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Morning Reflections
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time | September 24, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 20-:1-16a.
Enough
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
With thanks I finally have work And can earn a good day’s pay Doing what I shall and will To earn with pride and feed my family And properly use my day
This master is so kind and fair What he offers to me is good That is enough for my work A wage upon which we agree Which will buy my family food
But the vineyard is so large And there is so much to do The harvest is so plenty Such that we can’t do it alone And the laborers are so few
As the master has seen our work There is so very much more He rightly brings on more laborers Who lighten our burden and help To bring in the harvest to store
Yet now they are paid as we Who have worked all the day And in their only few hours Bringing in much less than we They also receive the same pay
I know I agreed on my wage But I worked from morning till night Yet these for only a few hours And for bringing in much less Being paid the same seems not right
Yet the master so reminds That he honored his promise to me And to him I honored mine as well Asking if that was not as discussed That we both to that term agreed
For he has enough to give all And wants us all to thrive Instead of jealousy there should be thanks That with his love we have our reward And be thankful we are alive For it matters not how long or how much That we labor in this place His mercy and kindness know no bound And is enough for all who love Without limit to his abundant grace
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time | September 17, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 18:21-35.
Seventy Times
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
This lesson is difficult It lies heavy on my heart As I harbor wound and pain And from forgiveness stay apart
This wound brings such pain As righteous anger wells up in me For I have been wounded deeply And forgiveness I cannot see
Yet now he tells me to forgive And it’s hard for me even to say Hard to even look at my accuser For me even to say his name
Yet Jesua tells me to reach out And love over and over again To offer to forgive in gentleness Seventy times seven!
Oh this is so very hard to do A lesson I stretch to learn As I painfully reach out to my accuser Both mind and heart burn
Over and over he asks us to forgive This challenge which stretches my will Yet I know his hard lesson is true And my angry heart I must still
For he teaches us so very well As he has so deeply forgiven Beyond our stubborn will With the strength he has given
For this “seventy times seven” Is a very difficult challenge to me It so stretches my stubborn will Yet its holy wisdom I now see
Dear Jesus, help me to forgive As difficult as it might be May I follow your example Seventy times seven times That I might gain your mercy And in your loving presence stay
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time | September 10, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 18:15-20.
To Forgive
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
For so long now I have hurt The harm I have felt will not heal The hurt inside grows day by day What has been done is painful and real Forgiveness is so very far away
The wound is so fresh and near My memory still feels the pain I have been wronged and I still feel Nothing will ever be the same This wrong cannot right what is real
This wound rules my every day Festering in my inmost soul Like a fresh cut to my skin Daily taking its slow toll How can newness ever begin
I think of this pain every day As it has become part of my self I so dearly long for it to go away To be another box on the shelf Yet it still seems to always stay
I know the only way is to forgive But my pain and anger so upswells That I cannot even consider this path And only my stubborn will can I so tell Oh can I ever rid of this inner wrath
He has come to ask on bended knee But I have rejected him as wrong And has returned with others to plead Yet I have sent them back all along Though they have planted a seed I know that it will never go away This wound inflicted by a friend Who I no longer can be near Yet he I so do miss in the end I must confront this anger I fear
And so I ask for your help Lord That I might swallow my pride To reach out and so to live To put out this fire inside To gain the strength to forgive
I do miss the one who has wronged He has tried but I have rejected His words once hurt and do still My heart I have so protected Yet this wound is now only my will
He has reached out with sorrow To ask for forgiveness and restart And from my hardness I must relent And listen to the call of my heart As his will is to recant and repent
I know this anger has held me in chains And it truly binds us both in pain But it is hard to stop and restart And return ever to things the same Yet forgiveness I know will heal my heart
My prayer Dear Lord is ardent today That like you forgiveness I can give That darkness can truly move to light And from my heart I can truly forgive And restart the flame of love’s might
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time | September 3, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 16:21-27.
God Forbid
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
These words hurt my ears This cannot happen to him I cannot bear what he says The suffering he foretells I will not let these things begin
Yet my words raise his anger I do not know why For I just want to protect I want no harm to come Yet he pulls me aside
His rebuke hurts my very heart For I cannot fathom him in pain Yet he seems so very resolved That this must be the only way So inward my passion I must rein
He tells us now of what will happen Of suffering in times to come That our lives must be offered up And our crosses painful to bear If we are to follow the One
Yet he tells of our path of salvation Of lives lost yet eternal gain Of sacrifice and denial of self Of saving life when all is lost Of redemption in denial and pain
Of how he will come again in glory To bring us to his heavenly throne That all here and now will be of no worth That our reward will be with him Together forever in holy home
Dear Jesus, help me to follow To deny myself of those things Which cause loss of life and faith To trust in your will for my life That in heaven your praise I’ll sing
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time | August 27, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 16:13-20.
