I love You, Lord. You embrace me in our communion of Eucharist. I believe in Your love for the sinner. I am that sinner. You come to me. I am empty and poor, yet You make my poverty Your paradise. Here I bring to You all You have given me.
Behold Your streaming waters tumbling over my rocky ground. Your light penetrates my depths; the caverns of my heart yield their darkness to You, O Holy Sun! Sit here beside me in silence, as praise becomes an uncontainable river within me. Flow from my humble abode to water Your thirsting world without. Delight, O Lord, at the crashing thunder as majestic waves rise before You in a crescendo of thanksgiving, finally pounding down upon the shore of my unworthiness. They ebb and flow and gather strength as I remember Your Mercies. All You have given me, I give now with gratitude.
Eagles dance in the air above our heads, grasping as claws hold fast, spinning in wedded bliss; their flight a symbol of our holy love.
Joann Nelander
Spiritual
All posts tagged Spiritual
From Your Cross
You looked upon Man
Your eyes were blinded
By Your Own Blood.
You could not even wipe
That Blood away,
For bound to a Cross,
Your Hands were held fast
To the mysterious Will
Of Your Father.
In Your Bloody Blindness,
You felt the anguish of rejection,
The rejection of Your People,
The rejection of the kings of the Earth,
The rejection of the once adoring crowds,
The rejection of cowardly friends,
Rejection of High Priests of Covenant Old,
And the rejection of disciples,
Destined to proclaim the New,
Alone,
Save for the Mother,
The Beloved Disciple
At her side,
And the repentant Magdalene,
Who knew both Sin
And deliverance at Your Hand.
From Your Cross
Look upon me.
See with Your heart
To forgive my Sin.
Draw me by way
Of the Blood and Water
Flowing from Your Pierced Side.
Wash away my Sin
In that Holy Tide,
That the Mysterious Will
Of Your Father
Give life to yet another son.
Thy will be done.
©2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Mother Mary,
You were with Jesus
From the instant
Of His Incarnation.
With your “Fiat”,
The Promise
Became a Man,
Dwelling with you,
In profound peace
And humility.
It was you
Who knew
This first intimacy,
Who cherished and adored.
Who waited upon Him,
With heart,
And mind,
And body.
The only eyes
That could see Him
At this tender age,
Were yours,
As you gazed on Him
With the eyes
Of your intellect
And soul.
An inward glance
Set your Immaculate Heart ablaze,
As you became,
Home and hearth,
And throne,
For a Child of one cell,
Growing and destined
To rule the world,
As He had reigned
From eternity.
A Man like no other
And, yet,
Intimately,
One with all.
Open our eyes
To your Son.
With the Centurion,
Who presided
Over the Crucifixion
Of the Christ,
And opened His Side.
End our idolatry,
So we, too, cry
“Truly, this was the Son of God!”
Mother Mary,
Behold your Son
In me.
Prepare me to be
Home and hearth
And throne,
For Christ alone.
©2012 Joann Nelander
Seek grace before bliss.
To seek bliss,
Is to seek the gift
May be to shun the Giver.
Who conjures dreams matters.
My pleasure may spring
From forbidden springs.
Before I entrust
Myself to gods,
Should I not seek
To discern truth
From Truth.
Come, come,
O, kind Spirit of Truth,
Though You contradict my way,
I promise to obey,
Clad in Your grace,
Day by day.
©2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Today, as I pick flowers,
From the garden of life,
In which You have
Chosen to plant me,
By the gift,
You have granted me,
From Your Most Holy Cross,
In giving me
Your very own Mother,
I press each blossom,
Fresh and humble,
Into the open
Hand of Mother Mary.
I await,
With great expectation,
The magnificent bouquet,
The Woman is arranging,
As she gathers
In Her Immaculate Heart,
All the prayers,
Works and sacrifices,
Proffered by the saints,
Poured out in faith
Through the ages.
May the sweet aroma
Scent the hope
Of this day,
And please You,
You, Who,
In the Love,
That brought You
To Your Cross,
Receive my heart’s desire,
As You accepted
The precious tears
Of the Magdalen,
And the sweet anointing oil,
Lavished upon You,
In repentant sorrow.
You, Who love eternally,
Those who love much,
In return for Your Divine
And undying forgiveness,
Press these,
All abloom,
To Your Most Sacred Heart.
Copyright 2013 Joann Nelande
All rights reserved
Podcasts via Discerning Hearts – Put On The Armor – A Manual for Spiritual Warfare w/Dr. Paul Thigpen Ph.D.
Mother Mary,
You were with Jesus
From the instant
Of His Incarnation.
With your “Fiat”,
The Promise
Became a Man,
Dwelling with you,
In profound peace
And humility.
It was you
Who knew
This first intimacy,
Who cherished and adored.
Who waited upon Him,
With heart,
And mind,
And body.
