During the deep dark night,
I open the eyes of my soul,
and I see her before me,
glittering in glorious brilliance.
She smiles at me, softly, gently,
and reminds me that she rejoices
greatly when I meditate on the
Holy Passion of her sweet Son.
I listen to the magnificent music
of her most wonderful words,
and Light shines in the darkness,
burning away the folly of fear.
Based on the Hail Mary
Hail, Joseph the Just,
Wisdom is with you;
Blessed are you among all men,
And blessed is Jesus,
The fruit of Maria,
Your faithful spouse.
Holy Joseph,
Worthy foster father of Jesus Christ,
Pray for us sinners,
And obtain divine wisdom for us,
From God,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Those universities
which divorce
the intellect
from the light
of God’s wisdom
are in mortal danger
of imperceptibly drifting
from the light into the twilight,
and from the twilight
into eternal night.
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.
"Pride goeth before a fall"
As the titanic tenor sings a tune,
Pride inflates him like a hot air balloon;
With an arrogant wrinkle of his brow,
He revels in a long slow snooty bow;
The crowd erupts in explosive applause,
And he smiles a plastic smile with his jaws;
But then something unexpected takes place,
A vine-ripened tomato hits his face;
The singer gives the guy a dirty glance,
But then abruptly trips and rips his pants.
With the sensual swirl and clustered
curls of her wild, wicked whirl
Of hair, the wanton white witch
stood on the mound ready to hurl;
The saucy wench went into a
windup most sultry and seductive,
Her voluptuous goddess-like physique
flamed as a volcano eruptive;
She fired a cutlass-like curveball,
ready to slice into the lion’s soul,
And the ball sang through the air
like a Siren, quite out of control.
There stood Aslan the Amazing,
the spectacular baseball star,
He royally dug into the batter’s box,
ready to hit the ball far;
Then, the Spirit spoke: “If you gaze
at her fair face, you shall be undone;
Through Truth, unmask her sickly soul,
and the battle shall be won!”
Clutching his bold, brave bat, he crouched
like a catapult ready to spring,
Then, as he humbly surrendered to
the Spirit, he took his first swing.
His bat flashed around like lightning
and filled the crowd with wonder,
And as the ball hit his bat, there was
the sound of crackling thunder;
Filled with chastity and purity,
he crushed a laser-beam home run,
And gently trotting around the bases,
he was as radiant as the sun;
When he was in the near occasion
of sin, Aslan was on his guard,
And that’s why he’s now strolling
down Championship Boulevard.
Inspired by the St. John’s Bible at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City
O Madonnina, I am saddened
That I don’t see your beauty
In this wondrous cathedral;
Yes, there is a very nice statue
Of you, in The Lady’s Chapel,
But I am searching for something
That will touch my heart more deeply;
I visit the church day after day
For very close to a week
Before I finally discover you
In an unexpected way:
You are hidden,
Like a sparkling diamond,
On the colorful pages of
The St. John’s Bible, which is
Opened to the humble words
Of your inspiring Magnificat;
I look down, and against
A sea of majestic royal blue
Your glorious gold words
Dazzle my imagination,
And bring me sweet delight;
As I see you in my mind’s eye,
My heart happily swells
With tears of holy love,
And the fruit of the Spirit
Fills the sails of my soul;
Through your silent words,
You confirm my mission:
Giving great glory to God
Through “The Little Way of Love”;
By the power of Divine Mercy,
Yes, my life is born again!
August 1988
It is a bright beautiful morning in the
crisp clean air of the Canadian Rockies,
We ascend as I drive up a wonderfully
windy road past babbling brooks,
The two of us are together, in the car that
we affectionately refer to as the “Tin Can”;
After reaching the sunny summit,
we gently roll into the Valley of the Ten Peaks;
We finally arrive at the large lake and
look up at the regal ring of mountains,
Yet I feel slightly saddened because
somehow it’s less than I expected;
A lodge that looks like a big log cabin
stands silently like a sentinel near the water,
We decide to dine there and enjoy a
delightful bit of roast beef for lunch;
The savory flavor of my sandwich lingers
in my mouth, as I think about my morning,
I try to cunningly convince myself that
I’m not disappointed, but I know that I am.
