You are The Vine,
and I am a little branch.
When I am proud,
I stubbornly cut myself
off from the Vine,
and I remain in self-love,
and without your grace
my branch dries out
and my fruit shrivels up,
as my soul slowly dies.
But when I am humble,
I remain in your love,
and your delicious grace
surges through me and
thus my fruit sweetens,
as I am born again.
I am just a little branch,
but you are The Vine.
When we’re thanks-living,
We choose for living,
We choose for giving,
Lovingly for-giving.
Thanksgiving,
What a wonderful
Gift from God,
It seems to me like
An inexhaustible
Spiritual ocean of the
Dazzling, magnificent
Divine Mercy.
When we’re living,
In thanksgiving to God,
We’re living for giving,
Lovingly for-giving.
Our fruit is very sweet,
And He is very happy,
When we remain attached
To the one true Vine.
Joy warms us with light,
Peace conquers fear,
Patience stops time,
Kindness multiplies smiles.
Generosity feeds the world,
Faithfulness makes us a Church,
Gentleness purifies the heart,
Self-control shuts out darkness.
But Love, yes Love, wondrously
Binds them all together into
Majestic harmony as our souls
Drink of the Lord’s Divine Mercy.
Inspired by Pompeo Batoni’s masterpiece
The lecherous elders saw her,
with eyes wanton and wicked
they saw the lovely Susannah
as she innocently bathed in the
warm water of the silent garden,
but when she rejected the lurid
scheme of these unjust judges,
their vicious vile hearts burned
with lust and anger, and so
they perniciously plotted to
melt down her golden reputation
in the fiery furnace of calumny;
but still, she trusted,
Susannah trusted in God --
then, the Spirit of the Lord rushed
upon a youth named Daniel
who, though very humble,
spoke with the authoritative
passion of the prophets of old,
and his wondrous wisdom
amazed the people who listened --
and, lo, in the twinkle of an eye,
Justice struck down the elders
like a holy hammer from Heaven.
Blowing in the Spirit’s breeze,
Millions upon millions of
Beautiful blessings
Dangle from Heaven’s
Clustered clouds on
Silken cords.
A little freckle-faced boy
Raises his innocent prayer to God,
Hoping one day to become
A pro baseball player.
With great agility,
His guardian angel
Does a somersault in the air
And, like an all-star,
Catches the boy’s
Wild pitch.
He faithfully flies up to Heaven
And finds a large, palatial cloud
That is lined with the most
Glimmering gold, and under it
Is a pro baseball contract
Hanging quietly on its
Silken cord.
He gets ready to cut it,
But kneeling on a cloud nearby,
Our Lady ever so sweetly smiles
As she shakes her head at him,
Slowly, knowingly.
Then she playfully runs
Toward another cloud,
A little cloud,
Pointing at a poet’s pen
Filled with the creative ink of
Imagery and alliteration,
And it is dancing in the wind
On its silken cord.
Brimming with joy,
She eagerly looks back
Towards the throne and sees
A twinkle in the eyes of our
Heavenly Father as He happily
Nods yes to her.
So the guardian angel delicately
Snips that silken cord,
Like a cluster of grapes
Taken from The Vine.
About you we really don’t know a ton,
Except that you were Alphaeus’ son;
Why were you called James the Less?
Big James was a lot taller I guess;
Or maybe you were very humble,
Making Arrogance trip and stumble;
The Lord Jesus taught you to love,
To know His peace from way up above;
You faithfully spread the holy Word,
Unlike anything that was ever heard;
You’re the unknown mystery apostle,
But I bet your deeds were colossal.
Inspired by Caravaggio’s masterpiece
David, youthful and ruddy,
God’s brave little warrior,
Bends over to see the stupefied
Expression on Goliath’s face;
The beheaded giant attempts to
Utter one last word to the victor,
But the smooth stone piercing
His bloody brain prevents him;
The future king is as calm and
Collected as a sage prophet,
Truly he is God’s holy champion,
The faithful and fearless one.
