Psalm Fifty ~ A Psalm of Heart-Turning

The Holy Face ~ Flemish School ~ 1500-1515

Click on the image of The Holy Face to hear Psalm 50 read, followed by an audio reflection.

3 Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

In your compassion blot out my offence. 

4 O wash me more and more from my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin.

5 My offenses truly I know them;

my sin is always before me.

6 Against you, you alone, have I sinned;

what is evil in your sight I have done.

That you  may be justified when you give sentence

and be without reproach when you judge

7 O see, in guilt I was born,

a sinner was I conceived.

8 Indeed you love truth in the heart;

then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom

9 O purify me, then I shall be clean;

O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

10 Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,

that the bones you have crushed may thrill.

11 From my sins turn away your face

and blot out all my guilt.

12 A pure heart create for me, O God,

put a steadfast spirit within me.

13 Do not cast me away from your presence, 

nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

14 Give me again the joy of your  help;

with a sprit of fervour sustain me,

15 that  may teach transgressors your ways

and sinners may return to you.

16 O rescue me, God my helper,

and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.

17 O Lord, open my lips

and my mouth shall declare your praise.

18 For in sacrifice you take no delight

burnt offering from me you would refuse

19 my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.

A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

20 In your goodness, show favour to Zion'

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

21 Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,

(burnt offerings wholly consumed),

then you will be offered young bulls on your altar.

The Grail Translation ~ 1963

Intercessions ~ Feast of the Holy Trinity

May this Memorial Day weekend be more than simply the marking of an official start of summer,/ but may we resolve to put an end to wasteful wars/ where young people die,/ often ignorant of why they are fighting and dying./  May we re-discover Memorial Day as a time of reflection and hope,/ that the world's children may grow up in confidence and peace./ We pray to the Lord.

It is the Feast of the Holy Trinity — that God's inner life is a life of relationship and community./ Grant that we would be able to love beyond the little worlds we find ourselves in/ and to hold in that love/ the larger world of suffering,/ pain and loneliness./ We pray to the Lord.

Hate crimes against Asians and Jews continue to increase in this country./ Bringing great shame upon the country,/  they are crimes of terrible violence,/ pain,/ injury and even death./ We ask God to heal the sickness of hate festering in many hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

Pope Francis has invited us to keep this as the year of St. Joseph,/ who listened to angels and acted upon their messages./ Grant that in a world of constant talking and noise, / we may learn again the value of silence./ May we respect others through careful listening./ We pray to the Lord.

This week we saw the brilliant Flower Moon of abundant light./ Grant that we would live in God's abundant light,/ revealed to us in Christ,/ a way of wonder,/ divine courtesy,/ kindness and compassion./ We pray to the Lord.

Capital punishment is the way of revenge./ May we learn the way of the healing Christ,/ believing that his gifts of grace can restore darkened hearts and minds./ We pray for those who have been victimized by the crimes of others,/ mindful of those who have died at the hands of others./ We pray for those who serve in prison ministry./ We pray to the Lord.

"Many of us..."

 

Syriac Gospel ~ Illuminated Manuscript ~ 586

"Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves ~ 

regret for the past and fear of the future.

Fulton Oursler 1893 ~1952

Out of the treasury of one's heart

 

Fig Tree & Bird Feast ~ Ancient Egyptian Fresco

We can  hear the gospels all our lives and then, seemingly out of no where, come upon a verse we never heard before. This might be one of them:

Jesus said, "Then comes the time when many will lose their faith and will betray and hate each other. Yes, and many false prophets will arrive, and will mislead many people. Because of the spread of wickedness the love of most men will grow cold..." Matthew 24:10 ff  J.B. Phllips New Testament

or another translation

"And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold."  Matthew 24:10 ff Revised Standard Version

 

We might think, Jesus had our time in mind. Or conversely, we might think Jesus had some other people in some other time in mind. No era or generation since the days of Jesus has a corner on hate or wickedness. I'd suggest Jesus was speaking rather generically, as if to say, "This is how it is with human beings." 

I'm thinking of that other gospel we might never have heard, or so it might appear as the church gets weighted down with crisis after crisis and can wind up seeming to spend more time in the courtroom settling cases more than in the inner secret room Jesus invites us to enter, where we are to close the door and speak to our heavenly Father in intimacy.  