Departing for our next destination,
I wistfully walk towards our little car,
But as I look to the right, I see a
tar-black hill with a winding trail upon it;
The people look like pilgrims as they
make their way up the mysterious mound,
Curiosity gradually grows within me as I
ponder, puzzled, where the path leads;
So I investigate and struggle up the steep
trail, tripping occasionally on rock and rubble,
But when I get to the top, I am frozen
with fascination as I behold the view;
Above me is a diadem of snow-tipped peaks,
gleaming with the glory of God,
Below me is the pristine lake, and it is
shimmering and sparkling like a gemstone;
It appears as if millions of sapphires
and emeralds have melted into liquid,
And the blue-green color of the
lovely lake is luminous in the sunshine.
My senses are suddenly soaked in Your
Holy Spirit’s lasting love, and I feel Your beauty,
At this moment, nothing else matters,
and I only long to be close to You;
At this moment, I am oblivious to my past,
and I am oblivious to my future,
I am living in the eternal and
mystical present of the great I AM;
You are Holy Humility, You are
Magnificent Mercy, You are Limitless Love,
And with Your divine sense of humor,
You really are the God of surprises.
Based on the writing of St. Francis de Sales
Dearest God,
I adore you profoundly.
I thank you for the grace
Of preserving me
During this past night,
And I implore your pardon
If I have committed any sin
During the course of it.
I realize that the present day
Is given to me in order to gain
The future day of eternity,
And I plan on using this day well.
Looking ahead to what
Awaits me today,
I now make a firm resolution
To sincerely serve you and
Also advance in holy devotion;
Therefore, this is my spiritual plan:
______________________.
Lord, here is this wretched heart
Of mine, which through your
Goodness has conceived
Many good affections;
Alas, it is too weak and
Miserable to do the good
That it desires to do
Unless you impart your
Heavenly blessing.
For this reason
I humbly beg your blessing,
O Merciful Father,
Through the merits
Of the passion of your Son,
In whose honor I consecrate this day,
And all the remaining days of my life.
O Madonnina d’Amore, pray for me,
O Guardian Angel, pray for me,
All you saints and angels, pray for me,
That the windows of my soul
Will be opened
To the Sun of Justice.
Amen.
In a shadow of deep darkness, the Light
of the world hangs crooked on the cross,
A jagged crown of razor-thin thorns is
thrust maliciously into His throbbing head;
Bright-red blood and the fickle crowd’s
sour spittle trickle into His stinging eyes,
He licks His cracked lips, and He tastes
the bold bitter flavor of blood.
The Roman soldiers’ wild whips tore
and radically ripped Jesus’ holy flesh,
And now the sticky crusted wounds cling
to the weatherbeaten wood and ooze;
Knife-like nails puncture His hands and feet,
and make them look like cored apples,
His shoulders slump down, crushed under
the weight of every sin in human history.
The soldiers hellishly hammered the nails
into Jesus’ flesh, as if He were an animal,
Indescribable pain blasted through the
bones of His body like dynamite;
He now surrenders His body, mind, soul,
and spirit to the will of His Father,
He lovingly practices what He preached,
and He prays for His persecutors.
Jesus is high up, as if atop an isolated
island, surrounded by a sea of hate,
A cacophonous chorus of insults assails
His ears, and the smell of sin is in the air;
His mother, living in the dark night of
unknowing, silently waits and watches,
She kneels in total surrender, while a
sword of sorrow slashes her heavy heart.
In the afternoon, Golgotha is enveloped
in a mysterious murky darkness,
Then, when Jesus dies, the earth quakes
in violent anger at the murder of its Creator;
Rumbling and roaring, buildings catastrophically
crash and crumble to the ground,
The terrifying temblor forces the sanctuary’s
curtain to explosively burst apart.
That mysterious murky darkness remains
in the hearts of Jesus’ faithful followers,
Their entire worlds are seriously shaken,
and they are stunned and stupefied;
But on the third day, the nebulous fog
of uncertainty will finally dissolve,
On the third day, a heavenly ray of Light
will come, far brighter than the sun.
