In Search of Beauty

I look out the window

to see a restless night.

I close my eyes, so that I might for a while

escape the pain behind me.

There sat he

behind me

news on the telly.

He’d been on the news

some days ago.

Run over by a reckless driver.

Hit and run. Both legs mangled.

Forever injured.

Now the news spoke

of ground shattering war,

lives taken, families scattered.

War, famine,

death, destruction.

Brother deceiving brother.

A world in chaos.

And in this moment of despair,

in a world with no rhyme or reason,

I turn my face upwards towards the stars

and silently scream

“Where is my God?”

And I think to myself,

why do I expect to find God in hell?

What is this place we call our own

if not a man-made hell?

Here in the realm in which we tread,

in which we’ve spread our corruption,

we have silenced Heaven’s bell; for we no longer seek

it’s guiding toll, threw away the Holy Bread.

Our god is born from self-deception.

Greed and power-lust are its holy word.

We are a world of modern-day Mammonites.

The devil calls,

‘Come to me and I’ll reward ye

Wealth, power, all the world’s comforts shall serve ye…..if simply

Ye kneel before ”me.”

Tempted with an easy life,

a life of grazing on coin, engorged with recognition and fame

we’ve thrown our soul onto the pyre,

sold our soul to the devil’s fire.

So I clutch the crucifix hanging from my neck

pleading for a sign that God is listening.

But all I hear, in this darkened night, is the street below, brimming

with the desperate vibrations of a technological world,

a world desperate to make gods from men.

I squeeze my eyes, my mind swirls with thought.

What prayer ought I say?

What words may this mouth of a blasphemer speak?

I try to croak out a plea for help,

but the weight of my sins seems to pull the prayer into deep abyss

leaving in its wake a snake-like silence seemingly solid and unbreakable.

Until to my surprise,

through that deep solid silence,

A voice breaks in song.

It was a simple song

sweetly sung, its sound softly soaring and at times, falling.

Its simplicity seemed to lure me.

I lean back towards the song

and before long,

I can make out the words

constructing a song of praise

to Him who made all.

Slowly my eyes open, I turn round,

and there before me sits the singer,

wheelchair bound.

“How?”, “how can you find the words to sing

of beauty, in a world so sick without

love, a world so drenched in darkness and sin?”

A smile shined from his face and he said

“Finding the words is no hard feat,

when beauty is all around.

You just have to learn to see”.

My father used say;

“how does the sparrow fly so free

despite all that threatens it?

It flies because it knows

that beauty always grows

taller than terror.

It knows it can find shelter

in the trees that tower,

and find peace

among the smallest flowers.

Despite all that hunts it,

the sparrow never gives in.

And so must we never give up

just because of sin.

Just because there’s death

does not mean there’s no life.

There is still love

despite the strife.

The loving parent

who adores the child,

the patient teacher

who nurtures the mind,

The humble worker

to whom most are blind,

who toils and troubles

to serve.

There are many times

when humans sacrifice out of love.

It is this sacrifice

that raises us above

our monstrous desires.

Open your eyes

See past the lies

The world is not in darkness.

It isn’t all night.

Open your eyes and see the light.”

See more –

poetry-myself-divided-by-liam-agius/

ten-educational-spiritual-music-benefits-for-students/

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Myself, Divided

I was once one body whole,

One in mind and one in soul;

But this wholeness I had won

Was at once to come undone

By one sole bullet fired

Through my introspection’s gun.

And I felt the one burst forth

Into a raging sea of fractions,

Dead delusions and abstractions.

Then as I saw the waves divide

Through parts of me I had denied,

The flood of numbers took me under

And dragged my drained and worn-out ego

Dangerously close to zero:

A yawning, gaping zero at the centre of it all.

And through that yawning zero’s eye

I catch a glimpse of the boundless eternal:

The untold depths of void maternal

Which spits us out and swallows all.

And through its transient secretions,

Ever shifting like the seasons,

I catch wind of its faint message and perceive

That my essence is inessence:

Heavenly lessons in evanescence;

And my passions lie in ashes at the bottom of the sea.