I remember in seminary the priest-professor going on at length as to whether or not Jesus intended to form a new religion. I don't remember his answer, but it was the beginning of my thinking that no matter the answer, what Jesus clearly did leave us was a new sense of religion that has the heart at its center. Christianity, before anything else, is a way of the heart. Christianity requires heart-work, heart-wonder, the en-spiriting of the heart. We can settle for less. 

43 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for  each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" Luke 6:43-45

 

What beautiful language Jesus uses. Three lines and the word good appears four times. Three lines and the word heart appears twice. Treasure, twice. The last sentence expresses the nature of Christ's way splendidly: "For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

In the 1987 film A Month in the Country, Colin Firth plays Tom Birkin, a young man just back from that most stupid of wars and has found a summer's job in rural Oxgodby, England. He meets the Anglican priest who lives in a huge, empty rectory with his lonely, wife. We discover at once the priest is angry, that the one thousand pound bequest is contingent upon the restoration of a medieval painting over the altar. I'd suggest he's really opposed to the restoration because he's afraid it will distract the parishioners from paying attention to him. Blinded by resentment, he couldn't be more inhospitable when the stammering veteran shows up in the soaking rain — no offer of a meal, no cup of tea, not even a room in his empty rectory. Judd is reluctantly offered a couple of feet up in the belfry. Can you think of a  more awful place for a shell-shocked soldier to be living? Come Sunday Tom watches and listens from above as the priest reads the lesson of the day — Matthew 25 — "When I was hungry, thirsty, naked, a stranger, sick..."  Failed religion gone off into the the weeds. 

Notice in the verses above Jesus uses the word treasure.  Treasure is what we hold on to dearly — our prejudices, our go-to defenses, our justifications, the lies we tell ourselves, our denials, our insistences, what we buy into, that has nothing to do with Christ — the authentic, whole human person. Christ — the Kingdom Man, the one who thinks God's thoughts, who lives in God's heart. 

Growing up in the 1950's and 60's, the key words of my youth were obedience and disobedience. You don't become a whole human person by simply being obedient. In the Australian TV series Brides of Christ, when things begin to change in convent life, Sister Philomena has a breakdown before the entire community and weeps, "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." Again: we don't become whole human persons by simply being obedient.

But Jesus speaks of "the abundance of the heart." Our hearts (inner selves) can hold a lot. We hear, "I'm heart broken," "I'm heart sick" My heart is full of hate." Our mouths only express what's inside. Some folks never really explore this.

Our nation fashions itself as religious. As the world goes we still have a rather high rate of church attendance. But statistics don't really say much. Statistics say nothing about the spiritual heart condition of the Christian. Statistics don't call out how we can go off into the weeds: how we might be motivated by fear, money-love, racist bigotry, power-quest, violence (even as entertainment), ignorance, lies (smears, denials, self-protection). These can fill the collective heart, become the nation's abundant heart-treasure. Social media (including [YIKES!] Catholic sites) is the great heart-revealer today. The mouth speaks what's stored up abundantly in the heart.

Intercessions ~ Pentecost Sunday

Our Lady of Vladimir ~ Feodorovich Ushakov (1652) 

We may safely infer from St. Luke's account/ that Mary was with the apostles on the day of Pentecost./ May we understand/ in simple and practical ways/ that Christ's Spirit-Gift is given to us as well./ Mary-like,/ may we spiritually 'birth' Christ in our own place and time./ We pray to the Lord. 

Monday is the Feast of Mary,/ Mother of the Church./ May the Church reveal to the world a maternal face that is kind,/ compassionate,/ helpful and patient with people as they grow and evolve./We pray to the Lord.

The place we call The Holy Land,/ the land of the prophets,/ Jesus and Mary,/ the apostles and early monks and nuns,/ is once again a place of rockets and death./ Many dozens of the dead are children./ May God forgive,/ enlighten and heal./ We pray to the Lord.

Some parts of the country are flooded,/ while other parts are in draught and flames./ May we realize the sins of our neglect and exploitation that have left our planet so vulnerable./ For our conversion to the renewal of the earth./ We pray to the Lord.

