Monthly Archives: June 2012

Love’s Mansion

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A child lost,
A child stolen,
A child abandoned,
But not by Love.

Love held his hand,
As Death pursued.
Love clutched his life
To hold him in her heart.

When all doors shut,
When clouds descended,
When law conspired,
When men called evil good.

Love shared his pain.
Love healed.
Love fostered love.
Prepared a home.

Love opened the earth
To receive the blood
Of innocence,
Once more.

Love found a way,
To thwart the grave,
To forgive, to forget,
To encompass and enfold.

Love builds a mansion
With waiting rooms,
For mother, father
And lineage long.

From Adam past
Unto blessed Eternity,
Love reclaims,
Love invites to Mercy feast.

Love simply loves,
Sinner, martyr, saint,
The lost, the stolen, the abandoned,
Now espoused.

© 2012 Joann Nelander

Time, Trial and Chaff

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Father, help me be patient,
As I receive the answer
To all my prayers.
In faith, I wait.

Trial, and time
In steady supply,
Over and round
By threshing sledge ground,
Crushed be
The husk of me.

Tossed, then,
High in hope,
To brave both
Flight and fall,
As Spirit winds,
A winnowing fan,
Carry my chaff
To all forgetful clouds.

Hallowed be the ground,
On which I come to rest.
Only Son,
Of Three in One.

Waiting, winning,
Gathering the wheat,
One with me
The answer be.

© 2012 Joann Nelander

Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty

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O’ God our Creator,
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit, you call us to live our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the Light and the saving Truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty, Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome—for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us—this great land will always be “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Conversion Miracles in the Ether of Cyberspace

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Leah Libresco a prominent atheist blogger at Patheos, a religion website, has left the ranks of the faithful no-faith for true believer status among the Christian hordes. Debate sparked this unexpected decision. 

“The great thing about a lot of the atheist and skeptic community is that people talk more critically about ideas and want to see proof provided,”  “That kind of analytical thinking is completely useful and the Catholic Church doesn’t need to and should not be afraid of because if you’ve got the facts on your side, you hope they win.”

Fortnight For Freedom

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A call to prayer for our great nation by our bishops has gone forth.  Now it is for the people to pray.

H/T  USCCB

 

The fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, are dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome.  Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action will emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and parishes around the country have scheduled special events that support a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty.

Vigilance

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Vigilance

 

O, Trinity, mine,

As I am Thine,

Indwelling with sacred flame,

Dispatch as for battle

Angels and Archangels,

Sword in hand.

 

Penetrate my darkness,

Infiltrate clandestine deceptions

Masquerading as light.

Pull down cruel strongholds,

Erected by Minion’s guile,

Surreptitious and in disguise.

 

Where blindness

Has made me vulnerable,

Where folly

Has let down my guard,

Where allurement

Has entrapped me,

Give power, sword and wing,

To Your Michael.

 

Bid him ride the dawn

To stand arrayed for the frey,

Here by my side.

Bright Angel of Truth,

Mount ye,

Who Is Like God,

Ever upward,

Empowered by my prayer,

Whispered in th Name,

All Hallowed.

 

Hashem, do You battle,

Vanquish the hidden

Enemies of my soul,

By my union,

In Your Death.

 

By my Baptism,

Let Your Blood

Cry out as Your Able,

From the ground

Of my being.

 

Give Life ever new.

In Your rest,

Empty Tomb,

Witness in me,

By Eucharistic grace,

The triumph of Your Resurrection.

 

© 2012 Joann Nelander