Poem, “The Way”
By: Eric Gajewski
From the Work , "Fortress of the Soul"
Please enjoy and share my latest poem from the work, "Fortress of the Soul" You can find a large collection of my poems at the end.
Please play the video and listen as you read the poem and reflect...
| John 14:6 |
|
Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No man cometh to the Father, but by me. |
1
John 4:18
Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear
hath pain.
Additional:
The cross is the school of love. – St. Maximilian Kolbe
–
Mount Calvary is the mount of lovers. All love that does not take its origin from the Savior’s passion is foolish and perilous. Unhappy is love without the Savior’s death. Love and death are so mingled in the Savior’s passion that we cannot have one in our hearts without the other. Upon Calvary, we cannot have life without love, or love without the
Redeemer’s death. – St. Francis de Sales
–
Mount Calvary is the academy of love. – St. Francis de Sales
–
No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it bring to those who turn to him in repentance. – St. Leo the Great
–
As they were looking on, so we too gaze on his wounds as he hangs. We see his blood as he dies. We see the price offered by the redeemer, touch the scars of his resurrection. He bows his head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you. His arms are extended that he may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as he was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body for you, so he may now be fixed in every part of your soul. – St. Augustine
–
The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves. – St. Augustine
–
God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. – St. Augustine
–
The passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience. What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created? – St. Augustine
–
He died, but he vanquished death; in himself he put an end to what we feared; he took it upon himself and he vanquished it, as a mighty hunter he captured and slew the lion. – St. Augustine
–
How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return. – St. Theodore the Studite
–
By nothing else except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low: The sin of our first parent destroyed, hell plundered, resurrection bestowed, the power given us to despise the things of this world, even death itself, the road back to the former blessedness made smooth, the gates of paradise opened, our nature seated at the right hand of God and we made children and heirs of God. By the cross all these things have been set aright…It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us, a raising up of those who lie fallen, a support for those who stand, a staff for the infirm, a crook for the shepherded, a guide for the wandering,a perfecting of the advanced, salvation for soul and body, a deflector of all evils, a cause of all goods, a destruction of sin, a plant of resurrection, and a tree of eternal life. – St. John Damascene
–
Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – St. Paul
–
But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. – St. Paul
–
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – St. Paul
–
If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. – St. Thomas Aquinas
–
If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. – Jesus Christ
–
It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the Cross. – St. Ignatius of Loyola
–
The crosses with which our path through life is strewn associate us with Jesus in the mystery of His crucifixion. – St. John Eudes
–
Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.- St. John of the Cross
–
The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things. – St. John of the Cross
–
O souls! seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the shadow of the crucifix. There mourn the Passion of your divine Spouse, and drawing from your hearts flames of love and rivers of tears, make of them a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of your Saviour. – St. Paul of the Cross
–
The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love. The greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love. – St. Paul of the Cross
–
Oh cherished cross! Through thee my most bitter trials are replete with graces! – St. Paul of the Cross
Poem,
“The Way"
Lend thy ear O’ sinner
For in holy suffering the will of
men is bent
Swaying in grace toward the Divine
Whose Hands mold in this here holy
land
Wherest only Crosses are sent…
Tis' I who would walk by self without
thy aide
Drudging along unknowingly in this
worlds hazy gray
But thy Wounds of Love struck
Thou as a thief wouldst mark my
heart
Lying in thy hardened bed of
suffering I now am remade
For once with smile I enjoyed my
deeds of darkness
Done in the open of Your glorious
day
Nigh, this self would reply to Love’s
incoming Tide
“Why die? And cast me aside”?
Why dare to bare the unbearable
Which sparks new life and ignites the
soul alive?
As I did hear Your Voice in the Wind
say
“It is because thee still cling to
self which holds onto fear
And in the end fear haveth and
holdeth this pain”
Yea, you have not gone astray; all
is still safe
For in nature we try to run and
leave pain’s gates
But we shalst only find a heavier
Cross
In our Beloved’s childlike “Love
game”
Wherest Love would say embrace the
self in me wouldst complain
O’ sin! Daily my wages have in full been paid
But Wisdom would speak again
Thru this stalking inward silence
only to convey
“That no man might be lost!
For He gives us freely a gift in our
daily Cross”
But such is not the doctrine of the
coming New Age
O’ Healer of hearts! O’ Shepherd of
souls
It is Thee who leads me up Love’s
Mountain
In ascent to remold and shape this
unworthy clay
Following along this life’s river of
tears
Which reflects the collection of sin’s
wasteful years
I pause to feel you near
For my heart yearned but the self
still held back in fear
That I might now forever enter into Your
Presence
Because by thy mere sight I am
healed
Make no mistake it was the self in
me which held on
But it is Your Heart that gave
Swimming in this sadness and sorrow
in the hopes of a new tomorrow
For it is by the daily Cross I was moved
inward to pray
And no later thence I sought Thee,
whence You came…
Face to face I met You and Thou led
me on this new path
Onward in holy suffering which You call
“The Way”
Meditation:
1.
You teach souls by word; you save them by
suffering.
--- BL. ANTHONY CHEVRIER
2. If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it on our knees with joined hands.
--- ST. ANDRE
3. All that crucifies is good: do not look at what wood the crosses are made of, as long as it is a "cross wood." Great crosses present themselves rarely, little crosses are given to us at every moment. Make sure not to lose any of them.
