Clutching You to my heart,
My sins before me,
I make Your Death,
My dying,
And find my life.
You give Yourself to me.
You give Yourself for me.
I hold Your cold,
Your bruised and bloodless Body
As I pray.
Wiping the spittle from Your Face,
I behold the Man,
My sins before me always,
I embrace Your Words.
“Father forgive.”
Copyright 2016 Joann Nelander
Longinus,
You, who beheld Life,
As your Savior
Hung between Heaven and Earth,
Dying on His Cross,
Your heart came alive
At the sight of the Mother’s agony.
The thrust of your spear
Lanced the heart of the Christ
And pierced your own
To let Him enter,
He, who would henceforth,
Possess you in contemplation.
His blood, falling upon weak and worldly eyes,,
Touched in you, the pagan,
Opening eyes blind to the things of God,
With the sight of the Holy.
Your life became a contemplation
Of the Dying and the Rising,
Did you fall into a sleep,
As the angels descended to roll away the stone?
Did premonitions of sacred mystery stir you,
Wakening the soldier witness soul,
To serve not merely an emperor,
But True God?
The Cassius of the Crucifixion
Died, only to open his eyes in faith,
And live, henceforth a new man,
With a story of Blood and Water,
And New Life,
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Although, I have been resting
In Your Most Sacred Heart,
Safe in Your holy embrace
Throughout this night,
You have been waiting for this moment,
When my eyes open,
Hoping I would look at You,
And return Your loving glance.
© 2014 Joann Nelander
Heartbeat
It is not I who cause my heart to beat.
I am the recipient of life,
The legatee of form.
My heartbeat continues, unabated,
Until You say, this much and no more,
Then and only then,
Will my soul take leave,
Departing this earth, this time.
I will my heart’s beating,
Sound as a prayer in Your ear,
That You may hear me murmuring love,
Throbbing with desire in my groaning,
That my imperfection resound as supplication,
Beating upon Your breast, a plaintiff reverberation,
Crying and wooing,
As a babe trusting, trusting.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Lifted up,
You hang above the world.
Your outstretched arms
Measure the breath of Your Love.
How great the distance between us,
Yet, greater still,
Your unquenchable thirst for me.
I am a child, a lowly one,
Troubling you, yet, and always.
I tug at the hem of Your garment,
While You tug at my heart.
Lord of my hopes,
Lord of my longing,
Lord of my sorrows,
Lord of my weeping,
Ruler of all Time and Space,
You draw me to an Eternity in Your Embrace.
Here I am at Your table.
I am all need.
I am all pleading.
I am all receptivity.
Here I am before Hope.
I am sorrow.
I am grief.
I am empty.
Here I am before Your Throne.
You are Love.
You are Joy.
You are mine.
I sup at Your table.
I consume my Beloved in Love.
That I may be of Him,
And for Him in Love.
By Joann Nelander
Be Holy! 