Inspired by Jacopo Bassano’s masterpiece
Just a moment ago,
before I struck the rock,
the people used their mouths
to stone me with sarcasm,
to run me through with ridicule,
to crucify me with cruelty --
but if they would see You here,
the Holy One, the great I AM,
they would never do this to You;
yet now, with those same mouths,
they thirstily drink the water,
refreshing their parched throats,
strengthening their tired bodies --
but what they really need,
what they really and truly need,
to refresh and purify their souls,
is Your gracious gift of Living Water,
an endless ocean of Divine Mercy.
Inspired by Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto’s masterpiece
A lonely little baby in a basket
floats freely in the current of
the Nile River, his brown eyes
wandering to and fro, innocently
wondering where his mother is;
the Spirit delicately leads the
young one towards his new home,
and in a short time the babe feels
his journey come to a gentle halt;
when the basket opens, he looks up
and sees a pretty face, but unlike
any that he has seen before, painted,
but with a light, elegant touch;
then the Egyptian woman’s
eyes open wide in wonder,
and her beautiful lips curve
into a warm, sweet smile,
and for the first time in
her life, she is in love.
Inspired by Antonio Castillo Saavedra’s masterpiece
Stripped of his ornamental tunic
By his jealous, impulsive brothers,
Joseph sits cramped inside a dry well,
As if inside a cavernous dungeon,
Bewildered, like a lost lonely sheep;
Then, he’s startled by a falling rope --
He instinctively grips it and
Suddenly, he’s jerked upwards,
His eyes observing the misty clouds
That seem to be swirling in confusion
Above him in the cold dark sky;
After being yanked out of the well
And thrown roughly to the ground
By one of his very own brothers,
He wearily looks up at an
Astonished Midianite merchant,
Who carefully looks him over
With a shrewd business-like eye
Before buying him, on the spot,
For a bargain of twenty shekels;
As Joseph slowly walks alongside
This cheerful good-natured trader,
He wonders what God’s plans will be
For him in the distant land of Egypt.
Inspired by Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece
Abraham simply can’t wait any longer:
His heavy heart thunderously thumps
Deep down inside his big broad chest,
And his body trembles with terror.
He hesitates as if he is hopelessly lost,
As if wandering in a wasteland of worry,
Yet when he closes his weary eyes,
He finds God’s gift of faith in his heart.
Little Isaac gazes upward towards the sky,
Wondering why the clouds are so grey,
He completely trusts his good father,
And knows not his own impending doom.
Abraham’s hopeful hand grips the knife,
Then very slowly, and ever so silently,
He raises its bloodless blade in the air,
Preparing for the swift stroke of death.
But an angel in white stops him and
Abraham’s body crumbles to the ground,
Like fallen fragments of unleavened bread,
And Divine Mercy warmly smiles upon him.
Inspired by Frans Francken II’s masterpiece
The people were far more
advanced in technology than
their predecessors, and they
built a tower soaring to the skies;
their minds were filled with
grand new dreams of progress,
and each of them envisioned
a great new world in which
their creative ingenuity
would supply all of their needs --
they no longer needed God.
The Spirit slowly circled overhead,
saddened that He had been
forgotten by the people,
so He sighed deeply, wishing
His children to know how much
they needed Him, wishing
them to know how greatly and
how passionately He loved them;
so He withdrew and gave them
what they wanted: independence --
and then they babbled like idiots.
Why are dust and ashes proud?
Why is it that we accomplish
great things, and then we
forget the One who gave us
the gifts in the first place?
Even stubborn donkeys
understand that although
they wear a very beautiful
diamond-studded saddle,
it is absolutely nothing that
they earned or deserved.
Inspired by Francis Danby’s masterpiece
Far, far away,
on the stormy grey sea,
Noah’s grand wooden ark
slowly and gently bobs
up and down, up and down,
in the waves of Divine Mercy,
but as I turn to the right,
my heart stops when I see
dark cascades of rain all around,
pouring madly out of the turbulent
black clouds like cool liquid lava.
