Category Archives: All Things Catholic

Light to My Light

by

Round and round,
Oft’ repeated action,
Oft’ repeated sin,
I go,
Blinded by the storm within,
To folly’s fortune,
And wayward whim.

Hunger and thirst
Assail in just desert,
Assail with a vengeance.
Who will pay the piper?
Who will ransom the captive heart,
Break my fetters,
And smash my chains?

Crying into the night
Black my heart ache
Black my guilt.
Still my tears betray my hope,
As for Love I grope,
Calling, because primal urge
Causes me to shout into the Darkness.

I am the smoldering candle,
That will not go out.
That will not curse the darkness.
You are fan to my flame,
And breath in my nostrils,
You are the oil that fuels my lamp
To show the way out of darkness,
Light to my light.

© 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Forever in Your Love

by

You are the sun
At the center of the Cross.
I have polluted the waters of my baptism,
And come again
To the foot of Your Cross.

As my prayer rises
From the dust of my fall,
Into the heaven,
Which is with You,
Stretch out Your arms eternally,
To embrace me yet again,

Bring me to Your Heart,
At the crossing
Of heaven and earth
To be transformed
By You,
And in You,
And through You,
Becoming new man,
A holy man.

Silenced for three days on earth,
That heart of Yours,
Beating now eternally,
Lives in me,
Who will live
Forever in Your love.

© 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Conclave Prayers

by

“We must pray and pray much; for… no science, no human prudence can furnish a remedy to the evils that desolate the Church: the all-powerful arm of God is needed.

We must pray to Jesus Christ that he may give us as the Head of his Church a man, less remarkable by his science and human prudence, than by his fervor and his zeal for the honor of God; a man, absolutely inaccessible to every intrigue, who is above all human respect. For, if we have the misfortune to have a Pope elected, who is not a man that seeks only the glory of God, the Lord will aid us but little, and in the present state of things all will go from bad to worse.

Prayer, then, is the only remedy.

I have, therefore, written to all the houses of our humble Congregation, and have enjoined upon them to pray with more than ordinary fervor for the election of a new Pope…. Such is the advice that can be given by a miserable man like myself.”

–St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Bishop of S. Agata dei Goti
Letter from Arienzo
24 October 1774

I’m Doing the Best I Can Do

by

I say it so often,
“I am doing the best I can do.”
My heart breaks,
For I desire to do all for You,
Yet, I am full of myself,
And You seem silent.

I am still of the earth
And aspire to heaven.
I am so common,
Yet You call me “Beloved”,
And “Child of God”.

My end draws near,
As it does for all men.
Many count their days endless,
And take no account.
What of my end?
Do I please You,
Who number my days,
And promise endless life?

Abandonment draws me
To Your Heart.
Do everything for me,
And in peace
I shall rest in You,
Endless Love of countless days,
Receive me.