You looked down
From Your Cross
To behold faithfulness.
There stood Your Mother.
You beheld her look of grief,
Her suffering Your pain.
You wed it
To Your Own,
Presenting all
Before Our Father’s holy throne.
© 2013 Joann Nelander
Mary, Mother,
Grace-filled vessel,
Poised throughout your life
To receive God’s word.
Always listening,
By obedience wooing,
From your holy infancy,
Caressing to your heart
The holy Word of God.
You conceived in your heart
Our God eternal,
Before He entered
Your virginal womb.
Grace upon grace
Your beauty unfolded,
In blossom so rare,
Upon this Earth.
Season upon season,
You moved in silence hidden,
In prayer secure.
O Mary Mother,
With kiss so sweet,
lavish upon me
Thy Holy Maternity.
I entrust to your sublimity
My formation within my mother’s womb.
Make happy that dear chamber,
In which my life and love
Were bequeathed and body grown.
“Behold your Mother,”
He said from His Cross.
Now, do I behold you,
And take you to my heart.
Speak here the words
You whispered in Christ’s ear
As He laid his little head
Uon your breast.
Jesus received from you
Milk and kindness
With gentle regard.
Caress now my humanity.
Make me ever your home,
As I welcome you to my soul,
Make me your hearth,
With fires burning bright.
Purify my moments
And sanctify my soul.
By virtue,
Virtue of your wedded Spouse,
Petition the Holy Spirit of Your Son.
Send angels, as you once did stewards,
To wait upon the words of your Son.
Miracles followed
On your behest at Cana.
I wait now and ever in your arms,
Embraced as the Christ Child.
Look upon me, dear Mother
And heal my wounded yet happy heart.
By Joann Nelander
Jesus,
Everyday, everyday, everyday,
Fall upon my tongue
As dew upon the obedient grass,
Which yields to Your Wind,
To be proclaimed anew.
Holy One,
Forever, forever, forever,
Go forth from my mouth,
As spring rains
To water the parched earth,
Thirsty for You.
©2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
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
via ncregister.com
Help with Today’s Problems
St. Joseph focused on life’s difficulties and offered consolation. “My Son Jesus, through my Heart, wishes to impart to all men his divine blessings. I know many of you suffer many great difficulties because, in these last times, men no longer love or help one another but live with their hearts full of pride, falsehood, lies, intrigue, ambition, backbiting, pettiness, and many wrong things that are the consequences of living far from God.”
St. Joseph said to all who honor his Heart and trust in him and his intercession, “I promise they will not be abandoned in their difficulties and in the trials of life. I will ask Our Lord to help them with his Divine Providence in their material and spiritual problems.”
To mothers and fathers consecrating themselves and their families to his Heart, St. Joseph assured help in afflictions and problems, and assistance with raising up their children.
Sin: Consequences & His Protection
The spouse of Mary did not ignore the current world situation which in 1998 was still 18 years from the multitude of today’s multiplying spiritual chaos.
He emphasized, “[M]y Son Jesus is very indignant with the sins of humanity.
“He desires to pour his divine justice upon all men that do not want to repent and continue obstinately in their sins. Look, my son, I hold his right hand, preventing Him from pouring out his justice upon all humanity. I ask Him, through the graces of my Heart and for being worthy to live by his side, taking care of him with the love of a father in this world, and for Him having loved me with the love of a son, to not chastise the world for its crimes, but for all my little ones who honor and will honor this Chaste Heart of mine, should pour out his mercy upon the world.”
The world’s many sins call humanity to repent and do penance, he said, “because God receives continued offenses from ungrateful men. Today there are so many outrages, the sacrilege and indifference by all men. It is because of this that so many calamities like war, hunger and disease occur and so many other sad things man has suffered because of man’s rebellion against God.”
St. Joseph made clear rebellion’s consequences. “God lets men follow their own paths to show them all, without him, they will never be happy. He lets men go through so much suffering, to also show them the consequences sin brings to their lives and so then the divine justice punishes humanity because of their obstinance in not being obedient to God’s Will.
He pointed out humanity is “increasingly obstinate in their crimes” because of concern for worldly pleasures “rather than the love of God and his Commandments. But God’s justice is close at hand in a way never seen before and will come about suddenly upon the whole world.”
