EXECUTION AND EXILE /  by Joe Castorino

We all deserve execution,

To be nailed on a cross of wood,

We all deserve exile in hell,

For only God is purely good;

He chose to take our place in death,

Bloodily stabbed into the tree,

He paid the price to rescue us,

For only He can set us free.

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE /  by Joe Castorino

Powerful and impressive and majestic,

The Sun’s luminous rays reach out

Towards the distant outer rim,

Where the darkness is pervasive,

And where evil breeds in the 

Black cloud of never-ending night.


Disappointed and disillusioned,

In the dark night of discontent,

Sad souls long to fill the void

Of the black hole in their hearts,

So they search for truth and beauty

At the center of the universe.


Patient and gentle and merciful,

The Son’s compassionate glance

Seeks souls empty and broken,

And they are attracted by the

Gravitational pull of His joy and

The ecstasy of His eternal love.

THE TERROR OF DEMONS /  by Joe Castorino

Pride is a red dragon that tries

To kindle our sinful souls with

The flaming fires of falsehood,

Causing our egos to swell with

The helium of haughtiness;

But thanksgiving is a weapon,

A weapon of heavenly wonder,

Used by the Holy Family when

There was arrogance in the air;

So when we are praised for some

Fine worldly accomplishment,

Then we too should turn to the

Lord God, and, with a little smile,

We should frequently thank Him

For each of His gracious gifts,

And seeing our happy hearts filled

To the brim with gratitude, behold,

The devil dragon flees in terror.

THE WAKE-UP CALL /  by Joe Castorino

The angels seek the lazy,

   inviting them into the Light,

But the slothful are sound asleep,

   and their sad souls are dark as night;

The good angels show compassion,

   and they stretch out their loving arms,

Yet since the sluggards ignore them,

   they sound the angelic alarms.

TERROR IN THE DARK NIGHT /  by Joe Castorino

When spiritual storms

Strike unexpectedly

In my unsuspecting life,

With the wind thrashing,

And the waves crashing,

Splashing the saltwater of 

Fear coldly on my face,

I go to wake up the Master,

Who is sleeping in the stern,

He asks with a smile on his lips,

“Why are you terrified?”

He startles me with reason,

And gently awaits my faith,

Speaking His Holy Word, 

He suddenly brandishes 

The Sword of the Spirit,

Which, like a Lighthouse,

Shines red and white

With His ineffable Divine Mercy --

Now my eyes can finally see 

The Light in the dark night.

A JUGGLER'S LIFE /  by Joe Castorino

I’m like a ridiculous painted clown,

Juggling to-do’s, up and down and

Back and forth, my life is a frantic

Intertwining of past, present, future,

In a tangled jungle of multitasking,

Weighed down by the heavy stress

Of guilt over my imperfect past and

Of worry over unknown tomorrows;

But life is so much easier when I

Zero in and focus on the great I AM,

Living perpetually in the present,

Juggling one little ball at a time:

Blessed are the single-hearted,

For they shall surely see God.

THE TEMPEST /  by Joe Castorino

The wild tempest is unleashed

   and approaches us all at night,

Like a fierce, hungry cannibal,

   it swallows the moon in a bite;

Awake, awake my dearest souls:

   the near occasion of sin beware!

Away, away, while there’s still time,

   before you are caught in a snare!

SILENT KNIGHT, HOLY KNIGHT /  by Joe Castorino

St. Joseph the Silent Knight,

Holy man of common sense,

You preached the gospel,

Though often without words,

If you had the knowledge,

You answered your neighbor,

If not, then through divine wisdom

You put your hand over your mouth;

Teach me how to hold my tongue,

To follow the Spirit’s lead,

Instead of getting in trouble

By rashly running ahead of Him;

It’s pleasant to converse,

But it’s far better to be prudent.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION /  by Joe Castorino

It was a memorable day for me,

The greatest of my young life;

I still remember the class photo,

Me and another boy were the only

Ones dressed in suits of white,

And I loved wearing white

For the first time in my life.


Then inside the old church,

I recall wondering to myself

What Jesus would taste like;

When the time came to go forward,

I stood in line, and when our turn came,

We kneeled at the communion rail,

Waiting for the good God to come.


There He was, my Lord and my God,

And He was dressed in white too;

I meekly opened my small mouth

To welcome the King of Kings,

And then Baby Jesus was gently

Placed by His Holy Mother

On the manger of my tongue.

CHRISTMAS DAY /  by Joe Castorino

Christmas Day

Baby Jesus is born,

And through Our Savior

We can be born again daily;

Day by day each of us awakens,

Day by day the evil one tempts us,

Day by day Divine Mercy is victorious,

As we surrender to the God of Mercy,

As we trust the God of Goodness,

As we embrace the God of Love;

Thus, we are born again daily

If we choose life with Him,

So every day can be like

Christmas Day.

CARRYING MY CROSS /  by Joe Castorino

Carrying my cross,

I take lumbering steps

up the steep mountain;

I grumble with every step,

like Job, wondering why

the Lord is asking me

to shuffle along, dragging

this heavy wood with me

wherever I go.


But then I come to

a dangerously deep

crevasse that threatens

to end my journey,

and even with a

giant Herculean leap,

I know that I would fall

down, down, down,

into the black throat

of the abyss below.


Suddenly, a white Dove

darts right past me,

causing me to jump back

from the edge of the cliff;

as I do so, the cross falls

forward so that its top

now rests on the other side,

forming a wooden bridge.


After I carefully crawl

to the other side,

I look back at the cross,

wondering if I should

kick it down over

the edge of the cliff,

but, instead, I choose

to slowly pick it up,

embrace it, and

faithfully follow

in the footsteps of Jesus.

THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL /  by Joe Castorino

Inspired by the writing of St. Augustine

Patience is the amber Light

Of our beloved soul;

When we impetuously 

Want to speed through

The intersections of life

And just do what we want —

Not what God wants —

Then the red Light stops us,

So that we can recognize the danger;

Acting rashly, thoughtlessly,

Charging ahead of the Lord,

All of these cause nothing but trouble,

So the red Light gives us a little more time,

To ponder, to reflect, to pray,

So that when the Light turns green,

we can move and act

In God’s time, in God’s will;

For as St. Augustine wisely said,

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

THE VINE /  by Joe Castorino

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.

THANKSGIVING /  by Joe Castorino

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.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT /  by Joe Castorino

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.

SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS /  by Joe Castorino

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.

SILKEN CORDS /  by Joe Castorino

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.

TO ST. JAMES THE LESSER, THE APOSTLE /  by Joe Castorino

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.