Whether it is for the sake of the baby in the womb,/ or the newcomer,/ or the poor man, woman or child,/ or the ones living with disabilities,/ or persons in all their variety,/ may we learn what it means to respect each human person./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the sick,/ the hospitalized,/ the dying and all who care for them./ Grant conversion of heart to those who are hateful,/ dangerous or failed in leadership./ We pray to the Lord.

Cowslip and Our Planting

 

Cowslip (primula veris) has many names: Herb Peter, Key Flower, Key of Heaven, Peter's Keys, Fairy Cups, Plumrocks...and rich, even sometimes obscure symbolism. But there is one symbolic sense we might find particularly helpful — Cowslip as symbolic of pensiveness. Pensive comes from the Latin to French meaning: to consider, to ponder, to weigh carefully, to engage in deep serious thought, to contemplate or meditate.

Running along a nearby sidewalk, there is a long, walled garden at the bottom of a sloped lawn. The four foot wall at the sidewalk level seems to  have been built years ago to keep the soil from washing out in the rain. Most of the plants in the garden are ground covers, further ensuring the soil stay in place. Recently, I met the elderly woman who appears to have the care of the garden and we got talking about one plant she knew nothing about and had apparently forgotten but which I had seen blooming the previous week. Upon my investigation it turns out the plant is called Cowslip. It is not native to the United States but has found its way here by way of  Europe and Asia.

Cowslip's leaves might look like something we'd see in a season green salad. The papery flowers are small, bright yellow and trumpet or cup like, standing in little clusters atop thin, upright, ten inch stems. The lady said, "I think I can give you a piece of that plant." Delighted, I ran off for my hand tools and a small Tupperware to hold the rooted plant, while jogging 300 steps where I planted it immediately under a witch hazel tree, affording it the filtered sun it prefers. So I will wait a full year now before I see it bloom again in its new home — each time, bringing better thoughts, more helpful, peaceful, pensive thoughts to mind.

 

To be personally planted in pensiveness. That may sound like a too high an ideal, but let's not to be discouraged —here is Thomas Merton's entry for May 2, 1948 when the whole monastery was ostensibly silent for a Day of Recollection:

My interior activity must begin gradually to die down (but it tends to increase!) All the useless twisting and turning of my nature, analyzing the faults of the community and the choir, figuring out what is wrong with everything and what could be right, comparing our life to the 12th century with what we have today, trying to figure some way to make a break and get into solitude: with all these things I have lost time and made myself suffer, and I have ruined the work of God in my soul.

Wind and sun. Catbirds bickering in a bush. Ringing bells and blowing whistles and birds squawking in a lamentable fashion. Trees are all clothed and benches are out: a new summer has begun."  

Of course, bickering Catbirds, ringing bells, blowing whistles, birds squawking...are all much more figures of his interior state of mind than a simple report of what's going on in the Gethsemane Monastery gardens. 

 

May Rosary to End the Coronavirus Pandemic

Pope Francis has asked the Catholic faithful to pray the rosary during May for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Each evening of the thirty days, the rosary is prayed from a different Marian shrine across the globe. In May we're reminded that violets are symbolic of the Mother of God. Growing close to the ground they are emblems of her humility, "I am the Lord's servant..." Luke 1:38

Below, I'm offering a short intentional prayer-thought between each Hail Mary.

Our Father

We have the ability to end this viral pandemic by vaccines, sharing and the careful observance of health protocols. May we be generous in a protective love for other people.

Hail Mary

There are countries particularly hard hit by this virus because of internal corruption or poverty. In India, there are villages being decimated by the virus because there are no doctors, hospitals or clinics.

Hail Mary

We pray for doctors, nurses, lab technicians, vaccinators, first responders and rescuers, and those who have the difficult job of burying the many who have died of coronavirus.

Hail Mary

We pray for those who are mourning the millions who have died, who have lost relatives and friends to coronavirus. For their consolation and strengthening.

Hail Mary

For those who are are quarantined, and the many who are struggling to stay alive in hospitals — mindful that in some parts of the world, patients are dying for lack of oxygen. May we take nothing for granted and learn gratitude in depth.