The Rock
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
We have followed Him so very long And travelled far and wide To many places and peoples Hearing with our own ears And seeing with our own eyes
We’ve walked with this Son of David Learning and often in awe Of His words and incredible works Truly things not of man alone Many amazing things we saw
For His power is not from here And His words just burn in our heart His strength of spirit inspires us As we humbly follow in His steps And never want to be apart We have for centuries so longed Taught by our forefathers to wait For the fulfillment of the promise For the Messiah to come To reveal our awaited heavenly fate
For such a time we have wondered In question and in doubtful fear As we have listened and have seen But now I know in my heart This Man, the Son of God is here
And to me His question turns “Who do You say that I am”? And from my mind and heart “Of the living God You are the Son” Who is to come, the “One”
And now He calls me Petra The “Rock” upon whom He will build Of all these, why me I wonder There are those here more worthy I lead, but am the least one skilled
To “bind and to loose” He says On earth and also in heaven Such power I cannot comprehend I will build His Church of love right here On the shoulders of the eleven
Dear Jesus, be with me As I marvel at Your wondrous gift This Holy Church, Your presence Truly and clearly given by You Help me to come closer today Through sacrament and in love To receive the grace You have bestowed In faith and gratitude to You above
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time | August 20, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 15:21-28.
In Helpless Hope
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
Oh, how frightened I am For there has been no hope My daughter has been so long lost I have prayed and then prayed Yet now for help I still grope
The evil spirit in her is strong It holds and her spirit consumes Yet I will never give up trying I will go wherever for help Until her life in freedom resumes
This foreigner, this prophet comes This man of God foretold from afar And I call out: Son of David Have mercy on her a child But from him his disciples bar
He says he is not here for us But for the people of Israel And they all consider us lost Yet I will not give up trying For only he this scourage can unseal
Oh if only a crumb of mercy would fall From his table grace would come And so in desperation I cry out his name Have mercy on this one lost soul For in your love Lord we are all one
Turning back, his eyes upon us now He speaks of our hope and our faith And looks at my daughter in love With a nod of head then looking above Casts away the demon from her face
Oh Jesus I too call out From the distance I have drifted away For on your mercy my life depends You came for all of us regardless of place Forgive my sins and heal my wounds Undeservedly I long for your help Although I have drifted far till this day
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | August 13, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 14:22-33.
The Walk
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
I have heard and again now seen Your works and marvelous deeds As all were fed in miraculous way And find it hard from you to leave As You alone want to pray
We have left you ashore to this day As we cast off and sail out to sea Hoping the catch will be great Yet now the stormy winds do howl In fear our fishing is not to be
Like a cork in water tossed and turned Bouncing from wave to wave Wondering if this could be our end We grasp tight to all we hold dear Crying out in prayer for our lives to save
Despair consumes our thoughts As we fear the end is near Our small boat like a leaf is tossed On it we have no control at all And we hold each other in fear
A frightening vision; an angel appears Walking toward our tossing boat On the waves toward us in the storm Yet now John yells It is HE Jesus coming to restore our hope
Oh that it could only be we pray As our salvation can surely from him come He beckons and I jump into the sea And held up by faith walk myself to him Yet I submit to fear he is not the One
And so, sinking I cry out Jesus save me As I slip in my doubt under the waves Only to feel a hand pull me back up Reminding me to in him to believe That it is faith in he alone that saves
Dear Jesus, help me trust in you As I weather the storms of my life And in my weakest moments As my hope fails and I despair When I need you and cry out in hope Lift me up and save me Calm the stress of my life’s stormy sea
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord | August 6, 2023 This gospel reflection is based on Matthew 17:1-9.
Changed
by Deacon Andy Cirmo
As we follow him and climb Up the steep slope of our lives Rock after craggy rock upward Climbing all barriers to reach the summit To be with and follow him, we strive
Unsure yet filled with expectation We follow with faith and some fear As the path is narrow and steep The climb to the unknown summit Narrows as we grow near
Jesua seems driven, reaching back Helping us follow the last small way To the summit of all our striving To reach a place of unknown glory A holy place we long to stay
His presence has changed, just here As we witness a great brightening cloud Slowly descending upon us all around And now hearing clearly a great voice In awe we look up and hear it aloud
This is he as we have never before seen As we shade our eyes from the glow Hearing a voice deep and all around And seeing prophets we fall in prayer As in our vision his grace does bestow
For what we now humbly witness Is truly beyond merely a dream Encountering this presence divine We fall before his almighty power And the prophets we have now seen
He says “Arise” as we open our eyes And now alone with him as before Looking at each other in awe Jesua transformed and revealed We fall again and humbly adore
Dear Jesus Help me return from this Holy mountain For I have seen His Holy presence With this Eucharist of God himself Changed and inspired to love To return to my life fully with you Transformed in grace from above Sent to bring you to the world