11/17/24 Through 11/23/24

 11/17/24 Through 11/23/24

Sunday

We all await the days to come

But horror and disgrace for some

No game is this for temporal gain

But fear of everlasting pain

The goodness we reject below

Eternally in death will show

And unrepented sin shall be

Disgrace for all eternity.

But those who call for mercy now

And turn from sin through grace somehow

Will shine like stars arrayed in gold

When welcomed into Heaven's fold.

So, wait no longer, risk no more

True wealth awaits in Heaven's store

Let fall away polluted dross

For Earthly gain is Heaven's loss.

Monday

If only I could see dear Lord

And be with You in one accord

Aligned within Your holy will

My joy and love, my perfect fill.

My ways have proven wrong, perverse,

My will of selfishness much worse

Your eyes of perfect love I need

To form my will and soul to feed.

I need Your light to show the way

To be my guide throughout the day

For on my own, I tumble down

But with Your light, I find a crown

Tuesday

Our blindness to our blindness shows

When wealth and self-assurance grows,

When we forget that all we own

Has come from God and God alone.

When faith becomes a tepid pool

The soul becomes a fetid fool

The hot nor cold are good for naught

When all they have no gold has bought.

Yet some are wise enough to see

They need a boost and climb a tree

Then from the greater height they learn

To Christ alone we all must turn.

And when He comes with man to dine

They see His plan for wealth Divine

To scatter seed and leaven dough

That love of God all men would know.

Wednesday

See Heaven's door is open wide

And beckoning, come up inside

Come hear the trumpet blast declare

What day and night is constant fare.

That Holy!  Holy!  Holy, Lord!

His praise forevermore outpoured

His glory far exceeding all

While creatures all before Him fall

There's One alone so worthy now

Yet in His presence, man somehow

Before Him on the throne is found

With grace and mercy, love unbound.

Thursday

Oh, purest Mother undefiled

Come rescue now your little child

Lead all to follow well the Lamb

And come to know the Great I AM.

Not one but you can make the claim

Of pure and undefiled fame

Be model, help, and constant guide

And lead us to the Savior's side.

Your yes we see at every turn

Form you the humble servants learn

That every breath is praise because

In every way you heed His laws.

Oh Seat of Wisdom, Virgin Blest

Lead weary souls to peace and rest

Queen of Heaven, Mystical Rose

Lead me to choose the way you chose.

Friday

How sweet in the mouth, but sour it turns

When weight of the word the prophet then learns

The sweetness of justice and truth is assured

But sour the weight of the torture endured.

The wicked not easily give up their ways

They cling to the honor and power that pays

The prophet will suffer when truth he proclaims

But better on Earth than eternal in flames.

Delight of the soul is a word from the Lord

So precious that silver and gold is ignored

The decree of my Counselor's faithful and true

Refreshing a desert, like morning with dew.

Awaiting each word and His every command

The Gospel is spread by His people as planned

In spite of the burden that comes with the word

Its sweetness exceeds persecution it stirred.

Saturday

The witness suffers here below

But oh, what comfort he will know

At resurrection from the dead

When every evil crime is shed.

Like sparks amid the stubble dry

They kindle flames that rising high

Remove the dross to show the gold

And Christ as King we all behold.

A witness all are called to be

Both strong and fit, or weak like me

The Lord provides the grace we need

To speak the truth and plant a seed.

11/10/24 Through 11/16/24

 11/10/24 Through 11/16/24

Sunday

Till all is gone He calls for more

No need for faith with much in store

The empty are the ones He fills

The anxious heart with love He stills.

But less than all, He cares for naught

We need the faith the widow's got

To trust He will provide our need

When daily on His bread we feed.

Monday

Don't lead the little ones astray

Don't cause their sin along the way

But teach them virtue here below

That Christ forever they would know.

These tender hearts are yours to mold

To make them members of the fold

Give them the tools to choose what's right

To navigate through dark of night.

Like you and I, they're free to choose

But from their elders take their cues.

Our actions more than what we say

Will lead to dark or light of day.

Don't be a one to cause them sin

But let the sacrifice begin

The more in love we give they see

The way each man was meant to be.

Tuesday

All men should be temperate, under control

Sound in their faith with endurance the goal.

Their duties in mind without care for acclaim

Resolute in their kindness, no evil to blame.

The women so reverent, moderate, trained

Not slanderous gossips by calumny stained.

Teaching the younger the skills of their trade

Good wives and good mothers, their disciplines made.

None boastful of doing their duties at all

Just faithful to answering daily His call

As servants just faithful to duties we own

Unworthy of all of the kindness He's shown.