And as I push with all my will

That vast emptiness to fill,

Tossed around by the wild oceans

Of my unrestrained emotions,

I reach the sudden understanding

That I am the sum of all my flaws,

All my outbursts without cause,

All my dreams and aspirations,

Repressed needs for validation,

And I open my lips wide and swallow all.

So as I gulp down that vast ocean

In one all-embracing motion,

We return where I’d begun

As the many turn to one.

By Liam Aġius.

The post Poetry | ‘Myself, Divided’ by Liam Agius appeared first on Universe of Faith.

1.      You have been pursuing painting and poetry for quite a while now, what role, if any, has faith played in your journey? i.e., have you ever had any moments of spiritual doubt – and if so, what role has Art played in all this?

Sarah: I think that faith has always been combined with my poetry in some way. I have a tendency of writing vulnerable pieces, directly from the heart. Since my faith is important to me, I find myself writing about my struggles with God, my doubts, the times I don’t understand what He is doing in my life and reflecting about who He is and what He has done. I also think that writing about my faith gives me the opportunity to remind myself of why I believe in God and my journey in discovering who He is.

Mark: With Sarah, I’d say that art is a good opportunity to express myself, what I am going through, and what I want to say other than in words. But touching on the point of spiritual doubt, certainly, I too passed through moments of doubt which eventually led to moments of spiritual crisis. Jesus had his own people – who saw Him and who could hear Him speak – that still doubted Him. It is essentially more difficult for us who do not see him physically – Jesus himself noted this with His words to Thomas, “because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Jesus understands our need for evidence, and he is willing to provide it if we ask for it with a humble heart! But believe me, you will find your strength where you least expect it – the secret is to pray, keep believing, and keep pushing through, a day at a time.

2.       Do you think that Art and Faith closely relate to each other? If so, how?

Mark: For me, art and faith have been two distinctive areas in my life, but as I took my faith more seriously, creating art gave me the ‘quiet space’ necessary to be by myself and with God. Art is not just about grabbing a paintbrush and finishing a painting – at first, I used to feel the urge to finish a drawing/painting the same day I started it, and obviously, I would usually end up making a mess. I realized this is a replication of anything in life – including faith. I encourage anyone to be patient with themselves, with the process, with life, and to trust in God’s guiding presence.

Sarah: I agree with Mark. Poetry requires a lot of introspection so I cannot help but reflect when I want to draw inspiration or meaning. I think that struggling through questions of life, about God, and also battling doubts is closely linked to the words of the art I make, because it allows me to filter through the many thoughts and make sense of them.

I even find myself expressing my gratitude, praise, and thanks to God through poetry. I’m very inspired by the Psalms which were in fact songs of praise and poems that expressed every feeling one could have, including despair, disappointment, loneliness, anger, joy, peacefulness and more. I find that the images, parallelisms, and interpretations of King David allow me to formulate my own expression of my faith in poetry, just as he did.

3.       How has Art affected the way you experience Advent?

Sarah: As a creative person, I think that having themes of writing (i.e., themes such as Advent) helps to inspire me in a specific way, providing direction to my thoughts. I cannot help but see signs during Advent and attributing meaning to them. There is something within me that allows this to happen naturally, so I think that experiencing Advent as a writer means adapting the thought process to extract meaning from everything related to this season and developing it into a relatable manner for readers to know how it impacts me and how it could impact them too! That’s also what I tried to do with this poem! (See Sarah’s poem below).

4.       How can Art – any form of Art – help us during the Advent season?

Mark: Over the years, artists always loved including symbols and hidden messages in their artworks – be it Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, and the rest of the greats.

The creative process or the birth of an idea requires patience and waiting. And waiting can be daunting, we do not feel comfortable with that feeling of anticipation! I can relate this to the Advent season because we know something good is coming but Advent gives us the time to re-compose ourselves and wait. And waiting nowadays is something scarce – we want everything now, today, this minute. But I realized that in waiting we learn a lot about ourselves, our surroundings, what makes us comfortable, and we learn to appreciate just standing still. It is in this moment that we really feel vulnerable, alone, and possibly lonely; but it is also in this moment that we can start loving ourselves again, and it is the perfect opportunity to experience the love of God. This is a beautiful form of Art – and it makes Advent itself a form of Art.