Hail Mary

There are some, even politicians, who are not helping at all, but who in the their anger are causing confusion, spreading fear and lies, pandering to a base of deniers. Others are making money off of this pandemic as profiteers do during times of war.

Hail Mary

We pray for those who participate in events called super spreaders, others who cheat to get vaccines ahead of others. May Jesus give us the clean heart of the Gospel.

Hail Mary

For the strengthening of those elected officials and public servants, truth tellers, who work bravely to bring this pandemic to an end, despite the obstructers.

Hail Mary

It seems now in this time of great anger, when people do not like or approve of what someone else has said, they quickly resort to death threats. We pray for God to change the nation's heart, to convert us to humility, docility, generosity of spirit  and true religion.

Hail Mary

And for ourselves to have the poverty of spirit Jesus blesses — that inner soul which wants nothing more than to see the face of God — to trust God, to love and delight in God.

Hail Mary

Glory be to the Father...

Intercessions ~ Seventh Sunday in Easter

 

Pope Francis has asked the Catholic people to join him in praying the rosary during the month of May for an end to the Coronavirus./ With Mary,/ may we contemplate the face of Jesus,/ praying for those who are most burdened and suffering during this time of global sickness./ We pray to the Lord.

In the Eastertime may we be a nation of clean heart./ We pray for those who spread lies,/ spread hate,/ spread fear,/ spread distraction and confusion./ We pray to the Lord.

The hurricane and fire seasons have begun./Already there are areas of the country overwhelmed by uncontained fires./ We ask to be wise and decisive in caring for our terribly abused and exploited planet./ We pray to the Lord.

While still in the Eastertime,/ Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have become cities of tremendous violence/ leaving hundreds of people injured and many dead,/ including children./ May impassioned minds be calmed./ May peace be restored./ May we learn how to live together well./ We pray to the Lord. 

Bless the children who receive their First Communion in the month of May./ And for children all around the world to be welcomed,/ wanted,/ safe,/ cared for and loved./ We pray to the Lord.

In the time of year still marked by an increase of light,/ may we, our families and friends,/ know ourselves more truly,/ be blessed with health and confidence/ and that personal growth which God desires for us./ We pray to the Lord.

May those who have died since last Eastertime,/ with sins forgiven and healed of old regrets and wounds,/ see the face of God,/ and be glad./ We pray to the Lord.

Psalm 16 ~ A Good Man Prays

 

The Sunflower follows the sun. We might hear echoes of that turning of the heart in Psalm 16 here. Click on the Sunflower to hear the psalm read.

Verses 1-3: A Catholic may have a hard time understanding the first verses of this psalm. It sounds like the psalmist is boasting. Growing up, I remember hearing, "Don't be so sure of yourself" when someone expressed some positive insight about oneself. That positive thought might be considered pride. Some folks have heard this so often they are unable to accept a simple compliment, let alone speak as confidently of himself/herself as the psalmist does.

This fellow feels confident enough that he invites God to look at his life inside out — in his heart, in his sleep when he cannot pretend. "Test me." It's almost a dare or taunt.

Verse 4-9: But with the second part of verse 4 something shifts and the psalmist  reveals that he knows the source of his boast is not his doing, but God's. We might identify this awareness as grace. Grace is not a commodity to stored up like covid era paper products, but what God shares of himself with us — God's energies. 

The psalmist says in effect, "I've stayed far from violence because of your word. Not my own path but your path. I'm here (maybe feeling a little lonely) confident that you (God) will hear me. Display your love, God. Take me by your right hand."

This fellow is poor and needy after all. He knows he can't do it alone. "Guard me - hide me" from anything that would attack me. He doesn't identify any attacker by name but we might imagine there are troublemakers in his life. He feels threatened by the circle of violent foes who want his undoing. Then, continuing for some verses, he describes the dangerous world he lives in and in which we live too.

Verse 10: Now the psalmist acknowledges there are people whose hearts are shut, who are arrogant, who are watching him. We might understand even better than he does.  Is there an inch of the nation that doesn't have a camera positioned on it. The practice helps to solve crimes for sure, but others don't like it. They feel there is something more sinister behind it. 

