Folly’s Zeal

August 11, 2014 by Be Holy

Immodest child,
Immoderate man,
So, you think to slay dragons,
By wit and prowess,
Armed with nature’s sword.

You think it cruel
And mean-spirited,
That a “good” God
Choose to temper you,
By merciful humiliation.

He thwarts your inventions,
And plans of glory.
“All for God,” your dream,
Yet you are at the center,
With your well-chosen cross.

“Indiscreet zeal”
Immature man,
Undone by impatience,
Intemperance,
And swollen pride.

Each day God waits
Supplies the Way,
Plans a day
Filled to the brim
With humility’s simplicity.

Abandonment,
Acceptance,
Both arrow and bow,
To hit the mark
Marked out by Love.

Acknowledgement:

In a chapter called, “Immature Zeal” Ralph Martin points out the effectiveness overtime of “ordinary grace” and “common life,” in his book, The Fulfillment of All Desires, a Guidebook to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints.

Ralph quotes Sts. Teresa of Avila and Bernard to point out our folly in relying inordinately on ourselves to become holy and to do great things for God, both early in the spiritual life, and later on, when temptations are subtler.

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

August 10, 2014 by Be Holy

It’s time once again for Sunday Snippets. We are Catholic bloggers sharing weekly our best posts with one another. Join us to read and/or contribute. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Make sure that the post links back to here, and leave a link to your snippets post on our host, RAnn’s, site, This, That and the Other Thing.

My Posts for the past week:

Flowers and Drunken Bees #poetry

August 7, 2014 by Be Holy

Flowers in the rain
Petals open to sustain

Life that is and is to be
Crouched in hidden expectancy

Bees by colors in delight,
Arrested, nay, beguiled, alight.

To sip and gather on furry feet
Nectar and pollen of life so sweet.

Flower to flower in drunken run
Dance the mystery now begun.

by Joann Nelander

* "A hapless male bee, blind drunk with the flower’s overpowering pheromones, might well mistake a toadstool for a suitable mate" a tidbit from Wikipedia

For Fear Apart #Christian Poetry #Catholic

August 5, 2014 by Be Holy

Why apart?
From the in-gathering, all embracing Mother Church you flee,
To remain apart all the while,
Calling and yearning for your God.

You flee and I run after you,
Pursuing you at every turn,
As I reach and you pull your hand away.
Why not stay?
My Body yearns for you.
My members long to know you.

I wait upon your prayers
With angels ready to dispatch.
O, Pardoned Soul,
You seek your God in myriad ways,
I am here, wedded to My Bride,
Always at her side,
Promised never to depart.
You hold yourself apart.

You’ve built a chapel in your heart
For others that play God,
I call and draw you by Love
Within the chapel of your heart.

You sigh as I tug
At heart strings tight and taunt.
You resist Me for fear they’ll break.
I woo, I’m told to wait.
You say you are not ready
For Love’s music.

“Measure me Your Love,” you say.
“Give comfort, strength and sure supply,
But do not on my ‘Yes’ rely.”

Perhaps the Bride, the Church,
Who bears My Word forth
Unto all centuries,
Has words you n’er obey,
In dread fear of the “ought”
You can not bear.

You will your will be done on earth
And choose to judge all heaven.
You want only love’s first glance,
The sweet embrace
And kiss upon the cheek,
Nothing too dear, nothing too deep.
It seems a bitter end,
To lose yourself in giving all.

O Measured One.
You know Love comes with a Cross,
A Cross you fear to carry.
You choose to stay apart
And skirt the Cross.

Alas, the world without has crosses, too.
They may come disguised in promised delight,
But soon you’ll drag that empty dream uphill.

How long one longs
And labors longingly
And all alone
Beneath the weight
Of vanities profane,
I do not say.
I only await a cry, a plea, A glance of recognition.
When our eyes meet, then our hearts meet;
At long last your leap into the arms
Of One Who grasps you in your fall.

Be mine as Church joined to Husband.
At last the Lord of All
Can leap the walls you’ve built about yourself
To know you now
Within His Sacred Heart,
Bearing your cross in His,
Making all things new
And all your burdens light.
Count now as joy life
Without measure.

Fear not my Church.
She is My Spouse,
My very Body;
I, the Head.

I woo and wait,
Now, as Groom upon the altar.
It is for you
To give yourself away.

by Joann Nelander

Entombment

August 4, 2014 by Be Holy

Mortal life of substance,
And ethereal,
As the matter of soul,
You are far spent,
In this night of human life,
That passes in a blink
Of the eye of God.

I have pulled you,
Limb from limb,
Not as the Savior’s travail
Upon the Cross,
But by sinning,
Brought death to my members.

I am dislocated,
In body and Time,
Knowing neither peace,
Nor the plenty
Of sweet communion,

The passages of Death
And the Lies,
Rising from the Pit,
And told to Man,
Threaten the life
Of God in me,

You, O mind and body,
Have been taken prisoner,
By the gods
I chose to serve.

Mercy speaks
Light to my darkness
And Grace
To my repentant will,
Love never ceases
Watching and waiting.

Mercy, I call to You,
You, Who call me forth,
And deliver me.
I turn my thoughts and pray
To the Fount of my being.

As a babe,
I return,
And from New Womb,
By faith believing,
I choose rebirth,
And am reborn.

My grave is a baptism
That reconnects my spirit
To my God..
Breath, bones and sinews
Sing a new song
Born of my Savior’s Grave.

Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com