Friday, June 04, 2004
Heart of Jesus
O Jesus,
your heart beating with love,
beat out the moments
in the garden,
as you prayed there,
filled with sorrow,
while all slept.
Your heart
keeping time
with all the sin
you took upon your shoulders,
cascading down upon you
filth of the years before
dirt of the years ahead,
and you knelt there,
your heart beating in your chest
like the rhythm
of heavenly love
as you accepted the Father's will.
O Jesus,
As you hung on the cross,
the beating of your heart,
a lover's song,
growing strained,
each beat
each breath
reaching out
a lover's
goodbye,
hard,
aching,
until the moment
the last beat
the final farewell,
then silence.
O Jesus,
the miracle
of that heart of love,
rekindled
in a burst of glory
that shattered death,
that made your heart
big enough
to hold the whole world
in a lover's embrace.
Heart of Jesus,
glowing furnace of love,
thank you.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
O Jesus,
your heart beating with love,
beat out the moments
in the garden,
as you prayed there,
filled with sorrow,
while all slept.
Your heart
keeping time
with all the sin
you took upon your shoulders,
cascading down upon you
filth of the years before
dirt of the years ahead,
and you knelt there,
your heart beating in your chest
like the rhythm
of heavenly love
as you accepted the Father's will.
O Jesus,
As you hung on the cross,
the beating of your heart,
a lover's song,
growing strained,
each beat
each breath
reaching out
a lover's
goodbye,
hard,
aching,
until the moment
the last beat
the final farewell,
then silence.
O Jesus,
the miracle
of that heart of love,
rekindled
in a burst of glory
that shattered death,
that made your heart
big enough
to hold the whole world
in a lover's embrace.
Heart of Jesus,
glowing furnace of love,
thank you.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Thursday, June 03, 2004
What is Love?
What is love, Lord,
but being open to you,
and trying to see
as you see
each child a person called to join you,
each person worthy to be beloved of God,
each person a chance for you
to come and be cared for,
and to care for the carer.
What is love, Lord,
but a cup of water offered,
bread given to fill a hungry stomach,
care given to the sick,
a kind word to an aching heart,
a soothing smile to one feeling hurt,
salve for the wound.
What is love, Lord,
but God come to earth
to walk as a man,
to know our limitations,
feel our pains,
hear our cries,
taste the dust,
and give himself up
to the torturer's whip
and the cries of the mob,
and the bite of the nail,
and the darkness of death.
Teach me Lord,
to love as you love,
to see as you see,
to be your hands,
to speak with your voice,
this day, and always.
Amen.
Susan E. Stone
What is love, Lord,
but being open to you,
and trying to see
as you see
each child a person called to join you,
each person worthy to be beloved of God,
each person a chance for you
to come and be cared for,
and to care for the carer.
What is love, Lord,
but a cup of water offered,
bread given to fill a hungry stomach,
care given to the sick,
a kind word to an aching heart,
a soothing smile to one feeling hurt,
salve for the wound.
What is love, Lord,
but God come to earth
to walk as a man,
to know our limitations,
feel our pains,
hear our cries,
taste the dust,
and give himself up
to the torturer's whip
and the cries of the mob,
and the bite of the nail,
and the darkness of death.
Teach me Lord,
to love as you love,
to see as you see,
to be your hands,
to speak with your voice,
this day, and always.
Amen.
Susan E. Stone
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
O Lord,
You are the giver of life.
fill the hearts of those
who call you master
with a firm understanding
that in cherishing life,
from conception until the last breath
we do your work.
You are the giver of truth,
make us hungry for your truth,
make us hungry to share your truth
both in the big things we do,
but even more,
in the little ways of life
which show the truth to our neighbors
in ways we cannot fathom.
You are the giver of light,
help us who call you Master
to be living lanterns of that light,
spreading your message of hope and love
throughout the world.
O Lord,
the days seem dark
and your way seems despised,
and your truth scorned
by so many around us.
Give us the fire of your love,
and with your help,
use us to recreate the face of the earth,
starting today, this hour, this moment.
Amen.
You are the giver of life.
fill the hearts of those
who call you master
with a firm understanding
that in cherishing life,
from conception until the last breath
we do your work.
You are the giver of truth,
make us hungry for your truth,
make us hungry to share your truth
both in the big things we do,
but even more,
in the little ways of life
which show the truth to our neighbors
in ways we cannot fathom.
You are the giver of light,
help us who call you Master
to be living lanterns of that light,
spreading your message of hope and love
throughout the world.
