Loving You

I am with you,
As One Who has always loved you,
Loving you as you began your life’s journey
To the kingdom of Heaven,
Your true home,
Loving you all the days I have appointed you.
Loving you unto dying and your death,
Loving you as the breath of life.

I have played upon the strings of your heart,
So that you would hear My music,
Even midst dissimilitude and dissonance.
Let not the unbelieving of the world,
Let not discordance and strife of flesh,
Let not the deceiver of Men,
Draw a curtain before your eyes.

Fix the gaze of your soul upon Me,
Here in your heart,
I reign, holy and at rest,
Upon the throne
At the center of your being.

Do Me homage
As you arise at the break of day.
Bow before Me
With the rising of each sun.
Dance with Me,
Following My lead.
Cry with Me in the sorrowing.
Plead for sinners in their fall.

Lend the hand of prayer
To uphold the weak and weary.
You journey as one
In the One Who is All Love.

Peace, My child.
Peace and refreshment,
Here at my altar.
I polish and perfect you,
That you may be
A monstrance of humility,
Fading from prominence,
As I send out my splendor
As grace and blessing.

All is gift to the one
Who receives with the seasons,
Yielding to the winds that blow upon the soul,
Welcoming the water of spring rains,
And the summer torrents,
Allowing blankets of snow
To still you in repose,
Awaiting new life, My Life.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

Loving You

 

I am with you,
As One Who has always loved you,
Loving you as you began your life’s journey
To the kingdom of Heaven,
Your true home,
Loving you all the days I have appointed you.

Loving you unto dying and your death,
Loving you as the breath of life.
I have played upon the strings of your heart,
So that you would hear My music,
Even midst dissimilitude and dissonance.

Let not the unbelieving of the world,
Let not discordance and strife of flesh,
Let not the deceiver of Men,
Draw a curtain before your eyes.

Fix the gaze of your soul upon Me,
Here in your heart,
I reign, holy and at rest,
Upon the throne
At the center of your being.

Do Me homage
As you arise at the break of day.
Bow before Me
With the rising of each sun.
Dance with Me,
Following My lead.

Cry with Me in the sorrowing.
Plead for sinners in their fall.
Lend the hand of prayer
To uphold the weak and weary.

You journey as one
In the One Who is All Love.
Peace, My child.
Peace and refreshment,
Here at my altar.

I polish and perfect you,
That you may be
A monstrance of humility,
Fading from prominence,
As I send out my splendor
As grace and blessing.

All is gift to the one
Who receives with the seasons,
Yielding to the winds that blow upon the soul,
Welcoming the water of spring rains,
And the summer torrents,
Allowing blankets of snow
To still you in repose,
Awaiting new life, My Life.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

As the Father is Perfect

Be perfect, You say.
"Be perfect, as the Father is perfect."

"Perfection" is held before our eyes,
Hung in the heavens, like a star,
Like a luminous star,
As a star going before us,
Beckoning to us,
Inviting, "Come follow me."

In the dark of Your Mystery,
We make ready,
We journey forth,
Answering a call,
A call written on the heart,
Engraved, as by prophetic fathers,
Beyond imagining,
More certain than Death’s curtain,
Far, far, greater than the cost.

"Perfection" begins life as a babe,
Bound in swaddling,
A law conceived in the soul,
Bidding trust,
Coaxing obedience.
"Come, follow Me"

Journey through the Night.
When you have done all,
Spent all,
Lay down your dreams,
Your treasure,
For the rest lies with the Heavenly Host.

Touching the earth once more
In celestial wonderment,
With a loving caress,
And a word of command,
Fulfilled, as it is spoken,
"Be perfect, as the Father is perfect",
Angels whisper you home.

 

Copyright 2015 Joann Nelander

Shalom Peace

I am man,
Creation run a muck.
You have set me to name the animals
And govern as You, Yourself,
With angel hosts to help set the world aright
But only by Your Light.

And what have I done,
And do I do?
Taking hold of the universe
I twist it to my will,
Make laws against Your Laws
And ride wild chariots,
Only to drown in Passover’s sea.

Yet there is hope for me.
Return to claim Your own.
Invite all to Your throne.
Purge the night in fiery column.
Day-spring arise to water anew,
And lead by Mystery and cloud..
In shalom peace to You.

© 2013 Joann Nelander

Loving You

I am with you,

As One Who has always loved you,

Loving you as you began your life’s journey

To the kingdom of Heaven,

Your true home,

Loving you all the days I have appointed you.

Loving you unto dying and your death,

Loving you as the breath of life.

