Mission Land

Mission Land

The mission land is close at hand,

We see it everyday.

When love imparts to broken hearts

A kindly word to say.

From working hard our senses jarred

By struggles of the poor.

We work each day that we might say

One problem we did cure.

He doesn't ask but just this task

To listen and obey.

To do your part will surely start

A new and better way.

This week we found on mountain ground

In simple jars of clay,

Certain treasure without measure

For Christ we met each day.

Black is white & white is black

When black is white, and white is black

It's difficult to stay on track.

If all the focus is on me,

It blinds me from the truth, you see.

Rejecting love in perfect form,

Perverted views become the norm.

A child is but a mass of cells,

Is such a lie that Satan tells.

The Church a beacon shining bright

To guide us through the darkest night.

For sight is found in unity,

Perception with humility.

Christmas 2012

Faith

This year of faith my children see

The gift God has for you and me.

For only Faith can guarantee

The blessings that we cannot see.

For Faith can prove with certainty

Existence of reality

Unnoticed by the haughty eyed,

Those blinded by the sin of Pride.

While here upon the earth I live,

If I had but one gift to give,

I’d offer to my family,

The gift of Faith God gave to me.

No gold or treasure ever known

Could ere surpass the gift I own.

Of knowing down within my heart,

The joy that only faith imparts.

Although our trials never cease,

It’s faith in God that offers peace.

Success or failure matter not

When solid Faith is what you’ve got.

But you must not be lulled asleep

By pleasure, wealth, and passions deep.

That draw attention from the One

Who sent to us His only Son.

This blessed time of silent night

Is sent to us God’s love aright.

Imagine such humility,

For God to don humanity!

The Holy Child this year I pray

Would grow our Faith each passing day,

And make of us a family

Of Faith to last eternally.

Good Friday 2013

The Final Words

Father please forgive them they know not what they do

Rejecting now the greatest gift of all that comes from You.

The Son of God, the Word made flesh, they nail upon a tree.

And all the while they claim to be the closest ones to thee.

I came among the humble poor, in lowly stable born.

And now the King of Kings they fit with crown of piercing thorns.

I touched the leper, cured the sick, the lame that now can stand.

But here upon this cross are nailed my bloody, healing hands.

Beneath the cross my mother stands to share my agony.

This virgin through obedience becomes a brand new Eve.

Beloved one supporting her when all the rest had fled,

With vision blurred by blood and sweat, I looked at them and said:

Woman now behold your son, and this your mother be.

A message meant for all mankind, and all eternity.

The elders and the passers by, they mocked and spit at me.

They called on me to save myself from death upon the tree.

Two thieves were sent to die with me in agony and shame,

And when the first one challenged me the other earned his fame.

If Christ you are, then save yourself, and surely save us too.

We heard about the miracles that people say you do.

Have you no shame or fear of God?  The other thief proclaimed.

This holy man has done no wrong, but we are justly blamed.

He asked that when my kingdom comes remembered he would be.

With me this day in Paradise I promised he would be.

Three hours of great agony I hung upon that tree.

Enduring taunts and ridicule from those that came to see.

My God, why have you gone from me in hour of greatest need?

Abandoning the sinless one, to see but sin indeed.

A greater sorrow never known in all of this creation,

Than from the God of righteousness, eternal separation.

Righteous Father to your hands, my spirit I commit.

That You with now my sacrifice might guilty souls acquit.

My body drained by sweat and blood, my head about to burst.

For souls to know forgiving love, in torment now, I thirst.

Three hours on the cross I hang, in suffering undiminished.

The fourth cup raised on hyssop stick, I taste and it is finished.

Love then consists of this, not in our love this time,

But in the saving work of Christ, and in His love sublime.

Happy Birthday Mattie

Mattie

On July twenty one in a year long ago

Just how many past, we never may know.

In small little Georgetown, way down in Kentucky

A babe was brought forth, whom we know as Mattie.

Her free spirit stifled by that tiny town,

That adventurous young girl began looking around,

For ways to have fun, like at Cinco de Mayo.

So she thought for a start, she would look in Ohio.

In the bustling metropolis of Tiffin she found,

A beau that would make her head spin around.

Then he swept her away with a date in the sky,

And she knew then, and there that this was her guy.

Her prayers for a husband were answered by God,

But her big city plans turned out to be flawed.

Instead of tall buildings to greet her each morn,

She wakes every morning to soybeans and corn.