That should shake us, yet this most powerful saint extends a hope-filled solution. All those who honor his Chaste Heart “will receive the grace of my protection from all evils and dangers. For those who surrender to me will not be slaughtered by misfortunes, by wars, hunger, by diseases and other calamities, they will have my Heart as a refuge for their protection. Here, in my Heart, all will be protected against the divine justice in the days that will come. All who consecrate themselves to my Heart, honoring it, they will be looked upon by my Son Jesus with eyes of mercy, Jesus will pour out his love and will take to the glory of his Kingdom all those I put in my Heart.”
O, Magnificent One,
O, Magnanimous One,
O, Adorable One,
In the splendor of Your Godhead,
You stoop to lift me.
As Father, You gently raise me,
To plant Your kiss.
You span the distance between us.
Your overcome the flesh, the world and Evil, itself,
In the humility of the Cross.
You paid the price of my son-ship.
Knowing Yourself from eternity,
Eternally begetting the Son.
You planned to make humanity holy
By the Spirit of Jesus, Your Only Son.
O, Magnificent One,
O, Magnanimous One,
O, Adorable One,
As You breathe forth Your Spirit,
I gasp and hold fast that Breath.
©2017 Joann Nelander
Who will come to the stable
On Christmas Day?
And what will they take away?
Wise men, steadfast and earnest, came,
Instead of palace music,
They heard the donkey brae.
A lowly sound and sight,
Yet their wonder un-allayed.
Many come rejoicing,
To behold the Newborn King,
Bowing low,
While angels sing.
Christ’s comes for all
But not all come.
Some come, behold, then fall away,
Being rootless, they merrily go their way.
Father God prepared a voice
To announce His Only Word,
A messenger, born before, to go before.
Another child, spared Ramah’s plight
To live and pierce Sin’s long night
John, O, John, still cries, “Repent!”
Prepare if you would follow.
At Jerusalem’s Gate,
Many cried, “Messiah,”
Who would soon cry, “Crucify.”
Whose will will you do,
When the music fades in life?
Pride prides itself on ‘my way,’
Confounds with will and strife.
Without a ready, willing heart,
Nothing changes Christmas Day.
Corrupt hearts go on corrupting,
All the while the kingly Infant cries,
As throughout His life,
“I am the Way.”
Whose heart will live in yours
As angelic songs fade away.
Will you simply leave the stable
To follow your own way?
Come, O come, rejoicing!
Praying for a change.
Receive the Babe within your Heart.
The humble He teaches His Way.
©2011 Joann Nelander
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.
“Behold the Lamb of God,
Who takes away
The sins of the world.”
A priest holds aloft,
The consecrated Host.
“Behold”
One by one.
Standing in adoration,
Each receives.
They passed before me,
An army,
Each, a living monstrance.
©2016 Joann Nelander
With Veronica,
I want to bathe Your Wounds.
Time and place are no obstacle.
You, in eternity, possess all.
Possess my heart,
And my poor intentions,
Render them pure and holy.
Wiping the spittle from Your Adorable Face,
I weep at Your disfigurement at the hands of Man.
I, in my time and turn, have looked away.
Here, with You, in prayer,
I turn back,
That my present ministries
May touch Your Body,
Alive, suffering in purgation,
Battling with the help of Heaven on Earth,
And triumphant with our Father in glory.
Mysteriously, my wounds,
And warts are healed,
My misery comprehended and mended,
By Your merciful gaze,
My shame surrendered,
And supplanted,
With your look of Love.
With Veronica,
I reach out,
Only to receive back,
My dignity,
I stoop,
To rise with You,
My Hope,
True Image of Our Father’s Love.
©2015 Joann Nelander
* The Latin meaning of the name Veronica is “True Image” (vera icon)
May I live with Mary in my heart this day.
May her thoughts,
And precious memories of You, dear Jesus,
Resound in my mind and fill my soul,
That even Angels in flight,
And the Triumphant in Heaven,
Stop to listen and love with me.
Amen
I am awake.
I open my eyes to find You,
My Trinity,
All about me.
I am in the Heart of I AM,
My Abba.
I am in the Heart of Jesus.
The Breath of the Spirit,
Inspires.
I love and adore.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
You looked down
From Your Cross
To behold faithfulness.
There stood Your Mother.