I stand atop what was once a tall
mountain, surrounded by the
devastating deluge and flood,
and clusters of screeching
men and women encircle me,
clinging like crabs to the wet rocks,
but many have already fallen
into the swirling sea below and
clutch desperately to the feeble
branches of submerged oak trees,
hoping the tempest will cease.
Only hours later, I’m the only
survivor, but I won’t last much
longer since the water is up to my
waist, and it is more and more
difficult to maintain my hold of the
wet boulder I’ve been sitting on all
day, and as I hopelessly look
around, I only see grey water and
black skies, and the relentless rain
that brings with it God’s justice.
Inspired by Jacopo Bassano’s masterpiece
Old Noah and his family,
shunned and mocked by
their know-it-all neighbors,
diligently gather the animals
into the cozy confines of
the grand wooden ark;
when all are on board and
they lock up the vessel,
from very high in the sky
a peaceful dove looks down and
the ark looks like a giant oyster,
protecting its treasure from
the swiftly advancing storm.
A poem inspired by Pope Francis
The greatest generation:
Now they are the
Elder statesmen
And elder stateswomen
Of our beloved country;
So why do we so often
Toss remembrance of them
Out of the car windows
Of our busy minds,
Like empty aluminum cans,
Into the neglected gutters
Of life’s forgotten highways?
Do we love them?
Or do we use them?
Inspired by Tiziano Vecellio’s masterpiece
As the serpent seductively
smiles at Adam and Eve,
their teeth tear the flesh
of the juicy fruit -- and, oh!
the intense sweetness
and overwhelming delight!
but very suddenly they
shudder and convulse
in their deadly disobedience,
as their souls are poisoned
by the black sugar of sin.
Inspired by Thomas Cole’s masterpiece
Adam and Eve gratefully gaze
in awe and wonder at the
beauty of God’s holy creation;
beyond the sublime peace
of the verdant meadow and
the fresh tropical fruit trees
that lovingly embrace it,
a whispering waterfall sparkles
like aquamarine crystal in
the warm welcoming sun
and gracefully pours into
the pristine lake below;
rising majestically behind it
is a towering mountain of rock
that stands in stately grandeur,
piercing the serene blue sky,
joyfully pointing to the realm
of the Heavenly Homeland.
Inspired by Michelangelo’s masterpiece
The Father of Freedom reaches
across the atmosphere,
accompanied by His angels
which are clustered closely
in the blessed bouquet
of His bountiful love;
Adam marvels at the amazing
generosity of the good God,
grateful for the gift of life,
and his eyes fill with tears
as he beholds the beauty of
the Compassionate Creator.
As I serenely sit in front of St. Peter’s
Basilica, I soak in the beauty of the piazza,
I look about my peaceful surroundings,
Drinking in the delicious glory of God;
Clusters of clouds casually waft by, so low
That they almost brush the top of the dome,
They pass by like eager pilgrims, Eucharistic
White against the bright blue sky.
Fresh flowers flow down on the white steps in front
Of the altar, like a colorful cascading waterfall,
I inhale the perfume of their sweet scent,
And I breathe in the Lord’s love;
The elegant church bells powerfully and
Rhythmically ring out God’s grandeur,
While the balmy breeze swirls around me
And compassionately caresses me.
Reflecting on God’s grandeur, I marvel
At the beauty that surrounds me,
The statue of the Pietà vibrantly reflects
The sweet sublimity of God’s mercy;
The nave floats in the swirling, variegated,
Multi-colored waves of a marble ocean,
And massive pillars of magnificent marble
Stand at attention like the Swiss Guards.
As the doors silently open, the Holy Father’s
Vehicle slowly rolls down the aisle,
And in rushes a breeze of heavenly hope
That placidly fills the sails of our souls;
I stand on my chair and see the saint whose
Faith defeated the dreary dark night,
As he kisses a babe, love ripples through
The crowd and rhymes in our hearts.