So, this Advent, let yourself be made into Art! Allow yourself to wait, to hope, to receive God’s intimate love! 

Holy Cave

I walk in complete darkness as if
the star in the sky is leading me astray
rather than urging me to clasp
my hands to pray.

I long to know that what I’m striving for
will be met by an open door;
stepping blindly into the unknown,
I’m comforted I’m not alone.

While I look for the pieces within me
that seem to be missing,
that seem to be lost,
my heart waits, counting the gaping holes,
the emptiness,
calculating the cost.

Following my heart has never been easy,
knowing I am doing what is right,
and the response within me remains a battle
that would now rather be fight than flight.

When the longing, the yearning,
the patience, the zeal,
bring me to a quiet place, a holy cave,
finally, I am free to open my hands

and heal.

by Sarah Zammit Munro

Read More: 

– “I Waste so Much Time” – Getting Over Guilt of Wasted Time

– Finding Time for God

The post The 𝑨𝒓𝒕 of Becoming – what does Art have to do with Advent? appeared first on Universe of Faith.

These daily prayers below are taken from the youth prayer book YOUCAT and the Jesuit prayer book Hearts on Fire.
The text of each prayer can be found beneath each image.

Morning prayer – I Let My Joy Free (full-text)

Lord,
I let my joy free, like a bird, up to the sky.
The night has flown by, and I delight in the light.
Lord, I am happy this day, this morning.
The birds and the angels are singing, and I rejoice as well.
The universe and our hearts are open to your grace.
I feel my body alive,
and give thanks.

Lord, I delight in creation,
and the knowledge that you are behind it,
and beside, and before, and above it.
And in us too.
The Psalms sing of your love,
the prophets proclaim it,
and we experience it.

I let my joy free, like a bird, up to the sky.
A new day, that glistens and rustles
and rejoices with your love.
You make each day,
and each day you number
the curls on my head.
Allelulia, Lord.

A prayer from Africa

 
Mid-day prayer – Sometimes, For A Moment

Sometimes, for a moment,
I pause,
in the midst of the troubles of the day;
I close my eyes and ears,
and for a moment I am happy;
for I am not alone;
You are there, my God. Amen.

Evening prayer – Into Your Hands, Dear Lord

“Into your hands, dear Lord, I return this day.
You have given it to me, now I give it back to you.
Preserve in me what you have given me.
May the seed sprout that you have sown today,
and may you complete what I was only able to begin.”

A prayer for parents – For My Parents

O God whom we obey in honoring our parents,
look down mercifully, I beseech you, on those to whom in your providence I owe my being.
May they grow daily in faith, hope and charity.
Implant deeply in their hearts the conviction that as you are the beginning of all things so to you must all return.

Grant them health and prosperity while life lasts,
pour upon them the abundance of your grace.
Defend and preserve them by your all-powerful hand.
May my Christian life,
in meeting their fondest expectations
and fulfilling their hopes,
be the consolation of their last years.

May they die the death of the just.
May they pass quickly to their heavenly home,
and may I join them there,
their dutiful child for all eternity. Amen

Daniel A. Lord SJ

Read more:
– Catholic Prayers For Strength And Hope
– The Benefits Of Prayer On The Physical And Psychological Well-Being
– Prayers For Media

The post Daily Prayers appeared first on Universe of Faith.

1. Prayer For Media – Prayer For Better Communication

Help us to recognize the evil latent in a communication that does not build communion.
Help us to remove the venom from our judgements.
Help us to speak about others as our brothers and sisters.
You are faithful and trustworthy; may our words be seeds of goodness for the world:

where there is shouting, let us practise listening;
where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony;

where there is ambiguity, let us bring clarity;
where there is exclusion, let us offer solidarity;

where there is sensationalism, let us use sobriety;
where there is superficiality, let us raise real questions;

where there is prejudice, let us awaken trust;
where there is hostility, let us bring respect;
where there is falsehood, let us bring truth.  Amen.

