(Composed Aug 22, 2005)
The beggar dogs eat the crumbs that is left on the master’s table (Mat 15:27)
Solitary soul in exile, wandering the vast desert
the wilderness of the unkown,
of questions and doubtsfears and shames,
hopes and dreamsdreams
THe desert of God’s refinement
Here he wanders,
a deeply seated loneliness penetrating itself to the corecore
Desiring simply this:
Love
To love and to be loved
to be accepted as he is and to be aknowledged
He is reduced to a beggar off to chase the illusions of a false hope
and sitting by suppliant of people’s affection
He owns the leftovers
the dog that eats the crumbs that fall from the masters’ table.
no soul has shown him much affection
little endearment
their offered time are the crumbs of the times well spent
among things truly loved and cherished
he recieves no particular attention
cast off to the shadows
until one has pity and offers him what is left of their attention
what is left of their affection
he is not a priority
simply a commodity
this is the life of a beggar
a slave to the images,
bound by the passions
his sole comforter to numb the fatal pain of loneliness
who shall ransom his life
sold to the merchants who care no less for him
the object of pity and derision
of misunderstanding and judgment
when beneath it alllies a heart broken,
seeking to find its place in this world?
the eyes and hearts of those who once cared for him
are now fixed on other matters
and all he receives from them are the leftovers of their time and love
Thank you
THanks for the crumbs,
the leftovers befitting a base beggar
no more than a dog begging off the streets
filling himself with the reremains of the feast
yet never a member of it
It is he that must bow to their will
It is the dog that must lower its head at the masters’ bidding
Turn your wheel, o fate
smile upon this hound or shall he also be the object of your morsels…
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Untitled
(Composed June 27, 2005)
No effort tried
Drained of strength and inspiration
Paralyzed in speaking his voice
Truth cannot escape his crippled tongue
And so he is misunderstood
Self-inflicting pain over pain
Misery over misery
From one burden to another
Drained of strength
So hurt he can but close himself, the walls rise higher and higher
So leave him be
A fast for sorrow
The company of so many friends
Yet still walking in solitude
The perpetual cry, Why?
No faith, no hope, no love
His only cry to heaven,
The archer his missed his mark
He seems to always miss his mark
And frustration builds on frustration
Fuels fear and shame
On what foundation must his life be built?
A simple concept so difficult to understand
What is the choice of honor?
Where is the path to peace?
Strong One, so inspiring, where are you?
For this dying soul, held in the eternal pieta
Longs for your light
For he but circles around the mocking darkness
Whose wings ache to fly
Over the dark clouds on to where the horizons are bright with promise
Tuned to the songs of ancient heroes
And longing to dance in the rhythm of brave hearts
to soar on the bright smiling warmth of the light
this is his hope..
a hope to be raised above the threatening storm
where the light of truth has overcome the darkness of confusion
for now, he cannot see past the tempest
tossed and turned about by the forceful waves
in a frustrating fluctuate of thoughts and moods
Comforter, come with your comfort
Lord over the flood, whose brazen feet run swift over the storm
Save this dying archer
Seek his heart that seeks your truth
You who understand, allow him to be understood
And more so, allow him to understand
Ephphatha
Let his mouth be opened, let his ears be unlocked
And he shall sing your praise
On your strength he stands
That the good fight may be his
To win race and to keep the faith…
And attain that crown and joy so long desired by this edgy heart
And find refuge in the land of rest
Amen
No effort tried
Drained of strength and inspiration
Paralyzed in speaking his voice
Truth cannot escape his crippled tongue
And so he is misunderstood
Self-inflicting pain over pain
Misery over misery
From one burden to another
Drained of strength
So hurt he can but close himself, the walls rise higher and higher
So leave him be
A fast for sorrow
The company of so many friends
Yet still walking in solitude
The perpetual cry, Why?
No faith, no hope, no love
His only cry to heaven,
The archer his missed his mark
He seems to always miss his mark
And frustration builds on frustration
Fuels fear and shame
On what foundation must his life be built?
A simple concept so difficult to understand
What is the choice of honor?
Where is the path to peace?
Strong One, so inspiring, where are you?
