Category Archives: Catholic

Host Upon the Altar

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Pristine the whiteness

Engulfed in radiant flame,

Golden the rays,

Set about Your throne upon the altar.

For all the beauty of the monstrance,

You outshine the artist’s creation,

Just as You outshine creation.

Give me eyes to see reality.

My eyes are designed to apprehend matter,

Yet on your altar

At the heart of the sacred monstrance

You give us Mystery and Divinity.

I long to look upon Your fleshly Flesh,

To see Your locks curl mildly on Your shoulders,

To see your holy Face,

The flash of smile and twinkle of the eye,

Majesty of manner, and goodly gentleness.

I gaze upon the Host,

All the while my heart and mind

Bring visions to the fore.

Power subdued in obedience

Might bowed to the Father’s Will.

Abandonment, a fulfillment of prophetic word,

Suffering and salvific,

A Babe, a Boy, a Man.

I see also your first dwelling

Your ark and monstrance,

Your beloved Mother.

With You in life,

And with You in Your dying,

Her Love undying.

Offering You to Father God

In ignominy,

In dignity.

I see here Mary’s life,

Inseparable from womb to tomb,

A life to quench God’s thirst for sanctity,

A life to swallowing up God’s just wrath.

From the Cross You bequeathed to us Your Mother,

Your ark and monstrance,

With You at the center of all .

I gaze and contemplate,

You are Forever Refuge

Of the sinner at the altar of Your Love.

By Joann Nelander

Lord, Make My Day

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Make me all blessing, Dearest Lord.
My day lies, yet, before me,
As I wake.
Your Will shall come to me.
May my arms be open
To embrace the gift.
In the giving of grace,
May I ever receive,
And not turn aside a blessing.

Some blessings come disguised.
If misfortune lies at my doorstep,
Help me, in me fear,
Lest I bar the door as curse;
You plot a Way across stony ground,
That will lead me, true to You,
To troves You treasure hidden in dark places.

You set my course.
May Your brave Spirit
Dress me for each day,
That I may know,
With steady heart,
Your Way is my way,
And I am sent,
And set upon it.
I must stay that course,
Returning blessing for the curse,
Thus spreading grace
That grace abound.
With seeds for the morrow
Fill my purse
That I might spend You
On the poor,
And lavish You on sinners
As I go.

At days’ end
May I find myself rejoicing,
And safely rest in Thee,
My All and happy end.