You beheld her look of grief,
Her suffering Your pain.
You wed it
To Your Own,
Presenting all
Before Our Father’s holy throne.
© 2013 Joann Nelander
Good morning, Jesus.
Here we are again,
At the beginning of a new day.
Can you feel me?
Here I am in Your Great Heart,
Reaching for You with my heart.
I feel Your eyes upon me.
You are perfume to my senses.
You are the touch of sweetness
I taste wafting on the breeze of Spirit.
You sound in my heart
With the beating of Yours.
Ever near, ever dear, everlasting,
Song of my soul.
Good morning, my Jesus.
Hold me here,
On the brink of eternity.
©2014 Joann Nelander
Come, my Lord, to this poor dwelling,
You are Lord of all, and heaven is at hand as You approach.
Come in Spirit to my humble abode.
At your coming, the angels make ready.
They spread their wings over Your Mercy Seat.
Come be enthroned here in my heart.
Allow the splendor of heaven
To scatter flowers along Your Way,
As You incline Your Heart
To one in misery for want of You.
I rejoice for You are here,
And in my embrace.
You are Now.
You are mine,
O my Beloved.
Heaven finds a home in my soul,
As You reign in my heart.
A river of Life pours forth,
As You water this garden,
And provide rich food and fruit,
For all who will partake.
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
I live because You died,
Not in guilt,
But in the freedom of Love.
Choices are arrayed before me,
Multiplied by the days of my Life.
With the breaking
Of each New Day,
I rise forever
To choose You,
With the breaking
Of the Bread,
With the Lifting Up,
With the Cross before my eyes
I am a witness
Of the Resurrected One.
You Christ upon the altar,
You, Christ, living anew
In me,
Walk the Earth again
Leaving now my footsteps.
©2012 Joann Nelander
I would have preferred that he say that God wants all of you in Heaven,and His mercy is awaiting your free will acceptance of His invitation, rather than his blanket amnesty and presumptive statement of heaven for all. Still well worth listening.
Jesus, I place myself
In the holy confines
Of Your Sacred Heart.
Heart of my heart,
Draw heaven to me.
Surround me with friends
Of Your choosing,
That my mind might be full
Of the conversation of saints.
The world is so much with me.
It is temptress and shallow.
I long for the deep
Of Your thoughts,
To speak peace and refuge
In my wilderness.
You are the haven of my soul,
The Paradise once lost,
But now given
With my Daily Bread
Exile holds no fear
For You surround me.
You are my consolation
And marrow of my bones,
Strength of my strength.
Your Holy Spirit comes to me
And turns my tears to laughter.
In a valley of vanity and pride,
Your Humanity and Humility
Take me by the hand and heart
To lead me home.
©2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Holy Mother Mary,
I invite Your presence in my life.
As you look on my days,
Listen to my prayers,
Watch my growth through the years,
Touch me with the graces
Of.your Motherly prerogative,
You who walked the way of the Cross
With your Holy Son,
From the instant of His Incarnation
In your sacred womb,
Be beside me
In my every moment.
Meet me in my joys and sorrows
And impart your maternal blessing.
May my soul grow holy,
As you rush to lift me,
When I fall,
Just as you interceded
For Jesus in His Passion.
He fell under the weight of my sins,
And you cried out to heaven.
Hear now my heart
Beseeching thee.
Standing by His Cross,
See me in His Suffering
And receive me as your own.
Take the moments,
And all the years,
Of my existence,
In your arms,
As you did the Body of your Son,
When He was lowered from His Cross.
He wrought my Salvation
In that fearsome Hour.
Wrap my years in His shroud
And when I wake,
Rejoice in this,
My Easter morn.
