Sing Praises to the Holy Spirit

                “Dear Lord, today I sing praises to the Holy Spirit. Thank You so much for this precious divine gift. The Holy Spirit fills my heart and soul and leads me to You, the Father, through the Son. The Holy Spirit knows me intimately, dwells deep within me at all times – good and bad, happy and sad. The Holy Spirit is the one I know and understand the least of the Trinity, yet the unnamed Holy Spirit is the one I consciously and subconsciously need to live, like the air I breathe. Without the Holy Spirit, my soul would wander lost and stumbling, gasping to breathe, desperately thirsting for healing water. Dear silent, invisible Holy Spirit, You surround me and infuse me like air. I cannot live without You. Holy Spirit, You lead me, You guide me, You comfort me, You fill me, You nourish me, You turn me to the Father and to the Son. You know them and what they want from me because You are them and desire what they desire. My feeble mind cannot truly fathom this relationship, but You are the one who helps illuminate the path to understanding.

                “Oh Holy Spirit, shut down my outer senses; place me in a state of darkness, in quiet and completely numb, no scents, nothing my outer senses can detect. Now take me deep within my soul the way a wave sucks you under the water and pulls you out to the depths of the ocean. Let me float in this current without struggling and with total trust. Take me to my very center. Now ignite my inner senses. May I first see Christ’s light burning brightly inside me. May I hear the symphony of love and praise being sung by multitudes of angels and souls who love and adore You dear God. May I feel the electrifying pulses of joy and ecstasy that emanate from Your great love. May I breathe in Your intoxicating scent, full of incense with hints of sweet floral tones. May my mouth be filled with the creamy delightful taste of You, like mother’s milk to a newborn babe. Oh dear Holy Spirit, with all my inner senses tuned into our precious Lord, hold me steady as I am overwhelmed to be in His presence. Oh Holy Spirit, rejoice with me as You always do. Let us share this most intimate encounter. Oh Holy Spirit, my dearest closest friend and confidant, hold me up and hear my praises of love and thanksgiving. Only You can understand the depth of my love and gratitude. Translate it for me in the best way possible for our dear Lord through His beloved Son. I love You all more than I can express.”

To My Future Spouse, Whomever You May Be

(This was written by a young woman in her 20s. It is a beautiful poem that praises chastity)

I stand before you, my friend,
Ready to give entirely.
United to you, till the end,
But, first, some things you must see.

I stand before you, your bride,
No space between you and me,
Let there be no more room to hide,
Please love even the past you can't see.

I wish that I had stayed pure,
Oh sweetest lover of mine,
But I let the lie of lust's lure
Give away what was truly thine.

God had reserved for you, my sweet,
A sacred gift beyond all measure.
But the flesh would not be beat.
Oh! How the devil is clever!

Like a thief in the night,
He took what cannot be replaced.
I gave in without a fight,
My purity, forever disgraced.

But for each of man's evil deeds,
Our heavenly Father brings good.
I could not then see the planted seeds
That brought me back to the Eternal Food.

So as the flesh of two become one,
I cannot give what I no longer keep.
But, thanks to the Mercy of the Son,
I give a heart, whose love for God is deep.

I didn't know on that dark night,
When all the world had gone,
That Mercy would give back my sight,
That the war for my heart had been won.

The war has indeed been decided,
And I have myself a new King.
My soul, to you, I've confided
Love and trust, I hope this will bring.

O, please forgive me, my love,
I've been all things unholy.
But grace rained down from above,
So I can give to you, all of me.

Help Me to See With Your Eyes

                “Dear loving God, giver of all good things, help me to see this world through Your eyes. Help me to look at all people, faithful and unfaithful, patient and impatient, loving and cold hearted, caring and indifferent, humble and proud, grateful and ungrateful, merciful and merciless, kind and cruel, everyone on both sides of the virtues You give us. I pray for all people, that they can turn to Your blessed Sacred Heart and find the great love we all seek. May that love be a beacon, calling all people and lighting the way to You.

