4/9/23 Through 4/15/23

 4/9/23 Through 4/15/23

Sunday

From the grave, a flower risen

From the barren tree, a bud

Shoot released from earth's dark prison

Watered by the Precious Blood

Dark the winter, Bright the springtime

Color shows in place of grey

From the dead and brown the green climb

Signaling a brand new day

Christ is risen, winter's broken

Sin no longer rules the day

Clear, the Father now has spoken

Christ the Truth, the Life, the Way.

Monday

Overjoyed, Once Slain has risen

Found no longer with the dead

Those in bondage, freed from prison

As the Savior clearly said

Now we see, the veil is lifted

That which prophets said for years

On the cross, the grain was sifted

Life eternal conquers fears

Tuesday

We have a solemn duty

To let the others know

The peace, and joy, and beauty

Of Him to whom we go

For un-deserved, he found us 

And set us free from sin

To gather those around us

That we might bring them in

So we must be attentive

To how He moves within

And offer those incentive

Who now are steeped in sin

Watch Him work a miracle

In those we overlook

See it as quite lyrical

Once we were overtook

Wednesday

Like a fire brightly burning

Kindled to a roaring flame

Every word our hearts discerning

There, His precious Holy Name

Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior

He who suffered, rose again

Every word of His we savor

He who died for sinful men

Run and tell the non-believer

Let the skeptic surely know

Be a daily bread receiver

See the love then daily grow

Thursday

Silver and gold have I much

But none that I have give I thee

For never the cripple I touch

In case he defileth me

But ye are the cripple indeed

Who hear not the poor as they plead

Refusing the good, as no Christian should

By failing to help those in need

So, turn and be mindful from now

And learn from the Master just how

To love every day, those we meet on the way

And generous giving allow.

Friday

The one whose head was on His breast

Is one who knew Him quite the best

Who listened where His heart would go

And followed well the path he'd show

We too must recognize His voice

And there confirm our every choice

For if we hear and then obey

The more we'll hear Him every day

A voice so gentle, always there

But one of which so few aware

For that we hear too well within

Is that which leads us into sin

And yet we know He's always there

When times are good, or in despair

Gently showing us the way

If we would listen and obey

If we, like John, would learn to lean

Upon His Sacred Heart to glean

His will in every choice we make

For sure a straighter path we'd take.

Saturday

Do I, in Thee, believe at last?

Is all my sin now in the past?

The Lord has risen, it is true

A wretched soul is made anew.

The Purpose of Lent

 The Purpose of Lent

The promise of Easter, the purpose of Lent

To straighten the crooked and strengthen the bent

For fasting and prayer, and almsgiving too

Surely will straighten while strengthening you

Don't lose in a moment, what weeks took to learn

Or little will be of the blessing you earn

Make a change for the better, abandon old ways,

Be disciplined now for the rest of your days

The joy of the feast is in keeping the fast

The days of the lazy are now in the past

For men should be strong and accustomed to pain

In order for more of His grace to obtain

The Easter we look for is yet far ahead

And now is a Lent, until we are dead

So feast when permitted, but fast when the norm,

As a house upon rock, you will weather the storm.

4/2/23 Through 4/8/23

 4/2/23 Through 4/8/23

Sunday

The veil is torn for all to see 

In truth, the Son of God was He.

The quaking earth and darkened sky

Both to this fact do testify

Her child once within the womb

Now placed within a lonely tomb

His every step along the way

Designed to meet this final day

The day His heart be opened wide

And recognized, The Crucified

As Son of God who came to serve

And grant what none on earth deserve.

An entry way in purest love

To meet the Father far above,

To walk again in cool of eve

And comfort once again receive.

Monday

Anointed with the costly nard

An opulence without regard

For cost or waste, for none could weigh

The value of the Master's stay.

What suffering could man endure

To life eternally ensure

What ere the cost, a pittance seems

To find, at last, fulfilled your dreams.

