1/10/21 Through 1/16/21

 1/10/21 Through 1/16/21

Sunday

What more could He, in loving do,

Then send His only Son to you?

One humble, poor, and with disdain

For human pride or earthly gain.

He showed how many ways we could

Obey the Father as we should,

And love our brothers here below

To show, the Father's will, we know.

The wicked too, deserve our love

For that's a telltale signing of

What God has done for sinful man 

And how to live within His plan.

Monday

For generations long of old

In partial ways, the prophets told

Of how Messiah's reign would come,

But now, to us, speaks through His Son.

No more in veiled, fragmented ways,

But clearly in these latter days,

We've seen and heard from His own Son,

The meek, and humble, chosen One.

The Lord of all the universe

Direct to all, will now converse.

The One who on the cross that wins

Salvation from our many sins.

The One that feeds our hungry souls

His flesh and blood, now all controls.

For love has conquered over sin,

Let all creation worship Him.

Tuesday

They taught but lacked authority,

The teachers of that day.

For then the vast majority 

Would do not as they say.

But then He came in truth and love,

A harbinger of fame.

A man without the presence of

An evil to His name.

For none before ere spoke as He,

Our God, in flesh, concealed.

Obedient the spirits be

When Truth Itself revealed.

The demons too, have faith you see,

But any love, they lack.

In Jesus, truth and love are free

And nothing is held back.

Wednesday

A priest like us in every way

Except the stain of sin.

That He might be like those of clay

And their salvation win.

For us He freely bore the cross

To show His boundless love.

Of everything He suffered loss,

To bring us home above.

Thursday

If You wish, You can make me clean.

The power of Your word I've seen.

So harden not your hearts and see

The many gifts He has for thee.

Healing too, He wants to bring,

He wants to hear the lowly sing.

To bring them to a place where they

Will humble be, and daily pray.

The place of rest prepared for thee

Is only for the truly free

That leave behind the chains of sin

And find that they are welcomed in.

Friday

Twas sin that paralyzed the man,

But faith and trust in Jesus can

Restore the use of withered limbs

And give the soul rejoicing hymns.

No obstacle should be so great,

No time of life should be too late,

For one entrapped to be set free

By turning back, and unto Thee.

The wicked look at those as weak

Who simply true repentance seek.

Yet they're the ones who cannot move,

Locked firm within their sinful groove.

Saturday

How rude I've been for many years

Your words of love upon deaf ears

The Christmas season come and gone,

Unopened gifts left frowned upon.

A man like me He came to show

Repentance as the way to go,

But I just see where others fall

And fail to hear, for me, the call.

This year be different than the rest

No packages, unopened, left.

Each gift received, and acted on,

Then closer to my Savior drawn.

Then seeing clear, these faults of mine,

I beg your mercy to incline,

And snatch me from the prideful maze

To turn my heart to humble ways.

1/3/21 Through 1/9/21

 1/3/21 Through 1/9/21

Sunday

Lord, every nation shall adore

Both near and far, Your love implore.

Light has shone, the dark dispelling,

Poor and weak, the Good News telling.

Wicked seek to quell your rise,

Yet dawn has broken on the skies.

Men of wisdom from of old

Come with incense, myrrh, and gold.

Receive a gift from me this day

To follow in Your loving way.

To make as newborn babe anew

My love of brother and of You.

Monday

What pleases Him we do each day,

And so, He listens when we pray.

The world though will never hear,

And so refuses to draw near.

The Spirit that He gives to you 

Will guide you in the things you do.

But that which guides the other way

Is only flesh and worth no pay.

The world with its thin delights

So superficially excites, 

But never finds the peaceful core

And always has them grasping more.

Give of self and love the other.

Trust each one as precious brother.

Acknowledge Jesus as the Christ,

And find your deepest soul enticed.

For those that hear and then obey

He answers every time we pray.

But those refusing truth to hear

Are those of darkness, doom, and fear.