I have played upon the strings of your heart,

So that you would hear My music,

Even midst dissimilitude and dissonance.

Let not the unbelieving of the world,

Let not discordance and strife of flesh,

Let not the deceiver of Men,

Draw a curtain before your eyes.

Fix the gaze of your soul upon Me,

Here in your heart,

I reign, holy and at rest,

Upon the throne

At the center of your being.

Do Me homage

As you arise at the break of day.

Bow before Me

With the rising of each sun.

Dance with Me,

Following My lead.

Cry with Me in the sorrowing.

Plead for sinners in their fall.

Lend the hand of prayer

To uphold the weak and weary.

You journey as one

In the One Who is All Love.

Peace, My child.

Peace and refreshment,

Here at my altar.

I polish and perfect you,

That you may be

A monstrance of humility,

Fading from prominence,

As I send out my splendor

As grace and blessing.

All is gift to the one

Who receives with the seasons,

Yielding to the winds that blow upon the soul,

Welcoming the water of spring rains,

And the summer torrents,

Allowing blankets of snow

To still you in repose,

Awaiting new life, My Life.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

The Robe

Lord of the centuries,
Knit, of our pain, the knots,
That mysteriously arrange themselves
Across our days.

Guide, by unseen fingers,
Each little pearl,
To form a cloth
Alive with Your Golden threads,
Infinitely more than happenstance or tragedy.

Each strand of Time a mystery,
Bathed in trial and tears,
Yet rich in Awe,
Resplendent in Beauty,
And the gracious beneficence
Of sacrificial love.

Whole cloth,
Woven into a seamless robe,
You don in majesty,
Humble and meek in triumph o’er our graves,
As Life welcomes to the Banquet,
Our souls, now clad in bodies,
One with Your Own.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

THE ROBE

Lord of the centuries,
Knit, of our pain, the knots,
That mysteriously arrange themselves
Across our days.

Guide, by unseen fingers,
Each little pearl,
To form a cloth
Alive with Your Golden threads,
Infinitely more than happenstance or tragedy.

Each strand of Time a mystery,
Bathed in trial and tears,
Yet rich in Awe,
Resplendent in Beauty,
And the gracious beneficence
Of sacrificial love.

Whole cloth,
Woven into a seamless robe,
You don in majesty,
Humble and meek in triumph o’er our graves,
As Life welcomes to the Banquet,
Our souls, now clad in bodies,
One with Your Own.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

Shalom Peace

I am man,
Creation run a muck.
You have set me to name the animals
And govern as You, Yourself,
With angel hosts to help set the world aright
But only by Your Light.

And what have I done,
And do I do?
Taking hold of the universe
I twist it to my will,
Make laws against Your Laws
And ride wild chariots,
Only to drown in Passover’s sea.

Yet there is hope for me.
Return to claim Your own.
Invite all to Your throne.
Purge the night in fiery column.
Day-spring arise to water anew,
And lead by Mystery and cloud..
In shalom peace to You.

© 2013 Joann Nelander

Shalom Peace

I am man,
Creation run a muck.
You have set me to name the animals
And govern as You, Yourself,
With angel hosts to help set the world aright
But only by Your Light.

And what have I done,
And do I do?
Taking hold of the universe
I twist it to my will,
Make laws against Your Laws
And ride wild chariots,
Only to drown in Passover’s sea.

Yet there is hope for me.
Return to claim Your own.
Invite all to Your throne.
Purge the night in fiery column.
Day-spring arise to water anew,
And lead by Mystery and cloud..
In shalom peace to You.

Joann Nelander

Shalom Peace

I am man,
Creation run a muck.
You have set me to name the animals
And govern as You, Yourself,
With angel hosts to help set the world aright
But only by Your Light.

And what have I done,
And do I do?
Taking hold of the universe
I twist it to my will,
Make laws against Your Laws
And ride wild chariots,
Only to drown in Passover’s sea.

Yet there is hope for me.
Return to claim Your own.
Invite all to Your throne.
Purge the night in fiery column.
Day-spring arise to water anew,
And lead by Mystery and cloud..
In shalom peace to You.

Joann Nelander

For Fear Apart #Christian Poetry #Catholic

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

Flowers and Drunken Bees #poetry

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

Shalom Peace

 

I am man,
Creation run amuck.
You have set me to name the animals
And govern as You, Yourself,
With angel hosts to help set the world aright
But only by Your Light.

And what have I done,
And do I do?
Taking hold of the universe
I twist it to my will,
Make laws against Your Laws
And ride wild chariots,
Only to drown in Passover’s sea.

