FREEDOM /  by Joe Castorino

When liberty is

divorced from responsibility,

it dreadfully descends in a

dizzying death spiral of

selfishness.

 

But when liberty

is married to responsibility,

it courageously spirals upward

in a heroic flight of

freedom.

STALE COOKIES /  by Joe Castorino

We must avoid the

stale cookies of selfishness,

for they crumble

into complaints;

but with the Eucharistic

bread of thanksgiving,

we can then live like

the holy saints.

THE DEATH SPIRAL /  by Joe Castorino

Q-war-reling:        

even the fearful word        

forebodes a future filled     

with deep darkness;        

impatience heats to        

simmering anger        

then it boils over into        

raging revenge            

then it ignites into        

bloody battles                

then it explodes into        

world wars.

TWO HOUSES /  by Joe Castorino

A HOUSE BUILT ON ROCK

A humble home was built

On a foundation of faith,

In the Town of Trust,

In the Province of Prudence,

On the rugged rock of

Divine Mercy:

The wild waves awoke

Like ferocious beasts

And beat against the

Formidable fortress,

Wailing with watery fists,

But all to no avail --

Nothing could harm

This holy house of Love.

A HOUSE BUILT ON SAND

A castle of carousing was built

On a lazy beach in

The City of Cool,

In the Province of Popular,

On the slippery sand of

Foolish fragile fear:

Then, a voracious tidal wave,

Like a savage swarm of

Paranoid piranha,

Chewed apart the castle,

And a furious flood

Of thick red blood

Poured out in torrents,

Turning the green one red.

THE DIVINE SENSE OF HUMOR /  by Joe Castorino

Inspired by Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

The divine

   sense of humor

      makes us laugh,

Without it,

   life is just

      lived to the half;

We are happy,

   and we smile

      with good cheer,

For the Lord’s

   perfect love

      casts out all fear.

THE BATTLE /  by Joe Castorino

Like an aggressive squadron of

Enemy fighter jets, a flurry of

Problems is rapidly approaching

My sector in attack formation;

In my anxiety I am tempted to take

Them on all at once, but, instead, 

I veer off to the right and one breaks

Off from the pack and follows me;

I take my adversary into the Light

And he is utterly blinded by it, so

I launch the missiles of patience

And love until he is destroyed;

One by one, I do the same with

The other challenges until, finally,

The spiritual airspace is clear, then

I praise the King of the Universe.

THE ARMOR OF GOD /  by Joe Castorino

The Dark One

Attacks me,

So I put on the 

Armor of God,

And live the fruits

Of the Spirit:

Thanksliving,

And I am safe;

This quick shift

From offense

To defense,

Helps me to 

Hold my ground

On Jesus the Rock.

THE THIRD DAY /  by Joe Castorino

I returned to Jesus,

like Magdalene,

sobbing, my tears

trickling, I kissed

the wounds

on His hands, 

on His feet, 

on His side, 

on His head,

the wounds that I,

yes, I myself,

inflicted upon Him,

and with gentle

compassion

He raised me up

on the third day,

embracing me

with His Holy

Spirit of Love.

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.