Catholic Meditations

Lord,
help me to discover
where my true treasure is,
not in my strong right hand,
not in the quickness of my mind,
the smoothness of my words,
the riches in my pocket,
the network of my friends,
the things I surround myself with,
not in anything
of I
or mine
or thing
or place.

You, O Lord,
are the true treasure,
the God who heals me,
who transforms me,
who draws me near
undeservedly.

Let me know
You,
who are my true strength,
you who are my true love,
you who holds me in the palm of his hand,
now and forever.

Let me be the tool in your hand,
to do your work,
when and as you wish it,
a lantern filled with your light
to shine your message forth,
let me be a little storehouse
of your love
to share with those whose lives I touch,
and Lord,
help me to always realize
you are the source,
and I the vessel,
you are the treasure,
and I the tool,
this day
and always,
Amen.

Susan E. Stone, 2005

Labels: Discipleship

Lord,
the pain wraps around us,
throbbing,
throbbing,
like the rhythm
of the hammer fall
piercing,
deeper,
lodging in the wood.

The pain,
oh the pain,
a woman crying out
as her loved one is slain,
a child shocked
at the blood
falling from a beheaded parent,
the armwrenching agony
as they hauled you,
nailed to the crossbeam
up up to the drop,
white pain electric
through your arms
as the beam found the mortise,
like the pain of the tortured
screaming beneath their captor's hands,
screaming as the electricity
screams through their bodies,
throbbing,
screaming,
the pain of being stripped
of everything but the paim
and the stares
as they gambled,
waiting for the blood to fall
for the breath to end
like guards at a starvation ward
waiting for thirst to end his praying,
like nurses piling blankets high
in the name of mercy killing,
the pain,
throbbing,
with each beat of your heart,
each hard sought breath,
like the pain of the deserted,
lost in the wilderness,
aching,
bereft,
afraid of the hand of man,
victim of terror,
victim of rape,
victim of starvation,
scurrying by night
seeing her child die,
like your mother,
watching each last breath,
dying inside
watching your death.

O Lord,
the pain,
you wrapped yourself around it,
accepted it,
tasted it,
drank it
down to the bitter dregs,
and bore all the burden
of man's evil,
of man's inhumanity
down to the pit of death,
walking each step with us,
walking each step along with us,
and accepting that last, lone breath,
shattered the chain.

Lord, in our grief,
hold us,
and tell us
as we unite with you,
as we live for you
you live for us,
and when the pain,
the last ache,
the last throb
is over and done,
you will take us
to where
pain is banished.

Amen.

Susan E. Stone
2005

Labels: Jesus' Love, Man's Sinfulness, Passion of Christ

Thank you for my weakness, Lord,
in letting me
have to let go and let you,
in letting me be the tool
you use to reach others,
to let others
practice being Christ
to those in need,
to joining you
on your long hard walk
to Golgotha
to strip away
the layers of defense
between me
and thee
until
here,
at the foot of your cross
I can press my face
against the rough wood,
touch your feet,
look up into your eyes
and know
what truly matters.

Be thou my life, Lord,
now and forever.

Amen.

Susan E. Stone, 2004

Labels: Discipleship

O Light of Heaven
come down to earth,
come down in the guise
of translucent white bread
held in the hands of your priest,
lovingly
for all your children to see,
those who believe,
those who deny,
but reality is what it is.

If they could but see,
My Jesus,
the light cascading out,
like a supernova
pulsating
with tidings of peace and hope
and healing,
see the angel host
bowing down to the ground,
flashing their wings
in homage
and love
and overwhelming joy.

O Lord,
like a true lover
you come to us
vunerable,
fragile,
open,
waiting to be loved in return.

Fill our hearts with that radiant fire,
that joy that only comes from heaven,
until we, too,
blissfully,
happily,
fall to our knees,
and in response to our Lover's call,
our souls whisper,
adoro te,
amo te,
latens Deitas!

Susan E. Stone, 2005

Labels: Eucharist, Jesus' Love

Lord,
forgive us for all the ways
we wrap ourselves in delusion and deceit,
churning the dust until we are lost
in a grey smoke
designed to hide your light
from our every day life.
Forgive us, Lord,
for all the ways we work,
doing everything we can
to hide the truth of your way,
of your path,
of your call.

And yet,
no matter how much we call evil good,
and glory in death over life,
nothing we can do
can eradicate
your footsteps glowing in the dust,
your smile in the face of a child,
your eyes in the look of the needy,
you voice whispering in our hearts.

O Lord,
you who are there
when we trip in our hubris
and taste the dust of our own self-delusion,
you who are love and mercy
even though we deserve the dark waters of death,
you who reach out
even when all others turn their backs,
lead us ever to your light,
and may we in the end,
rest, at home,
in the hand of your love.

Susan E. Stone, 2005

Let Us Remember

Let us remember
how outraged we were
when we heard how the Nazis
euthanized
their brain-damaged,
their mentally different.

And then let us remember
Terri's smile
when she saw her mother,
a smile they said
had nothing to do
with what she was seeing,
and consider
what the difference really is.

Let us remember
the outcry some have
about the death by lethal injection,
of the quick and painless way
we treat those we choose to execute.

Then let us consider
the death that Terri will suffer,
buried in woolen blankets
with nothing to drink
with the thirst burning her body,
with the drugs to control
the pain reactions
the nausea,
all the other suffering
that comes from death by starvation
and dehydration,
and ask God to forgive us
when we call this a mercy killing.

Susan E. Stone, 2oo5