For this dying soul, held in the eternal pieta
Longs for your light
For he but circles around the mocking darkness
Whose wings ache to fly
Over the dark clouds on to where the horizons are bright with promise
Tuned to the songs of ancient heroes
And longing to dance in the rhythm of brave hearts
to soar on the bright smiling warmth of the light
this is his hope..
a hope to be raised above the threatening storm
where the light of truth has overcome the darkness of confusion
for now, he cannot see past the tempest
tossed and turned about by the forceful waves
in a frustrating fluctuate of thoughts and moods
Comforter, come with your comfort
Lord over the flood, whose brazen feet run swift over the storm
Save this dying archer
Seek his heart that seeks your truth
You who understand, allow him to be understood
And more so, allow him to understand
Ephphatha
Let his mouth be opened, let his ears be unlocked
And he shall sing your praise
On your strength he stands
That the good fight may be his
To win race and to keep the faith…
And attain that crown and joy so long desired by this edgy heart
And find refuge in the land of rest
Amen
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
ST. THERESE NOVENA - Ninth Day
THE LITTLE FLOWER: LIGHT AMIDST A CULTURE OF DEATH
NOVENA - NINTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, ardent love is as unrelenting as the grave. Love's flames are fiery flames, the fiercest of all. (Song of Songs 8:6)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE PASSION OF LOVE
My Vocation is Love! I have no other means of proving my love except by strewing flowers, that is to say, letting no little sacrifice pass ... and in strewing my flowers I will sing. I will sing, even if my roses must be gathered from among thorns; and the longer and sharper the thorns, the sweeter shall be my song...”
The source and summit of Therese’s life, this is also her key to suffering: LOVE. Contemplating the God whose love emptied him from the crib to the Cross, Therese learned that the inescapable price of loving selflessly is a willingness to suffer pain. This is the secret of Therese’ outpouring of love and its apostolic fruitfulness: her love is crucified. In offering herself to Jesus, she gave herself up without any reserve to the trials and sufferings which marked her life as with a seal. "Love penetrated and possessed her" and suffering seized her as if she were its prey. The victim offered in holocaust had been accepted, "a better witness of abandonment and love." She wrote, "Under the winepress of suffering, I will prove my love to You."
Therese teaches that some, according to the will of God, suffer nothing more than the miseries that are integral to human life, while others are called to take on greater burdens, sharing more in Christ's salvific action. Whatever the portion of the Cross, she calls us to suffer joyously, patiently, humbly. Our salvation lies not in suffering but in the love with which we bear that suffering, uniting us to the Divine Heart whose outstretched arms transform suffering and death, the fruits of sin, into avenues of grace and life.
In response to her question if God delights in suffering, love answers: "No, our suffering never makes Him happy, but this suffering is necessary for us." Sin having made suffering necessary, God out of love wills it, since it is the means to bring man to love Him. Bitter remedy, but, given man's egoism, necessary remedy for the soul's health and happiness. "It costs God to make us drink at the fountain of tears," she wrote "but He knows that it is the only way to prepare us to know Him as He knows Himself and to share his life!”
To love God completely and love others out of selfless love for God: this is the fulfillment of the human heart.
With this in mind, Thérèse prays that God would raise a legion of souls who offer themselves as victims of holocaust to Jesus' merciful love, loving actively and making whatever comes an expression of that love. Victimhood is the ultimate destiny of her little way: Our littleness must be consumed by the infinite fire of divine charity. Like gold in a refiner's fire, once love is purified of its impurities, it becomes weak and malleable.
Her song, 'The Withered Rose,’ composed shortly before her death, articulate her own self-oblation, the passion of her self-squandering love: Like a rose that has just reached perfection, her petals are deliberately, lovingly, and tenderly shed under Jesus' feet as he takes his first steps on ‘our sad earth’, and as he treads his last to Calvary. This is her life's meaning — to be all for Jesus, for his easing, for his joy. This is Thérèse----Of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face--purified by the crucible of suffering, possessed by Love and has herself become love.
For Thee I die, for Thee, Jesus, Thou Fairest Fair! —
Joy beyond telling! —
Thus, fading, would I prove my love beyond compare,
All bliss excelling.
