8/11/19 Through 8/17/19

8/11/19 Through 8/17/19

Sunday

Waiting in confident hope

For the grace and the patience to cope.

I wait for a word, just a syllable heard

As the blind, in their darkness will grope.

Sometimes just a tiny tidbit

Is all of the message I git.

But a morsel today, and I'm sent on my way

With instructions to just follow it.

Monday

By whom should the tribute be paid?

The family or masses arrayed?

When Father and Son are essentially one,

The tax, by the bond, is outweighed.

So we don't, their senses offend

To the lake, with a hook, you I send.

Toss it in where you wish, and take out the first fish.

Find a coin there for Me and My friend.

Tuesday

The one returned from desert waste

Great mercy from our Lord will taste.

At one time He has rescued all,

And saved us from a dreadful fall.

But still it is a choice we make

Be humble, and His mercy take,

Or prideful letting mercy ride,

And our own way to tread decide.

Wednesday

With eyes undimmed, no vigor lost,

He saw the land, but never crossed.

He died without the land enjoyed

But was this, for him, grace employed?

He went to his eternal home

With their apostasies unknown.

His part fulfilled within the plan

The people led to Promised Land.

We too a part within His plan,

A job for us no other can.

But we must listen and obey,

If we are well, our part to play.

Thursday

Oh how feeble every word

Describing what the Virgin heard.

Every day herself she gave,

Her purity and man to save.

Unknowing of the plan of God

The way of trust and love, she trod

In those most tender youthful years

Her steadfast purity appears.

And when at last, the angel comes

A Virgin Mother, she becomes

A soul to magnify the Lord.

A heart for piercing by the sword.

Friday

What love has known such unity

Contained in Blessed Trinity?

The bond of man and wife must show

Reflections of this holy glow.

A giving all, with none held back.

A place of love where none shall lack.

A joining of the flesh as one,

Where victory over sin is won.

The marriage bond, by God designed

Where two, as one, are intertwined

And giving all, brings forth new life,

From total gift of man and wife.

Saturday

Let not the whisper change your mind.

Hold fast to where true love we find.

Turn not aside to right or left,

Be those of wickedness bereft.

Courageous, strong, and steadfast be

To all He brings to light to see.

In truth, He knows what's best for man.

If we would follow well His plan.

8/4/19 Through 8/10/19

8/4/19 Through 8/10/19

Sunday

No barn can hold the treasure true

Of knowing One who loves like You.

The daily toil for earthly gain

Is shown for all to be in vain.

No benefit to scrimp and save,

For none will pass beyond the grave.

The only wealth we take above 

Is that of our self-giving love.

So work, but trust all to His care

And patiently all trials bear.

Build abundant wealth of love

That lasts into the land above.

Monday

The belly screams to satisfy,

And Spirit whispers, "Mortify."

Two calls, one screams, so always heard.

Another whispers, "Seek My word."

One a temporary pleasure,

One a lasting, valued treasure.

One another link of chain,

One that brings us heaven's gain.

Feed both body and the soul,

For both are needed to be whole,

But listen 'till His voice is heard,

And follow well His sacred word.

Tuesday

Attentive to the candle be.

As it illumines darkness, see.

In patience wait with watchful eyes,

Till Morning Star at dawn will rise.

Oh Lord, these words can frighten me,

For often I have failed to see,

Then turned to dark, with light to back

And failed to keep my will on track.

I wait as watchmen for the dawn.

And though I fail, to light, am drawn.

I long to see Your shining face,

And feel Your welcoming embrace.

Wednesday

Grant me faith, oh Lord I cry.

Or in the desert I shall die

The barren waste is all I'll see

Instead of life eternally.

Let me recognize each day

How much You love, and how to pray.

Humbly let me come and plead,

Then follow anyplace You lead.

For I am weak, but Thou art strong.

Grant courage when I suffer long.

Keep me ever close to You

Forgetting never what You do.

Thursday

Rock shall yield a flowing water,

Doubt not works of loving Potter.

Leave behind on desert sand

Works that mind of man has planned.

Follow in the way divine,

But with the world intertwine.

A catalyst for change there be,

And lead the people close to Me.

Friday

Twas never known, a god like this.

Just pause a while and reminisce

Of how His love for man is shown,

And how He makes His presence known.

For love He freed from slavery,

For love He split the mighty sea.

For love He fed with daily bread,

For love, from rock, the water sped.

For love, in humble birth He came

To freedom from our sin proclaim.

For love He taught and showed the way

That men should give of self each day.

For love He preached and masses fed.

For love He healed and raised the dead.

For love, upon Him, sin was placed

For love, the ugly cross embraced.

For love, in glory, He arose

For love, each one of us, He chose.

For love, He bids you, "Follow Me."

For love, your cross will set you free.

Saturday

With bountiful sowing we bountifully reap,

So why should the blessings, we selfishly keep?

The Lord gives the grain both to feed and to grow,

So satisfy hunger, but bountifully sow.

By dying to self will the grain multiply

Abundance of fruit the good Lord will supply.

The giving away of what God has bestowed

Is how barns are made full, and the cup overflowed.

Sr. Mary Imelda

Sr. Mary Imelda

Sr. Mary Imelda graced the halls of the Little Sisters of the Poor home in Clifton for the past nine years.  She was the driving force, and incredible talent behind every bake sale and spaghetti dinner during that time.  She was also a very kind and welcoming soul for everyone that entered the home.

Unfortunately her time with the Cincinnati team has come to an end.  She was traded to the Mobile team for twenty-five rosaries and a future draft pick.  She will be sorely missed.

Sr. Mary Imelda

Imelda leaves our happy place

She blessed so long with cheer and grace.

