What wondrous love is this, O my soul...
And who are you, really?
Me? Part of me?
I see you as sister or daughter -
divine beauty worth more to God
than all the rest of me.
And God entrusted you to me -
a mystery beyond telling.
For you have suffered under my care.
You've been hurt.
Neglected.
Ignored.
And I chose freely to do such things.
Now I weep
And wonder with trembling heart
If I can do right by you in days to come.
God, when you see my soul -
wounded, dirty, and damaged,
hurt, alone, and afraid -
Take her back to you.
She is a gift I'll never deserve
And she was made to love you.
And I know she still can.
2025-12-02
finished by 7:27 AM
inspired by p107 of Pope Benedict XVI's St. Paul
Cold winter night
Snow on the tree branches covered in white, frost on the leaves cover the covet stone streets..
People of all ages, are gathered in Rice park anxiously awaiting the winter carnival festivities to begin, parades, warm apple cider, hot cocoa delights the senses, enticing the young and old.
Rice Park is a buzz of excitement, ice sculptures meticulously carved out in the cold, the bright winter moon lights up the sky. St Paul is a city of its own, The St Paul Hotel with its glamour lights up the back round, to know St Paul is to visit its famous Rice Park.
Couples both young and old, holding hands as they are dancing in the snow, sipping on their still piping hot drink reliving their first date, stealing a passionate kiss, oh I’m sure their saying, “Never let this night end”.
Rice Park is surely a delight, do come again. I promise the winter snow will keep you in delight.
Because of the holiday the Lourve was closed.
Mary was impressed with the French pastry
that tasted just as good as it looked.
Horrible coffee, good chocolate & delicious thick soups.
Beautiful clothes with prohibitive prices.
We boarded the Albert Express for Switzerland
with a bottle of wine and a big bag of pastries.
Take me back to Paris, I can’t stand the fresh air and healthy people of Switzerland
Arrived in Lucerne with time to enjoy the fountains in all the squares —
they were boarded up a couple days later.
Delicious cheese fondue, murals painted on the old houses,
a quaint town for William Tell, with his bow and barefooted boy.
A Train from The Alps to Venice.
Train to Florence, Hotel Majestic,
whole city is an art Gallery.
Michelangelo square, mosaic jewelry, leather goods.
Flores Hotel in Rome, Vatican, Parthenon.
St. Paul without the walls, St. Peters in chains,
Nightclub tour of the city, Old Appian way,
Capuchin Church with all the bones...
2025.2.23
Summer heat waves.
Checked on the website,
Beaurology of Melbourne weather forecasted.
The temperatures, the winds, the water and the tides.
Would be in the 30°c, calm, fine and low tides.
I somehow started to get panic,
Not because of the heat.
But more about the end of the summer is near.
Comparing to last year,
Victoria has more heat waves and sunny days.
I had so much sun tan,
Someone insisted I was from African decent.
This year, I visited Cowes Philip Island,
Warrnambool, Apollo Bay, Point Lonsdale and Lorne,
Not to forget Geelong,
As it was always there on the way.
I went to Sorrento back beach,
St Paul Lookout, Jubilee Point, Diamond Bay and Bays of Island's.
I would continue to travel,
As long as I was still able,
Until one day, I leave this place,
And go far far away.
Until then, I might see you again.
One does not earn
sainthood. Often
the most unlikely
of men considered --
as with St. Paul, an
early persecutor,
murderer of Christians
on the road to Damascus
struck blind --
when it
is time, God's time,
He chooses~ smacks
oblivious soul upside
the head...his first conscious reaction
is that of awesome dread~ startling revelation
one really not having liberty to debate
nor decline
Like water into wine
as hands-on
carpenter, son transformed
to Blessed Soul Cleansing
Sacrificial Son Divine.
An Odd Man In Montreal
There’s an odd man up in Montreal
Who’s young in the spring and old in the fall
In March—Let’er rip!
In September—Oh, my hip!
His mid-age crises he has in St. Paul
2/1/22
John Milton wet to school at St Paul
destined a poet was his call
His greatest oeuvre, Paradise Lost
losing his eyesight,was the great cost
Our Town
Our town, where are you now, our streets are now empty of kids playing and playing hopscotch. Where is the good times we used to know?
Minneapolis used to be nice, who took it away?
Our town, all I see are ghosts..
No words, just empty stares, the sidewalks are empty of children’s laughter..
St. Paul once was so lively, now so diselent, only the cobblestone streets and empty Rice Park, the sound of trees limbs blowing lightly in the wind..
Our town needs our help, to open up our ears and talk to one another, walk up to someone and ask their name, you never know what you’ll get in return, a handshake, a smile, grab a cup of coffee, stay for awhile..
Our town is worth saving, stick around for awhile..
Since the scourge of coronavirus seems to be increasing,
Now is the time, as St Paul said, to "pray without ceasing!"
