What Really Matters

When It’s All Been Said and Done (by Jim Cowan)

When it’s all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth
Did I live my life for You

When it’s all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I’ve done for love’s reward
Will stand the test of time

Lord Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay
Making sinners into saints

I will always sing Your praise
Here on earth and ever after
For You’ve shown me Heaven’s my true home
When it’s all been said and done
You’re my life when life is gone

The greatest gift we can give to Jesus is to accept His mercy, His great gift to us.  May you all have a blessed and grace-filled Christmas.  

Every Knee Shall Bow

As I started to watch this video, the thought overcame me that the name which would be revealed was Divine Mercy.  I was wrong.  But watch carefully around the 3:38 mark (near the end of the note) to see the Jewish name for the month in which the rabbi disclosed his revelation.

If One Night

If one night you are blessed
to lay your head on your pillow
in just the right way
You will hear and feel the pulse
of your own heartbeat
in your ear
And suddenly you are the beloved,
the pillow His chest,
and you fall asleep
to the sound and rhythm
of His Sacred Heart,
neither of you
needing to speak.

Christ the King

Jesus, our King.

The Well

Recently, I came across a book of John Paul II’s poetry at a Salvation Army thrift store for sixty-nine cents! Before I send it off in the mail to a dear one (who delights not only in JPII’s poetry but also in amazing thrift store finds), I’d like to share two short poems here.

Words spoken by the woman at the well, on departing

From this moment my ignorance
closes behind me like the door
through which you entered, recognizing
all I do not know.
And through me you led many people in silence,
many roads, and the turmoil of the streets.

The Samaritan woman

It joined us together, the well;
the well led me into you.
No one between us but light
deep in the well, the pupil of the eye
set in an orbit of stones.

Within your eyes, I,
drawn by the well,
am enclosed.

[From: Easter Vigil & Other Poems, Karol Wojtyla, translated by Jerzy Peterkiewicz, pg. 19]

St. Gertrude’s Gratitude

I adore and bless with thanksgiving, and with all humility, Thy ineffable charity, O Father of mercies, by which, notwithstanding the disorders of my life, Thou hast had thoughts of peace toward me, and not of severity, overwhelming me with the greatness and multitude of Thy benefits, even as if I had led the life of an angel among men.

[The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great, pg. 116]

The Mission of the Prophet

Isaiah 61: 1-4

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

Let The Blossom Flourish

Friends, I will be offline for a while [and closing comments until I return, probably the first week of September], and just wanted to wish you all a safe and peaceful end of season… It seems to be a challenging time for people the world over, on so many different levels. “Creation is groaning”, and so I pray that God keeps all of you safely sheltered under His wing. I leave you with some inspirational words from Hildegard of Bingen:

Drench your thoughts in the streams of scripture and study the example of the saints, then try to live like them. Do all this modestly and let the blossom flourish in your brothers like leaves and flowers on a tree. Be like the sun with your teaching, like the moon in your readiness to adapt, like the wind by your unwavering guidance, like gentle breezes in your forebearance, and like fire in the arousing and inspiring force of your instruction. Everything should begin with the first gleam of early dawn and end in blazing light.

[Patrologia Latina 289A, Vol. 197]  [Excerpt taken from:  Invincible Spirits.  A Thousand Years of Women's Spiritual Writings, compiled by Felicity Leng]