Your Eyes Are Upon Me

Your eyes are upon
Your lowly servant.
I have a sense
Of being with You
This day in Paradise.
I know you are here
With me,
In the Flesh
For these holy moments,
And, by my Baptism and Confirmation,
By character and grace
In Your Holy Spirit.

Amen to all you choose
To do in me.
I am Yours.
Make me a cleansed vessel
A vessel covered in gold
Fit for Your service,
A chalice full
Of willingness.
I pray, I wait, I obey.

Holy, holy,holy Lord.

©2013 Joann Nelander

At My Death

At my death,
My kind and loving Jesus,
Friend and Savior of my soul ,
See again and always
My Baptism,
By and in which I entered
Into Your Divine Life,
As humble and grateful partaker,
Becoming priest, prophet, and king,
By the Victory and Resurrection
That is Yours,
And I now share.

Here, the Life giving Water
Of Your Father’s Plan
And Will for me,
Invited me into Your Death,
That I might live,
Another Christ,
By and in His Only Begotten Son,
By the Will of the Most Holy Trinity.

I will with all my heart,
“Amen”
To all you have done for me
In Your Passion and Death.

May this New Life,
That is Your embrace
Of all my life,
Nailed to the Cross,
That is Your Death
And ransom for my life,
Breathe New Life
Into my soul eternally.

At my death
Take to Yourself,
Your Own.

©2013 Joann Nelander

All rights reserved

All Glory to You

My dear Jesus,
My merciful Jesus,
I rejoice in Your Presence.
Pour ever fresh graces
Into my soul,
That I may draw life From Your Life,
And that Your living Presence in me
May light my corner of the world
With Your Glory.

©2013 Joann Nelander  All rights reserved

Reign of God

Jesus, in Whom all came to be,
Be praised and adored.

You Who spoke forth Light and Life,
Command me as Lord.

Holy God, All Mighty,
Answer with efficacious grace.

Speak in the depths of my being,
To bring forth a new creation.

May all men turn to You,
And Your Church give witness

.You Who are all worthy,
May Your reign be honored  in all the earth.

 

©2013 Joann Nelander

The Fear of the Lord”

From a treatise on the psalms by Saint Hilary, bishop

The meaning of “the fear of the Lord”

Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. Notice that when Scripture speaks of the fear of the Lord it does not leave the phrase in isolation, as if it were a complete summary of faith. No, many things are added to it, or are presupposed by it. From these we may learn its meaning and excellence. In the book of Proverbs Solomon tells us: If you cry out for wisdom and raise your voice for understanding, if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord. We see here the difficult journey we must undertake before we can arrive at the fear of the Lord.

We must begin by crying out for wisdom. We must hand over to our intellect the duty of making every decision. We must look for wisdom and search for it. Then we must understand the fear of the Lord.

“Fear” is not to be taken in the sense that common usage gives it. Fear in this ordinary sense is the trepidation our weak humanity feels when it is afraid of suffering something it does not want to happen. We are afraid, or made afraid, because of a guilty conscience, the rights of someone more powerful, an attack from one who is stronger, sickness, encountering a wild beast, suffering evil in any form. This kind of fear is not taught: it happens because we are weak. We do not have to learn what we should fear: objects of fear bring their own terror with them.

But of the fear of the Lord this is what is written: Come, my children, listen to me, I shall teach you the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord has then to be learned because it can be taught. It does not lie in terror, but in something that can be taught. It does not arise from the fearfulness of our nature; it has to be acquired by obedience to the commandments, by holiness of life and by knowledge of the truth.

For us the fear of God consists wholly in love, and perfect love of God brings our fear of him to its perfection. Our love for God is entrusted with its own responsibility: to observe his counsels, to obey his laws, to trust his promises. Let us hear what Scripture says: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God and walk in his ways and love him and keep his commandments with your whole heart and your whole soul, so that it may be well for you?

The ways of the Lord are many, though he is himself the way. When he speaks of himself he calls himself the way and shows us the reason why he called himself the way: No one can come to the Father except through me.

We must ask for these many ways, we must travel along these many ways, to find the one that is good. That is, we shall find the one way of eternal life through the guidance of many teachers. These ways are found in the law, in the prophets, in the gospels, in the writings of the apostles, in the different good works by which we fulfill the commandments. Blessed are those who walk these ways in the fear of the Lord.