I’ve hurt some people in my life
That didn’t deserve the pain
I often didn’t truly realize
The suffering they’d obtain
I’ve done some things that I regret
Sins that were terrible to name
But I know that God gives grace
In spite of all that seems insane
I’ve admitted that I don’t know how
To mend the fences I’ve beaten down
Or how to carve out of the past
A friend who doesn’t still frown
It wasn’t that I was such a bad person
I gave all I had to my beloved one
But I just didn’t think about affecting others
With sins that would weigh a ton
It wasn’t that I ever intended to hurt another
I honestly didn’t want to do any harm
But I was selfish and only thought of my own
For some people that seemed to charm
I made a lot of mistakes in my lifetime
And I regret the worst ones I’ve known
They don’t let me forget my past some days
But always remind me that I’ve grown
Today I reach out for the grace of God
With assurance that He forgives it all
From the worst sins to times I contend
He reminds me that I’m a little like St. Paul
If every one of us, with a relationship burning
In heart and mind for Jesus, have been evangelizing
Why's Maoist China dominating The Globe despite Columbus ...
Why is it that the Temple Mount is out of Israel's hands
Arabs are all over the land, and the neighboring lands,
Jerusalem and Hebron after David's & Abraham's wars & success?
And where St. Paul began churches, the famed cnames of Smyrna, Ephesus,
Ancient Antioch where we first were named Christian: "Little Christ Jesuses,"
Are now Muslim Turkey's, Syrian ... as if Jesus & Paul never came?
Kingdom Territory have been lost in the Holy Land, in Tunisia, Libya ...
Can someone truly tell me why? After all our successes, books, media
No Temple in Jerusalem ... Hinduism has seduced EU and US of A?
It is as if He never came ... nor taught and healed men and women then
And Earth behaves as if Christ had no disciples, no Kingdom seed of Heaven
St. Paul immersed in difficulties
Trials of various kinds
Wrote to his disciple Timothy
Must go back with Risen Jesus to Damascus
Follower the Law of Moses
Determined to fight
Every means
Even kill those regarded God’s enemies
On the way to Damascus
To arrest followers of (Father) Christ
Was blinded by mysterious light
Heard himself called by name Saul, Saul,
“Why do you persecute Me?”
Fell to the ground, asking
“Who are you?
Lord?”
“I am Jesus
Whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:3-5)
After encounter
His life changed dramatically
He received baptism to Paul
Became Apostle of the Gospel
Inwardly Transformed by Divine love
Had met in the person of Father Christ
He wrote “Life I now live, in the flesh I live by the (Eternal) Son of (Eternal) God”
Who loved me and gave Himself to me
From being a persecutor
He became a witness and a missionary
Founded Christian Community
In Asia Minor and Greece
Travelled thousands of miles among all kinds of dangers
His martyrdom is all for the love of Father Christ
Written: 2011/6242018
Poetry Form: Dramatic Monologue
Copyright © Jacqueline R. Mendoza
School is a place to learn and play
Make friends, have fun and memories to stay
With lessons of life which will never be effaced
Shaping character of students for the world to face
My school St. Paul is the best of all
An model of virtues standing high and tall
It stands for values, though strict I know
But school is the place to learn them so!
Hardworking teachers are the pillars of a school
And I am lucky to have them too
We are made Physically and Mentally tough
We know Helping others is never Enough
I am proud to be a Paulian and will be
My school my pride, I am grateful to thee.
A jailer has never two similar days
never knowing what will be next
I should know for that's what I do
way back in the days of no text
There were these two prisoners
two Christians Paul and Silas by name
I was on night shift there one night
looking after them but never the same
Out of the blue they started to sing
there's a green hill real far away
without a city wall the Lord crucified
that message was for me that day
Then the jail doors broke open
I thought they had fled away
as an earthquake hit the place
but that one Paul cried we stay
Fear gripped my heart I need God
salvation came deep inside did not fail
my lights came on shining bright
believing on Jesus right out of jail
So another day at the jail
but what an amazing day
my whole family came to Christ
with God's promise came to stay
(A poem of the prison experience of St Paul & St. Silas, in Acts chapter 16.)
It is important to recall the events of Father Christ Jesus’ Passion
But it is more important that we share in it
that we join with His suffering
With His love.
St. Paul said
“Continually we carry about in our bodies the dying of (Father Christ) Jesus, so that in our bodies the life of (Father Christ) Jesus may also be revealed”(2 Corinthians 4:10-11)
He means that everything in our lives
The negative and positive
Is part of our relationship with Father Christ Jesus
Our frustrations
Our fears
Our loneliness
Our temptations
All are ways of sharing in the suffering
Death of Father Christ Jesus
So, too, our joys
Our good health
Our family
Our friends
All are important ways to share in the joy of his Resurrection Everything we are
Everything we have
Is joined to the life and experience of Father Christ Jesus
St. Alphonsus wrote, “We should consider not so much the sorrows (Father Christ) Jesus suffered as the love with which he bore them”
Disciples of Jesus or Father Christ can have the same attitude toward suffering as He did so that we can share in the joy of Resurrection
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