7/14/19 Through 7/20/19

7/14/19 Through 7/20/19

Sunday

In simple bread and wine I see

The God whose love created me.

Not far away or out of reach,

But One who stands amid the breech.

The One who in our human flesh

Became a man, to man refresh.

To show our God's not far away,

But right beside amid the fray.

His striking ordinariness

Devoid of any comeliness

Makes many think it can't be true,

That God would be like me and you.

Yet true it is. He came to earth

By purest ever virgin birth,

And fast among the others grew,

As One that love and kindness knew.

Then all throughout His humble days

He spread the word in many ways,

And showed God's will within our spread

As long ago the prophet said.

And finally on the cross He proved 

The love of Him who's never moved.

And rising from the dead we see

What God has planned for you and me.

Monday

Pick up your cross and follow Me.

The road to life is on the tree

The gift of all we have to give

Is what it takes to truly live.

Tuesday

Moses, from the water drawn,

Thus begins the Hebrew dawn.

Here a washing clean prefigured.

Making new of that disfigured.

In a way that none suspected,

Slavery and sin corrected.

Making new of one to lead them

After God, in power, freed them.

Wednesday

Experience the bush aflame,

And go from there, to God acclaim.

To meet the pharaoh's of the land,

And give to them the Lord's command.

My people now, must all be free

To worship and to follow Me.

Fear not you are but simple man,

You are the chosen for His plan.

Thursday

An easy yoke and burden light,

A humble way to highest height.

A way apart from lust and greed,

A way for every slave that's freed.

He whom in, all being lies,

The only love that satisfies.

I AM WHO AM, the name sublime.

A height that only meek can climb.

A One so far, yet close to me,

Who placed His all upon a tree,

To set the captive children free,

And end their lives of slavery.

Friday

Excited, anxious, fidgety,

At thoughts of ending slavery.

What lies beyond in promised land

Yet makes of us a new demand.

A discipline required there,

To find true freedom, if we dare.

To make of self, a daily gift,

And tides of sinfulness to shift.

The leader makes himself the lamb.

No greater one than great I AM.

Who humbly in a manger came,

Who healed the many sick and lame.

And when the time had come to pass,

He gave the sacred Holy Mass.

A making present every time

Of freedom true, and love sublime.

Saturday

In haste they left the land of sin

To with the Lord, new life begin.

Slavery gone and freedom won,

Much different now the life begun.

He beckons all to leave that land,

And live the way the Father planned.

His mercy always ready there

To welcome one from sin's despair.

A reed that's bruised, He will not break.

The smold'ring wick, will not forsake.

In patience Love awaits our turn,

To save the ones with will to learn.

7/7/19 Through 7/13/19

7/7/19 Through 7/13/19

Sunday

If I had but one more day,

This verse is some of what I'd say.

Our God is love and mercy too

Who gave Himself, and died for you.

He wills that all be satisfied

And all as one, be unified.

But we must learn to love His way

And sacrifice ourselves each day.

For love entails the gift of self

With nothing left upon the shelf.

A placing of the other first

To satisfy our deepest thirst.

The world and flesh will shun this way,

But that's not what our Lord would say.  

In giving all you come to Me, 

and then true love begin to see.

Monday

A doer not a hearer be,

And blest will be the works of thee.

For those who see, yet turn away

Will never heal their wounds this way.

The blind that see, or dead once raised

Should always shout, "His name be praised"!

For loving, He has always been,

To even those once steeped in sin.

But if we hear and ne'er obey,

We'll never find that narrow way.

His whisper we must recognize

And follow it to change our lives.

Tuesday

How rich the harvest in the glade,

But oh so few to wield the blade.

So ask the Master to supply

The workers now to swing the scythe.

For those by grace, who hear the call

To answer well and never stall,

Will join the Master's harvest crew,

And serve with love in all they do.

Wednesday

In spite of famine, save me Lord.

Grant me the bread I can't afford.

May Your kingdom come in me, 

That free at last my soul will be.

My soul athirst for what You bring,

The wine of giving everything.

