A Votive Heart

Sweet Savior, I give to Thee my heart.
Make it as Thine own,
That it may love those in the world,
And those, having past from its bounds,
Not ready to see the Father’s glory.

With my every breath,
I wait on Thee,
Pleading the perfection of my cherished loves.
Pray, lift the veils persisting to obscureThy Beauty.

Let me be a living prayer,
A votive candle,
Burning on the altar of Thy Cross,
Whose smoke rises as incense
With Thy Resurrection from the dead.
I am a captive to Thy call upon my heart.

I draw each breath,
For those You  give me in this life,
By blood, as friend, foe, neighbor, passing stranger,
And those still alien to Thy love,
All, whom the Father desires
For life in You and in Thy glory.

© 2017 Joann Nelander

About Today – Ash Wednesday via divineoffice.org
Ash Wednesday
“Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near,” (James 5:8). [1][2]

Today is Ash Wednesday and the start of a new Lenten season. Today Pope Francis encourages the faithful to live “in the presence of the Father [who] gives us a much deeper joy than worldly glory can give us. May our attitude this Lent be one of living in secret where the Father sees us, loves us and waits for us. Naturally, exterior things are important too, but we must always choose to live in the presence of God.

Let us do what we can, in prayer, in sacrifice, and in acts of charity, humbly before God. This way we will be worthy of God the Father’s reward.” May each of us have a blessed Lent.

VIA divineoffice.org