Beneath Thy feet, Thy way to smooth, through life’s long night,
My heart would lie;
And softening Thy hard path up Calvary’s awful height,
I thus would die.
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
NOVENA - NINTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, ardent love is as unrelenting as the grave. Love's flames are fiery flames, the fiercest of all. (Song of Songs 8:6)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE PASSION OF LOVE
My Vocation is Love! I have no other means of proving my love except by strewing flowers, that is to say, letting no little sacrifice pass ... and in strewing my flowers I will sing. I will sing, even if my roses must be gathered from among thorns; and the longer and sharper the thorns, the sweeter shall be my song...”
The source and summit of Therese’s life, this is also her key to suffering: LOVE. Contemplating the God whose love emptied him from the crib to the Cross, Therese learned that the inescapable price of loving selflessly is a willingness to suffer pain. This is the secret of Therese’ outpouring of love and its apostolic fruitfulness: her love is crucified. In offering herself to Jesus, she gave herself up without any reserve to the trials and sufferings which marked her life as with a seal. "Love penetrated and possessed her" and suffering seized her as if she were its prey. The victim offered in holocaust had been accepted, "a better witness of abandonment and love." She wrote, "Under the winepress of suffering, I will prove my love to You."
Therese teaches that some, according to the will of God, suffer nothing more than the miseries that are integral to human life, while others are called to take on greater burdens, sharing more in Christ's salvific action. Whatever the portion of the Cross, she calls us to suffer joyously, patiently, humbly. Our salvation lies not in suffering but in the love with which we bear that suffering, uniting us to the Divine Heart whose outstretched arms transform suffering and death, the fruits of sin, into avenues of grace and life.
In response to her question if God delights in suffering, love answers: "No, our suffering never makes Him happy, but this suffering is necessary for us." Sin having made suffering necessary, God out of love wills it, since it is the means to bring man to love Him. Bitter remedy, but, given man's egoism, necessary remedy for the soul's health and happiness. "It costs God to make us drink at the fountain of tears," she wrote "but He knows that it is the only way to prepare us to know Him as He knows Himself and to share his life!”
To love God completely and love others out of selfless love for God: this is the fulfillment of the human heart.
With this in mind, Thérèse prays that God would raise a legion of souls who offer themselves as victims of holocaust to Jesus' merciful love, loving actively and making whatever comes an expression of that love. Victimhood is the ultimate destiny of her little way: Our littleness must be consumed by the infinite fire of divine charity. Like gold in a refiner's fire, once love is purified of its impurities, it becomes weak and malleable.
Her song, 'The Withered Rose,’ composed shortly before her death, articulate her own self-oblation, the passion of her self-squandering love: Like a rose that has just reached perfection, her petals are deliberately, lovingly, and tenderly shed under Jesus' feet as he takes his first steps on ‘our sad earth’, and as he treads his last to Calvary. This is her life's meaning — to be all for Jesus, for his easing, for his joy. This is Thérèse----Of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face--purified by the crucible of suffering, possessed by Love and has herself become love.
For Thee I die, for Thee, Jesus, Thou Fairest Fair! —
Joy beyond telling! —
Thus, fading, would I prove my love beyond compare,
All bliss excelling.
Beneath Thy feet, Thy way to smooth, through life’s long night,
My heart would lie;
And softening Thy hard path up Calvary’s awful height,
I thus would die.
