Monthly Archives: January 2014

What Have I?

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What have I,
That You have not given?
Can I count myself my own?
Clothed in flesh,
Before I knew the light,
I burst forth
From a borrowed womb.

Opening my eyes on life,
Mother love shown as my sun.
Before hunger could claim me,
My mouth was filled with sweetness,
Free flowing as a font.

Years brought knowledge,
But not answers.
My needs were met,
Far beyond survival’s mark,
So I presumed dominion,
Supposed myself a god.

In time it was Wisdom
That instructed,
As Providence constructed.
It was You
Who hung the heavens.
You commanded the Earth.
You birthed all powers that be,
Created Universe and Light.

Time and Tomorrow
Were born at Your Word,
As star and star dust
Danced to Your music.
I whirled in abandonment,
Irrational contentment.

You hold all in being,
As summit and treasure,
And by Love possessed,
What have I?
What have I?
I have it all!
I have, by that same Love,
You, My Love,
You.

©2012 Joann Nelander

 

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Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius -Saint Anthony receives his vocation

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From the Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius, bishop
Saint Anthony receives his vocation

When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.

Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles had left everything and followed the Savior, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.

It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.

The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practiced great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.

Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.

Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.

All creation gives praise to God

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From the book of Sirach 43:13-35 All creation gives praise to God


His rebuke marks out the path for the lightning,
and speeds the arrows of his judgment to their goal.
At it the storehouse is opened,
and like vultures the clouds hurry forth.
In his majesty he gives the storm its power
and breaks off the hailstones.
The thunder of his voice makes the earth writhe;
before his might the mountains quake.
A word from him drives on the south wind,
the angry north wind, the hurricane and the storm.
He sprinkles the snow like fluttering birds;
it comes to settle like swarms of locusts.
Its shining whiteness blinds the eyes,
the mind is baffled by its steady fall.

He scatters frost like so much salt;
it shines like blossoms on the thornbush.
Cold northern blasts he sends
that turn the ponds to lumps of ice.
He freezes over every body of water,
and clothes each pool with a coat of mail.
When the mountain growth is scorched with heat,
and the flowering plains as though by flames,
The dripping clouds restore them all,
and the scattered dew enriches the parched land.
His is the plan that calms the deep,
and plants the islands in the sea.

Those who go down to the sea tell part of its story,
and when we hear them we are thunderstruck;
In it are his creatures, stupendous, amazing,
all kinds of life, and the monsters of the deep.

For him each messenger succeeds,
and at his bidding accomplishes his will.
More than this we need not add;
let the last word be, he is all in all!
Let us praise him the more, since we cannot fathom him,
for greater is he than all his works;
Awful indeed is the Lord’s majesty,
and wonderful is his power.
Lift up your voices to glorify the Lord,
though he is still beyond your power to praise;
Extol him with renewed strength,
and weary not, though you cannot reach the end:

For who can see him and describe him?
or who can praise him as he is?
Beyond these, many things lie hid;
only a few of his works have we seen.
It is the Lord who has made all things,
and to those who fear him he gives wisdom.

2013 Patron Saint of the Year Ministry

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(to receive your saint, send an mail with first names only to mare54n@gmail.com)

via 2013 Patron Saint of the Year Ministry.

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

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It’s time once again for Sunday Snippets. We are Catholic bloggers sharing weekly our best posts with one another.  Join us to read and/or contribute. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Make sure that the post links back to here, and leave a link to your  snippets post on our host, RAnn’s, site, This, That and the Other Thing.

My Posts:

Set the World Aright

By Your Presence

 
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Set the World Aright

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The world, in turmoil, convulses.
Peoples flee.
Those who know You,
Run to You.
Those, who are rushing
To the pit in despair,
Flee from You,
As from Leviathan.

Show forth Your Truth and Beauty.
Stop sinners in their flight.
Smile, as the Sun from heaven,
That all men may truly see,
And all men know You, O Truth.

You are a scourge
To the proud,
But to the man,
Who clearly sees himself,
For what he is, and faints.
Then, coming to his senses,
Lies prostrate in repentance;
To that man, You are Hope
And help, and healing.

Your Mercy covers a multitude of sin.
Your blood, sprinkled on us,
Cries out “Sanctuary!”
O Altar, O Victim, O Priest.

Christ Jesus,
You know my heart,
And yet embrace it.
Your priestly garment
Covers my nakedness.
Your Kingly Mantle identifies me,
As Child of the Great King.
My name is written on Your Thigh.
Like a mother,
You brought me forth at Your Knees,
To claim me eternally.

The waters well up,
I am washed,
And carried in the current,
To ride the waves of Your Mercy
And come to rest on Your shore
For all eternity.

Celebrate the Mass
Of our Redemption,
Once for all,
And for all time.
The thunder is silent.
The quaking ceases.
The clouds of darkness part.
The Sun of Justice rises,
And the course of the world
Obeys the Will of Your Father.

O Christ, O Holy One,
Guide the course
Of this wayward planet.
Set the earth aright,
And welcome its people
Into Your Heart.

Copyright © 2011 Joann Nelander All rights reserved.

 

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