CARRYING MY CROSS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

DAVID AND GOLIATH

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.

THE ISRAELITES DRINKING THE MIRACULOUS WATER

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.

MOSES SAVED FROM THE WATERS

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.

JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS

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.

THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

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.

THE TOWER OF BABEL

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.

THE DELUGE

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.

THE ANIMALS ENTERING NOAH'S ARK

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.

THROWAWAYS

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?

ADAM AND EVE

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.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

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.

THE CREATION OF ADAM

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.