Throughout these three years of his Pontificate, Francis has shown that he does not address problems through laws, but by “initiating processes” involving many people.Instead of cutting straight to the chase, he faces the long-term crisis with symbolic gestures. As a result, he has launched an irreversible cultural change.Of the hundreds of gestures and words with which he is changing the world and the Church, we are left with these seven:1- PAYING HIS HOTEL BILLOn his first day as pope, he personally collected his luggage and paid for his own hotel room. That demonstrated that everyone should take responsibility for themselves, and that the age of privileges was over.2- LIVING IN SANTA MARTAHe settled in “Casa Santa Marta.” The Pope does not want to live in an ivory tower. He wants to know the problems first-hand and not with intermediaries; he wants the people to have easy access to him.3- HUGS AND GLOBALIZATION OF INDIFFERENCEIn a world that puts economic benefit first, and classifies people based on how much they earn or how much they are able to produce, the Pope appeals to the infinite value of every human being, and he shows it by hugging and smiling with those displaced in society.4- THE OUTSKIRTSHe says reality is understood from the outskirts. He has not visited the parishes in the center of Rome, but instead has gone to the marginalized churches. Out of all of Europe, he has only traveled to Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina.During his trip to Mexico, he went where a pope has never been before: places like Chiapas, Chihuahua and Michoacan.At Easter, he celebrates Holy Thursday Mass at places experiencing pain, such as a juvenile prisons or hospices.This has opened the eyes of many people to situations they did not even know existed.5- HE RESPONDS TO PEOPLEWhen large meetings include testimonies, the Pope does not read his prepared speech, but changes it based on what he has heard.Just as he did in Sarajevo, when he heard how they had beaten a priest.”I forgive with all of my heart those that do evil.”When he was in Kenya, Emmanuel spoke to him about the plight of young people who join radical militias.POPE FRANCIS”Speak to the youth with tenderness, with sympathy, with love. And with patience invite them to a game or to hang out or to be together. Don’t leave them alone.” Or in the Philippines, when this homeless girl told him they were abandoned and no one seemed to care.”Why does God allow this to happen? Children are not to blame.”6- COURAGE AND TRANSPARENCYOn each trip, he faces press conferences on the plane without fear or censorship. He answers questions freely, without fear of being wrong, and is unafraid to confront sensitive issues, such as the corruption in the Church, sexuality or what he holds in his heart.7- DECISIONHe has made concrete and difficult decisions to simplify the Vatican’s structure.He has created a council of 9 Cardinals that help him govern and ensure that any bishop has direct access to the Pope. He has instituted a commission to prevent sexual abuse cases; and he has refined the Vatican bank.PRAYERAlthough it is not a change, what Pope Francis is doing cannot be understood, without mentioning he is a mystic who has complete trust in God. When faced with an imminent bombing in Syria, he called for a 4 hour prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square.The word most often repeated during these years is what he uses to define God: “Mercy.” A word that contains the slogan and the strength of his Pontificate.
<p>Source: <a href=”http://www.romereports.com/2016/03/12/the-seven-major-changes-made-by-pope-francis”>The seven major changes made by Pope Francis</a></p>
"She was baptized, with her household" (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized that night along with his household. We are told that "the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33). And in his greetings to the Corinthians, Paul recalled that, "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16).
No one would argue
That I exist
And live this day
On Earth.
Yet, I know
That I am with You.
Here in this place
At this Time,
I breathe Heaven’s air
As I pray
"Come Holy Spirit"
And You come,
Bringing Heaven with You
To dwell in the land
You make Your own
And, by grace, call holy.
Here, love and truth meet,
Justice and peace kiss.
Am I not caught
In this embrace?
©2012 Joann Nelander
You spoke
And matter came to be.
Beauty and wisdom
Reigned over form,
And substance served
Your Thought.
You ruled the spheres and firmament
To create both void and fullness.
Your creation dawned in darkness,
And You let there be light.
First and last and all in between
Found a place in Time.
You spoke forth Man
And, in my time, me.
You said,
“Be perfect
As I am perfect,”
And set free the human heart,
That it might know,
And love,
And serve Thee.
Yet will resisted service
And loved naught but itself.
“Tortuous and beyond remedy”,
We hid from Thee.
In Time, You spoke, the Cure.
Announcing to the Virgin,
And by a Star
And angels herald,
Saving throughout creation,
Twisted hearts.
Jordan’s waters, purifying
By the Holy to make men holy,
Love made manifest
By descending Dove
Again You spoke,
“This is my Son.”
Now, bowing will,
Longing in Your Christ,
Receive me as son to Thee,
Anoint with Healing Balm,
Redeeming accursed Fall,
That perfect I, too,
May, please Thee, be.
When You speak
Life comes to be.
Speak now, the Perfect,
That I may perfect be
And, at long last, love Thee.
©2013 Joann Nelander
Into Stillness 