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
ST. THERESE NOVENA - Eighth Day
THE LITTLE FLOWER: LIGHT AMIDST A CULTURE OF DEATH
NOVENA - EIGHTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.(1 Peter 1:6-7)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- SEAL OF HOLINESS, COMPASS TO ETERNITY
The consequence of sin, suffering has been sanctified by the Passion of Christ. God's plan became clear to Thérèse: to make the consequences of sin serve not only humanity's salvation, but also its perfection unto holiness. In the Crucified, the merciful love of God meets the misery of humanity, making suffering the ladder to sanctity and salvation. The events of Thérèse’s life allowed her to recognize this connection between suffering and God’s will: By suffering, love orients one to God. "When we are brought to misery we have no desire to gaze at ourselves, and we turn our gaze towards the One beloved." ”
Herein therefore lies the secret of holiness: United with the Crucified, suffering enables one to go out of oneself to be united with God. In other words, it becomes a means of love. Great love, great holiness, go hand in hand with great suffering. The more one focuses on Jesus, the more sympathetic that person becomes: "Love much and you will suffer much.” It is the greatness of love which matters, not the suffering itself. It is only because suffering and love are intertwined that Thérèse speaks of welcoming suffering. Therefore, she emphasizes that little acts of kindness or little slights ignored with great love gain infinite value in Jesus' hands. “Holiness does not consist in saying beautiful things, it does not even consist in thinking them, in feeling them! It consists in suffering and in suffering everything. Let us see life in the true light... It is a moment between two eternities...” It is because it detaches us from material things, reminding us of our destiny, that suffering becomes the prerequisite for salvation: “Trials help us detach ourselves from the earth; they make us look higher than this world. Here below nothing can satisfy us."
“"Sanctity does not consist in this or that practice; it consists in a disposition of heart which makes us humble and little in the arms of God, conscious of our weakness, and confident to the point of audacity in the goodness of our Father." (St. Thérèse)
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
NOVENA - EIGHTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.(1 Peter 1:6-7)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- SEAL OF HOLINESS, COMPASS TO ETERNITY
The consequence of sin, suffering has been sanctified by the Passion of Christ. God's plan became clear to Thérèse: to make the consequences of sin serve not only humanity's salvation, but also its perfection unto holiness. In the Crucified, the merciful love of God meets the misery of humanity, making suffering the ladder to sanctity and salvation. The events of Thérèse’s life allowed her to recognize this connection between suffering and God’s will: By suffering, love orients one to God. "When we are brought to misery we have no desire to gaze at ourselves, and we turn our gaze towards the One beloved." ”
Herein therefore lies the secret of holiness: United with the Crucified, suffering enables one to go out of oneself to be united with God. In other words, it becomes a means of love. Great love, great holiness, go hand in hand with great suffering. The more one focuses on Jesus, the more sympathetic that person becomes: "Love much and you will suffer much.” It is the greatness of love which matters, not the suffering itself. It is only because suffering and love are intertwined that Thérèse speaks of welcoming suffering. Therefore, she emphasizes that little acts of kindness or little slights ignored with great love gain infinite value in Jesus' hands. “Holiness does not consist in saying beautiful things, it does not even consist in thinking them, in feeling them! It consists in suffering and in suffering everything. Let us see life in the true light... It is a moment between two eternities...” It is because it detaches us from material things, reminding us of our destiny, that suffering becomes the prerequisite for salvation: “Trials help us detach ourselves from the earth; they make us look higher than this world. Here below nothing can satisfy us."
“"Sanctity does not consist in this or that practice; it consists in a disposition of heart which makes us humble and little in the arms of God, conscious of our weakness, and confident to the point of audacity in the goodness of our Father." (St. Thérèse)
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A song to St. Michael
Michael, prince of all the angels,
While your legions fill the sky,
All victorious over Satan,
Lift your flaming sword on high;
Shout to all the seas and heavens:
Now the morning is begun;
Now is rescued from the dragon
She whose garment is the sun!
Mighty champion of the woman,
Mighty servant of her Lord,
Come with all your myriad warriors,
Come and save us with your sword;
Enemies of God surround us:
Share with us your burning love;
Let the incense of our worship
Rise before His throne above!
Gabriel, messenger to Mary,
Raphael, healer, friend and guide,
All you hosts of guardian angels
Ever standing by our side,
Virtues, Thrones and Dominations,
Raise on high your joyful hymn,
Principalities and Powers,
Cherubim and Seraphim!
M.Owen Lee, C.S.B. / William J. Marsh
While your legions fill the sky,
All victorious over Satan,
Lift your flaming sword on high;
Shout to all the seas and heavens:
Now the morning is begun;
Now is rescued from the dragon
She whose garment is the sun!
Mighty champion of the woman,
Mighty servant of her Lord,
Come with all your myriad warriors,
Come and save us with your sword;
Enemies of God surround us:
Share with us your burning love;
Let the incense of our worship
Rise before His throne above!
