Friday, January 02, 2004
On Jesus in the Eucharist
O Bread of life,
You who offer yourself
to feed this sad, sin-sick world,
who joins us anew,
day after day
the living God
who comes to us in so fragile a form
that even a child may partake,
waiting patiently for those who love him,
waiting patiently to cure our sin-sick souls
with the light of heaven,
O blessed Lord,
I come to you,
unworthy but summoned,
undeserving, but loved.
I long to say,
Feed me, cure me, heal me,
I who have failed you time and again,
Yet when I see you there,
broken, poured out,
waiting for me,
all I can do is fall on my knees
in grief at my imperfection,
in awe of the depths of your love,
and only say
I adore thee,
I love thee,
help me to love thee more.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
O Bread of life,
You who offer yourself
to feed this sad, sin-sick world,
who joins us anew,
day after day
the living God
who comes to us in so fragile a form
that even a child may partake,
waiting patiently for those who love him,
waiting patiently to cure our sin-sick souls
with the light of heaven,
O blessed Lord,
I come to you,
unworthy but summoned,
undeserving, but loved.
I long to say,
Feed me, cure me, heal me,
I who have failed you time and again,
Yet when I see you there,
broken, poured out,
waiting for me,
all I can do is fall on my knees
in grief at my imperfection,
in awe of the depths of your love,
and only say
I adore thee,
I love thee,
help me to love thee more.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Labels: Eucharist
In the Beginning
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
In the beginning,
outside of time as we know it
before the clock of the universe started ticking
there you were,
The lover, the beloved, the love,
O my God.
And loving,
you began the clock
that led to this moment.
You brought us your light
to shine in our darkness,
to reveal the meaninglessness
we thought our lives to be,
who showed us the darkness
to be but shadows,
revealed to us the depths of your love,
your longing to bring us to you,
the price you were willing to pay.
You who created,
who breathed life into the lifeless world,
who, beyond all need to step into time,
came for love,
came to show us love,
came to be love for us.
Glory to you!
Susan E. Stone, 2004
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
In the beginning,
outside of time as we know it
before the clock of the universe started ticking
there you were,
The lover, the beloved, the love,
O my God.
And loving,
you began the clock
that led to this moment.
You brought us your light
to shine in our darkness,
to reveal the meaninglessness
we thought our lives to be,
who showed us the darkness
to be but shadows,
revealed to us the depths of your love,
your longing to bring us to you,
the price you were willing to pay.
You who created,
who breathed life into the lifeless world,
who, beyond all need to step into time,
came for love,
came to show us love,
came to be love for us.
Glory to you!
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Labels: Jesus' Love, scripture
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Thoughts on Our Lady
O Blessed Mother,
Impossible for me to imagine, really,
all those years with him who was love incarnate,
growing up straight and tall ,
a graceful sapling
turnng into a man.
I can imagine him
playing games through the streets of Nazareth,
sitting at Joseph's feet among the wood shavings,
watching you sewing.
Yet, to be with him all that time -
Did not the villagers notice
something special
about the youth
growing in their midst?
And you -
impossible to imagine
a lifetime spent
tending and caring,
loving and fixing for
God on earth -
Amazing that the glory invisible in your home
did not shatter your walls -
Indelible the brightness
it left upon your soul!
Susan E Stone, 2004
O Blessed Mother,
Impossible for me to imagine, really,
all those years with him who was love incarnate,
growing up straight and tall ,
a graceful sapling
turnng into a man.
I can imagine him
playing games through the streets of Nazareth,
sitting at Joseph's feet among the wood shavings,
watching you sewing.
Yet, to be with him all that time -
Did not the villagers notice
something special
about the youth
growing in their midst?
And you -
impossible to imagine
a lifetime spent
tending and caring,
loving and fixing for
God on earth -
Amazing that the glory invisible in your home
did not shatter your walls -
Indelible the brightness
it left upon your soul!
Susan E Stone, 2004
Labels: Mary
Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows on Man's Inhumanity in the name of Freedom
She cries in the hospital
as the life ebbs from her child,
victim of a "freedom fighter"
who has brought in his wake
only pain,
anger,
sorrow,
despair.
She is too exhausted to cry,
as she and her child wait for the end,
an empty stomach
long past the point of hunger pangs,
far away from the home where she was raised,
a home now in a war zone,
the fields stripped by drought
and mines
and the blood of men
fighting in the name of freedom.
She weeps for her son,
child of a husband long dead,
brutalized and blamed
for all the evil in their village,
the hunger,
the poverty,
aids,
and every moment of bad luck
as her father and brother
call him a witch,
and she knows
they will kill him,
or drive him away in the name of their freedom.
She weeps for her child
a child deep in a coma,
that others long to kill,
in the name of the child's freedom.
O Blessed Mother,
O Lady of Sorrows,
hold these women,
and the countless victims of
man's willingness to harm
in the name of freedom
in your most loving arms,
like you held your son
in the unfathomable depths of grief
after he laid down his freedom
for the love of us.
Pray for us, O Mother of God,
that we may recognize where our true freedom lies,
at the foot of the cross.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
She cries in the hospital
as the life ebbs from her child,
victim of a "freedom fighter"
who has brought in his wake
only pain,
anger,
sorrow,
despair.
She is too exhausted to cry,
as she and her child wait for the end,
an empty stomach
long past the point of hunger pangs,
far away from the home where she was raised,
a home now in a war zone,
the fields stripped by drought
and mines
and the blood of men
fighting in the name of freedom.
