A HOMELESS MAN /  by Joe Castorino

I am weary,

my eyes bleary;

I drag around,

without a sound;

I have no home,

so off I roam;

I beg for food,

my shoes are glued;

on the mend,

I seek a friend.

A CONVERSATION WITH ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI /  by Joe Castorino

“I just don’t get

Why Catholics

Even bother with

Talking to the saints:

I always speak directly

To Jesus when I pray.”

“But, my dear friend,

Although He doesn’t 

Need to go through others,

It delights Him to do so:

We saints know better than

Anyone that we are merely

Ambassadors of Christ --

Yes, Jesus is truly the

Great God of Generosity,

But, even more, He is

The Great Lord of Humility.

PRAYER + SURRENDER = LOVE + MERCY /  by Joe Castorino

This equation is like a golden key,

That will certainly set our spirits free;

Prayer prepares the soul for God’s holy gifts,

While surrender cleanses and also sifts;

These open the door to true heartfelt love,

Which only comes from the good God above;

When love is tested in the deep dark night,

In the morn it shines as mercy so bright.

SURRENDER /  by Joe Castorino

The more I grasp,

The more the stars

Slip through my fingers;

But the more I surrender,

The more the stars shine,

Reflecting the Light.

STALE COOKIES /  by Joe Castorino

We must avoid the

stale cookies of selfishness,

for they crumble

into complaints;

but with the Eucharistic

bread of thanksgiving,

we can then live like

the holy saints.

TO ST. JAMES THE LESSER, THE APOSTLE /  by Joe Castorino

You were the first bishop of Jerusalem,

  And were known as James the Just,

Since you were a relative of Jesus,

  People knew that you they could trust;

Your knees thickened like a camel’s,

  From all your time kneeling in prayer,

You had a long beard and lots of hair,

  And you always treated people fair.

 

The Jewish leaders failed with St. Paul,

  So they turned their ire towards you,

Their raging revenge was out of control,

  And their delirious desire grew;

They wanted to crush the New Way,

  So they pursued you like angry apes,

Christians were sprouting up everywhere,

  Like vineyards full of plenteous grapes.

 

You bravely refused to reject the Christ,

  So they threw you from the temple’s pinnacle,

Their grotesque expressions were ghastly,

  As they chose to be stubbornly cynical;

Then they hurled jagged stones at you,

  And with a mallet broke your bones,

But you uttered prayers for your attackers,

  In between your painful groans.

TO ST. JUDE THADDEUS THE APOSTLE /  by Joe Castorino

You steadfastly served the Lord,

And were famous for physical healing,

You happily sought out holiness,

And spent much time prayerfully kneeling;

In a foreign land you were beaten to a pulp,

Until you were door-nail dead,

But it wasn’t satisfying enough,

So your murderers lopped off your head;

Now you wear a martyr’s golden crown,

And live in Heaven’s perennial jubilation,

Interceding for the Church Militant,

You help it become a new creation.

TRIFLES /  by Joe Castorino

Inspired by the writing of St. Francis de Sales

Why are trifles

So important to us?

What’s really all 

The big fuss?


They can often

Infatuate our hearts,

Slowly infecting us,

Like poison darts.


Our desire subtly

Grows and grows,

As we are gradually

Mastered by our foes.


Trifles can turn into treasures,

And treasures into troubles.

ABBA! DADDY! /  by Joe Castorino

Inspired by the writing of St. Francis of Assisi


Our Father; 

Abba! Daddy!


Who art in Heaven;

You are Beauty!


Hallowed be thy name;

You are Goodness!


Thy kingdom come;

You are Joy!


Thy will be done;

You are Love!


On earth as it is in Heaven;

You are the Light!


Give us this day our daily bread;

You are the Bread of Life!


And forgive us our trespasses;

You are Divine Mercy!


As we forgive those who trespass against us;

You are Divine Wisdom!


And lead us not into temptation;

You are the Good Shepherd!


But deliver us from evil;

You are the Savior of the World!

FREEDOM /  by Joe Castorino

When liberty is

divorced from responsibility,

it dreadfully descends in a

dizzying death spiral of

selfishness.

 

But when liberty

is married to responsibility,

it courageously spirals upward

in a heroic flight of

freedom.

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE /  by Joe Castorino

Powerful and impressive and majestic,

The Sun’s luminous rays reach out

Towards the distant outer rim,

Where the darkness is pervasive,

And where evil breeds in the 

Black cloud of never-ending night.