Tuesday

A hunger deep inside of me

A longing to be truly free

On earth, cannot be slaked by things,

But only what our Savior brings.

A love so pure and undefiled

That came to earth as little child,

That calmed the sea of Galilee,

And died upon that rugged tree.

The Bread of Heaven, true is He

His flesh and blood He offers me.

True food and drink to satisfy,

My heart and soul to occupy.

Wednesday

Depart, for I must go to pray.

He told the crowd that special day.

For after feeding them with bread,

Our Lord, to private prayer, was led.

To contemplate His role below

And clearly, Father's will to know.

For flesh could not such wonders do,

But in the Father's will could you.

He promised such, I heard Him say

That greater works we'd do someday.

By unity within His will

Our work be even greater still.

To calm the seas and raise the dead,

Or on one loaf, have all be fed.

For love transcends what flesh can do

And love, the Father has for you.

Thursday

Lord, help me look beyond today,

And hear the words Your scriptures say.

Help me to love those lost in sin,

And let Your reign on earth begin.

For only when I love like You,

 Will honesty and faith accrue

And sinners lost, will then be found,

With songs of praise the common sound.

Friday

The Spirit be our witness now

That God, as man, has come somehow.

Born of a virgin, humbly grown,

Most of His life remains unknown.

But that we plainly see today

Is that which shows His Godly way.

The love He shows for those in need,

The lepers cleansed, and captives freed.

For you, it's written that you know

Eternal life is what you owe

To Him who died for love of you,

And Him who makes the leper new.

Saturday

Eternal life is this I know

It came so many years ago

In flesh and blood upon the earth

A babe of holy Virgin birth.

This truth must grow within the soul

To make the saint and sinner whole.

The Groom will come to meet His bride

And in their love be unified.

True, He is great, and we are small

Yet if we answer well His call

Begotten, each of us shall be,

For life with Him eternally.

12/27/20 Through 1/2/21

 12/27/20 Through 1/2/21

Sunday

She pondered on the things she heard

And sifted well each sacred word

She learned to recognize His voice

That guided her in every choice.

And Joseph too, alert was he,

Attentive to each word from Thee.

These two examples show us well

How we, as parents could excel.

By taking time each day to hear

Where God is calling, "Come more near."

And acting on His loving call

Until we find we've given all.

Monday

Still to this day, has evil gripped

The minds of sinful men,

And little ones, so ill-equipped

Here suffer once again.

Torn away from mother's womb,

A lie that rules the day.

The force of evil, dark, and doom,

Has gotten now its way.

At least it seems as though it's so,

For slaughtered every day,

Are thousands more, of which we know

Who never get to play.

Will ever be a day that comes,

When men will see beyond,

The temporal world that often numbs,

To life within that's dawned?

Tuesday

The Cross is what it means to love,

That gift of self from God above.

This love we're called to imitate

And so, with Him, participate.

His mother pierced by seven swords

By her example, leads us towards

The union we are called to know

With Love's example here below.

To love our brother means the night

Has passed away, and all is light.

For love illumines how we see

Each soul a precious gift from Thee.

Wednesday

The world with its enticements

So soon will pass away.

No more, with its excitements,

The weakest ones to sway.

For soon the world of darkness,

No longer will it hide,

Its treasure trove of emptiness,

Of wickedness, and pride.

But prayer and fasting fill the good

Who wait in patient hope,

With wisdom, that alone has stood

When others cannot cope.

Whose eyes beyond the child see

A promise now fulfilled.

A Savior of the world is He,

Whose kingdom now we build.

Detaching from the lower things,

To reach for those above.

To welcome now the King of kings,

Whose way is simple love.

Thursday

Not because you're ignorant,

But just because you're not.

No one should be indifferent

To what, in faith, you've got.

For God has given all to you.

No more a man could ask.

The question now is what you do,

And will you meet the task?

For Light has come where darkness reigned.

No more the eyes be dim.

A life for you, His death has gained,

So set your eyes on Him.

