THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE

September 5, 2014 by Be Holy

You are before me,
Drawing me ever closer.
I am lost in loving,
Beseeching and begetting
By Your grace.

You call me,
“The apple of Your eye.”
Look, then, upon my world.
Perfect it,
Through this, my prayer.

Color the ghettos of sin
With hues of charity.
Bring a springtime of purity,
That earth may be as heaven,
Peopled with Children of God.

My loaves and fishes
Can feed the poor and hungry,
Though they be few, You are mighty.
Grace, Grace, O Holy Grace,
Behold me,
As I feast on Thee.

“The Republicans are Clueless and the Democrats are Complicit”

September 3, 2014 by Be Holy

“The Republicans are clueless and the Democrats are complicit”, the strong words are those of Robert Spencer. He calls for “a massive change of the political culture in Washington.” His is practically a one man crusade to educate people to the danger of our ignorance. He points out that there simply is very little understanding of Islam, the Qur’an, Muslims, and the Middle-east, so we meet resistance and at times cowardice from the politically correct and politically fearful, despite the bloody evidence splashed in headline banners of 9-11, the Ft. Hood shooting, and the Boston Marathon bombing. Why does it take kidnapping, rape, and mass murder, genocide and beheading to get the attention of our leaders?

Men like Spencer are needed to help us know our enemy and get real. The United States and probably the entire western world, think they can provide Band-Aids to heal century old wounds, scores, and rivalries. When Condoleezza Rice, in 2007, can say that the Middle East still has a tendency to see things in “Sunni-Shi’a terms,” and that they’re just going to have to “overcome” that, you know we are living in the realm of, not merely wishful thinking, but geo-political and historical ignorance.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book, Arab Winter Comes to America: The Truth About the War We’re In.

Jihadwatch.org

Saint Gregory the Great, pope

September 3, 2014 by Be Holy

From a homily on Ezekiel by Saint Gregory the Great, pope
For Christ’s love I do not spare myself in speaking of him

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Note that a man whom the Lord sends forth as a preacher is called a watchman. A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.

How hard it is for me to say this, for by these very words I denounce myself. I cannot preach with any competence, and yet insofar as I do succeed, still I myself do not live my life according to my own preaching.

I do not deny my responsibility; I recognize that I am slothful and negligent, but perhaps the acknowledgment of my fault will win me pardon from my just judge. Indeed when I was in the monastery I could curb my idle talk and usually be absorbed in my prayers. Since I assumed the burden of pastoral care, my mind can no longer be collected; it is concerned with so many matters.

I am forced to consider the affairs of the Church and of the monasteries. I must weigh the lives and acts of individuals. I am responsible for the concerns of our citizens. I must worry about the invasions of roving bands of barbarians, and beware of the wolves who lie in wait for my flock. I must become an administrator lest the religious go in want. I must put up with certain robbers without losing patience and at times I must deal with them in all charity.

With my mind divided and torn to pieces by so many problems, how can I meditate or preach wholeheartedly without neglecting the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel? Moreover, in my position I must often communicate with worldly men. At times I let my tongue run, for if I am always severe in my judgments, the worldly will avoid me, and I can never attack them as I would. As a result I often listen patiently to chatter. And because I too am weak, I find myself drawn little by little into idle conversation, and I begin to talk freely about matters which once I would have avoided. What once I found tedious I now enjoy.

So who am I to be a watchman, for I do not stand on the mountain of action but lie down in the valley of weakness? Truly the all-powerful Creator and Redeemer of mankind can give me in spite of my weaknesses a higher life and effective speech; because I love him, I do not spare myself in speaking of him.

Robert Spencer "As the Middle East Burns"

September 2, 2014 by Be Holy

Onesimus

September 2, 2014 by Be Holy

Lord make this useless beggar useful.
Like the returning Prodigal
Nothing recommends me,
And everyone but You
Condemns me,
For my rags declare my misery.

You see me
But You do not turn away.
You rush to my side,
And embrace the little one
Who wanders from Your side.

I am to You
The lost and longed for
Child of Your Heart.
My provident possibility
Is all but destiny
Awaiting my “Amen”.

You draw the bath Yourself.
You allow Your angels the joy
Of tending to my wounds.
They touch me in consolation
As they once ministered strength
To You in the garden,
For they beheld me then in Your Holy Agony.

I am the child of Your sorrow
And Your glory.

Wash me and lovingly dress me
In Your robes of holiness and light.
You are creating me even now
While You gaze on me
For I am all “Yes”.

Your kindness and Your gentleness
Convince me beyond doubt.
I yield to You my sinfulness.
Every moment in Your Presence is gracefilled.
I have but to stretch out my hand
That You might place Your ring on my finger,
Put forth my feet to see them shod for
The journey to Your house.

I walk now in Your Kingdom,
For Your Presence makes light my steps
And sure the Way.
In Your embrace I find that I can dance merrily,
For the mysterious steps
Seem to come quite naturally
As long as I follow Your gentle persuasions.

Dance on my Father,
My Friend, my King, my All.
In Your arms I have found myself.
I have become Onesimus.”