Mary Sullivan

“It is a lesson we all need—

to let alone the things that do not concern us.

He has other ways for others to follow Him;

all do not go by the same path.

It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him,

and to follow Him in that path.” (St. Katharine Drexel)

 

Father, help us to let be, what should not be our concern.

Guide us along the holy path, the path we ought not spurn.

The path by which, you have willed, life’s lessons we ought learn,

Show to us where we must walk.  Help us our path discern.

 

All do not walk by the same path, nor endure the same trials.

You call each to a different path; You call some for many miles.

Show to us, dear Father, the path for us that’s best,

Show to us, gracious Father, that path willed by You and blessed.

 

Lead us along the holy path, though sorrow we may know.

Through mercy lead us home to You. Help us let others go

Along the path You will for them, though it be a painful one.

We trust You to show our loved ones the way back to Your Son.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.

From it flows the unity which heals us of all strife.

For through the Holy Eucharist, which means in truth Thanksgiving,

God unites us on a path to pure and holy living.

Let us receive Him worthily; through confession He forgives,

That we be not defiled or commit a sacrilege.

One dresses in clean garments when at a wedding feast.

Our Lord deserves the best from us and not our very least.

 

In Most Holy Communion, we receive You, precious Lord.

You give to us Your very self, O God Who we adore.

And through this precious bit of bread which has been consecrated,

We become more like You in Whose image we’re created.

 

Send Your Holy Spirit, Lord, to rest on all our souls.

May receiving Jesus worthily be first of all our goals.

Give to us the wisdom to see the cause of our disunion:

Your body is badly bloodied by sacrilegious Communions.

 

May confession wash from our souls all grime and dirt and mud.

May peace be found with one another through Your Body, Soul and Blood.

Lord Jesus, there are many who do not believe You’re there.

Find a way to show them, Lord, just how much You care.

 

Help all along the path of truth to find the way to You.

Bring all to confession and to pure living too.

With You may we now unite, as our first common bond.

You call all to Communion   Help us all to respond.

 

There is no rest outside You, Lord; in You is our true peace.

Only through the Eucharist will our divisions cease.

Be our teacher, Jesus, instruct us on our way.

Through the Holy Eucharist, unite all in truth today.

Jesus had addressed them.  A parable He told.

To teach them true humility, this story would unfold.

Two men were in the temple.  They had gone there to pray.

A Pharisee and tax collector—to God some things they’d say.

 

The Pharisee told the Lord how he did things well.

The head of the Pharisee likely began to swell.

He said he wasn’t greedy.   Adultery he’d not commit.

He fasted and he tithed.  He was proud to admit.

 

Now off at a distance, the tax collector’s head was bowed.

With lowered head he beat his breast.  He said—perhaps out loud:

“O God be merciful to me.”  He told the Lord he was a sinner.

Through repentance he gained peace with God.  Emerged as the winner.

 

The tax collector went back home.  He had been justified.

But to that Pharisee, justification was denied.

That man who exalts himself, finds only he has stumbled.

As time goes by, he’s sure to find by God he will be humbled.

 

The humble man who turns to God, of earth he’ll be its salt.

The Lord Himself will lift him up.  The Lord will him exalt.

Dear Father, keep us humble in all we say and do.

Help us clearly see our sins, that we may repent too.

 

Grant to us and our loved ones, grace to be sanctified.

In humility may we repent.  Thereby be justified.

[Based on Luke 18:9-14]

We may be perplexed.  But to despair, not driven.

We can be but thankful for all we have been given.

Persecution comes our way. Yet we are not abandoned.

By the One who loves us so—our Defender and Companion.

 

Our trials we endure.   We conquer by God’s power.

Struck down we may find ourselves. But from there we flower.

In Him there’s no destruction.  Ane we are not destroyed.

In Him, there’s only glory.   In Him, there is true joy.

 

Just as our Lord rose from the dead, one day we will rise too.

Be placed in His presence.  All things will be made new.

Let us persevere for Him. Let us now soldier on.

Let us fight the fight before us.  His armor, let us don.

 

Until that day of glory, when all is truth and light.

Until our final end arrives—let us fight the good fight.

 

[Based on 2 Cor 4:7-15]