My belly yearns for what you said

Was truly flesh in form of bread.

The famine I most dread to see

Is that of straying far from Thee.

Let me bow before Your throne,

Proclaiming You as God alone.

Thursday

Just persevere and stay the course,

Let Me be your guiding force.

I take the ways of sinful man,

And weave them in a greater plan.

For none can know the mind of God,

But when they see My works are awed.

When time is right and seeds are sown,

The lies of man will be made known.

O'er all the years, in every age,

The good and sinful earned their wage.

And all the righteous clearly saw,

Those earthly things, as none but straw.

So don't grow weary, listen well,

And let My word within you swell.

How I will lead, you may not know,

But I will lead, to make you grow.

And when, at last, in Promised land

You'll understand what I had planned.

And when the trial's understood,

You'll see I worked them all for good.

Friday

Amidst the wolves, a gentle sheep,

A simple dove to sow and reap.

Yet one unshakable and shrewd

To bear the truth among this brood.

Be not concerned for what to say

The Spirit guides upon that day.

And though your troubles may increase,

Throughout them all, I'll grant you peace.

Saturday

So many chances lost my Lord, 

To suffer well in aiming toward

The goal of being more like You

By doing things that You would do.

A host of chances come each day,

But many missed along the way.

If we would follow Your decrees,

Such good would come from all of these.

6/30/19 Through 7/6/19

6/30/19 Through 7/6/19

Sunday

No looking back from whence we came

Returning to that life of shame,

For freedom's found in letting go

Of all the things that bind us so.

The selfish ways of greed and lust,

The earthly feed of moth and rust.

The gluttony that makes us swell,

The envy that our hearts know well.

A turning once away from these,

And never looking back foresees

True freedom in the One we serve,

And love to all without reserve.

Monday

How patiently He waits for those

Who far away have gone.

Not wanting to forever close,

And have the curtain drawn.

But we can choose anew each day

For good or evil bound,

And when arrives that final day,

Forever fate is found.

So live each day as if the last,

His mercy thus proclaim.

The prior sins or works amassed

Can bring us good or shame.

But if we turn about at last,

The prior's washed away.

What matters when our time has passed,

Is how we face that day.

Tuesday

What man rebukes the wind and sea?

Who saves, and then says, "Follow ME"?

Who is this wind and sea obey,

But He who formed us from the clay?

The One who gives us Bread of Life.

The One who made, for man, a wife.

He's there with us amid the waves.

If we but ask, our Jesus saves.

Wednesday

In stubbornness and unbelief

The troubled mind finds no relief.

While others see the beauty 'round,

For them no sign of love is found.

The whisper in the garden heard,

And now the truth is dimmed and blurred.

The liar's word is never true,

For Christ has given all to you.

Just look upon the cross and see

His love is like the boundless sea.

His all was given just for you,

That you might see and know, it's true.

Must you probe his hands and side?

It's true that on the cross He died.

It's true He rose to life again,

And true that life will never end.

So now is time to make the choice

And listen to your Savior's voice.

Persist not in your unbelief,

Or never find your sought relief.

Thursday

Abraham with fire and knife,

His son about to lose his life.

They travel up the stony hill

To carry out the Father's will.

Such trust in God unknown to me,

To trust when ere I cannot see.

When Love is blindly leading me

Unto a place of poverty.

But if I trust, I come to know

The narrow path where I must go.

The essence of my life distilled,

And there at last, His word fulfilled.

Friday

No turning back from whence I came.

No turning toward that land of shame.

But standing firm upon the course,

Rejecting every evil force.

Saturday

Make of me a wine skin new,

That I may hold the wine from You.

A shrunken cloth that I may bear

the stress of life and never tear.

Deceit be ever far from me,

And far from those upon my tree.

Convenient as the lie may be

It fouls the fruit upon the tree.

6/23/19 Through 6/29/19

6/23/19 Through 6/29/19

Sunday

Corpus Christi, Bread of Life

Grace and glory ever rife.

Feed and satisfy the masses 

With what food the sense surpasses.

Only faith can truly see.

