When things go my way,
Exactly according to schedule,
I live in heavenly peace,
Enjoying the Son Light,
Giving God the first fruits,
Spending quality time with Him
And Our Lady, in holy prayer,
But the God of surprises is approaching.
When things don’t go my way,
And my schedule crumbles,
I calmly wait for Divine Mercy
In the midst of the dark night,
Carrying my cross in surrender,
Giving Him the gift of my time,
Resting in the arms of Our Lady,
For patience is the companion of wisdom.
St. John of the Cross,
And many other saints,
Knew the dark night,
The dark night of the soul,
The spiritual dryness
And desolation,
Not feeling God’s presence,
For long periods of time,
And yet they were patient,
They were persistent,
In reading The Word,
In receiving The Word,
In living The Word.
Most of us
Never experience this
Kind of dark night,
But at times we eat of
The dry crust of the cross,
And live days, or hours,
Or even passing moments,
In the dark night of the cross,
But then, very silently,
Very unexpectedly,
In the twinkling of an eye,
The Son rises in our hearts,
And we can experience the Light:
Divine Mercy in the dark night.
A tribute to St. John Paul II
The dark one whispers fear
Into my restless ear,
In his wicked black cauldron,
He tries to stir up trouble
To totally burst my bubble,
He seduces me with his
Black lies and accusations,
Again and again and again;
If I choose to listen to him,
Then my heart is paralyzed
By a lightning bolt of terror,
And, like Adam, I begin to
Rashly point my finger,
Blaming, complaining,
Sucked into the tempest
Of temptation and sin.
But if I follow the Divine Dove,
The Wind of the Spirit blows
Sweetly towards Our Lady of Love,
And there -- ah, yes! -- there,
I hand her my fears, unhesitatingly,
And she prayerfully brings them
To the Divine Jeweler who molds
Them in the Divine Furnace
Of the Most Holy Trinity,
and He transfigures them
Into breathtakingly beautiful
Sparkling diamonds,
Reflecting His magnificent light,
And thus, fear is annihilated,
As Light scatters the darkness,
As Perfect Love drives out fear:
Jesus, I trust in You!
Act I
The Saint remains silent,
so that The Enemy will not
aggressively grab any
of his unguarded words
and twist them into traps
in order to cruelly cripple him.
Act II
The Invader sends forth
his insidious spies,
trying to pressure The Saint
with the phantom of fear
and treacherously trick him into
thoughtlessly rushing headlong
into the Stygian swamp of sin,
but with the joy of holy laughter
The Saint scatters the darkness of doom
with the luminous light of
the divine sense of humor.
Act III
The Dark One returns yet again,
but he changes his strategy
against his valiant opponent:
this time he brings a
sinister squadron of deadly
black-hearted soldiers
to wickedly wage war
against The Saint,
but crushed under the weight
of this wooden cross,
The Saint gives The Father
a total gift of himself and
freely surrenders all in a
prayer of total abandonment --
at that very instant
he notices that the cross
is now much easier to carry,
but he doesn’t know why.
Act IV
The Malicious One is terrified
when his foul bloodshot eyes see
The Lady, The Queen of All Hearts,
in dazzling and majestic beauty,
standing in stately elegance
very close to The Saint,
and with a smile on her lips
she whispers to The Saint
a heartfelt command
of loving compassion:
“Do whatever He tells you.”
Act V
The Evil One, infuriated,
is seething in hot hatred,
but he falls back into the Black Void
when Jesus, The Lord of Love,
appears next to The Saint saying,
“Come to Me, all you who are weary,
and I will refresh you” --
with this, The Saint’s devout soul
is soothed by The Divine Mercy,
and The Saint realizes that the more
he surrenders to The Savior,
the more He takes onto Himself
the weight of The Cross,
and thus, he is wondrously saved by
The Blood of the The Lamb.