Disappointed and disillusioned,

In the dark night of discontent,

Sad souls long to fill the void

Of the black hole in their hearts,

So they search for truth and beauty

At the center of the universe.


Patient and gentle and merciful,

The Son’s compassionate glance

Seeks souls empty and broken,

And they are attracted by the

Gravitational pull of His joy and

The ecstasy of His eternal love.

THE TEMPEST /  by Joe Castorino

The wild tempest is unleashed

   and approaches us all at night,

Like a fierce, hungry cannibal,

   it swallows the moon in a bite;

Awake, awake my dearest souls:

   the near occasion of sin beware!

Away, away, while there’s still time,

   before you are caught in a snare!

THE BATTLE /  by Joe Castorino

Like an aggressive squadron of

Enemy fighter jets, a flurry of

Problems is rapidly approaching

My sector in attack formation;

In my anxiety I am tempted to take

Them on all at once, but, instead, 

I veer off to the right and one breaks

Off from the pack and follows me;

I take my adversary into the Light

And he is utterly blinded by it, so

I launch the missiles of patience

And love until he is destroyed;

One by one, I do the same with

The other challenges until, finally,

The spiritual airspace is clear, then

I praise the King of the Universe.

ABOVE THE CLOUDS /  by Joe Castorino

The depressing rain falls,

As the sky weeps sorrowfully,

And the heavy humidity

Horribly weighs me down,

For I am imprisoned in the

Dark gloom, with seemingly

No way out, and yet,

Sweet Madonnina d’Amore,

You smile upon me and are

Silently with me as I carry

My daily crosses, and so

You patiently remind me,

Over and over and over,

To fix my trusting gaze on

The Passion of your Sun,

For above the clouds

The sky is always blue, and

The weary world is warmed

By the Living Light of Love.

EXECUTION AND EXILE /  by Joe Castorino

We all deserve execution,

To be nailed on a cross of wood,

We all deserve exile in hell,

For only God is purely good;

He chose to take our place in death,

Bloodily stabbed into the tree,

He paid the price to rescue us,

For only He can set us free.

THE TERROR OF DEMONS /  by Joe Castorino

Pride is a red dragon that tries

To kindle our sinful souls with

The flaming fires of falsehood,

Causing our egos to swell with

The helium of haughtiness;

But thanksgiving is a weapon,

A weapon of heavenly wonder,

Used by the Holy Family when

There was arrogance in the air;

So when we are praised for some

Fine worldly accomplishment,

Then we too should turn to the

Lord God, and, with a little smile,

We should frequently thank Him

For each of His gracious gifts,

And seeing our happy hearts filled

To the brim with gratitude, behold,

The devil dragon flees in terror.

THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL /  by Joe Castorino

Inspired by the writing of St. Augustine

Patience is the amber Light

Of our beloved soul;

When we impetuously 

Want to speed through

The intersections of life

And just do what we want —

Not what God wants —

Then the red Light stops us,

So that we can recognize the danger;

Acting rashly, thoughtlessly,

Charging ahead of the Lord,

All of these cause nothing but trouble,

So the red Light gives us a little more time,

To ponder, to reflect, to pray,

So that when the Light turns green,

we can move and act

In God’s time, in God’s will;

For as St. Augustine wisely said,

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

MYSTICAL MERCY /  by Joe Castorino

I returned to Jesus,

like Magdalene,

sobbing, my tears

trickling, I kissed

the wounds

on His hands, 

on His feet, 

on His side, 

on His head,

the wounds that I,

yes, I myself,

inflicted upon Him,

yet with gentle

compassion

He embraced me

with His Holy

Spirit of Love.

A JUGGLER'S LIFE /  by Joe Castorino

I’m like a ridiculous painted clown,

Juggling to-do’s, up and down and

Back and forth, my life a frantic

Intertwining of past, present, future,

In a tangled jungle of multitasking,

Weighed down by the heavy stress

Of guilt over my imperfect past and

Of worry over unknown tomorrows;

But life is so much easier when I

Focus on the great I AM,

Living perpetually in the present,

Juggling one little ball at a time,

So I confidently brush off the past,

Which is totally washed clean in

The Blood of the Lamb,

And I patiently push off the future,

Which is in the loving hands of

The King of the Universe:

Blessed are the single-hearted,

For they shall surely see God.