Seek grace before bliss.
To seek bliss,
Is to seek the gift
May be to shun the Giver.
Who conjures dreams matters.
My pleasure may spring
From forbidden springs.
Before I entrust
Myself to gods,
Should I not seek
To discern truth
From Truth.
Come, come,
O, kind Spirit of Truth,
Though You contradict my way,
I promise to obey,
Clad in Your grace,
Day by day.
©2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
You are God
Wholly Other,
Yet Your humanity
Embraces me
By sacrament.
You are the Head,
The Church, Your Mystical Body,
And in it
I wash my robes,
To take on
The Infant Life of Christ,
Wholly dependent,
Yet gifted
With abundant blessing.
You are God,
Wholly Other,
My Father receives me,
Clothed in the living Flesh
Of the beloved Son.
Copyright 2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Darkness had come upon the land,
A darkness so thick,
It could be felt.
You spoke and said to me,
I will awake the dawn.
Rising early, I raised my arms to heaven
And Your sun entered my soul.
A thousand candles,
Burn on the altar of my heart.
Piercing the darkness,
Are Your eyes of Love.
Cascading streams of Light,
Illuminating that cavern,
That was Sin.
Lord, help me
Return Your gaze.
I behold You, darkly,
New to the blinding Light.
Dancing Miracle of Sun
Accustom my open eyes to Your Spirit
To receive the sun and moonbeams
As You eclipse the Night.
© 2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
I watched a friend at prayer.
From the moment her eyes
Met Yours on the Cross,
She was enraptured.What is it that passes between like souls?
The gulf between You, God,
And Your creature is unfathomable,
Yet, Your love spans the distance and dissimilarity
With the intimacy of a mother
Suckling her infant,
All giving, all gift and all grace.I watched my friend at prayer.
The world about her changed.
A holy space surrounded her,
As angels hurried to and fro,
Now bowing, now prostrate, now adoring.All prayer unites,
As earth receives its Savior-God,
As Man exercises dominion,
Freed from Sin and chains.Angels in swift flight,
Aloft on mission-wings ,
Now ascending,
Now descending.Peace on earth
To men of good will,
As Time and Eternity kiss,
Love knowing no distance.I watched my friend at prayer,
As her prayer became my prayer,
You drawing all to Yourself.
Draw me now,
And all will in turn
Run after the odor of Your ointments.©2011 Joann Nelander
My house is richer, cleaner, prettier. But I prefer your cave, because here everything is made of love. Straw, cobwebs, poverty, all loving. I prefer your cave, I love your manger, I admire the cobwebs, I kiss the straw and the floor. I will stay here. In this place, for love of me, the Baby Jesus was born.
Written by Mariano de Blas LC | Source: Catholic.net
Matt 28:20 I Am With You Always
I woke up with God today.
He was with me,
And I smiled.I am smiling still,
For in His Presence,
I seem to glow,
On the inside, of course.I hug Christ to me, all gratitude.
Being flighty like a bird,
Anxious to take to wing,
Precisely, because my spirit soars,
I count the grace of moment, a treasure,
and tuck it ‘neath my pinions.Once aloft on wings of love,
I may be distracted,
Attracted by His good creation,
Or attacked by jealous gods,
Envying His majesty,
And hating His Intimacy
With so lowly a creature.My God, thank You,
For this favor in Time,
That I may be refreshed,
And readied for Eternity,
Where I shall never
Lose sight of You.Steel me, O Immanuel.
Sharpen my vision,
To see You with me always,
In Your hidden Presence
Within my soul.©2011 Joann Nelander All rights reserved
Be Holy! 