Fifth Sunday of Lent 2015
You offer new covenant, Lord,
with heaven and earth reshaped,
to indicate its sweep,
no longer assuring victory and peace,
for this must shape
both mind and heart,
and all the inner sphere
epulsing thrusts of suffering,
to fashion training ground
of God’s techniques,
complying with and obeying
his covenant’s renewing.
Fourth Sunday of Lent 2015
The Man Born Blind (Cycle A)
With amazement we ascertain
a shepherd's moldy cloak
transformed
to a king's majestic robes;
attend the greater marvel
when the king provides
the prosperity of peace,
as citizens find transformation of lives
through learning and pursuit of wisdom,
transferring to their children
a higher, more gentle lifestyle.
Third Sunday of Lent 2015
Fidelity, fidelity, fidelity,
within this noble house of prayer,
how can a place prove prayerful,
conducive for whispering to God,
if men intensely haggle
over cattle, sheep and doves.
Fidelity alone
will keep a temple functioning
within its sacred mandate
instead of being degraded to stable
or treasured as museum
when culture, the best of human effort,
supplants the deity’s role.
Instead of pleas for guidance,
one hears the admiration
for wonders achieved
by more primitive countrymen.
Second Sunday of Lent 2015
Which penetrated deepest,
these effects of transfiguration,
the garments white beyond bleaching,
translucent features, tongue-tied disciples,
or the Master’s own mind,
exposed to shafts of lightning
too bright for the eyes
without a candle-blackened glass,
his heart immersed in embers
that fired his prior covenant:
I come to do your will.
First Sunday of Lent 2015
Unhampered by words, Lord Jesus,
you construct our relationship,
by building from your name’s
forgiveness and mercy,
unable to remember sin,
conveying a mother’s tenderness
together with strength of a brother,
like the covenant
of Jonathan and David,
both willing to stand eager and ready,
with life itself at stake.
Ash Wednesday 2015
With epiphany designed
by the programming of stars,
the Magi trekked
from distant eastern stations
to lowly lands
of ancient prophets’ lore,
extending homage,
while gaining the blessing
of stars eternally bright.