Wednesday

Salvation is a wondered grace

A fine and dainty work of lace

A work of art that's woven by

The Master knowing all on high.

He interweaves our varied lives

To show that only love survives

And all that here we think we own

Is nothing more than that on loan.

Thursday

So, what if any is our own?

The all we have through love was shown

We have no claim on any here

Our only claim is One so dear.

So dear to give a beating heart.

So dear to every grace impart

One lighting every darkened way

With lightning flashes bright as day.

Not slaves, but freedmen faring well

With life anew of which to tell

Once worthless, now of value high

That lo the Kingdom's drawing nigh.

Friday

One rule alone that Jesus gave

One rule to every sinner save

No list of pious corporal deeds

One rule our Lord and Master heeds.

To love in all we do and say

Is following the Master's way

That final day He wants us one

As Father, Spirit, and the Son.

No looking back to days of old

When selfishness and greed took hold

But eyes we've trained to look ahead

To resurrection from the dead.

The time for preparation's now

The hand that's placed upon the plow

Must not look back and mourn the loss

Ahead is gold, behind is dross.

Saturday

(Can be sung to the tune of "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus")

Lord, I dare not seek Your justice

Let me only mercy plead

Mine are many sins amongst us

Sins of thought and word and deed.

Justice is a condemnation

Many failures on the way

Spare this soul and spare the nation

Mercy grant us on that day.

Justice good, but mercy greater

Much more needed here below

If my wishes You would cater

Mercy only I would know.

11/3/24 Through 11/9/24

 11/3/24 Through 11/9/24

Sunday

In summary, it's just these two

They make sufficient guide for you 

They show that love's the master key

Unlocking life for you and me.

Love God and neighbor every day

And you will find the narrow way

These two commandments capture all

No evil there could then befall.

So simple yet so hard to do

But these create a life anew

For this, the heart is yearning now

Oh help me learn to love somehow.

Monday

Let not the ego reign so high

You fail to see the passers-by

The poor and weak, the blind and lame,

The lowly ones for whom He came.

Tuesday

Rejecting not the Master's call

We so avoid a fatal fall

He offers man the way of love

That leads to peace and joy above.

Yet often man can't see that far,

He's blinded by a sinful scar

A scar that keeps his eyes on Earth

Instead of seeking second birth.

We must remove the scales and see

The glory He has waiting thee

If we but trust and then obey

Each word of love we hear Him say.

Wednesday

Anything that's less than all

Is turning from the sacred call

For anything but all our best

Means failure on the final test.

His grace will flow to willing hearts

Without His will no gift imparts

But docile souls conform and see

The many gifts He has for thee.

The feast awaits a ready soul,

A goodly measure packed and full

While unprepared lie cold and damp

Like virgins with an empty lamp.

Thursday

All that I've had and all that I own

Can never compare to the One that I've known

The mercy He's shown to a sinner so great

The rescue He made from a terrible fate.

I pray that someday I'd atone for it all

But I know in my heart that again I will fall

So great is my Savior, His mercy remains

All possessions are loss, but His mercy my gains

Friday

This body one day will conform to Your love

In the land of the living that lies far above

No longer the stomach be lord of this place

Then Love be the Master who's filling with grace.

No longer the hoarding or grasping for more

But giving of love from the limitless store

Stand firm in the way of the Lord every day

His word be your guide what to do and to say.

Saturday

The unity that Christ demands

Far more than what man understands

One faith He calls for all to be

Not fractured by disunity.

One stream that from His temple flows

And life on desert land bestows.

One faith that men should all confess

One Church to feed and heal and bless.

Oh Lord, how far that man has strayed

Because Your word was not obeyed

Now help us turn in love to see

How much we need Your unity.

One Lord, One God, One Father known

One faith for all to call their own

Then fruit abundantly would grow

And better witness we would show.

10/27/24 Through 11/2/24

 10/27/24 Through 11/2/24

Sunday

So, do we really want to see,

Or is our blindness found to be

Convenient reason for our sin

And that which keeps us far from Him?

Blindness of spirit is common today

The blind are the ones refusing to say

They know what is right and will choose what is true,

Their blindness is chosen to mask what they do.

But blind as we are, one day we will see

Quite clear what the cause of our blindedness be.

When choosing the darkness the light is obscured

But turning to light our blindness is cured.

Monday

An Apostolic faith we claim

Twelve ordinary men who came

To follow Christ and spread His word

Till every soul on Earth has heard.