Gabriel, messenger to Mary,
Raphael, healer, friend and guide,
All you hosts of guardian angels
Ever standing by our side,
Virtues, Thrones and Dominations,
Raise on high your joyful hymn,
Principalities and Powers,
Cherubim and Seraphim!
M.Owen Lee, C.S.B. / William J. Marsh
ST. THERESE NOVENA - Seventh Day
THE LITTLE FLOWER: LIGHT AMIDST A CULTURE OF DEATH
NOVENA - SEVENTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: "Even when we are weighed down with sufferings, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer." (2 Corinthians 1:6)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE ROOT OF COMPASSION
“I myself was consumed with a thirst for souls… not with the souls of priests, but with those of great sinners...” Love prompted Thérèse to make Jesus' concern for the salvation of individuals her own, being given the grace of identifying with those who had lost their sensibilities for God, in whom the tension between hope and despair was an all consuming battle, a fight to the death. “Jesus made me feel that there were really souls who have no faith, and who, through the abuse of grace, lost this precious treasure, the source of the only real and pure joys. He permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness, and that the thought of heaven…be no longer anything but the cause of struggle and torment.” In those final months, Thérèse battled the temptation of atheism, feeling the full import of that "dark tunnel.”
Absorbing in her heart the misery of sinners, she placed it with naked, daring faith before God’s merciful embrace, present even in the darkest hours, though one cannot ‘feel’ it. She knew that, without confidence in an ever-loving God, to keep going day after day, year after year, would be a life of folly difficult to endure. Totally abandoned to God with such childlike simplicity, she embodies that house built on rock unshaken though ‘the rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house.’ (Matt 5:25) This saint addresses all who sense futility in their lives, feeling hopeless, wasted, ineffectual and powerless. This is the essence of compassion. Cum-Passio-- To suffer with. Thérèse’s compassion, beyond empty sentiments and theatrical well-wishes, comes not from one unfamiliar with misery but from a comrade who endured the same arena of pain, and who, by the grace of the Crucified, emerged victorious.
I cannot conceive of a greater immensity of love than the one which it has pleased you[, Lord,] to give me freely, without any merit on my part… O Jesus, since this sweet flame consumes my heart, I run with joy in the way of Your New Commandment. It is no longer a question of loving one’s neighbor as oneself but of loving him as he – Jesus – has loved him, and will love him to the consummation of the ages. The more I am united to Him, the more also do I love all my sisters. " (St. Thérèse, Story of a Soul)
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
NOVENA - SEVENTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: "Even when we are weighed down with sufferings, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer." (2 Corinthians 1:6)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE ROOT OF COMPASSION
“I myself was consumed with a thirst for souls… not with the souls of priests, but with those of great sinners...” Love prompted Thérèse to make Jesus' concern for the salvation of individuals her own, being given the grace of identifying with those who had lost their sensibilities for God, in whom the tension between hope and despair was an all consuming battle, a fight to the death. “Jesus made me feel that there were really souls who have no faith, and who, through the abuse of grace, lost this precious treasure, the source of the only real and pure joys. He permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness, and that the thought of heaven…be no longer anything but the cause of struggle and torment.” In those final months, Thérèse battled the temptation of atheism, feeling the full import of that "dark tunnel.”
Absorbing in her heart the misery of sinners, she placed it with naked, daring faith before God’s merciful embrace, present even in the darkest hours, though one cannot ‘feel’ it. She knew that, without confidence in an ever-loving God, to keep going day after day, year after year, would be a life of folly difficult to endure. Totally abandoned to God with such childlike simplicity, she embodies that house built on rock unshaken though ‘the rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house.’ (Matt 5:25) This saint addresses all who sense futility in their lives, feeling hopeless, wasted, ineffectual and powerless. This is the essence of compassion. Cum-Passio-- To suffer with. Thérèse’s compassion, beyond empty sentiments and theatrical well-wishes, comes not from one unfamiliar with misery but from a comrade who endured the same arena of pain, and who, by the grace of the Crucified, emerged victorious.