- See more at: http://divineoffice.org/#sthash.tNk2UOJN.dpuf

As I Am, Lord–MP3-Fr. Raymond

Because I am obnoxious, forgive me Lord.
Because I am dishonest, forgive me Lord.
Because I am egotistical, forgive me Lord.
Because I am undisciplined, forgive me Lord.
Because I am weak, forgive me Lord.
Because I am impure, forgive me Lord.
Because I am arrogant, forgive me Lord.
Because I am self-centered, forgive me Lord,
Because I am pompous, forgive me Lord.
Because I am insincere, forgive me Lord.
Because I am unchaste, forgive me Lord.
Because I am grasping, forgive me Lord.
Because I am judgmental, forgive me Lord.
Because I am impatient, forgive me Lord.
Because I am shallow, forgive me Lord.
Because I am inconsistent, forgive me Lord.
Because I am unfaithful, forgive me Lord.
Because I am immoral, forgive me Lord.
Because I am ungrateful, forgive me Lord.
Because I am disobedient, forgive me Lord.
Because I am selfish, forgive me Lord.
Because I am lukewarm, forgive me Lord.
Because I am slothful, forgive me Lord.
Because I am unloving, forgive me Lord.
Because I am uncommitted, forgive me Lord.
Because I am sinful, forgive me Lord.

Because I am loved by You, thank you Lord!

By Father Raymond A. Pavlick, Paterson, N.J.

As I Am. Lord MP3 recording by Richard Garnaut.

Jesus of the Cross,

Jesus of the Cross,
Jesus of the Suffering,
Jesus of the Dying,
Hanging from Your Cross
Before our eyes,
Hanging in Your Suffering,
Bleeding out Your Love,
Hanging in Your Dying
Above the world,
First Born Son and New beginning,
Birthing in the hearts of the Children of Man,
Children for God.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander All rights reserved

Lenten Springtime

Enjoy the spring time of life
And live in wonder.
Enjoy in awe the Love
God lavishes upon the lowly.
Enjoy the ever fresh image of Christ
Imprinted in our souls.

It is Lent
Enjoy your food,
Receive it from the hand of God.
Abhor sin and cease to feed on fodder,
That you might have fullness
And your choice portion
At Heaven’s banquet.

©2013 Joann Nelander

Consolation of Eve

This painting is so consoling, I just have to share it again since Lent brings us closer to our Savior.  He comes to save Fallen Man, and with such a gentle hand.

“Virgin Mary Consoles Eve”

Crayon and pencil by Sr. Grace Remington, OCSO
Copyright 2005, Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey

Mother Eve, waiting long,
Your bones resting in the earth,
At Adam’s side,
From which you were taken,
Waiting, waiting for the Woman.

Sustained in weary life by a Promise.
Enduring the grave,
Counting the centuries,
Waiting for Good News.
The Virgin is with Child. Rejoice!

©2011 Joann Nelander All rights reserved

All You Have Given Me

 

I love You, Lord.

You embrace me

In our communion of Eucharist.

 

I believe in Your love for the sinner.

I am that sinner.

You come to me.

I am empty and poor,

Yet, You make my poverty Your paradise.

Here I bring to You

All You have given me.

 

Behold Your streaming waters

Tumbling over my rocky ground.

Your light penetrates my depths,

The caverns of my heart

Yield their darkness

To You, O Holy Sun!

 

Sit here beside me in the silence,

As praise becomes

An uncontainable river within me.

Flow from my humble abode

To water Your thirsting world without.

 

Delight, O Lord,

As the crashing thunder

Of majestic waves

Rise before You

In a crescendo of thanksgiving,

Finally pounding down

Upon the shore of my unworthiness.

They ebb and flow

And gather strength

As I remember Your Mercies.

All You have given me,

I receive now in humble gratitude.

 

By Joann Nelander

 

Days of Darkness–Days of Light

Happy Anniversary!

You registered on WordPress.com 4 years ago!

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging!

Yup, Word Press congratulated me!  Four years today!  To celebrate, I’m re-blogging my first post with a bit of tweeking to fit the season.

 

Days of Darkness–Days of Light

We just celebrated the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  It was he, who said in a letter addressed to the Roman church (Rom.5:20), “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more"  Well, here’s the vision, as it was told to me. I want you to picture it so that you feel it with your heart:

You and I squeak in,  passing  through those towering Pearly Gates.  People of all ages overwhelm even our enhanced understanding of the generations descended from Adam and Eve.  We can’t wait to embrace them.  We know them intimately. Instantly, we know their stories.  These are those who lived Salvation history.

“What was it like?”,  we ask over and again?   These, after all, are those who walked dry shod through the walls of water escaping Pharaoh’s chariots.  Here, too,  are the masses who had pressed upon the Christ.  They’d witnessed the manner and miracles of Jesus.  Some has eaten the bread and fish He’d multiplied.  Others admitted that they had shouted, “Crucify Him.”  Others had stood along the way as He pushed on to Calvary. The martyrs from all past centuries were among the most joyful.  They now rejoiced that their blood shed for Christ seeded the proceeding eons to bear fruit in such as we.