Friday

Rejoicing that the shepherds heard,

Reflecting on their every word,

In cold and humble stable there

Where warmth and love had come to bear.

With mercy blest by God our Lord,

The way of love, to man, restored.

A Savior in the manger lay,

A brightness for the coming day.

No longer slaves, adopted sons.

Heirs as now God's chosen ones.

The captive now has found release

For here has come, the Prince of Peace.

Saturday

A voice cries in wilderness,

"Prepare Messiah's way."

For soon will be made manifest

The errors of our day.

Repent of all your wickedness,

Be fervent, just, and true.

So many sins we must confess,

And give our God His due.

No matter what the tally be,

We cannot, wrong make right.

We must look to our God and see,

The truth in clearest light.

The Cross, that brutal sign of shame.

Conviction of our wrong.

The only source from which to gain

The lyrics of our song.

So make of me a melody,

A catchy little tune,

To help the poor and blind to see,

Our God is coming soon.

12/20/20 Through 12/26/20

 12/20/20 Through 12/26/20

Sunday

His way so far above our own,

He uses man to make it known.

The weak and frail, the humble poor,

The ones you'd think would fail for sure.

But victor is the shepherd boy,

And virgin would the snake destroy.

We too could win in every way,

If we just listen and obey.

Monday

A love the mind cannot conceive

Is given those who will receive

His word and treasure deeply there

This love that's far beyond compare.

Patience we must have to see

The glory of the Trinity

And those in faithful service learn

That giving all will give return.

Tuesday

Lord, I offer here this day

All that I have in every way.

Take what You will, but leave me this,

Your love alone, do not dismiss.

For all I have has come from You

And all I have is but Your due.

For You have given all to me,

And all I have is naught but Thee.

May this soul exalt Your name

Be ever here and ever same

The always loving, always good,

Who gave Himself upon the wood.

Wednesday

Just how does the prophet see?

What gift from above has he?

Even when in the womb, the gift comes to bloom,

And heralds One coming to thee.

Would that I be such as he,

So attentive, and clearly to see

In the course of each day, how He shows me the way,

And act on the gifts given me.

Each man is unique, that is clear.

And all have been called to draw near.

In their various ways, a symphony plays

When allowing the leader to steer.

So worry not what you should do

Just be ready in any way to

Play your note there in time, and don't worry of rhyme,

The Conductor knows far more than you.

Thursday

A house of proper form and place

Exceeds what simple minds embrace

For how could He who made the skies

Be held in such a dim disguise?

Instead, a house He builds for thee

That down along your family tree

Shall come the morning dawn of grace

When God Himself inhabits space.

Far greater than a house of gold

That man can actually behold

The God of all in time and space

Who makes our hearts His dwelling place.

But in the town called "House of Bread"

Laid in a trough where cattle fed

There lies the Bread of Life Divine

That comes to feed this heart of mine.

Lord grant my house would ever be

A house of love to welcome Thee

That down through ages yet to pass

A house of gold, my house surpass.

Friday

A Savior still, we need this day

So many here have lost their way. 

They cling to sin, although it's fake

And wrong to right, they try to make.

They look upon a manger scene

Yet fail to its importance glean

That God Himself, as babe was born

Of spotless Virgin on this morn.

Break through this year, the bonds of sin.

Let men now welcome Jesus in

That those we see but twice a year

Be closer drawn, and to Thee near.

Friday Evening Adoration

A little bit of bread we see

But far more is that bit for me.

A path of holiness to tread

When feasting on that sacred Bread.

Each morn I rise to take it in

To wash away my venial sin

That I might start the day anew

And see it from the Father's view.

Saturday

He that endures will be saved,

With blood, the martyr's way paved.

St. Stephen the proto, showed how we should all go.

In peace and love, he behaved.

May our lives be models of his

Giving answers whenever they quiz.

Showing love as we go, so the pagan will know,

Our God is this Jesus who lives.