As the Sacred Heart
Beats with thrills of joy,
The new wine of Divine Love
Sweetly surges through the
Thirsty Body of Christ,
Bringing the refreshment
Of the Holy Spirit,
And the gentle mercy
Of our Heavenly Father;
With compassion, Jesus says,
“Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you.”
Do whatever He tells you.
Surrender. Yes, surrender.
Totally. Completely.
At this very moment.
And don’t worry --
Don’t worry at all!
If you stumble and fall,
He will be there to pick you up.
If you get hurt and cannot walk,
He will carry you in His arms.
He will always lead you,
In the light of His love.
Remember, He loves you.
And I love you, too.
I meditate upon
Your sorrowful Passion,
And my heart tastes
The bitterness of our
Terrible suffering;
But Our Lady inspires me
To have holy courage,
And to live in heroic patience --
Then, Divine Mercy rays of
Red and white shine upon me
And light my path so that
I can follow the Spirit’s lead
And surrender myself to Him.
You are The Vine,
and I am a little branch.
When I am proud,
I stubbornly cut myself
off from you, Lord,
and I remain in self-love,
without your grace
my branch dries up
and my fruit shrivels,
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.
Ignoramus Incredibilis is his name,
Or call him Litterbug -- it’s just the same;
He wipes his hands on his ketchup-stained shirt,
And drops his wrapper right into the dirt;
A stroll to the trash can is just too far,
So he tosses the bottle from his car;
But here is a fact pondered by the wise,
That Litterbug wears a sneaky disguise;
In truth, he’s very hard for us to see,
He actually looks just like you and me.
A Variation of “The Lord of the Baseball Diamond” (with a revised conclusion)
Seven-foot Sauron stands imperiously
like a goliath on the mound,
Wearing his glistening, gleaming armor,
he longs to be crowned;
His wind-up is Smaug-like
and slithering and serpentine,
As if he’s been guzzling and gulping
hot Mordor turpentine;
Brimming with poison pride,
he frantically fires a fastball of power,
That rings through the air
as it aims to devour.
But Gandalf hits a flaming line drive
that decapitates Sauron’s poor head,
This fire-eyed fool paid for his arrogance,
and that’s why he’s doornail dead;
Sauron was buried on the pitcher’s mound,
where it came to be known as Mount Doom,
That night there were post-game fireworks
that erupted from his fiery tomb.
Dedicated to my Father: Circa 1970
Me and Dad were at
Knott’s Berry Farm and
he couldn’t wait to share
his favorite attractions with me;
the torch of his enthusiasm
burned even hotter
than the fiery ashes
of his cigarettes;
but I was like a wet match,
soaking wet,
and Dad had no chance,
no chance at all --
my whole world was
Disneyland;
hot words of anger
gathered in his mouth
like fierce storm winds,
but then he hesitated,
thought pensively for a moment,
and, finally, swallowed them;
with a smile of selfless surrender,
he took my hand in his own
and, together, we walked
towards the parking lot.
The Father & The Son: Luminous Mysteries
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
The Incarnation & The Nativity: Joyful Mysteries
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, And born of the Virgin Mary.
The Passion: Sorrowful Mysteries
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead.
The Resurrection & The Ascension: Glorious Mysteries
On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, And is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
The Divine Plan: Merciful Mysteries
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Staggering and stumbling
On the rocky Via Dolorosa,
My hands wearily and weakly
Cling to the splintered cross;
A Roman soldier lashes me
With a whirling crackling whip,
Which like a wildcat’s claw
Rips and tears my poor flesh;
My knees buckle and I fall,
My battered head striking the
Stubborn and unforgiving ground,
Forcefully thrusting the thorns
Deeper into my wounded skull;
My soul silently suffers
In the dark night of the cross —
And yet I’m doing this all for you,
Just for you, because I love you,
So dearly, so deeply, so divinely.
Our Father’s eyes are upon us,
And we are gently caressed
By His compassionate gaze;
He speaks with a voice sublime,
Words of hope and encouragement,
Urging us to remain in Divine Mercy;
He knows everything about us,
The good, the bad, the unknown,
And yet, remarkably, He still loves us;
Then, we humbly approach Him,
Like the repentant prodigal son,
Wearing the tattered rags of sin:
He joyfully embraces and kisses us,
And, to our amazement, we are
Forgiven, and we are born again.