She weeps for her son,
child of a husband long dead,
brutalized and blamed
for all the evil in their village,
the hunger,
the poverty,
aids,
and every moment of bad luck
as her father and brother
call him a witch,
and she knows
they will kill him,
or drive him away in the name of their freedom.
She weeps for her child
a child deep in a coma,
that others long to kill,
in the name of the child's freedom.
O Blessed Mother,
O Lady of Sorrows,
hold these women,
and the countless victims of
man's willingness to harm
in the name of freedom
in your most loving arms,
like you held your son
in the unfathomable depths of grief
after he laid down his freedom
for the love of us.
Pray for us, O Mother of God,
that we may recognize where our true freedom lies,
at the foot of the cross.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Labels: Mary, Mercy on Mankind
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Prayer for the New Year
Dear Father,
Here we are again at the dawn of a New Year,
a time of beginnings.
Lord, I know not how many days lie before me,
or even if I will live past the start,
when the clock strikes midnight.
So much before us is uncertain,
uncharted,
in your most capable hands.
Yet, as this old year draws to its close,
I pray
that whatever time lies in front of me,
whatever days lay before me,
may I dedicate them anew to you,
lover of my soul,
King of creation,
my true goal
my God,
Abba,
Father.
Teach me, as each moment dawns anew,
to look at the time at hand,
with eyes that see as you would see,
to see the child beloved to you
who wears an undesirable face,
to see the soul deserving of my love
in the eyes of my enemy.
Let me see the time that can be consecrated to you,
to spread your peace,
where once I would have walked away,
to reach out
where once I would have clenched my fist,
to see opportunity
where once I would have seen obstacle.
Most of all,
let the fire of your love
burn so brightly in me,
that all that is dross in my soul
melts away,
that all that separates me from you
passes into ash, to be blown away.
In the morning,
be my first thought,
in evening, my last consideration.
May all my resolutions this year
resolve into the one:
To do what you would want me to do,
how you would want me to do,
when you would want me to do it,
not by my might,
but through the power of your Spirit,
now and forever,
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2003
Dear Father,
Here we are again at the dawn of a New Year,
a time of beginnings.
Lord, I know not how many days lie before me,
or even if I will live past the start,
when the clock strikes midnight.
So much before us is uncertain,
uncharted,
in your most capable hands.
Yet, as this old year draws to its close,
I pray
that whatever time lies in front of me,
whatever days lay before me,
may I dedicate them anew to you,
lover of my soul,
King of creation,
my true goal
my God,
Abba,
Father.
Teach me, as each moment dawns anew,
to look at the time at hand,
with eyes that see as you would see,
to see the child beloved to you
who wears an undesirable face,
to see the soul deserving of my love
in the eyes of my enemy.
Let me see the time that can be consecrated to you,
to spread your peace,
where once I would have walked away,
to reach out
where once I would have clenched my fist,
to see opportunity
where once I would have seen obstacle.
Most of all,
let the fire of your love
burn so brightly in me,
that all that is dross in my soul
melts away,
that all that separates me from you
passes into ash, to be blown away.
In the morning,
be my first thought,
in evening, my last consideration.
May all my resolutions this year
resolve into the one:
To do what you would want me to do,
how you would want me to do,
when you would want me to do it,
not by my might,
but through the power of your Spirit,
now and forever,
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2003
Labels: Holiday and Special Occasion
Monday, December 29, 2003
Thoughts on the gifts of the Magi
Lord, help me not just hear about sorrows and
disasters, troubles and needs,
and feel sad and impotent and useless.
Show me how to respond to you
whereever you show your face,
not just on the news stories,
not just to people far away,
but here too,
in the forgotten
and hidden and
undesirable.
Teach me to use my hands
to cover your nakedness,
not just "over there,"
but here at home where a homeless person
sleeps in the cold,
or a child needs socks
or a mother wears slippers in the cold
so her children can have sneakers.
Teach me to see the need,
to give you food and drink
not just to a foreign mission,
but to those here who are forgotten,
the elderly,
the ill,
the out of work,
all those we choose not to see day by day.
Teach me to share your light
wherever it is needed.
Let me see your face in the afflicted,
the sad,
the grieving,
the angry,
those who most distress me.
O my Jesus,
who as a child received the gifts of the Magi,
let me offer you the gold
of good intentions put into practice,
the healing myrrh that comes by sharing your peace,
the frankincense of prayer and action
offered up to you, through you, by your power,
this day, and always.
Amen
Susan E. Stone, 2003
Lord, help me not just hear about sorrows and
disasters, troubles and needs,
and feel sad and impotent and useless.
Show me how to respond to you
whereever you show your face,
not just on the news stories,
not just to people far away,
but here too,
in the forgotten
and hidden and
undesirable.
Teach me to use my hands
to cover your nakedness,
not just "over there,"
but here at home where a homeless person
sleeps in the cold,
or a child needs socks
or a mother wears slippers in the cold
so her children can have sneakers.
Teach me to see the need,
to give you food and drink
not just to a foreign mission,
but to those here who are forgotten,
the elderly,
the ill,
the out of work,
all those we choose not to see day by day.
Teach me to share your light
wherever it is needed.
Let me see your face in the afflicted,
the sad,
the grieving,
the angry,
those who most distress me.
O my Jesus,
who as a child received the gifts of the Magi,
let me offer you the gold
of good intentions put into practice,
the healing myrrh that comes by sharing your peace,
the frankincense of prayer and action
offered up to you, through you, by your power,
this day, and always.
Amen
Susan E. Stone, 2003
Labels: Advent Nativity Epiphany
