Tag Archives: Lord

Lord of All

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Lord of all joy,
Lord of all sorrow,
Lord of plenitude and might,
Lord of hunger and suffering,
In Your Humanity,
You embraced all,
And elevated Mankind,
Giving the highest dignity
To our race,
Which, without You,
Is little more than beastly,
Roaming and devouring
Without hope or holiness.

Your Father waits
To embrace His wayward sons.
We, the Prodigal, are welcomed
To His open arms,
Arms You, Jesus, gave
The Father on Your Cross.
There with abandonment of Spirit,
Willingly nailed to His Will,
You raised helplessness
To heights of Mystery,
And consummate fulfillment.

We rush to You,
In delight,
As the Spirit
Once rushed upon David,
Caught up to the heavens,
Returning love for the Love
That saves and frees.

Alleluia!

© 2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Forget Not

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As I walk in Your house,
May I never forget You are Master,
Lord of this domain.

May my thoughts
Spring as fruit upon the vine.
Sustain me, O my Beloved,
With the Bread of angels.

Hallowed Ground of my New Birth,
Give me Your heavenly Water,
That I may never thirst again.
Let it rise within me,
As an eternal spring,
And let it fall from heaven,
Like those “torrents
In the southern desert,”

Sheltered in Your arms,
Covered by the corner of Your mantle,
Fed by the Manna of Your Heavenly Body,
Who could forget to sing You songs of Love?

Copyright 2011 Joann Nelander

Here I Am

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Here I am, beneath your heart,
My heart beating in happy harmony,
As my frame perceives
The gentle throbbing within your breast,
Serene.

I began in secret and in darkness,
A mystery, even to myself.
Day by day, nature shapes my clay,
As you await the blessed dawn of my birth day.

What I know, I know by existence.
I am now all trust,
Simply growing,
Simply becoming who I am.

Comfort, you give comfort.
Love, you are all I know of love.
As you wait for me, my mother,
The eyes of my soul are wide open.
I behold you, smiling upon me.

Expectant, vigilant and gleeful,
Mother of my moments,
You cradle me.
You are my home of sweet delight.

© 2011  Joann Nelander

The Now of Time and Passion

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Jesus, You didn’t rush through the moments of Your Passion on the Way of the Cross.

You didn’t hurry through Your Suffering on the Cross on the way to Your Ressurrection.

Rather, You embrace the whole of each morsel of Time to sanctify the whole.

In Your steps along Your Way, may I walk embracing You,

In Your Passion, my passion,

In Your cross, my cross,

In Your Resurrection, my resurrection.

© 2011 Joann Nelander

Going Up to Jerusalem

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O God, let me climb
the Lord’s mountain,
That I may be changed,
Charged, and sent.

Going up to Jerusalem,
May sinful Man
Grab on to the tassels 
Of my garment,
And run with me,
Drawn heavenward
By Your Cross.

On this mountain,
This all hallowed mountain,
From which the bones of Adam,
And the faith of Abraham, cry out,
Rescue,save, deliver,
My Bridegroom comes.

©2011 Joann Nelander

Life Everlasting – All Glory to God

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Thomas Aquinas stained glass window.

Image via Wikipedia

From a conference by Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

I shall be satisfied when your glory is seen It is fitting that the end of all our desires, namely eternal life coincides with the words at the end of the creed, “Life everlasting. Amen.” The first point about eternal life is that man is united with God. For God himself is the reward and end of all our labors: I am your protector and your supreme reward. This union consists in seeing perfectly: At present we see through a glass, darkly; but then we shall see face to face. Next it consists in perfect praise, according to the words of the prophet: Joy and happiness will be found in it, thanksgiving and words of praise. It also consists in the complete satisfaction of desire, for there the blessed will be given more than they wanted or hoped for. The reason is that in this life no one can fulfill his longing, nor can any creature satisfy man’s desire. Only God satisfies, he infinitely exceeds all other pleasures. That is why man can rest in nothing but God. As Augustine says: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our heart can find no rest until it rests in you. Since in their heavenly home the saints will possess God completely, obviously their longing will be satisfied, and their glory will be even greater. That is why the Lord says: Enter into the joy of your Lord. Augustine adds: The fullness of joy will not enter into those who rejoice, but those who rejoice will enter into joy. I shall be satisfied when your glory is seen, and again: He who satisfies your desire with good things. Whatever is delightful is there in superabundance. If delights are sought, there is supreme and most perfect delight. It is said of God, the supreme good: Boundless delights are in your right hand. Again, eternal life consists of the joyous community of all the blessed, a community of supreme delight, since everyone will share all that is good with all the blessed. Everyone will love everyone else as himself, and therefore will rejoice in another’s good as in his own. So it follows that the happiness and joy of each grows in proportion to the joy of all.