Verse 11: "...as if there are lions to claw." We live in a dangerous world - a wild world where people can say whatever they want to say about others online. We're constantly being invited to "review" people and products and to comment. A reputation can be destroyed on social media — a kind of wild clawing at people. The psalmist has his own understanding, and we have our own. 

Verses 13,14: Here the psalmist is feeling particularly needy and vulnerable. "Let your sword rescue my soul." His inner life feels threatened. His peace is gone, his inner stability and sense of security. What's happened to that happy, self-satisfied feeling about himself in the first verses? 

He asks to be rescued from people who only think about the present life — the people who care only about power and money. Evil things are often done to hold onto power and wealth — cheating, lies, theft, greed — even murder, violence, false imprisonment. The psalmist says he knows people hold on like this so they can hand their wealth off to their children. Some things never change, heh?

Verse 15: But then (and this happens in every psalm) there is a shift. We can almost feel the psalmist snapping out of his complaint and returning to God's love. "But as for me, I want to see your face and be filled." Isn't it interesting, with all his early boast, you'd think he'd need nothing more. But instead, when all is said and done, he feels empty and asks God to fill him.

Finally this: "...and be filled when I awake." He's not talking about waking up from his night's sleep but waking up from his own inner slumber, his negativity, his even bitter distraction, his own desiring to have and to win, perhaps to wake up from his fears and resentments. Then, when I wake up, I will see again how glorious and good you are, O God! We can all make that our prayer. Indeed, a whole comatose nation can make that prayer.

The Guadalupe Attacked ~ But there's more

 

What a shame, heh? This painted tile image of Our Lady of Guadalupe attacked with a hammer outside a parish church near Los Angeles, California. This is all the rage now (rage indeed!) toppling her image, beheading her image, throwing paint on her statue, smashing her face and hands, spray painting hater slogans on her. Who knows, maybe the offender is mentally ill. There's a lot of untreated mental illness in our country. A lot of angry people. 

But when an image of the Guadalupe is attacked, I can't help but wonder if there's not something else going on. A pious Catholic man told me he resented the "Mexican invasion" of his parish, "They put up red bows on everything." I reported elsewhere the pastor who didn't want the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 'his' church because, "It might draw those people." Another parishioner resented that I held a Guadalupe Feast Dinner for the Hispanic community which celebrated Mass in our church, with a special invitation extended to the Mexican men who cut the parish lawn and tended the parish gardens. The word stupid doesn't sound nice, but it's still a real word giving voice to real thoughts.

But there's more, isn't there? The good Mexican people of the Los Angeles parish will make offerings and repair their lovingly painted Guadalupe. But as Christians, we believe that in the Incarnation, (Christmas), God now has a human face. This signals that every face matters. Not a few of those human faces are hated and even attacked — the people ignored, considered to be a problem, the faces of those who suffer terribly, which might elicit a "tysk" but not justice for them. This isn't high-brow theology.

There are...

The faces of the nearly extinct Down Syndrome children in the womb.

The faces of the children in every classroom, who for reasons unknown, are hiding.

The faces of the sex-trafficked teen or pre-teen.

The faces we see, dirtied and terrorized on television.

The faces sunken with hunger.

The faces of war — stunned, tear-streaked, dusty.

The faces of people of color, angry over injustice.

The faces of people battered; the child bullied.

The faces of the newly arrived.

The faces of the covid sick, covid dead, covid care providers, covid mourners.

The faces of the homeless on the new skid rows.

The faces at the border looking in.

  Virgen Guadalupe,

  you've already forgiven the crazed fellow

  who smashed your tiled-image,

  bless the gentle devotees who'll make the needed repairs.

  But now, forgive us for missing the sorrowing faces,

  the faces twisted up in pain,

  faces all around us

  and across the nation. 

  Help us to see each human person rightly — 

  as you and your Son see rightly.

  Amen.

Intercessions ~ Sixth Sunday in Easter

May Wisteria

 

We pray for Pope Francis in the Eastertime./ In the face of resistance and obstruction,/ may he be protected/ and remain well and safe./ May his work enable the Church to live  truly for God alone./ We pay to the Lord.