These men of low and humble state

When Spirit-filled become ones great

Who offered as their Savior did

And never from His light they hid.

They spread His message far and wide

And for their faith in Jesus died

Not one when faced with death would sway

And that's the Catholic faith today.

Tuesday

Husbands love your wives and find

A mystery of the highest kind

That when the two in flesh are one

They then in truth reflect the Son

Who gave His all to save His Bride

Rejecting every hint of pride

In humble service scourged and crowned

True Love upon the Cross was found.

And there upon the Cross must be

The man to love his wife and see

By showing love, submission gained

And every blessing so obtained.

Wednesday

Submission to authority

Is how we learn the best to see

It's how we come to understand

And how we live as God has planned.

Some choose their way apart from Him

To follow on their every whim

They call themselves "good people" though

They have no clue which way to go.

They give appearance of the good

But follow not the way they should

They work for glory of their own

Instead of praising Christ alone

And such as these in final days

When all they have is selfish praise

Will find the narrow gate is closed

To whom the Father's will opposed.

So, turn to Him as Mary did

In love to all the angel bid

His will exceeds in every case

The empty show the others chase.

Thursday

Oh Jesus keep me standing firm

Your ways of love and kindness learn

Unmoved by evil's constant blows

With faith Your mighty shield that shows.

With truth the guard to save my soul

And playing well my given role

By doing all You ask of me

To so Your strength and glory see

In readiness to move the way

Your voice would lead me come what may

With lips confessing You as Lord

Your Spirit as my trusted sword.

Friday

On our journey to the Father

May we with the scripture bother.

His sacred word our guiding light

Our pathway through the dark of night

So far beyond the mind of man

Lies that within the Father's plan

There where every wrong is righted

Every act of love requited.

Saturday

Chastised a little and greatly blest

Afflicted on Earth now passes the test

Proved in the furnace as gold in the fire

Melting away every base desire.

Now comes the time for their shining as light

As sparks in the stubble in darkness of night

Those who have trusted will Truth understand

In the presence of God as the Father has planned.

With Him as their Shepherd and nothing in want

They walk past the wicked who threaten and taunt

No fear shall accost all the days of their lives

In the land where all goodness and holiness thrives.

Christ comes for the sinners to heal and to save

His life for the sinner, on Calvary gave.

He said He would rise, and it's so that He did

No longer the way to the Garden is hid.

In giving of self we obtain what is all

He's lifted the curse we obtained at the Fall

Resurrection no less for the faithful He gives

For Goodness thought dead, forever now lives.

10/20/24 Through 10/26/24

 10/20/24 Through 10/26/24

Sunday

Once again we hear the call

The call to give a total ALL

Not one of convenience meant just for show

But one of commitment to prove what we know

No less than ALL we have we need

For All is needed to succeed

The Cross He accepted for love of us ALL

He saw beyond death to the fix of the Fall

No good is what we have below

At death, to all, we must let go

Possessions are useless, they rust and decay

Unless used in service of showing The Way.

Monday

How dead we were yet brought to life

When sin and wickedness were rife

By flesh controlled, a child of wrath

Traveling down the "easy" path.

But He who's rich in mercy cared

And so, the way of life He shared

That we might live a life made new,

With truth and good, what we pursue.

No longer swayed by earthly wealth

In love and mercy's perfect health

As poor in spirit, so we move

But wealthy ones, at last, we prove.

Tuesday

Good servants be ready and waiting you see

For Christ comes when none are expecting to be

Those called to eternity, ready or not

Working hard for the Kingdom, or lazily caught.

What shame for the lazy, cast out in the dark,

Their chance lies behind, and the future is stark.

Their labor is shown by the fruit they produce

With no possible alibi, case, or excuse.

But good He will bring to the Heavenly feast

All those faithful and true, the great and the least.

He'll wait on the faithful in raiment of light

No longer be death or the dark of the night.

Wednesday

All that God gives us comes from His love

Each trial in patience, a gift from above.

No malady, sickness, darkness, or pain

Is allowed to befall us except for our gain.

If we see with the eyes of our Lord we will find

How many the ways that our hearts have been blind

How small is our faith and how little we've seen

When the truth is how great His loving has been.

In our duties to Him, it's quite often we stray

We think it's but little we fail to obey.

But then when we see what He asks and we do

In shame then He shows us, how little are you.

When He is the Master and we are the slave

We see all the riches, in love, that He gave.

We see all He wants is for naught but our good

So, all in that vein, be accepting we should.

