Love one another as I have loved you
I came to the world to speak the truth
Sinners all and fallen; death should be the reward
Your eternal life: proof that Jesus Christ is Lord
Justice demands retribution mercy pays the cost
Love has come to be a light for the ones who are lost
Justice doesn’t solve the problem, doesn’t make it right
It can’t heal the hurt and it’s often done in spite
Mercy forgives and mercy loves, it stops hate in its tracks
It is disarming as a weapon and confuses potential attacks
Forgive them for they know not what they do
Forgive us our sins and help us return to you
You opened your arms to take us in one and all
Quietly you knock and softly do you call
What will be our answer as we quest for peace
Beyond Justice to Mercy can the violence cease
Our vision is clouded in the heat of the moment
Help us Lord to reconcile to seek atonement
Beyond Hurt to Healing beyond Sadness to Joy
Beyond Death to New Life to create not destroy
When we try to understand we build a bridge to span
The river raging fast and wide and cross it if we can
Beyond Justice to Mercy in the Sacred Heart Of Jesus
It is with eyes of love and compassion that He sees us
In all our sin and death, still he found us worthy to save
We should cherish the undeserved gift He gave
And strive in gratitude to do the same
To forgive and to love in Jesus’ name
Beyond Justice to Mercy is the key takeaway
And we can improve if we work together and pray

Overwhelmed by your beauty
The beauty of the sacrifice
The majesty of love
The mystery of life
I sit here in your presence
I lie here at your feet
Not fear not cold can touch me
I take in the light and heat
Here I am alone with you
Surrounded by a cloud of witnesses
You call me and I respond: Here I am Lord! Speak, your servant is listening
I will go where you send me
I will love how you loved me
I will follow where you lead me
I will see what you show me
While I know that I am yours Lord
I can see how blessed I am
I haven’t always given you the same
And spending more time with you I can afford
I am yours: totally, completely
I want you to be mine: totally, completely
You had something special in mind today
Something to see, something I heard you say
To live with integrity, honesty and truth
To be united in body and soul
In communion with Christ and his body
Moving with one heart and mind
Bring the children, let the children come to me
They are our hope, our future, our legacy
Care for the poor, the sick, the prisoner
For we were all poor, sick, and slaves
To this world and it’s tempting ways
‘Twas by the amazing grace and now in faith
We are rich in His love, healed, and set free
We forget from where we came
Often fail to see how much farther still
Do not be discouraged, rather, take heart
To see the progress you have made
Life has led me here to this day and to this hour
When I give myself totally, completely I will flower

Ask and you shall receive
Imagine what you can achieve
When you love Him with all your being
Miracles can happen if you keep believing

For He is near to those who call upon His holy name
He is freedom and forgiveness in our sin and shame
We repeat the same mistakes and He loves us just the same

His love endures his hope secures
From His side grace and mercy flow
He took on flesh and was put to death
So that the world would finally know

How much he loved us to the end
We betrayed Him and he calls us friend
He looked beyond my faults to the hurt I hold inside
He held me and healed me and my heart was opened wide

The miracle of mercy the miracle of life
The miracle of peace in the middle of strife
The miracle of being loved for all time
The miracle of God choosing a heart like mine

The miracle of the change happening in me
The miracle of light when the blind can see
The miracle of wonder in the eyes of a child
The miracle of a baby so tender and mild

The miracle of a touch, a word or smile
That one sign a person was praying for
You could be the miracle someone was waiting for

Lord make me a miracle for you to use. Let my words and actions bless others and be a light to show them someone is there, someone who cares. So often we look for the big miracles and, while they do happen, we don’t see them all the time. Help us remember to look for and see all the little miracles in our day to day lives. Birth, the beauty of nature, the sun rising each day, making it through one more day, a helping hand you needed, but didn’t expect. Open our eyes Lord to truly see life around us through your eyes. Thank you for all the miracles you give us big and small and, by your will, allow us to be a channel for your miracles working in and through us. We ask this and all things with confidence to God our Father, in union with the Son and the Holy Spirit who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

In this day and age we seem not to remember
What it means to be humble kind and tender
There are many sleepers lost in their own dreams
And, if I’m honest, some days the world is lost it seems
Ship at sea: battered sails, no anchor, at the mercy of the wind
We are all in the same boat. All have fallen short, all have sinned
With the chaos and the noise it must have slipped our mind
That most things (including people) respond better when we are kind
Society, the media seem to have turned to what sells
Blurring lines between the heavens and hells
We have taken the easy road but it isn’t always best
Sometimes the narrow high climb is better than the rest
We seem to have lost the ability to communicate
We have lost the knowledge of how to debate
We don’t have to agree, but we do have to listen
Can we begin to get back all that we’ve been missing?
But there is hope; it’s not too late to turn around
To steer the ship so it doesn’t run aground
We didn’t get where we are overnight
It’ll be a while before we set things right
But it can start right here and now
With you and me and here is how:
We must listen, not just hear
Have courage, don’t give in to fear
We must see, not just look
Look inside ourselves and the good book
Bring joy and peace to all whom you meet
And, with a smile, those whom you greet
Stand for those who cannot stand, kneel if you must
Cry out for those who have no voice and trust
In the good you are doing.