Today we pray for our own mothers and grandmothers./ For mothers who are distressed,/ weakened,/ or at their wits end./ We ask for that turning of heart which makes their well-being/ and that of their children/ a global priority./ We pray to the Lord. 

Spring is the season of gardens,/ of plants and seeding/ watering and cultivating./ May we do our own inner heart-work of responding to the voice of God/ summoning us to God's mercy and love./ We pray to the Lord.

While the Spring is a season of delight,/ we pray for the people of Mexico and Israel where terrible tragedies have occurred recently./ We pray too for the people of India/ where the coronavirus is out of control./ We ask blessings for those who send help and hope./ We ask consolation for mourners./ We pray to the Lord.

April and May are months of Spring rain./ May God's justice rain down on us/ teaching us that we do not live in isolation,/ but in the things which matter most,/ we are together,/ even around  the world./ We pray to the Lord.

May we eschew us-versus-them religion,/ which is not the way of Christ,/ but militarized,/ contentious and polarized./ Grant that we would see in Mary and Joseph/ what it means/ in humility/ to say yes to Jesus,/ to learn simply to be God's servants,/ in praise and gratitude./  We pray to the Lord.

Viola Labradorica's Simple Message

 

This is Viola Labradorica, blooming now. Sometimes it's called Alpine Violet. Like most spring flowers, it grows close to the ground, a protection against still possible cold blasts. Violets are often seen as symbolic of the virtues of humility and modesty. Hence they are often found in Medieval/Renaissance paintings of the Virgin Mary. 

But we've often times misunderstood humility. Humility comes from the Latin humus, meaning good earth. Humility is being down to earth about myself. Realistic about myself. Docility would be humility's sibling. Docility comes from the Latin docere, to teach. A docile person is teachable — I allow myself to be taught by more than a Wikipedia article. 

Bishop Dermot Farrell is the new Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland. Upon his being chosen by Pope Francis to lead he offered this simple teaching.

"Our world is changing before our eyes, our country is changing deeply, and our church changes beneath our feet. Together, we are called to find a way into the future that opens before us. The only genuine way into the future is a shared way, a way together."

I could well imagine Bishop Farrell had these Gospel words of Jesus in mind — a teaching for polarized nation and church:

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." Mark 3: 24,25

 

An Eastertime Blessing Before the Protaton Descending Christ

 

This large fresco is found in the Protaton Church on Mount Athos. Painted in about 1300 by Manuel Panselinos, it depicts the Anastasis, Christ's Descent into Hades (Hell) and his Easter Appearance to the Disciples.

The scenes are recounted in the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. Look closely. A radiant and strong Jesus tramples down the gates of the underworld — the place of humanity's deepest offense, loss and shame. The hardware that keeps that underworld well-defended goes flying. Christ has emptied this hell — pulling each and all out of the dark loneliness. The Old Testament figures are standing to the left. Old Adam is last. 

John the Baptist and a shepherd boy stand by Adam and Eve. Clouds, or a watery abyss are seen at the bottom. A sub-scene is found to the right — Christ appearing before the re-grouped apostles. Peter seems to be apologizing. The wreathed cross flanked by angels and suspended over a rainbow of new beginnings is seen where the mountains are parted. Today is Easter in the Eastern Church. I send a blessing prayer for you.

May Christ's courteous bending uplift you.

May Christ's descent into the darkness dispel dark clouds threatening you.

May the young shepherd's presence reassure you.

May the Baptist's presence keep you standing through the day's challenges.

May Peter's humility lead you out of regret and disappointment.

May Christ's outstretched hand grab hold of your heart and lead you in love.

May Christ's Easter scroll reveal the shock of his teaching — Love one another.

May Christ's Easter earthquake unsettle you into something new.

May you feel the urgency of love Christ has for you.

May the Easter angels deepen your sense of wonder.

May the benevolence of Christ fortify you.

May the crossed gates of the underworld beneath Christ's feet, free you.

May Eve's longing eyes resonate with your own sense of need. 

May Christ rushing over the earth-gash heal your deepest wound.

May Christ's rainbowed cross signal new beginnings for you.

May the clustered Easter apostles evolve you in your relationships.

May the defenses of your own personal life, like the hardware of Hades, be dispelled.