Recognizing as gift every trial we face

We see that it's truly His love we embrace

Care giver or taker, for both we can be

Each trial is love, and it's clear now I see 

Thursday

What man on Earth could ever see

The height and length and breadth of Thee?

For You who have no end might say,

"What you can see should light your way."

You call us simply to obey

To follow on the lighted way

It's faith and trust You wish to see

For light is that which makes us free.

The light and dark this world share.

In shades of gray, most unaware

That clear division comes at last

With sinful into darkness cast.

Friday

Determined  in His holy will,

In unity of life, we fill

Our days with purity and light,

With wisdom for the holy fight.

So, persevere in unity

Be gentle with humility

With patient love your bond of peace

Will strengthen so to never cease.

Saturday

A nation of children both foolish and weak

The wicked they search for, and folly they seek.

They mask it as freedom and rights of the strong

But simply the truth is, they're horribly wrong.

Driven always by wind that blows up the waves

They look on as evil, the Truth that man saves.

Those infants, unable to see that it's love

That motivates all of His words from above.

He gives us Apostles and Prophets and more

With pastors and teachers to show us the score.

At the end of the game it nothing to ALL

So, let's open our ears and answer the call!

10/13/24 Through 10/19/24

 10/13/24 Through 10/19/24

Sunday

Yes, Wisdom far exceeds them all

Before her gold and silver fall.

As none but sand upon the ground,

Are riches when true Wisdom's found.

Good health and beauty seem as naught

When wisdom of the ages taught.

Her splendor lights the darkest room

With light the dark cannot consume.

Yet there with wisdom comes all good

The fact not often understood

That beauty, riches, wealth, and fame

We find when first, we wisdom claim.

Monday

How great the sin our age has known

The wickedness we fail to own

Though much we see we fail to turn

And so, you see, we choose to burn.

The sacrifice that love entails

Compared to joy it brings, it pales.

Yet still we sin to have our way

Unmindful of the price we pay.

To mend a broken bone there's pain,

But on the other side there's gain

Ignoring that which needs repair

Though easy now, it brings despair.

The Ninevites of Jonah's time

Were wise enough to see their crime

To fast and mend their evil ways

With focus on the final days.

And here we are, so smart today.

We try to mold the truth our way

We close our eyes to love's concern

And once again we choose to burn.

Today there's something more that's known,

The love that Jesus Christ has shown

And how the gift of self can be

The key to life eternally.

Don't be a fool and close your eyes

But be repentant, humble, wise

And follow Christ who shows the way

To peace and love in endless day.

Tuesday

So few that know just what's inside

So few can penetrate the pride

To see the filth and murky mire

Of all our evil, base, desire.

We'd rather follow worthless rules

And prove ourselves as stupid fools

For when the outside looks so clean,

The inside proves a different scene.

The inside's clean where love abides

And then you're clean whatever sides.

Not one that hides the other's ills,

But both that do what Father wills.

Wednesday

Flesh crucified brings joy to man

The way no selfish hatred can

For all we try to gain is lost

When love for one another's tossed.

Hatred, rivalry, and greed

To only war and factions lead.

Defilement and fury reign

Where all we want is selfish gain.

But love and peace shall rule the day

When things are turned the other way

For patient kindness never wanes

Wherever love for Jesus reigns

Thursday

When prophets came and faith would bud

You plotted how to shed their blood.

It's not enough you turned away

But others too, you tried to sway.

When evil masquerades as good

And takes the place where righteous stood

So many souls are led astray

By promise of an "easy" way.

But woe to you who act this way

And lead My people far away

With blood of prophets on your head

You make a poor eternal bed.

Friday

The harvest is rich, but the laborers few

Are you listening well for His calling on you?

So, ask of the Master more labor to send

To heal all the sick, and the broken to mend.

To carry the word without money or sack

Always moving ahead, and never aback.

Say to the masses, "The Kingdom's at hand."

So, listen and follow His every command.

Saturday

Lord, who am I, one soft and weak?

What right have I of all to speak?

So little suffering endured

But one who begs for life assured.

Much love I need for fellow man

To walk the road that faith began

To look at every soul in view

And see a work of art from You.

The martyrs show what saints must be

Ones totally in love with Thee.

To even love the evil throng.

Forgiving every sinful wrong.

So far away that seems from me

I shrink from every pain, You see

I search for comfort, peace, and rest

And pray somehow, I pass the test.

My hope in mercy only lies

For naught are worth my feeble tries

No value in the things I do

To earn my way to life with You.

But yes, a simple kindness counts

Each act of love, to heaven mounts.

No little one is left alone,

The Little Way can lead me home.