Bread of Heaven sent to feed us

Strengthen, cleanse, and purify thus.

Make of many one in union,

Loved and graced by this Communion,

Evermore to be with Thee.

Blood that flows from truest Vine

Given in the form of wine.

Sacred flesh by which we're fed

Appears as but a bit of bread.

Faithful see beyond the sign.

Oh, how grand, what glory given

To the One in splendor driven

All who on the body dined

Blessed beyond the mortal mind

Hearts in one accord with Thine.

Monday

Each one a prophet, priest, and king

Anointed to a message bring

Of mercy from our sovereign Lord

When in repentance, water's poured.

A purpose in the Maker's plan

For every day within our span.

Lord, let me hear and understand,

Then act in kind, with what you've planned.

Tuesday

This rocky path and narrow road

Requires shedding heavy load

The weight of riches, greed, and sin

Will not, through ages, fit within.

The Shepherd's will that sheep be clean

Is seen by some as harsh and mean,

But only when the filth is gone

Could we be happy moving on.

So help me find that narrow way

And shed the things that make me stray.

Grant me grace to persevere

As to the end I'm drawing near.

Wednesday

To bear much fruit this long pursuit

Is trusting every day. 

Humility and frailty 

We find along the way.

Yet in our thirst, the rock will burst

Gush forth a cooling stream

The Word He gave has come to save

Fulfilling every dream.

Thursday

Authority is in His word,

Unlike the other voices heard.

He recognizes humble hearts

And thus the grace of love imparts.

The ones who do far more than say

He leads upon the narrow way

For they have built on solid land

And done the work the Master planned.

Friday

Repentant sinners show the way

To joy in that eternal day.

For shouts of joy resound within

If only one, returns from sin.

When pride conceals our wretched state

No righteous deeds can compensate.

For only mercy washes clean

And makes our sinfulness unseen.

The love from in His Sacred Heart

Depicted in our sacred art

Is just a shadow of the glow

Of mercy that I've come to know.

For when I see my countless sins

A horror in my heart begins

But then His mercy covers me,

And boundless love is all I see.

Saturday

The prize is worth the varied pains

And even prison bound in chains,

For this is how He spreads the word

Till every soul on earth has heard.

Through acts of love that signify

The truth to which we testify.

So great this love we've come to know

But we must give, to watch it grow.

6/16/19 Through 6/22/19

6/16/19 Through 6/22/19

Sunday

Far beyond the thoughts of man

The One who made the greatest plan

Who sends His Spirit from above

And gives the creature chance for love.

A Triune God not understood,

But recognized as wholly good.

A union of the persons three

That makes the Blessed Trinity.

Monday

To live undaunted by the mire

Oh Lord, I try, and thus aspire

To suffer well unjust attack

Without the thought of striking back.

To mirror You in all I do

In hardship and affliction too.

In truthful speech where lies abound,

In purity where filth is found.

Tuesday

In every way love reigns supreme,

Despite what circumstances seem.

With love employed the fences fall,

And hardened hearts can hear the call.

Wednesday

A sparing seed, a sparing fruit

A just reward for lazy brute.

The bounty comes where bounty's sown,

For love is found where love is known.

Thursday

In patience and humility

I wait on You, as You on me.

I work to listen and draw near

As in Your thirst, You wish I'd hear.

The noise of everyday can drown

The quiet place where love is found

And as the serpent tempted Eve

I too am easily deceived.

Yet all I truly want is You 

And though I fall, You still renew.

How great the God who loves this way.

So much that words can scarcely say.

Friday

Stores of wealth cannot supply

Nor any bulk of riches buy

The treasure offered to the poor

Who place themselves in God secure.

For if the heart, with God aligns

The poor and humble spirit finds

No moth nor rust destroy the glow

Of precious peace they've come to know.

Saturday

Now the time that weakness reigns

When vigor fails and body pains.

The time to find His pow'r anew,

And let His Spirit rest on you.

For in our weakness He is strong.

He lifts the ones who suffer long.

And robes the grass with flowers fine

And lifts the weary soul of thine.