At the heart of all temptations … is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion – that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.
Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil – no, that would be far too blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our illusions and throw ourselves into the work of actually making the world a better place. It claims, moreover, to speak for true realism: What’s real is what is right there in front of us – power and bread. By comparison, the things of God fade into unreality, into a secondary world that no one really needs.
God is the issue: Is he real, reality itself, or isn’t he? Is he good, or do we have to invent the good ourselves? The God question is the fundamental question, and it sets us down right at the crossroads of human existence.
* This excerpt is from “Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration” by Pope Benedict XVI
Tag Archives: God
At the Heart of All Temptation
At the heart of all temptations … is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion – that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.
Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil – no, that would be far too blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our illusions and throw ourselves into the work of actually making the world a better place. It claims, moreover, to speak for true realism: What’s real is what is right there in front of us – power and bread. By comparison, the things of God fade into unreality, into a secondary world that no one really needs.
God is the issue: Is he real, reality itself, or isn’t he? Is he good, or do we have to invent the good ourselves? The God question is the fundamental question, and it sets us down right at the crossroads of human existence.
* This excerpt is from “Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration” by Pope Benedict XVI
Heart of Love
Write my love upon my heart
That I might sign it with my life’s blood,
Coursing through its chambers,
Rushing to serve and sing to You.
With every beat,
With every pulsation,
Carry my persuasions to the ends of my being,
Returning as tides to touch anew Your Heart,
United in Spirit,
Kissing each movement and moment,
As I spread myself upon Your hidden shores,
To embrace and race,
In hurried pulse to do You Will
As my own,
Reaching for eternity.
With a kiss upon the brow
Crown all my moments
With the fiat I proffer
In Your ever Present Now.
Heart of Love,
Be in me.
Sighed and signed,
Joann
Dear Reader,
Make my prayer your prayer,
By placing it beside mine,
And together,
We shall love Him best.
Copyright 2016 Joann Nelander
Of Myself and of Thee
I know so little of myself.
I perceive myself to be
Only because
You think of me.
I spin about like elemental sprites,
Really nothing without You,
Yet dancing as the orbs
Upon the stage
Of Time and Space.
I know so little of my heart,
How it can beat and bow,
And even break.
That I am free to move,
In opposition to Your dreams for me.
You are the spirit and stuff
Of my many moments,
The thought I hold dear,
And the music I hear.
I know so little of myself,
But You speak me and here I be,
Living and dreaming,
Praying and waiting,
To see all You have thought of me.
Copyright 2016 Joann Nelander
In This Hour
Listening, I hear, a Voice over the Water,
Louder than the many waters,
Moving over and above the world,
Mightier than thunder,
Appealing as the fair continence of an only Child.
Now, My People, is the hour to awaken,
Now, My sons and daughters, the time to rouse from your indifference.
My Dying is before You always,
Not as a distant memory,
But alive with My Glory
Alive in Your Baptism,
Breathing forth with every Eucharist.
In this hour of my agony,
In this time of pain,
You sleep and you dream.
You dream of a life of plenty,
As you run to listen to false prophets,
Promising abundance and power here in this val,
While your crosses lie by the wayside.
Open your eyes,
Rend your hearts,
That I may clothe you anew,
In the Grace of your Baptism.
Stir the dying embers,
And let Me fuel your devotion,
And cause holiness to spring from spent ashes.
The Breath of My Spirit
Coming on you as Pentecost renewed
Will raise flame and fire
In rekindled hearts.
Know this My children,
I have called you to this hour.
Grace shall urge you forth,
And the Word give you voice.
Be blind no more.
Be divided no more.
My Call, and My claim on your hearts,
Are greater than the world,
And promises of prosperity and plenty.
Satan tempted Me with such,
But I chose the Cup my Father chose for Me.
Look beyond this world,
See heaven open to you.
I Am Promise and Fulfillment.
I Am.
Be mother and father, brother and sister,
Son and daughter to Me.
Be servant and friend,
Spouse and Bride of My Heart.
Take My Hand that I might lift you
Beyond the promises of earthly palaces and pleasure,
For which you now pray.
See a new tomorrow.
Desire Me.
Choose Your Savior.
Be indifferent no more
To my Death upon the Cross.
Your were created for Truth and Justice,
Loveliness, and Honor,
Purity and a Beauty beyond the world and its mansions.
Look up and long for My Kingdom to come
Here in this hour,
Here in this place,
Here in your hearts.
©2016 Joann Nelander
Lifting the Veil
Lift the veil in this morass of Sin,
That faith may blossom and hope enter in.
Let the Sun of Justice shine
Upon a people in decline,
That looking up from the tyranny of power and things
Your face may captivate and solace bring.
Pour down torrents of Thy Grace
To cleanse this dry and brutal place ,
Uproot to plant anew
A Day of peace like settled dew,
That minds be bright and intellects sublime
And our only glory may be Thine.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Be Holy! 