I would always fight to win,
For me, it was a matter of pride,
So I stubbornly argued,
Twisting reason and then
Fracturing the truth,
Like a prisoner on the rack;
But now I’m slowly learning
To follow the way of the cross,
So when I’m confronted and
When I’m fiercely challenged,
In simplicity I speak the truth,
Then when my adversary
Insists and angrily persists,
I calmly turn the other cheek
And embrace the cross,
Experiencing the bitterness
Of ridicule and rejection,
The painful suffering of
Vindictive vehement insults
That bloodily slash and tear
At my heart and sensitive soul;
But the good God is so good,
Truly He is never outdone in
Generosity, for He pours the
Sweet balm of the Spirit
Into my wounds and rescues me
From the snares of the enemy,
I rest in His gentleness and patience,
I experience true joy in Him,
For His courage conquers all,
Driving away apparent obstacles,
And with a smile in my soul,
I approach the Sea of Mercy,
I approach it with great trust!
O Mystical Rose,
Be with me; stay with me;
Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you!
O Divine Mercy,
Be with me; stay with me;
Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you!
Amen.
A Divine Mercy Prayer inspired by St. Francis of Assisi
True joy
Is Divine Mercy
In the dark night
Of the cross.
Jesus, I wait for You!
Jesus, I watch for You!
Jesus, I trust in You!
Amen.
The Babe of Divine Mercy
Is born of the Sweet Virgin,
And as He lay in the manger,
The Light, a very bright Light,
Shines most powerfully,
Kindling the fire of love
In the hearts of the magi,
In the souls of the shepherds,
In every nation of the world,
Throughout all generations,
Stirring into a strong flame
The embers of eternity.
A cross of darkness
Suddenly pulls me down,
And I collapse to my knees,
Crushed under its weight;
How long will it last?
Why can I not see The Light?
Where is the Great Dove?
He is here – I know it;
I struggle to find Him,
But I trust in Him,
Yet these words seem empty
When I am throttled by the
Frigid fingers of Fear;
So I slow down, I slow down,
And breathe in The Spirit,
Who refreshes my soul,
Then, little by little, the words
Start to sink in, they make
Sense, and behold I find that
I trust, I really do trust in Him;
And, steadied by this newfound
Faith, I embrace the cross,
Knowing that as I finally enter
The Magnificent Sea of Mercy,
The cross will melt and dissolve,
In the blood of The Lamb,
And I will rest in the arms of
The Lord of Divine Mercy.
The passenger jet takes off
In the deep Dark Night,
As the low clouds stealthily
Creep in from the ocean,
The journey soon becomes
Turbulent, and the people
Start to wring their hands
With worry, wondering
What will happen next,
But then out of nowhere
The Dove of Divine Mercy
Appears, with a wingspan
Wider than that of the aircraft,
He nestles under the jet, like
The Mother protecting The Babe,
And as He very gently flaps
His holy wings, He calms
The hearts of everyone, then
He safely takes them
Where they need to go –
Straight into the heart of
The Divine Mercy.
Fear shackles us
In the dark night
Of unknowing;
But wholehearted trust
In the Divine Mercy
Is the golden key that
Unlocks Heaven’s door;
Then our hearts are
Overflowing with Love,
And with the magnificent
Fruit of the Spirit.
Dearest Jesus,
King of Divine Mercy,
Strengthen me
Against temptation,
Strengthen me
Against delight,
Strengthen me
Against consent;
I humbly ask for this
In Your Most Holy Name;
Jesus, I love You,
Jesus, I trust in You.
Amen.
“...I am gentle and humble of heart…” — Jesus, The Divine Mercy
Fear is the root of all sin:
Fear leads to arrogance,
Arrogance leads to selfishness,
Selfishness leads to violence;
But, on the other hand,
Gentleness leads to wonder,
Gentleness leads to gratitude,
Gentleness leads to thanksgiving,
Gentleness leads to surrender,
Gentleness leads to littleness,
Gentleness leads to humility,
Gentleness leads to compassion,
Gentleness leads to kindness,
Gentleness leads to love,
And then, coming full circle,
Perfect love casts out all fear.
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” – St. Augustine of Hippo
Fear is the root of all sin:
Fear leads to impatience,
Impatience leads to all vice;
But, on the other hand,
Patience leads to self-control,
Patience leads to gentleness,
Patience leads to faithfulness,
Patience leads to generosity,
Patience leads to kindness,
Patience leads to peace,
Patience leads to joy,
Patience leads to love,
And then, coming full circle,
Perfect love casts out all fear.