Just knowing Him is not replete

We must be One to be complete,

And One requires giving ALL 

To answer well the Master's call.

So break the alabaster jar

That none remains to keep afar

For ALL must be the gift we give

United with our Lord to live.

Tuesday

Denial is a horrid thing

When done by one we know

Still more, betrayal offering

A sorrow long ago.

For both display the weakness of

The mortal flesh we own

And show us how rejecting love

We Truest Love, disown.

But every sin He nailed upon

The cross that blessed day

Expecting of the coming dawn

When God would have His way.

Repentance and forgiveness then

for humble and for meek

If mercy sought to heal them when

It's Love they truly seek.

Wednesday

Surely I would not betray

I'd like to think would be the way,

But when the suffering begins

I see the weakness of my sins.

How little I may undergo

And so, I fail to ever know

How grace provides for all I need

If just His gentle call I heed.

Forgive, oh Lord, my many wrongs

For far away my soul belongs,

But in Your mercy wash away

The sin that makes my soul decay.

Thursday

On the night before He died

The bread and wine He sanctified

As blood and body thus outpoured

And Christ Himself to be adored.

On this night, a new beginning

Spotless Lamb whose blood is winning

Passage safe to liberation

Forming as a holy nation.

One where greatest serves the least

One where hungry shares the feast

One where wealthy serve the poor

One where love will reign for sure.

Friday

On this day the words are failing

Looking on The Crucified

Sin no longer shadows veiling

Love Itself has been denied

Loving stunned, amazed, and silent

Evil, smug and satisfied.

Tortured in a way so violent

One for all has bled and died

Laid to rest, our future wary

Gone, Messiah we had known

All our thoughts are bleak and scary

All our hope is overthrown

Saturday

This Sabbath day, a solemn one

Our hopes have been destroyed

For gone is now th Holy One

Our world, of God devoid

Today, we know what follows soon

The coming of the dawn

But then, this day would just inpugn

The hope they'd counted on

So, enter into what they saw,

The questions that arose

His death created shock and awe

In even those He chose.

Not ere before was ever seen

A death as His alone

With love the dominating scene

So Christ was clearly known.

But now He lay within the tomb

A body crucified

A day of dark and hopeless doom,

Our Savior now has died.

3/26/23 Through 4/1/23

 3/26/23 Through 4/1/23

Life He gives to mortal bodies

Buried in the hills and wadies

All who in the Spirit dwell

Of such a miracle will tell

He will settle in the land

And as the boundaries expand

A peace and calm as none before

Will be forever at the door

Monday

Impossible the situation

Here a selfish wicked nation

Rife with lust, deceit, and anger

Steeped in sin we sit and languor

Where's our Daniel when we need one?

Truth, by lies, is overrun

Just refuse participation

Possibly, you'll change a nation

Each a part to play in changing

Such a nation rearranging

Taking focus off of you

And turning back to what is true

Tuesday

A god we make of stupid things

And then our worship sadly brings

The chains of slavery as before

And not the love we're looking for

It seems too high a price to pay

And all that work gets in the way

Of pleasure now which rules the day

But yields a higher price to pay

For all of history reveals

The emptiness of sin's appeals

And how was won the special prize

By those with only humble eyes

So, strip me Lord of that within

That yields to emptiness and sin

Then fill me with a life of grace

And bring me to Your dwelling place

Wednesday

My God, You are but God alone

None other fashioned from the stone

And none shall have my sacred bow

But only One and only Thou

A fourth seen strolling in the fire

Kindled there for ill desire

Untouched by flame or smell of smoke

For He the God of which they spoke

No god of pride or selfish lust

Deserving of our faithful trust

But God alone who made us all 

Is He alone before we fall.

Thursday

One's wholly in or wholly out,

No middle ground there be.

His work should show without a doubt

That truly, it is He.