Yet there is hope for me.
Return to claim Your own.
Invite all to Your throne.
Purge the night in fiery column.
Dayspring arise to water anew,
And lead by Mystery and cloud
In shalom peace to You.

O Splendid Truth, Our Father

Jesus, You didn”t say,
“Pretend My Father
Is your father.”
Or, “Imagine, if my Father
Were your father.”

No! His prayer revealed
God as our Father.
What Love!
What Mystery!
What Splendid Truth!

©2012 Joann Nelander

Mother’s Day Reflection

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

For more on Mother’s Day reflection visit Week 35 at Poetic Picnic

Thinking with Fr. John A. Hardon, S,J., S. T. D. – Real Presence

Mary was the first tabernacle.

At the Last Supper Jesus, the Christ, ordained and empowered His Apostles to do what, until then, only He could do, make Himself present, in His humanity, to the world.

What the senses can not perceive, the believing heart receives as total gift, total God, in His Holy and eternal Humanity, not just Spirit, but human flesh and blood, along with the power to make Him present in the world and to the world through out Time.

Mary received, and by her body, in her body, made Him present as gift from God the Father. In her Immaculate body, at Her faith response,”Fiat secundum tuum.” God became Man, and Mary was His Tabernacle, the Ark of the New Covenant, in fulfillment of the Old Covenant.

Reality challenges the mind and senses to believe God.
“And the virgin shall be with Child.”
“This is My Body…This is My Blood.”

God enters Time and remains in Time, coming unto his own and so remaining “Emmanuel”, “God with us” for all Time until earth and the heavens be no more, made new, as promised, a New Heaven and a New Earth. And God remaining Man throughout eternity with the Virgin at His side with the children He gave her from His Cross.

Thursday – Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary

Pray along with me!

The Mystery of Death

From the pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world of the Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et spes)
The Mystery of Death

In the face of death the enigma of human existence reaches its climax. Man is not only the victim of pain and the progressive deterioration of his body; he is also, and more deeply, tormented by the fear of final extinction. But the instinctive judgment of his heart is right when he shrinks from, and rejects, the idea of a total collapse and definitive end of his own person. He carries within him the seed of eternity, which cannot be reduced to matter alone, and so he rebels against death. All efforts of technology, however useful they may be, cannot calm his anxieties; the biological extension of his life-span cannot satisfy the desire inescapably present in his heart for a life beyond this life.

Imagination is completely helpless when confronted with death. Yet the Church, instructed by divine revelation, affirms that man has been created by God for a destiny of happiness beyond the reach of earthly trials. Moreover, the Christian faith teaches that bodily death, to which man would not have been subjected if he had not sinned, ywill be conquered; the almighty and merciful Savior will restore man to the wholeness that he had lost through his own fault. God has called man, and still calls him, to be united in his whole being in perpetual communion with himself in the immortality of the divine life. This victory has been gained for us by the risen Christ, who by his own death has freed man from death.
Faith, presented with solid arguments, offers every thinking person the answer to his questionings concerning his future destiny. At the same time, it enables him to be one in Christ with his loved ones who have been taken from him by death and gives him hope that they have entered into true life with God.

Certainly, the Christian is faced with the necessity, and the duty, of fighting against evil through many trials, and of undergoing death. But by entering into the paschal mystery and being made like Christ in death, he will look forward, strong in hope, to the resurrection.

This is true not only of Christians but also of all men of good will in whose heart grace is invisibly at work. Since Christ died for all men, and the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, that is, a divine vocation, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being united with this paschal mystery in a way known only to God.
Such is the great mystery of man, enlightening believers through the Christian revelation. Through Christ and in Christ light is thrown on the enigma of pain and death which overwhelms us without his Gospel to teach us. Christ has risen, destroying death by his own death; he has given us the free gift of life so that as sons in the Son we may cry out in the Spirit, saying: Abba, Father!

Sent from my iPod

Searching with Mary

Paraphrased from The Holy Rosary Narrated, distributed by Keepthefaith.org and narrated by Fr. Hugh Thwaites:

A reflection on the Fifth Joyful Mystery – The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

“The whole human race are either Mary’s children or potentially her children because when we’re baptized,  we are baptized into Jesus and become her children.  For the rest,  her motherly heart searches,  and cannot rest until she sees her children safe in Heaven.”

If you look closely at an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, you will notice the small sandal hanging from the foot of the Infant Jesus, who is safe in His Mother’s arms.  This represents those who Mary also holds if only by a thread.