As she serenely stepped out of the upper
room, she rejoiced in a fresh new day,
She looked about her peaceful surroundings,
drinking in the delicious goodness of God;
Clusters of clouds casually wafted by, so low
that they brushed the pinnacle of the temple,
They passed by like eager pilgrims, Eucharistic
white against the bright blue morning sky;
Later that morning, she and the Apostles were
deeply immersed in prayer when, suddenly,
She inhaled the sweet scent of God’s presence,
and joyfully breathed in the Lord’s love;
The balmy breeze of grace swirled around her
and compassionately caressed her,
She reflected on God’s glorious grandeur,
and His magnificence soaked into her soul;
Then, the Word rushed into them all,
as the Holy Spirit swiftly swooped down,
The bold beautiful breeze of heavenly hope
placidly filled the sails of their souls;
The Paraclete, like a powerful, whirling wind,
spectacularly sparked the wicks of their
Souls, and ignited the fire of love, which
rippled through and rhymed in their hearts;
Then, Our Lady’s heart was passionately,
preciously pierced by the sweet sword
Of the Spirit; her soul, suddenly
brimming with God’s majestic mercy,
Soared in a spiraling celestial
crescendo of God’s love for her;
With peaceful confidence, her heart,
like a fiery supernova, exploded with
Feelings of love, joy, and peace,
of patience, kindness, and generosity;
Her smiling eyes then beheld the
flaming fire of Love resting on all, and as
She serenely surrendered all to the Spirit,
like a giddy geyser she gushed
Torrents of light-hearted laughter
and happy, heavenly tears; this golden
Cascade of pure love poured over
her soul like a warm, wonderful
Waterfall of holy honey; deep down
inside, the Spirit was strumming on
The harmonic harp of her heart, and
she was deliciously, delightfully deluged
By this overwhelming ocean of Jesus’
magnificent mercy and love;
The Light of the World had scattered
and defeated the dreary dark night.
As I begin the day,
My guardian angel
Turns over the hourglass,
So now I have a full hour
To start my day in calm,
With the little grains of sand
Falling down ever so gently;
But then The Enemy
Abruptly turns me upside-down
By unexpectedly flipping the hourglass
Back over, and with the
Suddenness of a desert storm,
Fear has decapitated Time,
And now the little grains of sand
Rain down — and rain down hard —
Like splattering drops of blood,
As I carry my cross;
Our Lady of Love whispers
In my ear and encouragingly
Reminds me to approach
The Sea of Mercy
With great trust —
Just then Our Blessed Lord,
With a carpenter’s strong hands,
Gently yet firmly places
The hourglass back into
An upright position and
Time is resurrected to new life,
And so I continue to meditate upon
The Miracle of Divine Mercy.
When our lives turn black
As night, and we are lost
And don’t know where to turn,
We lose our sense of direction
And wonder where our journey
Is taking us, but there is
No need to worry, for all we
Need to do is follow The Star,
The sparkling Christmas Star,
For she is peacefully waiting,
Waiting to sweetly embrace
And caress each one of us,
From the depths of her heart,
And she is shining with a
Dazzling brilliance that is
Wonderful to behold,
She quietly and calmly
Leads us to her Son,
For her magnificent Son is
The Most Holy Sun of Love,
The King of the Universe.
Do not go gentle
Into that Dark Night,
Pray, pray, for the coming
Of the Light.
Patiently wait for Him
In the fearful Dark Night,
Pray, pray that you will
Fight the good fight.
He will give you courage
To survive the Dark Night,
Pray, pray, that He will
Make you a holy knight.
Spiritual springtime blooms
With God’s sweet consolations,
As the holy breeze of the Spirit
Caresses our vine branches.
Spiritual summertime ripens with
The delicious fruit of the Spirit,
Bringing to our hungry world
God’s immeasurable love.
Spiritual autumn is a time to
Fall, on our knees in humility,
Understanding that death --
And resurrection -- are nearer.
Spiritual winter brings blessings,
Snowflakes both red and white,
Nourishing our needy souls with
Divine Mercy in the dark night.
Then, behold, the resurrection,
As spiritual springtime returns --
Yet sweeter -- and each year we
Spiral higher up towards Heaven.
To escape -- like a coward --
The stranglehold of stress,
I try my best to sidestep
Inconvenient interruptions
Whose menacing thunder
Frightens me — yet why?
They lead me on a journey
To the God of surprises,
To Heaven’s horizon,
Where the sun’s streaming rays
Of radiant red and white are
Colored by Love’s divine mercy.