POPE FRANCIS, 52nd World Communications Day, 2018

2. Prayer For Media – Entangled In The Web 

Lord, Creator of the real world.
I bring before you all I find on the Internet:
the many words – both true and false,
the many people – near and far,
the many details – important and trivial,
the many images – of the best and worst in man.

Free me – where I’ve become entangled in the Web.
Heal me – where its images have wounded my soul.
Lead me back to the truth – where I’ve been led astray.

Help me to distinguish
the virtual from the real world,
to choose wisely the things that really matter,
to resist firmly all manipulation,
to use with measure what is set before me,
and bravely live my daily life with you.

GEORG LENGERKE – YOUCAT Youth Prayer Book

Read more:
– Top Pope Francis’ Media Quotes
– Catholic Prayers For Strength

The post Prayer for Media appeared first on Universe of Faith.

1. Prayer for strength – Heavy Hearted

Living God, you know how heavy my heart is,
and how tight my chest.
I can’t find a way out.
Help me, my God!
I know you care for me and love me,
and that you allow each trial I face.
I know you turn all things to good for me.
But help me –
do not let this fear overwhelm me.
I entrust this day to you,
and all my life.
Guide me where you will
and how you know is best for me.
For whether I live or die,
I am with you, and you are with me, my God. Amen.

DÖRTE SCHRÖMGES from the youth prayer book YOUCAT

2. In times of trail – Strengthen Hope In Us

We beg you, God of grace and eternal life,
increase and strengthen hope in us.
Grant us this virtue of the strong,
this strength of the confident,
this courage of the unshakable.
Then we can boldly grasp, again and again,
the challenges in our lives.
Then we will be filled with cheerful confidence
that we do not work in vain.
Then we can do our work and know that you
– without us and where our strength may fail-
still work your glory and our salvation,
according to your purpose.
Strengthen in us your hope. Amen.

KARL RAHNER from the youth prayer book YOUCAT 

3. In Sickness – Prayer For Strength

Lord, I have time. A great deal of time.
When I was healthy, I thought how beautiful it would be to have plenty of time.

Now I do have time, necessarily so.
But these hours and days are another kind of time. Time to think and time to ponder,
to question, and to make reproaches too.
So many things are going through my head.

Lord, I need you.
Help me to keep courageous, trusting, and confident in your goodness to us, your children.
May you be our God, in joy and suffering. Amen.

BLAISE PASCAL from the youth prayer book YOUCAT 

4. During long hardships – Patient Trust

6. Prayer for unemployment – Lord, We Have No Work!

“Lord God look down upon us! Look at this city, this island. Look upon our families.
Lord, you were not without a job, you were a carpenter, you were happy.
Lord, we have no work.
The idols want to rob us of our dignity. The unjust systems want to rob us of hope.
Lord, do not leave us on our own. Help us to help each other; so that we forget our selfishness a little and feel in our heart the “we”, the we of a people who want to keep on going.
Lord Jesus, you were never out of work, give us work and teach us to fight for work and bless us all. In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

POPE FRANCIS, Meeting with workers – Cagliari, 2013

Read more:
– Top Pope’s Quotes About Suffering
– My Psychosis Recovery: Love, Medicine And Faith

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This Easter 2020 is being celebrated in our own homes amidst the physical and mental difficulties of COVID-19; collective trauma, grief, loss of loved ones, tensions over job losses and vigilance for safety amongst others. Despite all this, as Christians we carry the hope of Easter.

We have a hope:

by his cross we have been healed and embraced

so that nothing

and no one can separate us from

his redeeming love.

