Isaiah 55: 6-9; Psalm 143; Phil 1: 20-27; Mt: 20: 1-16

God’s thoughts
are not
our thoughts
God’s ways
not our ways
gracious
and merciful
slow to anger
abounding
in steadfast
love
do not
begrudge
Gods’s generosity
the last
being first
for all life
is one
and saved
beyond
our knowing
higher than our ways
higher than our thoughts
but near to those
who call

Do you begrudge God’s generosity?
Do you see the ways and thoughts of God?

1Cor 15:35-37, 42-49; Psalm 56:10-14; Luke 8:4-15

seed sown
within
we are
more
than our body
that perishes
but Spirit
that breathes
and guides us
protecting us
from all
that would steal
our soul
and mind
a rich soil
that nourishes us
we set our roots
deeply
into
God’s presence

Are your roots drawn deeply into God’s loving presence?

1Cor15:12-20; Psalm 17:1-8,15; Luke 8:1-3

resurrected
we see
the light
of Christ
healing touch
of love
and mercy
in a world
of desperate need–
content
we work
for peace
within
His peace
always mindful
of God’s presence

Are you always mindful of God’s presence and love?
Does the Holy Spirit guide your life?

Luke 7: 36-50

at his feet
we see a path
a way
and put
our faith there
forgiven much
we love much
ever grateful
of the gift
given
and do not
neglect it
absorbed
in God’s word
we act on it
saving ourselves
and those
who will listen

What is the gift you have been given?
How do you use your gift?

Luke 7:31-35

never satisfied
we judge
and complain
instead of giving thanks–
undeniably great
is the mystery
of devotion of
and to the living God
who creates
from nothing
and animates
with love
how great
the Glory
of the Holy Spirits presence
when our eyes
are opened
and our mind
is at peace

Do you give thanks?
To what are you devoted?
What is God’s love?

Memorial of Our Lady Of Sorrows
Luke 2:33-55

mother
of sorrows
we see you
at the cross
and enter
your anguish
as we see
the world’s sins
put upon him–
contrite
of any
complicity
we turn
ourselves
over to
the love
we see
and enter
your “yes”
where our intention
meets God’s will
and divine love
is born

Where do you go with your sorrow?
How do you follow Mary?

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

WHY THIS CROSS?

why this cross
this ornament of human suffering
in comfort and complacency
it can seem quite out of place
yet let one moment of tragedy
need or desperation come and
this cross is no longer a foreign land
but a shelter and home
a passage of power
and transformation–
is it magic–some talisman-
so it would seem
as it is forged in gold
carved in wood and fashioned in beads
strung on necks and molded on rings
held up to recoiling vampires —

yet kneeling
silently
before the cross
I hear
the whispers
and struggle
of the world
as it wrestles with its horror
its daily news
of evil and death
cruelty and selfishness
politics and greed
ideological slaughter
and mass destruction
our grieving and loss
our starvation and calamities–
earths quake and worlds fall
within the cross

we are free to place our burden there
and leave as though it were some receptacle
some garbage pit or scapegoat

yet not for long
for His whispers
and movement and life
are too compelling
He calls
over and over
to visit
this strange
place of death
that leads to Life

entering the suffering
the solitude
the darkness
of his outstretched tomb
we answer his call
to pray
to trust
to stay
until wisdom
whispers
the promise
of new life

how
long is
our suffering-

it is
a moment
of grace—

then there is
no time
at all
no need-
we are completed
resurrected
in His love

Sirach 27: 30-28:7; Psalm 103: 1-12; Romans 14: 7-9; Mt. 18: 21-35

remembering
who we are
in Spirit
one in Christ
one body
of all
immersed
in a kind
and merciful God
filled with
boundless
compassion
with a God
who suffers
with us
forgives
our sins
as we are to forgive
holding no debt
we are free
to love
as we are loved
not nourishing
anger
or hateful things
but nourished
and fed
with kindness

How tightly do you hold and nourish anger?
Do you release into God’s forgiveness, kindness, compassion and mercy?
How do you accept this challenge?

Luke 6:43-49

from
the rising
and setting
of the sun
we work
through
and with
God’s
merciful love
building
a foundation
of goodness
that
no storm
can wash away

On what do you build your foundation?

1Timothy 1:1-2,12-14; Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 11; Luke 6:39-42

leaving
ignorance
we follow
the one
who knows
the love
of God
not seeing
our faults
in another
but in
ourselves
we seek
counsel
in the place
of mercy
and
are shown
the path
to life
and joy

Have you been shown the path of life?
Who is your teacher?