If you stand, some will mock you and some may join you- stand still
If you believe, some will question and challenge you- believe still
If you pray, you may not get what you were asking for- pray still
If you live, though you may be threatened or killed- live still
If you cry, some may tell you it’s foolish others may admire you- cry still
If you dance, you may look foolish and silly- dance still
If you sing, you may be praised or criticized- sing joyfully still
If you love, you open yourself up and can be hurt- love still
If you give- and you have so little left to give- give still

For, in the end, it matters not what other people think
All that really matters is what’s inside your heart

When the world is all but the blackest of night
And the sky is starless and you can’t feel the light
When you feel crushed and it’s more than you can take
Try to remember that morning will break
The sun still shines

When hope seems all but gone to dust
Your life destroyed by thieves, moths and rust
Suffocated slowly by sin and shame
And you have none but yourself to blame
Look toward the horizon and see
The sun still shines

The sun still shines in spite of our fault
Remaining constant and steady it does not halt
The sun still shines even if we block it’s radiance
On our bad days the sun still shines it’s kindly countenance
The sun still shines

Let my light be the sun that still shines for you
That you too may shine for another
Let my light shine both pure and true
May it connect us as sister and brother
And remember: the sun still shines

When you wake in the morning for another new day
Give thanks and praise to God and say:
The sun still shines and warms the ground
This wonderful world in which I am found
With one word he made it so the sun still shines

When you rest your head in your nice warm bed
And dream sweet dreams of joyful scenes
As you drift away to soft sweet surrender
His might is great, His love is tender
The sun still shines

In faith, we know, the sun will shine again
We have confidence when we say Amen
Somehow we know the sun will shine once more
And it is something I hold deep in my core
The sun still shines

And when the sun does shine it’s last
I pray we will be in a place so vast
That even in our darkness the Son still shines
And in Heaven above we are washed in the light of love
So for now and always the sun still shines

Christ’s body and blood
Broken and poured for all
How precious was the sacrifice
Of pain and death to give me life
Christ’s body and blood
Wine and wheat transformed by the spirit
Transforming my life from the inside out
Here we have come to partake of the Lamb
That was slain for the sin of man
Christ’s body and blood
Take me over in spirit and flesh
Christ’s body and blood
Satisfy this consuming hunger
Slake this unquenchable thirst
Christ’s body and blood
To be grateful to give thanks
Christ’s body and blood
Eucharist, communion
Christ’s body and blood
To live within my own flesh and blood
Christ’s body and blood
To share with all those I meet
Christ’s body and blood
To live on forever
Christ’s body and blood
Straight from the heart, a gift of pure love
Christ’s body and blood
Believe and receive the very source of life
Blood the essence and pulse of life
Body a temple and a way to live out
Christ’s body and blood
Such great mystery
Christ’s body and blood
Part of my history
Christ’s body and blood
The prime example of love’s transcendent nature
Love conquers all

Jesus loves the little children. Some of the faith’s greatest warriors both literally and figuratively were children. The shepherd boy David, the great Joan of Arc, Therese of Lisieux, and the three young shepherd children from Fatima to name a few. David was in his late teens when he slew Goliath with a sling and a stone, Joan was 17 when she led an army to several impressive victories. Our Lady Of Fatima appeared to three young shepherd children. The “Little Way” and one of the great Doctors of the Church is St. Teresé and she was 24 when she died. Jesus said blessed are the little children. They are priceless treasures. Do you remember when you were a child? The sense of wonder, joy, love, faith you had? Everything seemed more alive, brighter, happier. Anything was possible and everything was amazing. When we look at life through the eyes of a child we see life with joy and wonder and grace. Beauty and music are everywhere around you if you can believe it to be so. The wind through the trees, the grass beneath your feet, the sun in the sky, the storms, all life sings for sheer joy of being alive. Worries are less, and grace is more, time is endless, excitement for what tomorrow has in store. Jesus loves the little children. The warrior is a child. We are God’s Children and we are called to be like the children. To trust completely in God, to see with the eyes of love and simplicity. Life doesn’t have to be complicated; we often make it so. When we are tired and scared, we can run to the fortress of our Faith and find safety, strength and rest. Our King does not stay safe in his castle, but fights for us, with us, He is always present and close at hand. When we fall he is there to help us up again. He gives us the strength to keep going and sometimes he holds us to him while we shake and cry inside our armor because the warrior is a child. Jesus loves the little children. As the great song says so simply: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.” It is crazy to think just how loved we really are. “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for a friend.” And that is exactly what God did for us by sending his one and only child to be killed and to die in the worst manner possible so that we who didn’t/can’t deserve it were given the opportunity to experience this perfect divine love. God our Father loves us in the same perfect divine eternal love that is expressed by the the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus loves the little children. We are His children. Never lose the child inside especially when life is dark and stormy. Jump and dance in the puddles and look with wonder as the sun breaks through and a vibrant rainbow stretches it’s arms across the sky. Life gets a little better when you don’t forget the child. Jesus loves the little children and He loves you and me!