5/19/24 Through 5/25/24

 5/19/24 Through 5/25/24

Sunday

Life in the Spirit of Jesus my Lord

A gift that alone the poor can afford

For nothing can purchase this life-giving gift

And only the Spirit brings changes so swift.

Reminding us always what Jesus has said

His own precious body He gave us as bread

His Spirit will come at the time that we need 

With sevenfold gifts upon which we feed.

Wisdom and Knowledge, and Fear of the Lord

Are there and just waiting to thee be out-poured

Fortitude, Counsel, and Piety too

Will bring Understanding and comfort to you.

But know that your spirit is poor and quite weak

And then you'll receive the gifts that you seek

Avoiding the proud, the fat, and the sleek,

He comes to the humble, the poor and the meek.

Monday

Mother Mary always be

A source of comfort unto me

Incubate me in Your womb

Send the grace to make me bloom.

As for nine days prayer ensued

Watchful Mother there imbued

Faith and trust within the men

To whom the Spirit would descend.

Oh, Mother of the infant Church

Help me end this life-long search

Help me find humility

And always answer "Let it be."

Tuesday

No reason e'er I see for war

But what the flesh is grasping for

A greedy, lustful, sinful lot

Dissatisfied with what we've got.

A pride of person holding sway

O'er those more worthy on the way

Disordered love for things below

Instead of gifts that You bestow.

With patience and humility

Forbearance and the will to be

The least of those who walk on Earth

We bring about the second birth.

A birth into a world of peace

Where love and joy at once increase

Where childlike will come to know

That talk of war just has to go,

Wednesday

By failing to do what ought to be done

We distance ourselves from Father and Son

The good left undone, as much as the bad

Will draw us from Christ, and poison a lad.

We see and we hear in quietest ways

Above all the din, amid all the haze.

\He speaks to our heart and shows us a need

A sheep we can save, or lamb we can feed.

But busy we claim, we don't have the time

And what's left undone becomes now the crime.

The hand we reach out, the ear that we lend

Will never our God or our neighbor offend.

Thursday

When all is rotten, dry, and stale

Remember well the blinded scale.

How heavy weighed your gifts received

And to each one you tightly cleaved.

The poor with little on their plate

You gave no thought to need abate,

But yet pursued another toy

And never found the promised joy.

Such fools, like sheep, are herded well

And led by demons straight to Hell.

Their paltry pleasures firmly clenched

Where flames of torment never quenched.

Friday

Without a trace of doubtfulness

Let no mean no, and yes mean yes.

Especially as man and wife

Your yes was made to last for life.

Though many circumstances change

Solutions may seem out of range

But perseverance marks the soul

Who presses on to meet the goal.

Although the price may seem too high,

We find him firmly standing by

His vow to love and sacrifice

What e'er the need, what e're the price.

And she who toils every day

Through drudgery along the way

Fails not in tenderness bestowed

Upon the lot in her abode.

So, in this way the two display

The virtues that will light the way

For young to see and learn to give

And peacefully with others live.

Saturday

Let the children come to me

for childlike you all must be

To enter where the King shall reign

And find at last eternal gain.

So, pray with all your heart and more

To find the place you're looking for

And lead the sinner gone astray

To find his life within the Way.