In her ministry now among Presentation

She labors to manage the whole operation

Of copying copious CDs and more,

Especially lots of that CD disk four.

Samuel My Son

Samuel My Son

Samuel my son you have chosen well

From all the fair maidens this graceful belle.

A startling beauty, a pearl of great price,

Now listen my son to your father’s advice.

This journey of marriage the Lord chose for you

Will challenge your manhood in all that you do.

It’s not for the weakling, or those faint of heart,

Or those who try living their faith a la carte.

This is a vocation from God up above

That calls evermore to a self-giving love.

Each sacrifice made is a gift of shalom

A building block towards your happy new home.

The unity of a husband and wife

Contributes quite much to a man’s happy life.

Far more when all selfish motive is pruned,

When the heart and the mind have both been tuned.

I pray that God sends many children your way

To multiply love in your household each day.

What a privilege it is for a man and his wife

To be trusted by God as the guide for new life.

The good and bad they will come that’s for sure,

But through it all you must keep your heart pure.

And cherish forever your charming new wife.

Defend and protect her the rest of your life.

Prayer in Front of an Abortion Clinic

Prayer in Front of an Abortion Clinic

What I see when standing there

Is patient love beyond compare. 

Inside that awful greedy place

He still is off’ring peace and grace.

For those who fail to recognize

In pregnancy this precious prize.

The wondrous gift that came from Him

They simply tear from limb to limb.

Behind the bolted bars they stare

Contemptuous of praying there.

The ones who offer light and life

Are viewed as but a social blight.

Illumine Lord this darkened place

And fill it with Your light of grace.

Then give to all who enter there

Forgiving love Your constant fare.

Tim's 8th Grade Graduation

Tim's 8th Grade Graduation

As number six among the clan
For me home school was in the plan.

I didn't know back at the start
The varied ways to make me smart.

That into school my mom would bring
A morsel taught from everything.

If on a rope or in a cave
Or riding on an ocean wave.
 

The classroom took its many shapes
Building bridges, making crepes.

Each day a new adventure bound
And somehow education found.
 

Now folks may say, "That ain't no school!"
"You're right", I say, "I ain't no fool!"

What kid in his right mind would choose 

Instead of fun the classroom blues?

Christmas 2011



My God, my God, how can it be,
You sent Your Son to die for me?
Virgin chosen like no other
Purest vessel for your mother.

The feeding trough a resting place,
For one brought forth from Full of Grace.
A fitting place to lay the head
Of One who came to be our Bread.

Can it be, it’s just a myth,
That children find amusement with?
A holiday that’s set aside
For toys and tots and pumpkin pies?

For some it may be such a time
For decorating trees of pine.
For wreaths of holly, green and bright,
For colored bulbs that light the night.

But now I ask: Before He came,
What was it like to live in shame,
Where Paradise to sin was lost,
And no one here could pay the cost?

To look upon our history,
And see our lives eternally.
Apart from Him, and far away,
Because for sin we could not pay.

I see it now with clarity
There’s quite a stark disparity
From what is offered every time
In simple gifts of bread and wine.

Emmanuel is present here
To drive away our every fear.
And when we look upon the creche
We see our God who took on flesh.

So let us not a moment waste,
And like the shepherds, go in haste
And never let the chance go past
To meet with Him at Holy Mass.

Let the Potter Mold the Clay

How many are my sinful ways,
So often times throughout the day
With evil thoughts and words I face
Another careless fall from Grace.

I say I want to break this chain,
But every time I sin again.
Unwilling now to suffer pain,
Instead I risk eternal gain

How foolish for this sinful man
To think he can avoid God’s plan
When pleasure fades and shame sets in,
Why did again I turn from Him?

Just give that beast a little line,
And see how quickly he entwines
With chains of greed and gluttony
He tries to hold his sway on me.

That vicious creature full of lies
With talons clamped on me he tries
To turn my heart from loving Him,
To following my every whim.

Oh Full of Grace, what would you say
To help me on this rocky way,
When often times I turn away
And let the Devil have his way?

My little one, It’s not your strength
That keeps you strong to any length.
Just trust in Him, the Crucified
Will wash you clean, and be your guide.

Confess with regularity
Your sinfulness and frailty.
For in this pure humility
Your soul will find tranquility.

My Son knows well the needs of men,
And showers down His graces when
You turn to Him throughout the day,
And let the Potter mold the clay.