O Lord,
the days seem dark
and your way seems despised,
and your truth scorned
by so many around us.
Give us the fire of your love,
and with your help,
use us to recreate the face of the earth,
starting today, this hour, this moment.
Amen.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
A Prayer of Thanks
Dear Lord,
Thank you for sunny days
that follow after the storm,
for friends who let you talk or let you be silent
as the need arises,
for those little touches of love and light
that come, unexpectedly,
and o so frequently just when we need it.
Thank you Lord,
For letting yourself
be born on this earth,
to see those sunny days with human
as well as Godlike eyes,
for knowing what it really is like
to have friends who don't always understand,
but want to be with you,
who deal with your need for silence,
or your need to explain,
for experiencing how much those little touches
of love and light
really mean.
Thank you Lord,
for walking those dusty paths
to teach us your truth,
For showing us other ways
to deal with enemies
besides hatred and anger
for chosing the road to Golgotha,
for being Emmanuel.
Lord,
give me a grateful heart
and a mind to know
that no matter how dark the moment,
or sad the event,
you know what it means,
how it tastes,
how it aches,
how it devastates,
and that you will be there
to hold my hand
until the moment you bring me home.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Dear Lord,
Thank you for sunny days
that follow after the storm,
for friends who let you talk or let you be silent
as the need arises,
for those little touches of love and light
that come, unexpectedly,
and o so frequently just when we need it.
Thank you Lord,
For letting yourself
be born on this earth,
to see those sunny days with human
as well as Godlike eyes,
for knowing what it really is like
to have friends who don't always understand,
but want to be with you,
who deal with your need for silence,
or your need to explain,
for experiencing how much those little touches
of love and light
really mean.
Thank you Lord,
for walking those dusty paths
to teach us your truth,
For showing us other ways
to deal with enemies
besides hatred and anger
for chosing the road to Golgotha,
for being Emmanuel.
Lord,
give me a grateful heart
and a mind to know
that no matter how dark the moment,
or sad the event,
you know what it means,
how it tastes,
how it aches,
how it devastates,
and that you will be there
to hold my hand
until the moment you bring me home.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Monday, May 31, 2004
O Blessed Mother,
O Lady of Consolation,
O Help of Christians,
This day be with those
who are forced to choose
between the good they know they should do
and the dark they long for,
Ora pro nobis!
This day be with those
panicked by the new life
stirring within their bodies,
and give them strength
to ignore the easy way out
to cherish that life,
to love it
and bring it to term,
Ora pro nobis!
This day be with those
who have seen the darkness in violence
men do to other men,
often in the name of God,
who have lost dear ones
to terror or war or crime
and have that fire of hurt
burning within their breast,
You who have seen your own Son
nailed to the cross in torment,
be with these people
and let the pain and the rage and the impotence
to change what cannot be changed
heal within them.
Ora pro nobis!
This day be with those people
children abandoned,
wives abused,
elders cast aside,
the ill of mind and body,
those homeless and lost,
and help us,
who are the hands of your son on earth
do the right thing
and reach out when we see the need
and not turn away
in disgust or fear or some other rationalization
why we are not called to aid.
Ora pro nobis!
Never was it known
that anyone who turned to you for aid
was left unaided.
O Blessed Mother,
O Lady of Consolation,
O Help of Christians,
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
O Lady of Consolation,
O Help of Christians,
This day be with those
who are forced to choose
between the good they know they should do
and the dark they long for,
Ora pro nobis!
This day be with those
panicked by the new life
stirring within their bodies,
and give them strength
to ignore the easy way out
to cherish that life,
to love it
and bring it to term,
Ora pro nobis!
This day be with those
who have seen the darkness in violence
men do to other men,
often in the name of God,
who have lost dear ones
to terror or war or crime
and have that fire of hurt
burning within their breast,
You who have seen your own Son
nailed to the cross in torment,
be with these people
and let the pain and the rage and the impotence
to change what cannot be changed
heal within them.
Ora pro nobis!
This day be with those people
children abandoned,
wives abused,
elders cast aside,
the ill of mind and body,
those homeless and lost,
and help us,
who are the hands of your son on earth
do the right thing
and reach out when we see the need
and not turn away
in disgust or fear or some other rationalization
why we are not called to aid.
Ora pro nobis!
Never was it known
that anyone who turned to you for aid
was left unaided.
O Blessed Mother,
O Lady of Consolation,
O Help of Christians,
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