For all our eagerness to express our gratitude to them and give glory to God, they pressed the more upon us, for their need js to know our stories.  “Tell us,”  they asked, “how black did the times become when men who pretend to knowledge denied life in the womb.  How dark were the days in which the hearts of mothers died, choosing  to bring forth corpses instead of  living children.  You, who lived with blindness and deafness,  how did you survive?  Like Peter, was it repentance that  re-ignited your flame?   How did you find courage walking  the Valley of the Shadow of Death?  How bright was the Light that brought you home?”

That Light is shining now, on everyone. Who will guide the blind and who will lead the thirsty to the Living Water, if not you and me.

Take My Hand

 

Take my hand , my Jesus.
Here I am, Your child,
Too small to stand on my own,
Yet welcome before Your throne.

It is, You, My Cause,
Who sets me upright,
Through and through,
To be like unto You.

All my life called,
And marked by Love Divine,
Under Your Shadow, sun shining above,
One command only, Love!

Who can love without You?
This, too, You supply.
You spend Your Life’s Blood
To draw me from mire and mud.

All from Adam
In human chain,
Hold hands to be set free,
Man from Sin in loving Thee.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander

A Prayer in Adoration

Here I am Lord,
Sitting, kneeling,
Prostrate in spirit
Before You, adoring.
Who You are in Your glory
Lies hidden under the appearance
Of this Holy Bread before me.

You have revealed to Your Church
The wonder, and magnificence
Of Your living Presence.
With Mother Church,
I extol Your beauty.
Truths come to mind
And I give assent.

I am married to You,
O Holy Bridegroom.
In the fullness of time,
I will embrace You
With a glorified vision and body,
But, for now, I reach with heart
And mind’s eye to catch a glimpse
Of this splendid Truth
Hidden as it is
‘Neath Bread and Wine
And broken Body on a Cross.

Favor me with an increase
Of love and desire,

Until my longing tears free
From all that holds me captive still.
I know my blindness,
And have seen my foolishness.
In my poverty and need,
I seek refuge here
Before Your eyes.

Your Truth,
Your splendid Truth, be mine!
These are such glorious Truths,
I can not comprehend them
In their reality and breath.
I can only glimpse them,
And cry out in hope and faith.

My adorable Lord,
Looking upon me now as always,
Gather to Yourself,
The groans and sighs of Spirit born,
Unto Your memories,
As so many Communions
And resurrections of spirit,
As chains of Love in Time,
But always,
Only One Adorable Lord.

©2010 Joann Nelander

Dreams Dreamt Before

Oh, I’ve waken to new sunshine

Of dawns risen o’er the hills.

I’ve swum in quivering rivers,

And climbed in flight as gulls.

I’ve shown bright with each moonlight

And fallen with each star.

I’ve feathered clouds with soft down

And sprinkled rain afar.

I’ve snuggled to a blade of grass

And clutched a rose as dew.

I’ve painted rainbows ‘cross the sky,

And lavished them with hue.

I’ve suckled sweetness from a bloom,

And fluttered, free to soar.

I’ve slept beneath the Tree of Life

And dreamt these dreams before.

©2012 Joann Nelander

Infant King Benign

O Infant King benign
I offer You the face
Of Mother Mary
As she gazed upon You
That very first time
Beholding long
Your holy countenance.

Her eyes, drinking in her Babe,
Her King, her Priest,
Her Son Divine,
Wept tears of joy,
And wonder,
In silent adoration,
Pondering comprehension.
She smiled in inward exultation.

You will never forget
Her look of love
As she gazed upon
Him, Who no earthly eye
Had seen,
A treasure for the world,
In her care,
To be wrapped
In lowly swaddling clothes
You, O Christ Child,
In Your humanity divine.

Heaven’s Feast

Heaven’s Feast

I am hungry, Lord.
Yet, it is not my belly
That speaks.
How is it
That You have
Subjected my gut,
And, even my mind
Is Your weaned child,
Yet pangs assail me?
Is it my heart
That desires more?
When You filled me,
I believed I would be
Satisfied forever.
My capacity was full
And overflowing.

As promised,
You made me grow.
My heart expanded
Under Your tutorage,
My life’s blood
Did not suffice.
To meet my heart’s need.
I fed on You,
Body and Blood.

The demand
For Life in me
Kept pace.
Here I am, again,

At Your Table,At Banquet,
With my King.
Thankfully, my Food
Is in steady supply,
And, in that,
I will be nourished,
And hungry no more.

You never deny me.
May I never deny You,
My Host and my Plenty,
Until, at last,
I sup at Heaven’s Feast
For all Eternity.

Discalced Carmelite Nuns–Music Videos

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

Hello, and welcome to. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts this  Catholic Carnival.