I cannot conceive of a greater immensity of love than the one which it has pleased you[, Lord,] to give me freely, without any merit on my part… O Jesus, since this sweet flame consumes my heart, I run with joy in the way of Your New Commandment. It is no longer a question of loving one’s neighbor as oneself but of loving him as he – Jesus – has loved him, and will love him to the consummation of the ages. The more I am united to Him, the more also do I love all my sisters. " (St. Thérèse, Story of a Soul)
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
ST. THERESE NOVENA - Sixth Day
THE LITTLE FLOWER: LIGHT AMIDST A CULTURE OF DEATH
NOVENA - SIXTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: "He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me." (1 Cor 12:9)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE GLORY OF WEAKNESS
Everything in Thérèse's life, particularly her limitations, became a context for relationship with God and thus integral to her 'Little Way': The years of struggle with her own fragility offered Thérèse a graced conclusion: in one’s weaknesses is God’s strength manifested: "It is enough to realize one's nothingness, and give oneself wholly, like a child, into the arms of the good God. …I rejoice to be little because 'only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet'." Like a mere grain of sand on the beach of a loving God or the little ball that Jesus plays with as he likes, Thérèse’s littleness was made all-the-more acute during her illness. Finite and fragile, she became marvelously free from herself and marvelously free for God, her soul wide open to the invasions of divine love. “The weaker one is, without desires or virtues, the more ready one is for the operations of this consuming and transforming love....”
In the Crucified, Thérèse’s weakness was absorbed in the strength of the Passion of Love. She suffered in union with Jesus, but not in any proud, superhuman manner. She accepts her moments of irritation, her tears and complaints as reflections of her smallness. She has no intention of storming heaven with her heroic credentials clutched tightly in her hand. On the contrary, her hope is to be borne up, with no merit on her part, on the eagle wings of Jesus. She glories in her “complete helplessness,” not for the pain it brings, but because it is a salvific word through which God sanctified her making her a participant in the redemptive work of Christ Crucified. Suffering is a word which spoke God's love to her and through which she speaks her love for God and for souls.
"And suppose God wishes to have you as feeble and powerless as a child? Do you think that would be less worthy in God's eyes? Consent to stumble, or even to fall at every step, to bear your cross feebly; love your weakness. Your soul will draw more profit from that than if, sustained by grace, you vigorously performed heroic deeds which would fill your soul with self-satisfaction and pride." (St. Thérèse)
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
NOVENA - SIXTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.
WORD: "He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me." (1 Cor 12:9)
Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE GLORY OF WEAKNESS
Everything in Thérèse's life, particularly her limitations, became a context for relationship with God and thus integral to her 'Little Way': The years of struggle with her own fragility offered Thérèse a graced conclusion: in one’s weaknesses is God’s strength manifested: "It is enough to realize one's nothingness, and give oneself wholly, like a child, into the arms of the good God. …I rejoice to be little because 'only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet'." Like a mere grain of sand on the beach of a loving God or the little ball that Jesus plays with as he likes, Thérèse’s littleness was made all-the-more acute during her illness. Finite and fragile, she became marvelously free from herself and marvelously free for God, her soul wide open to the invasions of divine love. “The weaker one is, without desires or virtues, the more ready one is for the operations of this consuming and transforming love....”
In the Crucified, Thérèse’s weakness was absorbed in the strength of the Passion of Love. She suffered in union with Jesus, but not in any proud, superhuman manner. She accepts her moments of irritation, her tears and complaints as reflections of her smallness. She has no intention of storming heaven with her heroic credentials clutched tightly in her hand. On the contrary, her hope is to be borne up, with no merit on her part, on the eagle wings of Jesus. She glories in her “complete helplessness,” not for the pain it brings, but because it is a salvific word through which God sanctified her making her a participant in the redemptive work of Christ Crucified. Suffering is a word which spoke God's love to her and through which she speaks her love for God and for souls.
"And suppose God wishes to have you as feeble and powerless as a child? Do you think that would be less worthy in God's eyes? Consent to stumble, or even to fall at every step, to bear your cross feebly; love your weakness. Your soul will draw more profit from that than if, sustained by grace, you vigorously performed heroic deeds which would fill your soul with self-satisfaction and pride." (St. Thérèse)
DAILY PRAYER
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,
O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.
1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.
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