                “How can people turn away from You when You are all goodness and pure love? Are people so self absorbed that they can no longer turn their gaze outward and upward? Do they only look at themselves and their own selfish desires? Do they not see and understand that Your love is so far superior than anything we can conjure up and because You created us, You know us better than we know ourselves? You know what we need, what we want and what will harm us. You ardently desire to send us everything to help us develop into the beautiful creatures You designed but You gave us free will so we have to ask for Your help. Oh Lord, strike down the pride that swells in all of us, turning us away from You and making us look only at ourselves. Strike down pride, the enemy and root of all human failure. Replace pride with humility and help us to reach up to You like a young child asking to be picked up by a loving parent.

                “Lord, help me remember who created me. Help me remember that all I have came from You. All my successes come from You. Remind me also that my failures come from me but the ability to get up and try again comes from You and Your infinite mercy. Lord, join our hearts so that in communion with You, I can view this world and all those within it as You do in pure love.”

Join Our Hearts Lord and Let Me Soar With You

                “I love You Lord. I am awed at all that You do. How did You manage becoming human and working in a humble body in a humble environment? Because You love us so much. Yes, I would do anything for my children. I have humbled myself and placed myself in places and situations I hated for the good of my children.

“You love us so completely and purely. How can we ever turn from You? Why do we look to ourselves to do things? We want to impress You, to make You happy, to show You our love but we get so confused sometimes. We are like young children. We forget that what You ask is for us to invite You into our hearts, to let You walk with us in everything we do and everywhere that we go.

                “My peace and joy reach the level of ecstasy the closest I am to You. Remind me to go through every moment of my life with Your hand on my shoulder and my heart completely opened to Yours. Join our hearts Lord and let me soar with You. I thank You and I praise You. I love You so much Lord.”

You are My Everything

“Lord, You are my everything; my strength, my courage, my direction, my love, my inspiration, my goal, my ecstasy, my compliment, my supplement, my joy, my pain, my challenge, my reason for living, my reason for dying. I love You more than anything else, more than myself. Let all my desires be focused on You. Let me not seek trivial pleasures, fleeting moments of happiness, unless they come from You or from glorifying You.

                “Sweep away the chaos of sin from myself. Bathe me in Your sweet intoxicating scent of divine love. May this scent repel sin, the temptation of sin, the occasion of sin. The trivial thoughts that can lead to sin are like flies buzzing around my head. May Your intoxicating scent of love repel them. Through reconciliation, may the flies instantly drop dead around me, washed away with the healing water of Your forgiveness, like a shower. May I stand there, glistening and clean in Your holy embrace. Help me shine, inside and out. May I be transfigured like Moses when he spoke with You.

                Fulfill my heart’s desire to desire You. May all that I seek be You. You are my everything.”

Thank You Mary for Your Humble Yes

                Today, we take a moment to focus on Mary, the blessed Mother of God. Without her humble “yes,” all we would have is a world of “no.” No to forgiveness, no to eternal life, no to the humanity of our Divine Lord, no to seeing the loving and merciful side our creator. Our Lord chose Mary to be born without the stain of original sin so that her body could become the holy temple for God to place His Divine humanity.

                She simply and humbly said “yes” to the most awesome opportunity – to be the Mother of God. This huge honor and gift did not come without a price, however. She had to bear the burden of His eventual cruel persecution and death. She remained humble and obedient to the Lord’s will. She kept many things close in her heart. How many of us would have fought kicking and screaming? How many of us would have insisted, “There’s got to be a better way!”?

                She kept her humble “yes” from the moment of His conception to the moment His last breath left His body and beyond. She kept her faith and trust in God’s will through the three long days He was in the tomb and when He rose again, she was there with loving patience to guide the early leaders of the Church. Her patient, loving gaze still shines down from heaven today where she gently continues to guide us to her son. “Do whatever He says,” she first instructed and continues to implore us.

                Thank you Mary for your humble “yes.”