…

As we are surprised in the hidden Lord

Rising

In a new solidarity between neighbours;

In a nation that overcomes the law of the survival of the fittest

with the restraint of the young to protect the elderly and the vulnerable;

In the spreading of a good humour that overcomes hate speech

with a caring smile that raises the spirit;

through the banishing of the arrogant “anything goes” mentality

with the transparent, compassionate and professional leadership of women;

in the exposure of the evil consequences of the “grab what you can while you can”

through the gratitude for the men and women who are giving their life for us;

in the rediscovery that men and women do not live by “the virtual alone”,

but we need the real, physical gestures of love

the authentic fruit of the earth grown locally,

the faces of friends, teachers, colleagues,

the closeness of silent hand,

the marks of concrete love in the pierced hands of the risen Lord.

“Let us allow hope to be rekindled.” (Pope Francis)

The Lord is Risen.

Not virtually!

For real!

Read more:
– Top Pope Francis’ Easter Quotes
– Top Pope Francis Holy Spirit Quotes
– Choose Life: Horizons Beyond The Tomb Walls

The post Easter Message 2020 Amidst COVID-19 appeared first on Universe of Faith.

Catholic Epiphany Prayer

“Breathe upon us gracious God, I pray, and show us this day Your Star which you did once show to the Magi, that as it formerly guided them to Christ, so, it may lead us to the Mysteries of Christ.”
Marsilio Ficino 1433-1499

Read more:
– Christmas Quotes By Famous People
– The Love Of Christmas In Famous Christmas Characters

The post Epiphany Prayer – Marsilio Ficino appeared first on Universe of Faith.

A selection of known and less known Christmas prayers and poems from the Christian and Catholic tradition.

1. A CHRISTMAS PRAYER by Robert Louis Stevenson

“Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”

2. A SIMPLE CHRISTMAS PRAYER by Fr Paul Chetcuti SJ

Christmas is
A gift received to be given,
A life received to be lived,
A time for greatness to be found in smallness,
For the Divine to seek a home in the human,

Dear Jesus, this Christmas my prayer is
that I open my fragile smallness
to the Greatness of the Gift
so as to become part of the Gift.

3. A PRAYER FOR CHRISTMAS TIME by Fr Mattat al-Miskin

“If for us the experience of (your) infancy is so difficult, it is not so for you, O Son of God.

If we stumble along the way that leads to communion with you because of your smallness, you are capable of removing all the obstacles that prevent us from doing this.

We know that you will not be at peace until you find us in your likeness and with this (same) smallness.  Allow us today, O Son of God, to draw near to your heart.

Grant that we may not consider ourselves great in our experiences.  Grant us instead to become small like you, so that we can draw near to you and receive from you abundant humility and meekness.

Do not deprive us of your revelation, the epiphany of your infancy in our hearts, so that with it we can heal all our pride and all our arrogance.

We greatly need for you to reveal in us your simplicity, by drawing us, and indeed the Church and the whole world, to yourself.  Our world is weary and exhausted, because everyone is vying to see who is the greatest.

There is a ruthless competition between governments, churches, peoples, within families, from one parish to another: Who of us is the greatest?

The world is festering with painful wounds because of this great illness: Who is the greatest?

But today we have found in you, O Son of God, our one medicine.  We, and the whole world, will not find salvation or peace unless we go back to encounter you anew in the manger of Bethlehem.

Amen.”

Read more:
– Top Popes’ Christmas Quotes
– The Love Of Christmas In Famous Christmas Characters

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In fertile soil, a seed did fall
and the gardener, unaware,
nourished the soil and helped it sprout
with accidental care.

And all the wisdom of the earth
was sealed around the hope
that the tiny seed would claim its right
and fulfil its given scope.

With nature’s blessing, the sprout did grow
but the gardener, alarmed,
plucked the sprout and threw it out
to leave the patch unharmed.

And in the soil, the flowers bloomed
and the seed’s life was reclaimed
but Earth and Sky forever mourned
the seedling plucked and never named.

Read more:
– Difficult Pregnancies And The Unavailability Of Abortion In Malta
– Save The One – Protecting Children Conceived In Rape

The post Abortion Regret Poem: The Flower That Never Was appeared first on Universe of Faith.