Tag Archives: Prayer

Pope Francis visits the Holy Land – Water of Peace- a Poem Prayer

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As Pope Francis visits the Holy Land, I offer a prayer as we accompany him in spirit:

Water of Peace

Jesus, enter the waters of our lives.
As at the Jordan,
You made holy
The water of Baptism,
Renew, in all men of good will,
Life, that flows from the God of Heaven,
Your Father, our Father, my Father.

May Your Holiness
Infuse the elements,
That compose all created things.
By the Water,
Cascading from the Temple,
Your pierced, open, and hallowed Side,
Prepare here a place for all men to abide.
Amen

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com

Kindling and Sacrifice

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Light a fire in my lowly heart
That I may love Thee
More and more.

Accept my straw as kindling.
Ignite me as a sacrifice.
To be consumed.

Breathe on me in the furnace
Of your desires
For this child of Your creation.

Blaze to transform
By grace and Thy Holy Spirit,
My base metal into the finest gold.

Enflame my yearning heart
That love may burst forth,
Forevermore.

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com

Brother, Redeemer

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Kin of my heart, I come to You, the Altar.
At Your feet
I lay myself down.

Redeemer Brother, cover me
With your mantle.
Claim me as Your own.

Protect me through the night,
Wake me at dawn with a sweet caress.
Let my name be as a kiss  upon Your lips.

Closer than breath,
Stronger than death,
Our hearts, now and forever, One.

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Known But by Grace

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Only, and far flung God,
Bursting upon the scene of Time
To start the clock
By uncreated might,
And usher forth
Your manifold good will,
In the splendor of creation,
Look on me,
In my becoming.
In this, the only now I know,
This precious fleeting instant,
Reveal Yourself evermore.

You entered Time
That Man might enter Heaven.
You, Who are Eternal Being,
Let me contemplate Thee
Wrapped in swaddling clothes,
Nursing at the Virgin’s breast,
Growing as men grow,
Yet knowing the Father Creator
As only Son.

I see Thee arrayed,
Transfigured in the Light,
Even as You are stretched
Between Heaven and Earth
On Your Holy Cross,
Becoming Sin,
And dying in my stead.
Lifted above the earth in Your divinity,
Higher than the mountains,
Yet pervading depth and breathe,
To shake and shape
The cursed land and Man anew,
In elegant Revelation of Mystery,
Rising from the dead,
To live in universal blessedness,
Across all time and space,
Known but by grace.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander

For the Glory

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O God,
See Your Saints,
And in them
See Your Son.

Behold in their living
And their dying the Cross
And the glory of God.

Enfleshed anew,
It is the Holy Spirit,
As in the womb of the Virgin
Who gIves to the world
Proof of Your Love.

Your lowly creature, Man
Receives in his very being,
The splendor of Your might,
The eternal evidence
Of Your victory.

Satan and Sin, conquered,
Death defeated,
You dawn,
And the Son arises.

You shine in Your own,
Giving glory to God,
The Bridegroom,
Loving the Bride.

 

The Hollow of Your Hand

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Hollow in the palm of Your hand,

See me here,

A child hiding in this darkness

Which is All Light and All Truth.

 

The brightness of Your Sun

Has blinded me.

I grasp Your hand

And cling to You,

My Three, my One.

 

Bright Angel,

Announce your Truth

In my soul.

Let me not fear the shadows,

But find all things

Awakening anew

My confidence in You,

Truth and Trusted One.

 

Reign, God of my heart,

I have sought You,

Moment by moment,

Day after day.

Holy Solace, wrap me as in petals.

 

Heart of healing,

Open in the warmth

Of a new and holy day,

The Lord has made,

New day,

Day of the Lord.

 

No fear here,

All comfort, all strength, all joy.

I have become a child

In the palm of Your hand,

Ever resting, ever secure,

O Holy Love.

To You abandoned,

to You promised,

to You wed.

 

 

By Joann Nelander