The Church Militant
“Behold the Lamb of God,
Behold Him Who takes away
The sins of the world.”
A priest holds aloft,
The consecrated Host.
“Behold…”
One by one.
Standing in adoration,
Each receives.
They pass before me.
I hear, “Behold, My army,
Each, a living monstrance.”
©2016 Joann Nelander
Give to me of Yourself
That which pleases You.
Unite my emptiness
With Your fullness,
To satisfy and delight
Our Father in heaven.
Here You are,
In me, my Eucharist,
Given for me,
Exulted, above the world,
And yet, Emmanuel,
“God with Us”.
Give grace to all
Children of the Light.
Bestow to Your own,
The Life that is Yours.
In the Light of Your Presence,
Reveal the wonder of our Communion.
Shining forth from all Your little ones,
Light a world in darkness.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Though I perceive myself without You,
I could not reach for You, as I do,
But for You.
Therefore You are with me,
In my waiting,
In my hoping,
In my believing.
Never alone in my great wanting,
Satisfied in my enduring,
Tomorrow felt in my longing,
Smiling with every tear.
I am of high and holy cheer,
Believing You are near,
Certain You are darkly here.
©2016 Joann Nelander.
The seed is alive,
With the Future.
The seed
Buried seeking light.
The one Adam,
The store of generations,
Begetting,
But not solely of himself.
One alike in nature,
But unique to the task,
Played by his side,
The delight of Paradise.
Sin entered in.
Nature, sublime,
Met the devil in his slime.
Havoc and hell followed,
On a Fall
For the all,
Yet to be.
Generation,
Degeneration,
Retribution.
No restitution,
No remedy for institution.
Generations
Living under a curse,
Dying in time.
Eden lost,
Without return.
Until the One,
The sent
The holy.
Began His reign,
Faith born.
To invite again,
To turn again
From the mire!
Unto hope.
Confronting the curse
Hanging from the cross,
Accursed,
Becoming Sin,
Sin meeting its end
In Him.
Meeting His end
Defeating the end
To be the beginning,
First born of the Dead.
To be for us
To be forever New,
New life
New hope.
Finding Adam in his grave
Dry bones moved by the Spirit.
Rise with him.
A new beginning
Rising from death
To call all to life.
The life of Adam,
Born through the ages,
Played out in generations.
Out of one, many.
He, Christ,
Descending
Gathering ,
Mending,
All ascending ,
Captive to the Light.
The seed
Become
His Life,
The future without end,
Living life without end.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
The Wrath of God blazes forth
As left to myself,
I behold myself.
Where is His image in me?
What have I done ?
Where God is not,
Only Hell resides.
Life has become my agony,
With self-inflicted wounds.
Unchanging Purity of Being,
Fire of Love,
I, now, the antithesis,
Banishing God to the periphery
Holding Him at bay.
My kingdom, my way!
Sin rages in His absence,
A counterfeit of life,
For where the Creator is not,
There is only dissipation.
Creating nothing;
Loving no one,
I built a world apart,
Overruled His Plan,
Overturned His “Shalt Nots”
With tolerance and choice.
There is no compromise for Truth.
Sin is always a choice,
Or it is not sin.
The Wrath of God blazes forth.
Consumes the idol, self.
Now, to turn, to choose anew,
To turn again before the final hour,
While it is still Day,
No more to turn away!
So splendid a freedom is love
That it can not come to be
Without an altar,
And in the Fire of Love,
To sacrifice my “Me”.
©2014 Joann Nelander
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Be Holy! 