To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for the week.

 Make sure that post links back to  Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post at RAnn’s site.

Here are my contributions from the past week:

Miracle of the Sun – Oct 13, 1917 – Apparitions of Fatima

USCCB Responds To Inaccurate Statement Of Fact On HHS Mandate Made During Vice Presidential Debate

Argument From Size

My Bump by the Brown-eyed Keyz- Music Video

Graced to Be

Moments of Grace

Born Alive

Life Begins – Science of the Womb

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

Hello, and welcome to. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts this  Catholic Carnival.

To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for the week.

 Make sure that post links back to  Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post at RAnn’s site.

Here are my contributions from the past week:

That Man, Job

“I Thirst”

Angelic Companion, Mine

Act Of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart Of Jesus

Savings on Print Copies of My Books

Newly Revised – Into the Stillness

Into the Stillness by Joann Salerno Nelander | Make Your Own Book

When My Heart Sings

My poetry begins and ends with prayer.  Jesus, His redeeming Death on the Cross, and trust in God’s desire to draw us ever closer to Him in Holy Love, is the music that makes my heart sing. I turn a listening ear to the rhapsody that plays throughout the Universe and Time to catch the notes that sound in the present moment. All creation sings God’s song.

When My Heart Sings by Joann Salerno Nelander | Make Your Own Book

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival,

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers.

Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

Posts I’m sharing this week:

Waxing Proud

Oil of Gladness

Unusual Gifts

It’s What We Call Democracy

Scary – “Lost Works” from Sermons of the Cure of Ars

LOST WORKS

How is it, my dear brethren, that so few Christians behave with one end only in view — to please God? Here is the reason, pure and simple. It is just that the vast majority of Christians are enveloped in the most shocking ignorance, so that, humanly speaking, they really do the very best they can.

The result is that if you were to compare their intentions with those of pagans, you would not find any difference. Ah, dear Lord, how many good works are lost for Heaven! Others who are a little better informed are interested only in the esteem of their fellow men, and they try to dissemble as much as they can: their exterior seems good, while interiorly they are filled with duplicity and evil. Yes, my dear brethren, we shall see at the Judgment that the largest section of Christians practiced a religion of whim or caprice only — that is to say, the greatest number of them practiced their religion merely from motives of routine, and very few sought God alone in what they did.

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers.

Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

Posts I’m sharing this week:

Fully Human, Fully Alive!

Human Responsibility Demands Freedom and Conscience

Audio or Video of Divine Mercy Chaplet

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers. Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

Posts I”m sharing this week:

I Am the Gift

Take My Hand

An Act of Faith

A Place Apart

Awake O Dreamer, Blaphemer

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers. Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

Posts I”m sharing this week:

Fear of the Lord

People of Praise

Welcome?

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers. Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

Posts I”m sharing this week:

Time, Trial and Chaff

Love’s Mansion

Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers. Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

Posts I”m sharing this week:

Fortnight For Freedom

Conversion Miracles in the Ether of Cyberspace

 Prayer for Tough Times

Conversion Miracles in the Ether of Cyberspace

 

Leah Libresco a prominent atheist blogger at Patheos, a religion website, has left the ranks of the faithful no-faith for true believer status among the Christian hordes. Debate sparked this unexpected decision. 

“The great thing about a lot of the atheist and skeptic community is that people talk more critically about ideas and want to see proof provided,”  “That kind of analytical thinking is completely useful and the Catholic Church doesn’t need to and should not be afraid of because if you’ve got the facts on your side, you hope they win.”

A Prayer for Tough Times

H/T Catholic Prayers

O Lord, hear my cry pouring out from a troubled heart. The sorrow which clutches at my soul has driven me to You my protector, my True Friend in time of need. You know, my God, all my failings, my faults and my sins as well as the torment gripping my soul. My greatest sorrow should be for my disregard of Your holy commandments in the past, and I sincerely hope that you will grant me the grace of true contrition. O my Savior, hide not Your Face from me in this tribulation, let the light of Your Countenance shine upon me that I may be illuminated by Its love. If it be Your will, lighten this burden from me, yet should it be a means of my salvation, help me, help me O Lord, to carry this cross, for alone I can do nothing. Radiate Your love upon Your prodigal child O Lord, this beggar who knocks at Your door seeking shelter in Your Sacred Heart; this once proud earthen vessel made of clay seeks You, O Christ, and in a newly found faith, firmly believes that you will receive him in Your limitless Love and Mercy. Amen

This prayer’s tone is suggestive of that found in several of the famousPenitential Psalms, in which the psalmists readily admit their sins to God, sometimes in heart-wrenching detail, while calling on, and trusting in, His mercy.