The only eyes
That could see Him
At this tender age,
Were yours,
As you gazed on Him
With the eyes
Of your intellect
And soul.
An inward glance
Set your Immaculate Heart ablaze,
As you became,
Home and hearth,
And throne,
For a Child of one cell,
Growing and destined
To rule the world,
As He had reigned
From eternity.
A Man like no other
And, yet,
Intimately,
One with all.
Open our eyes
To your Son.
With the Centurion,
Who presided
Over the Crucifixion
Of the Christ,
And opened His Side.
End our idolatry,
So we, too, cry
“Truly, this was the Son of God!”
Mother Mary,
Behold your Son
In me.
Prepare me to be
Home and hearth
And throne,
For Christ alone.
©2012 Joann Nelander
These days you often hear a person claim to be “spiritual” rather than proclaim a religion or aspire to be “religious”. Religion it seems smacks of something suspect. “Spirit” and the “spiritual” are the stuff of spiritual devotees or wannabees. So what is this “spirit” that makes one “spiritual”, but not, God forbid, “religious”?
Is it raw, ethereal, but available energy to be plucked from the life-stream by a mantra or posture. How about a super-force, an impersonal force, as “the Force” of movie fame. We can ask what is asked of Superman, “Is it a bird? .. .; we’ll stop short of asking “is it a plane?’, perhaps, just, maybe, of another plane, It’s hard to tell. With New Age jargon, eastern religious explanations in pop culture and literature, making claims for apprehending it for our use, health, wealth and happiness or the simple purity of bliss, the matter of the immaterial is evasive.
For the undiscerning Christian, the airways are ripe with confusion, which is the way the spirits of the air like it. Religious truth be told, truth holds the answer for the discerning, if we, indeed, are seeking Truth, rather than novelty and the exotic.
The answer to what or who,is “Who” is the Holy Spirit. “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14: 26), operative words: “Advocate” and “He”, a mission and a person, not a thing, a vibration, a feeling, or impersonal force. Where Satan and his minions confuse and accuse, the Holy Spirit advocates on behalf of those who call on the Father and the Son. “The Spirit intercedes” (Romans 8:27). He also directs, as in: “Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me..’ (Acts 13:2), also, “And the Spirit said to Philip, Go up..” (Acts 8: 29).
Just as we seek to know ourselves, through experience, introspection, observing as objectively as possible, our inner workings,conversations, intentions, and desires, so the Spirit knows the Father and the Son, their inner workings and intentions and desires, “Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God.(I Cor 2:11)
As for the gifts, health, provision and happiness or the simple the purity of the peace that passes understanding: “.. one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes” 1Cor 12:11
So, while the world, the flesh, and the devil, may appeal to a “what” or a “something”, and be lost in a soup of foggy warm fuzzies and cold prickly vibs, you can seek the Paraclete, the Advocate, intervener, director, gifter and producer of good fruit growing on the vine of the One Who identifies Himself as Truth and sends the Spirit.
As for spiritual, that you already art, in part. You are a synthesis of matter and spirit, a natural Human Being called to be more, invited to be supernatural, to be incorporated with the Divine. These days are no different than the days of old, Man seeking his God, or a handy substitute. Choose wisely; your eternity begins with Who you choose to serve in this life and, ultimately, the next.
©2015 Joann Nelander
Discernment of Spirits – Setting the Captives Free – Fr. Timothy Gallagher
1 Jn 3:24–4:6
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit whom he gave us.Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh
belongs to God,
and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
does not belong to God.
This is the spirit of the antichrist
who, as you heard, is to come,
but in fact is already in the world.
You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit whom he gave us.Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh
belongs to God,
and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
does not belong to God.
This is the spirit of the antichrist
who, as you heard, is to come,
but in fact is already in the world.
You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
FROM THE EUCHARISTICMEDITATIONS OF THE
CURÉ D’ARS:“O my soul, how great thou art since only a God can satisfy thee! The food of the soul is the
Body and Blood of a God! What beautiful nourishment! The soul can only feed on a God! No
other than God can suffice. Only God can satisfy its hunger. It needs God absolutely.
O my soul, bless this God who is so magnificent. Come often to this divine banquet to satiate
thyself with justice and holiness. Those who refuse to sit down here or who partake of it only at
long intervals, condemn themselves to certain death or to weakness, because one cannot live
without food nor enjoy vigorous health without eating frequently.” Cure of Ars
Clinging, clinging to You,
As a leaf clasping the vine
With mouth pressed
And soul hungry,
Receiving in its will
Sustenance and vigor.
Stress, season, time,
And the tempters three,
World, Devil and fleshy me,
Turn, test and try resolve.
Clinging, I cling,
Clasping fast,
For only the glue of love
Suffice as bond,
To quell and conquer,
The wanton, the unruly.
For the Conqueror abides in me,
I cling to the Almighty Three.
Copyright 2011 Joann Nelander
Joann Nelander Studio 