Monthly Archives: April 2020

The Robe

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Lord of the centuries,
Knit, of our pain, the knots,
That mysteriously arrange themselves
Across our days.

Guide, by unseen fingers,
Each little pearl,
To form a cloth
Alive with Your Golden threads,
Infinitely more than happenstance or tragedy.

Each strand of Time a mystery,
Bathed in trial and tears,
Yet rich in Awe,
Resplendent in Beauty,
And the gracious beneficence
Of sacrificial love.

Whole cloth,
Woven into a seamless robe,
You don in majesty,
Humble and meek in triumph o’er our graves,
As Life welcomes to the Banquet,
Our souls, now clad in bodies,
One with Your Own.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

Full of Grace

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In my imperfection
I offer you the perfect.
Full of Grace,
Take up my cause.

Gracious God,
You have prepared grace
And holiness of life
For all men ,
Yet we are not ready
For Your wonders.

We delay.
We play with idols,
And take for granted
The universe that engulfs us,
As though it founded itself
And raised its own pillars.
We swim in a sea of plenty,
As though it is infinite.

Fool that I am,
May the Wise Virgin,
Trim my lamp
To light my way.
Holy Vessel of all graces
Waiting in your labor
To bring us forth,
And give us the Divine Life
Held in your treasury
For the Day
The Promised One will descend from heaven
Into my soul,
And carry me,
With all your children
To that place of safe repose.

The imperfect, washed clean,
In the waters of New Birth,
Rising perfect with resplendent Light,
As swaddling and infusion,
From El Shaddai,
the God of the Great Breast,
And the womb of the chased Virgin,
Immaculate,
Which brought forth Christ
In the unity of Trinity,
Receive again bodies
As splendid as their souls.

In Your Arms

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Here I am,

Asleep in Your Arms,

I forgot to be afraid.

 

By Joann Nelander

 

 

“Give them something to eat.”

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“Give them something to eat.”

On the mountain of Your Holiness,
You commanded,
“You give them something to eat.”

What have I that would feed,
And satisfy so many?
You give to me,
In steady supply.

You are my All.
In You, I believe,
It is You, I adore,
And from You, I draw my hope,
And loving trust.

You have fulfilled Your promise,
Feeding me with the finest wheat, the Eucharistic Wheat,
Made Bread, most holy,
Your body and Your Blood.

“Give them something to eat.”

What have I that would feed,
And satisfy so many?
I will give them my Treasure,
My Only Good.

As life flowing from this temple
Flow from me,
To water,
And sup with humanity all about me.

© 2017 Joann Nelander

Holy Thursday Mass (English) 2020

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https://youtu.be/Z8qzwJxcrcE

Holy Thursday – about today

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“So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, ‘Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do,’” (John 13: 12-15).

Today’s Gospel reading models what Christian love looks like. Jesus bends down and washes the feet of his disciples, commanding them to do the same for others. In the washing of feet and the sacrament of the Eucharist, we see “the same mystery of a divine expression of love.” Both show Jesus humbly lowering down, meeting us where we are, and offering an expression of love. 

Pope Francis said: “There is much that we can do to benefit the poor, the needy and those who suffer, and to favor justice, promote reconciliation and build peace. But before all else we need to keep alive in our world the thirst for the absolute, and to counter the dominance of a one-dimensional vision of the human person, a vision which reduces human beings to what they produce and to what they consume: this is one of the most insidious temptations of our time.”[1][2][3][4]

Written by Sarah Ciotti