--- BL. EDWARD POPPE
4. If you seek to carry no other crosses but those whose reason you understand, perfection is not for you.
--- ST. TERESA OF AVILA
5. All the greatest pains become sweet for whoever looks at Jesus Christ on the Cross.
--- ST. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI
6. You will gain more by receiving scorn peacefully than if you fasted for a week on bread and water. It is good to humble ourselves; but it is much more worthwhile to accept the humiliations that come to us from others.
--- ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
7. The Gates of Paradise are not closed to those who carry the standard of the Cross.
--- ST. BONAVENTURE
8. I see crosses at every turn. My flesh shudders over it, but my heart adores them. Yes, I hail you, crosses little and great, I hail you, and kiss your feet, unworthy of the honor of your shadow.
--- ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
9. God would turn the world around to find suffering in order to give it to a soul upon whom He has set His Divine gaze with ineffable love.
--- ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
10. Let us be afraid of being deprived of sufferings more than a miser is of his treasure. Sufferings are the jewels of Jesus Crucified ... The more painful the cross, the greater our advantage. The more contradictory creatures are with us. the dearer we will be to our Creator. A single moment of tribulation assures an immense weight of glory. Never to suffer would be the greatest danger for us.
--- ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS
--- BL. ANTHONY CHEVRIER
2. If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it on our knees with joined hands.
--- ST. ANDRE
3. All that crucifies is good: do not look at what wood the crosses are made of, as long as it is a "cross wood." Great crosses present themselves rarely, little crosses are given to us at every moment. Make sure not to lose any of them.
--- BL. EDWARD POPPE
4. If you seek to carry no other crosses but those whose reason you understand, perfection is not for you.
--- ST. TERESA OF AVILA
5. All the greatest pains become sweet for whoever looks at Jesus Christ on the Cross.
--- ST. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI
6. You will gain more by receiving scorn peacefully than if you fasted for a week on bread and water. It is good to humble ourselves; but it is much more worthwhile to accept the humiliations that come to us from others.
--- ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
7. The Gates of Paradise are not closed to those who carry the standard of the Cross.
--- ST. BONAVENTURE
8. I see crosses at every turn. My flesh shudders over it, but my heart adores them. Yes, I hail you, crosses little and great, I hail you, and kiss your feet, unworthy of the honor of your shadow.
--- ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
9. God would turn the world around to find suffering in order to give it to a soul upon whom He has set His Divine gaze with ineffable love.
--- ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
10. Let us be afraid of being deprived of sufferings more than a miser is of his treasure. Sufferings are the jewels of Jesus Crucified ... The more painful the cross, the greater our advantage. The more contradictory creatures are with us. the dearer we will be to our Creator. A single moment of tribulation assures an immense weight of glory. Never to suffer would be the greatest danger for us.
--- ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS
The cross is the school of love. – St. Maximilian Kolbe
–
Mount Calvary is the mount of lovers. All love that does not take its origin from the Savior’s passion is foolish and perilous. Unhappy is love without the Savior’s death. Love and death are so mingled in the Savior’s passion that we cannot have one in our hearts without the other. Upon Calvary, we cannot have life without love, or love without the
Redeemer’s death. – St. Francis de Sales
–
Mount Calvary is the academy of love. – St. Francis de Sales
–
No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it bring to those who turn to him in repentance. – St. Leo the Great
–
As they were looking on, so we too gaze on his wounds as he hangs. We see his blood as he dies. We see the price offered by the redeemer, touch the scars of his resurrection. He bows his head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you. His arms are extended that he may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as he was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body for you, so he may now be fixed in every part of your soul. – St. Augustine
–
The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves. – St. Augustine
–
God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. – St. Augustine
–
The passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience. What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created? – St. Augustine
–
He died, but he vanquished death; in himself he put an end to what we feared; he took it upon himself and he vanquished it, as a mighty hunter he captured and slew the lion. – St. Augustine
–
How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return. – St. Theodore the Studite
–
By nothing else except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low: The sin of our first parent destroyed, hell plundered, resurrection bestowed, the power given us to despise the things of this world, even death itself, the road back to the former blessedness made smooth, the gates of paradise opened, our nature seated at the right hand of God and we made children and heirs of God. By the cross all these things have been set aright…It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us, a raising up of those who lie fallen, a support for those who stand, a staff for the infirm, a crook for the shepherded, a guide for the wandering,a perfecting of the advanced, salvation for soul and body, a deflector of all evils, a cause of all goods, a destruction of sin, a plant of resurrection, and a tree of eternal life. – St. John Damascene
–
Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – St. Paul
–
But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. – St. Paul
–
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – St. Paul
–
If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. – St. Thomas Aquinas
–
If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. – Jesus Christ
–
It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the Cross. – St. Ignatius of Loyola
–
The crosses with which our path through life is strewn associate us with Jesus in the mystery of His crucifixion. – St. John Eudes
–
Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.- St. John of the Cross
–
The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things. – St. John of the Cross
–
O souls! seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the shadow of the crucifix. There mourn the Passion of your divine Spouse, and drawing from your hearts flames of love and rivers of tears, make of them a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of your Saviour. – St. Paul of the Cross
–
The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love. The greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love. – St. Paul of the Cross
–
Oh cherished cross! Through thee my most bitter trials are replete with graces! – St. Paul of the Cross
More Poems:
http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2016/03/poem-exile.html
