

And make the way of God well-known.

That friend and foe alike could see

His love irradiate from thee.

3/3/19 Through 3/9/19

3/3/19 Through 3/9/19

Sunday

For number one, it's self-control,

Or lack thereof, that plagues the soul.

The trifles that persuade the will

Give only but a moments thrill.

No leader be if they are blind.

If so, then none would ever find

The place of peace for which they vie

When plank and beam are in the eye.

Monday

Attachments, I have many Lord,

But none more great than You.

To lose, I think I can't afford,

But wish to make them few.

Let me not turn sad away

And cling to flow'rs that fade

But make my will to give away

And do as You have bade.

Tuesday

Quite generous in one respect,

But have I done what You expect?

Great blessings still abound for me

While others live in poverty.

I want dear Lord that final gift.

So if again, my soul You sift,

I trust You know, best what I need

To let my soul be fully freed.

Wednesday

Renew me Lord in greater ways

Than e're I've been before.

That all throughout these forty days

I wish to love You more.

But more than forty days I need

To change this life for me.

Athirst for You to then proceed

To be what I should be.

Thursday

The cross a mystifying sign.

A way repugnant oftentimes.

A way I shun in urgency,

Because beyond, I fail to see.

Each time rejected clear I see,

That pride is what took hold of me.

In shame and nakedness I flee,

From beauty that created me.

The loveliness my heart desires,

Comes from what the cross requires.

A soul obedient and true,

That learns to love the way You do.

Friday

A fast acceptable to Thee

I pray, at last, this Lent will be.

That I would take Temptation's hour,

And use it to display Your power.

That somehow in my everyday,

The fast would make me stop and pray,

Would call to mind my wretched state,

Then selfishness and greed abate.

Saturday
Weak and shameful, I have failed
Again to heed the grace
My strength it seems with age has paled
And left me in disgrace.

What love like His will once again
Forgive the weakly one?
If pride is shed with hubris then,
He welcomes back a son.

2/24/19 Through 3/2/19

2/24/19 Through 3/2/19

Sunday

How do I look at what happens today,

And not judge the people that make things this way?

The ones that would say it's a mother's free choice

To kill the poor baby that hasn't a voice.

This hideous crime our lawmakers ignore,

While new ways to kill, the "doctors" explore.

Our clergy may say that the killing is wrong,

Yet still they will let the killers belong.

Is this what it means to judge not or be judged?

I think that this scripture, is somewhat misjudged.

Those wicked who flaunt their evil with glee,

All claim a great vision, yet blinded they be.

How much is enough, and just when do we stand?

Is there any point where the wicked are banned?

Do nothing and watch how the evil will grow.

We must speak the Truth so the masses will know.

Monday

For wisdom here and now I ask,

For guidance in my every task.

To lead me in the ways of truth

To guide the old, and teach the youth.

Grant me Lord the faith I need,

That in Your work, I may proceed.

And use the gifts bestowed on me

To heal the sick, and captives free.

How proud the branch to bear the fruit,

But all must know without dispute,

The fruit I bear's not really mine.

All fruit comes from the living Vine.

Tuesday

Be prepared to stay the course

And waiver not, far from the source.

Wait with patience for the Lord,

And find at last, His love out-poured.

Cling to Him, forsake Him not,

And you will find all that you sought.

Your ways with wisdom will abound,

And in the end, His peace be found.

Be steadfast in whatever comes

Be not afraid of warring drums.

For in your patience, love enshrined,

And in the furnace, gold refined.

Wednesday

Wisdom found on sacred scrolls

Will cheer and brighten darkened souls.

She walks along with humble men,

And tries them, every now and then.

Those that cling and hold Her fast,

In trial then, their strength will last.

Then love and knowledge overflows,

In they that walk the way She goes.

Thursday

Oh how proud the heart becomes

When to his riches, one succumbs.

When on great strength, his heart relies,

And wickedness within belies.

Though mercy He desires to give

The ones who wantonly will live

Against His will defiantly

Will suffer for eternity.

No joy can come from anger's wrath

No haughty soul can find the path.

For hope of happiness evades,

And pleasure, like a vapor, fades.

Friday

A faithful friend, a sturdy rock,

Remains close-by when mishaps knock.

He shares the joys and sorrows too,

But never will abandon you.

The friends we know as man and wife

Remain as one throughout their life.

What God has joined, let none destroy.

That they would fruits of love enjoy.

Saturday

How much we receive, how little we give.

Ashamed we should be, of the way that we live.

With knowledge and power endowed by the King.

With eyes, and with ears, and with voice that can sing.

In wisdom He gives us the power to see.

But often we choose not, the way it should be.

In mercy He heals and invites to repent

In hope that our hearts, to love, may assent.

2/17/19 Through 2/23/19

2/17/19 Through 2/23/19

Sunday

Blessed is what all wish to be,

A fruitful and productive tree.

Not bothered by the scorching sun,

With roots that far, and deeply run.

Monday

With God in flesh we have the sign

No other will the teacher find.

For they refuse to heed the word

Of righteousness that they have heard.

Though sin be lurking at the door

To master it, if you implore,

He grants the grace for mortal man,

And shows the humble that they can.

Tuesday

The wickedness in hearts of men,

A leaven that polluted them.

Refusing to acknowledge God,

Or all His mighty works applaud.

Let wickedness be swept away

In torrent flood like Noah's day.

As waters cleanse and newness sprout

May this new man, be sin without.

Wednesday

What wickedness in Noah's day!

Was it much more than ours today?

Were babes within the womb destroyed,

And every deviance employed?

Were masses fed with blatant lies,

And truth deliberately disguised?

Our day deserves the flood and worse.

Instead of love, we choose a curse.

So many blind and few that sees

Much more than men as walking trees.

Healing's needed for the masses.

Fit them with Your loving glasses.

Thursday

Recall as numbers quickly mount,

For every life we must account.

The life of babes convenience priced,

As myriads are sacrificed.

Each one the image of our God,

Including those considered flawed.

A gift He gives which love supplies,

Yet love rejected fades and dies.

Friday

The keys He gives to humble ones

To shepherd all His faithful sons,

And guide the flock along the way

In hopes that none would ever stray.

But ere they fall as sinful men,

Forgiveness welcomes back again.

To heal the sick and strengthen faint,

And make the sinner now a saint.

Saturday

Faith and trust in what is said

By Him who made the sky,

Can heal the sick, or raise the dead,

And brighten up the eye.

By faith we see beyond the clouds 

To land of clearer light,

Above the din of skeptic crowds

To land where ne'er is night.

One shining and majestic where

The One they crucified,

Reigns beside the Father there,

Acclaimed and glorified.