Our eyes grow full as we recall

The many ways she blessed us all.

A carrot cake or key lime pie,

Her cookie tins, or salty rye.

And never have I come across

Such finely made spaghetti sauce.

But far more than her tasty treats

We’ll miss the cheerful smile that greets,

And heart of service always there

To help the needy anywhere.

Those favored years we had with you,

How quickly passing by they flew.

But blessings are for sharing, see…

So we must share with others, thee.

Although the distance far away,

Forever in our hearts you’ll stay.

And when we fondly think of you

We’ll say a prayer of thanks for you.

7/28/19 Through 8/3/19

7/28/19 Through 8/3/19

Sunday

Let us all more Christlike be

In patience and humility

In willingness to suffer long

To bring the wayward soul along.

Our Father, as Your children plead,

Reach out and meet their every need.

Help them grow to be like You 

In all they say, and all they do.

Monday

Martha's known for working hard,

And then, somehow, her record marred.

It's true, the better part that day

Was listen well, and drop the tray.

But working hard's important too,

And what is needed we must do.

We spread the word through prayer and work,

And neither we must ever shirk.

So don't impugn dear Martha's labor

She took too, some time to savor,

Jesus, One to be adored

For she declared Him Christ and Lord.

Tuesday

Let Your cloud on me descend

Rifts of sinfulness to mend.

Speak to me as One to man

guide me in Your holy plan.

Lead Your people through the heat

Guide them on to where they meet

Their Savior and their risen Lord,

And get their final due reward.

Wednesday

I want in me that holy glow

So those I see each day would know

That dwelling here beneath the skin

Is one who spends some time with Him.

And through it all such joy would shine

That shows I hold this pearl of mine

In such esteem that none could buy

This treasure that I hold so high.

Thursday

Your cloud and glory fill this place

And give to Moses, shining face.

Where man and beast would fear to tread

The glow of Moses' face is fed.

The fire that burns consuming not

Your holy place that hands have wrought,

Enlightens us to see the way

That You would have us walk each day.

Friday

Together go the feast and fast

The mending of what's new and past

A reconciling God to man

To live once more within His plan.

So easily we fall away

And follow then a selfish way

But fasting brings the focus back

To all the ways in which we lack.

Our sacrifices pave the way

They teach the soul to weep and pray.

Through discipline they train the beast

So we can join the Master's feast.

Saturday

Make this year a Jubilee.

Return the land, and captives free.

Offer worship everyday

And learn to love and rightly pray.

Prayer in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Prayer in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

A weak little kitten, this body of mine.

Now come to this place, just to waste here, some time.

In view of the body, in bread here adored,

Who gave of Himself, blood and water out poured.

Replete with the mercy that comes from above,

The Savior redeemed with His heart full of love.

So tired and wanting of none but to sleep,

In sorrow You ask, but one hour to keep.

So much that You give and so little You ask,

I pray for the strength to be up to the task.

My privilege is spending an hour with You,

For grace upon grace is granted anew.

So few will partake of this wondrous gift

Where freedom and truth, through my actions will sift.

Revealing my sins and the ways I have strayed,

Giving grace to repent, and for times I've obeyed.

Here heaven and earth occupy the same room,

With saints all around, who in trust, came to bloom.

So make of this weak and incompetent man,

A flower to bloom in the course of Your plan.

7/21/19 Through 7/27/19

7/21/19 Through 7/27/19

Sunday

The cherished guest a gift so fine

To welcome in this house of mine.

Be anxious not of how to serve

But offer love without reserve.

The truth of hospitality

Is not in dry formality,

But being present with your guest

And resting sure you've chosen best.

Monday 

(Feast of  Mary Magdalene)

Freed from demons, born anew,

Love has placed His call on You.

No fear could make you run away,

Your love for Christ prevailed that day.

Clutching to the bloody cross,

No words consoling such a loss.

The blood she tasted on that day,

A First Communion in the fray.

The serpent thought the vict'ry won,

When darkness overtook the sun.

But on the third day Love prevailed

As Gospel writers all detailed.

The risen One assumed the throne

As God above, and God Alone.

His blood and body strength to say

My freedom's not for sale today.

Tuesday

Waters stood apart for those

Who freedom, over slavery chose.

They crossed amid the waters high

While walking on a land that's dry.

Wednesday

A bounty there, but do you see,

The many ways I care for thee?

The grace I give in varied ways

To lead you through the desert maze.

Yet few will take the grace and try

The Manna fallen from the sky.

Instead they grumble and they groan

Preferring chains to mercy shown.

Trust and eat the humble bread

I give each day so you'll be fed.

The thorn and weed, to fire throw

And till the ground for seed to grow.

You've seen it happens many times,

The humble docile one who climbs

To height by many never known

To see the Lamb upon His throne.

My grace abounds, but you must choose

To follow Me, or life to lose.

A harvest rich will come to thee,

If you but trust, and follow Me.

Thursday

The greatest one will serve the least

To enter on the Master's feast.

Instead of being served, he'll serve

To reach the prize that God reserved.

The cross will be his closest friend.

His gracious love will never end.

He'll suffer for his enemy,

And pray that God will set him free.

He'll clear the stone and plow the path,

That none should suffer righteous wrath.

And though, in tears, he sows the word,

At harvest time, rejoicing's heard.

Friday

Another Sabbath come and gone,

And all, but to, the Lord are drawn.

The seed is quickly carried 'way,

By all the cares about that day.

Saturday

Wheat and weeds together grow,

But only wheat did Master sow.

Not wanting to uproot the wheat

They grow until the harvest meet.

Then on that day the two divide,

The humble wheat, and weeds of pride.

A fire awaits the wicked weeds,

But wheat to happiness proceeds.