But willful blindness blocks the view

When pride gets in the way

Take care that blinded not are you

And never go astray

For evidence is clear as day

Since Resurrection Morn

Just let the doubt be washed away

And Christ in thee be born.

Friday

For what good works you want Me dead?

Not for the works, but what You said.

You claim to be the Father's Son

You claim that You and He are One.

Such nonsense we cannot believe

What mind such tales could ere conceive?

A mind that's One with Him in love,

A Son that came from Him above.

The works I do are ample signs

I'm here to do what He designs

If trust my words you cannot do,

At least believe the works I do.

I slip away from you this time,

But knowing soon, the hill will climb

To Calvary, My greatest sign

That I am truly, Love Divine.

When resurrected, clear will be

My words are true, and meant for thee

But if you willfully refuse,

You get eternity you choose.

Saturday

Oh, how true and aptly spoken

One should die to save a nation

Slaughtered, but no bone is broken

Sacrificed for all creation

Such is how He draws together

All the nations of the earth

Love becomes the strongest tether

None we have of greater worth

3/19/23 Through 3/25/23

 3/19/23 Through 3/25/23

Sunday

Lord give the light that I may see

Things not as man, but as they be.

To look beyond the surface shell

And see the heart of truth as well

Then let me share the truth I see

That others too, not blinded be

So all may bask in endless light

No longer haunted by the night

Monday

Joseph as my good example

Man of justice, strong and true

Pray for grace that's good and ample

That in love, I model you.

Joseph, gentle, just, and true

Be my counselor and guide

Make me just and gentle too

Make me one devoid of pride.

Tuesday

Not healed for hell, but here on earth

To pass along to all new birth

The years of waiting now have past

The Savior's come for man at last.

In bondage all these many years

With waning hope and many tears

Anew, this life has come to thee

Now pass it on so others see.

Wednesday

The judgment comes for all someday

A terrible and fright'ning day

When all we've done is clearly seen

And clear we see that none are clean.

The cry for mercy, loud is heard

By love or dread, the cries be spurred

Those repentant drawing near,

But those intransigent, in fear.

That day we see His Majesty

His mercy as an endless sea

And what is gained in life above

Or what is lost, rejecting love.

Thursday

So slow to learn, so fast to fall

And yet You always gently call

Extending mercy when I fail 

To evermore Your love unveil.

This mortal flesh must turn to You

To seek what's beautiful and true.

To find what's good and always fair

Within Your loving gentle care.

Friday

This man of God we'll crucify

And see if then He still will try

To show us wrong in what we do

Or try to make our faith anew.

For we are those that search the word

And follow laws that Moses heard.

We love the law, and not the man

So be to Him, we cruel can.

If He is truly from above

Then God will show His faithful love

And rescue Him from all His foes

To save Him from the evil woes.

But erred were they in how He works

For everywhere that evil lurks

God has a way to get His will

And all His wiser plans fulfill.

Saturday

The Word made flesh that special day

Salvation won this special way

Immortal taking mortal on

To fix the way that man had gone.

Now heaven speaks to earth again

The Lord once more will walk with men

And clear the path o'ergrown by sin

To welcome souls repentant in

A single word she spoke in love

Rejoining man to God above

Creation so to realign

The mortal married to Divine

Fan the Flame

 Fan the Flame

Five things you need for flames to roar

To feel the heat as once before

To loose the Spirit deep within

And conquer over death and sin.

Repent and live a life anew

Put sin afar away from you.

Turn and see the light of love

And set your mind on things above.

Believe that God is calling you

He has a task for you to do.

It's you alone that holds the key

To set a soul that's captive free.

So Ask and see His grace abound

Within the life that you have found

And offer that you humbly serve

With nothing held as in reserve.

Then answer well what He makes known

As fertile ground for seed that's sown.

For if His word is not Obeyed

For naught are all the words you prayed.

Be Thirsty for the souls of men

As Jesus on the Cross back then

Whose thirst was quenched with bitter wine

And so, in sacrifice, be thine.