PRAYER POEMS FOR "HEART'S PRESENCE"
SECTION 3

Vigil of the Heart I

O Sacred Heart of my Lord, O Center, O Life of my soul,
You captured my heart with Your ways of Love.
So sweet You poured Yourself out to me,
To overflowing, You filled me with You Heart of Love
Until my heart, so rooted in You,
Could resist nothing from You,
Could live nowhere apart from You.

You called me day and night from Your dwelling place,
Drawing me closer, You opened me to Your need,
You covered me with Your Love...
A Love so intimate and transforming
I am left helpless before You.
My heart is not mine but Yours.
You move it where You Will.
You have captured it for Yourself.

My remains lie broken before You,
My heart lies in Your hands.

Vigil of the Heart II

You were taken from my easy grasp.
But alone, at night, I steal to You.
I enter Your house and my heart breaks!
Alone, in the dark, You stretch out Your arms
Still open for our embrace.

But alone You remain, engulfed in Your longing.
Like a sea widow walking her lonely vigil,
You wait and watch, burning with Your Love
For Your missing one.

As I approach You, coming to Your feet,
The dark church opens before me.
Breaking any resistance there might be
To Your Sorrow, I am overcome.
You show me through my tears
The mansions You have prepared
For the ones You love.
See these halls and rooms of My Heart?
They lie empty like this church;
Echoing, cold, comfortless.
Your Sorrow fills my soul
Wedded to my own grieving at the loss
Of Your nearness In our special meeting place.

My grief is without comfort.
My heart is pierced to the center.
My longing to comfort You, to remain with You,
Fills my soul to overflowing.
My sorrow cannot be contained.
Our hearts weep deeply, openly, in unison,
Shaking me to the core.

Your Love surrounds my heart,
My Lord, my Sacred Heart.
I am helpless to resist You.
You have washed my soul with Your tears
As I wash Your feet with mine.
If only my love could fill
All Your empty rooms that grieve You so.
I offer You all that I am.
Take me to You, completely Yours.
Hold me close to Your Heart.
If I can fill Your halls,
Please show me how, my Lord of Love!

My remains lie broken before You.
My heart lies in Your hands.


Softly You Tread

Softly You tread upon the paths of my soul.
You enter in so quietly, so sweetly,
Barely heard above the din of the world,
But greatly felt in my waiting heart.

Your Presence enters in to my willing soul;
Blending with my flammable desire,
You become like a wildfire
Spreading to all parts of me--
A quiet explosion of Love.

You move me completely, surrounding me.
I become a witness to Your burning Flame,
Consuming those You love
In Your firefall of passionate Grace.

Entranced and saturated by Your Presence
That moves through me as if my body were air,
I bow to Your Perfect Grace,
Unable and unwilling to resist
Your call to love passionately in return.

Rush of Grace

I kneel in Your Eucharistic Presence
Turning my heart to Yours.
My soul reaches to You.
You rush to take my offering
Without hesitation.
Already You have carried it away!
And made it Your own.

The rush of Your Graces
Consumes me in its power.
Like a wind tunnel
There is no resistance to You,
Nor any wish to resist.
I yield to the rushing wind.
Everything I am falls, willingly,
Into Your welcoming heart!
My heart is Yours, O Sacred Heart.
You lavish Your captive like a king!
Joy, peace, a love unspeakable
All pour into my heart
Which already overflows in You.

My soul trembles in the power of Your Love.
My heart is at Your Mercy, my Lord.;
That Mercy that saves me,
That Mercy that teaches me
And bathes me in this Love

Of the most Sacred, most Pure Heart
Of the One who lifts up my soul
From the darkness of the world
Into the Light of Pure Grace.

At Table

As You sat around that table,
Did Your friends talk
Of simple things, daily occurrences,
While Your thoughts were on the eternal?
Did You, in choosing this time
To bring Your Sacrament of Love
Wish to say you wanted
To be remembered,
To be Present,
In the everyday of our lives,
Not just the special events?
In the warmth of conversation of friends
Not just in the formal rituals?
In an act of refreshment, nourishment,
Filling our souls as well as our bodies,
Not in empty, dry ceremony
Devoid of Life and Love?

Did You choose this time
Because of Your desire, Your hope,
To weave thoughts of You
Into our daily conversation,
To bring the unity of table
Into the unity of church?

Did You share Yourself with us
In Your breaking of Bread and Body
To be always Present
At something we do every day
For a reason?



In Their Midst

There in a park filled with Your people
You passed through.
I felt Your movement
As You watched Your people,
Smiling, blessing, moving among them,
Tenderly watching for their look of love.

The sky You spread with clouds of Angel's Wings
To catch their attention.
Your Life moved among them
Bringing refreshment, peace, love,
Joyful laughter, tender words.

You so patiently watched and waited
Enjoying the life in Your people
As You must have done years ago.
I saw the riches in Your Heart
Painting the day for them and
Drawing comfort for the night.

My heart poured out for You
Wanting to stir their hearts
So they would be attentive to You.
You, hearing my thoughts,
Painted Your Love for me
In everything around us.
I painted my love for You back
In my words and thoughts,
In my smiles and love songs.

There we met in the midst of the crowd
Exchanging our love in silence.

Heartspring of Precious Blood

O Power of the Most High,
O Ecstatic Communion of Love,
Moving Presence,
Peaceful Joy,
Reaching down to touch human hearts,
Your Love solidifies,
Your Joy embraces;
Your Father's Heart, Your Mother's Love,
So intense, so real
You densify and descend to flesh.
Infinite Sacrificial Love
Solidifies into a physical form
In the Heart of the Son,
The Sacred Temple of God.
God reaches out to man,
His Love takes flesh as His essence
Seeps into a moving form,
His Sacred Blood;
Formed in the womb of the Mother,
The Sacred Temple of surrender,
The Spouse of the Spirit of Love,
The soul most pure,
The Heart most fervent,
Love bursts forth in joyful union
As the Infinity of God
Touches the heart of man
In the center of the
Most Sacred Heart of His Son,
The Divine Heart made flesh.

Taking from the surrender of the Mother,
Joining with the Sacrificial Love of the Father
Of His only Son,
The Spirit weaves a Heart so pure,
So willing to Love,
Sacrifice formed into each fiber.
The Heart of the Sacred One,
Stirred by the Spirit of Love,
Rouses to its first beat.
Linking Divine Love with human love
A Fountain bursts forth
Of the Living Blood of Life,
The Essence of Divine
Blended with the human,
Linking forever
The Father with His children
In the Sacred Heart of the Son.

This Fountain of Divine Love
Imbued with Your human nature,
Pouring out from the Cross,
Bound our union with the Divine,
Broken in Eden then
Reunited by His Blood poured out.

Pour into us, O Lord of Love,
O Sacred Heart of our God
And bring us to deeper union
With You, our Beloved.
Reunite us with Your Heart
Each time You pour out Your Blood
And offer Your Body
Once again on our altars
In Your Blessed Sacrament,
Fountain of Life and Love,
Heartspring of the Eternal.