Holy Family

O Child of every house
Bless us by your humility
Your obedience and love
O Second of the Trinity

O Lady with love's purity
Of true faith and hope
Endurer of dark sorrows
Give us joy, who did not mope

O Worker with hands, with wood
Righteous and loving and kind
Teach us strength, o man of faith
That we may not leave others behind

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Holy Innocents

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

St. Stephen

(I won't be updating daily again until Lent, but I'll be updating weekly on Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri, for now)


A grain of sand
Next to this, next to that
Held in the hand
Many grains of sand

A pattern of grains
In lines and in swirls
Colors and stains
Many grains of sand

A pile of stones
Each filled with grains
Red as blood, white as bones
Many grains of sand

A pile of sand
A pile of stones
Each taken by a hand
Many grains of sand

Stephen has trod
Beaten by men
God hears his blood
Many grains of sand

Paul stands by
Holding killers' coats
Hears Stephen's cry
Many grains of sand

A grain of sand
Red colored it lies
Thrown by a hand
Many grains of sand




God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Merry Christmas!

Have a Merry Christmas! God bless!

>P<
Joshua Fahey

Christmas Eve

The warmth of home in wintertime
Embraces souls with the sublime
Perhaps perchance that candle light
Would guide the lost on holy night

Perhaps perchance we would subsume
Into ourselves a holy room
Where we may dance and sing with joy
The Blessed Virgin and her baby boy

For this hope He came across
A divide deeper than love's first loss
God to man so that with His first cry
Man to God the dream is alive

Of this we dream with joyful heart
God's great plan, that we may take part
And give ourselves, full of joy and pain
To the Christ Child in the manger lain


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Emmanuel

O God with us come soon
Babe from a virgin's womb
Almighty God, helpless Son
Humbly to thee we run



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Rex Gentium

O King of the Gentiles
Who thwarted Satan's wiles
Uniting man and God
We give you love and laud


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Oriens

(For more information on the O Antiphons check out Fisheaters (h/t (I'm assuming this means hat tip which would be figurative because I'm not wearing my hat to tip it) to Happy Catholic))

O Rising Dawn give light
To the fearful ones flight
So we may better choose
Our death and sin to lose


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Clavis David

O Key of David free
Whoever seeks to see
The face of God today
And near to Him we pray

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse mark
All who have left the dark
And be our flag our sign
Showing all your design


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Adonai

O Lord and Ruler heed
We ask for faith filled seed
And to us give your law
That close to thee we'll draw

Flesh and blood

Well first we had Bob Dylan, then Bob Marley, then the Beatles. Finally we have Johnny Cash (I feel there should be a 'b' in his name somewhere...).

Not only is 'Flesh and Blood' a nice Annunciation song, it also can run through my head when receiving communion.

Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood, and you're the one I need.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Sapientia

From December 17 to December 23 we have the O Antiphons. For more information on them go to Catholic Culture

O Wisdom, be our guide
From Evil, let us hide
To Heaven let us go
On earth, the Kingdom grow



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Fruit

By their fruits you shall know them.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Listen

Whoever has ears
listening is holiness
to hear, to obey

Walk

Waiting. Weathering. Willowing.
The wind whither the trees
The trees tilted, they tantalize
The Truth here, the Truth it sees

Stones are lined, are straight
Whispers curl about, comforting
Leaves layer in light and dark
The stones, lined, harmonizing

Chilled. Chimed. Churned.
The Truth chipped in beat
The beat, slow and solid
Real, beyond, we meet.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

A man's face

I just wanted to paint with colors today, without trying for something definite until something recognizable came out, then I finished it. It looks cool.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Our Lady of Gaudalupe

Just then, in silence she sang
Upraising the man on the tau
Announcing love like the sea
Newness, birth, from His land
Dew was raining on her derma
Indicating the vision to be real
Entering holiness and hope thru
God's Holy Mother will keep
Open the avenues of grace



Can you see what I did?
God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Gaudete! Rejoice!

For Gaudete Sunday (and for most of Advent) the Beatles' song 'Here Comes the Sun' will just pop into my head.

Little darling, it's been a long and lonely winter. it feels like years since you've been here.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Truth Love Beauty

The last thing known
Rated beneath
Unhappily joyful
Tenaciously life changing
Heartily real


Limitless
Overbearing
Voluminous
Eternal


Bigger badder best
Extensively excitable and entertaining
All around audacity
Umbrage at ugliness
Tantalizing tails totally trippin'
Yesterday's yellow yokel



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Dog and Bird

Apparently, I forgot to upload this yesterday. I made it, saved it, titled it, but apparently forgot to post.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Immaculate Mary

Faithful Daughter who magnifies God
To thee we give honor
For thee the moon is set
For you to stand on

Sinless Virgin whom God saved
To thee we inquire
For thee the sun hides
Behind your back

Holy Maiden who taught God
To thee we come
For thee the stars themselves
Will clothe you

Beautiful Mother who has sorrowed
To thee we cry
For thee the snake is crushed
Never to rise again

Pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

A Jedi in long robes

A Jedi in long robes
Came walking in the building
Others dressed their best
And with one voice, began to sing

Two acolytes holding lights
Were singing out too
Then the Jedi spoke out
"May the force be with you"

And with your spirit
Was the ringing response
Despite raging souls outside
Tossing out taunts

There were readings from wise men
And historical accounts
Poems and love notes
And a man on a mount

The Jedi explained
The way of the force
And how to avoid
The dark side's course

And then a reenactment
That was entirely real
Traveling through time
And a blessed meal

The sacrifice was made
As a gift for us all
Accepted by those
Who listened to the call

Those with should hear
As the Jedi walked out
The dark one's fear
At the angelic shout



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Jolly Old St. Nicholas!

I honestly think that I am improving in regards to drawing humanoid-like things. Though, I guess he shouldn't be smiling and he should have a mitre (instead of a zuchetta (did I spell that right?)) and he should be raising his hand as if to bless the people looking at him. I took liberties, nuff said.

Poison

On the edge from massive yearnings
tiptoe and sharp
straight into evil jowls thru earnings
instead saved by the angelic harp

Madness seeps into thinking
poisoning light
changing the hope of not sinking
into a deprivation of sight

A cleansing is hurtful, it pains
politely red
A shearing of all lions' manes
to steer the soul from the dead

Comfort my people

I always wondered how St. John the Baptist got his honey. While listening to Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" it merged in my head with a story about how Elijah was fed by the birds and I got this. Just a gentle reminder that even if God calls you to the desert he'll take care of you.

Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be all right.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

St. Francis Xavier

I realized that I
haven't done a haiku yet
Rectification

A serious note
Happy St. Francis Xavier
Great Missionary





A Spanish Scholar
of the Order of Jesus
Sent to lands abroad

Francis wanted to
go to China and preach but
God wanted him home

Battle

The enemies opposed and still, waiting for command
Darkest knights on deep black steeds guard with steady hand
The white washed towers of ivory protect the lord, their king
The men who walk to battle when their king doth sing
Each of these as still as the ground on which they tread

Two lords opposed and still, their men at their behest
Will walk and crawl and run and fight and kill with zealous zest
Horses will die and bishops too, who defend and guard
Filled with blood crazed rage, the queens themselves will hit them hard
Many will not survive, it will be their final rest, their last bed

Slowly the fighting slows, the carnage is so great
The remaining pieces of the fight have eyes filled with hate
Some will pick up the weapons of their fallen friends
And fight with renewed vigor using their new ends
The fight will cease only when a king will lose his head


The title of the poem is 'Chess'.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

I believe in God

I believe in God.

As I was pacing, letting my mind jump tracks as it pleases, I started to get a little angry and I automatically jumped into the Apostles Creed. One of the things which always jumps me away whatever I was thinking. In the middle of being distracted I got distracted and started thinking about that first line.

I believe in God.

Isn't that a wonderful first line? (Rhetorical question, of course it's wonderful, I mean like really). The perfect way to express a stance. I believe! I almost want to shout it out, but I'll settle for saying it in my manly man voice (in my head it sounds remarkably like Darth Vader, without the SCUBA effects).

I believe in God.

It is an interesting way to put it too. It isn't an expression of affirming the existence of God (although it has that element), for then it'd be 'I believe that God exists' instead. It isn't just an affirmation of knowledge that God exists either. To explain what I mean, think of your local Elvis fan, he may know the words to every Elvis song, know the date of every Elvis incident, while never having met Elvis. That fan might say 'I believe Elvis was (or 'is' depending on the level of Elvis fanaticism) the greatest!' or 'I believe that Elvis is still alive', but you'd never hear 'I believe in Elvis', that would sound ridiculous to Elvis fans. Consider an alternative though, that you were friends with Elvis and you loaned him your car. Your other friends ask if you were crazy, after all what would happen if the car was scratched, you love that car (and more importantly they do). At that point you might say 'I believe in Elvis', and it would sound perfectly natural. In the same way, the statement 'I believe in God' is an affirmation of Faith.

I believe in God.

My mind jumped again. This time to how well I'm acquainted with Faith, the Virtue (details at eleven, wait, 1814-1816 actually). I came to the conclusion (as always) that I'm a terrible Christian or, in the words of Marc Barnes, a Bad Catholic, especially with regards to faith. I'm not very good at believing in God. If I had such faith, I would no longer sin, I would not even consider it. If I had the heroic faith of the Saints, I would not be so confused every time I went to confession, certain that God was an idiot for not just allowing my continued existence but also forgiving me, when He knows I will just sin again. I still go to confession though, because even if my faith is not heroic, it's still there.

I believe in God.

To be honest, I was worse in the past. God is having a positive influence on me, though I'm slow and stubborn. There remains hope, there I keep watch, there I have faith.

There I believe in God.

A wonderful prayer, full of hope. Even if I'm immature and blind, those words have power. with them I make a stand.

I believe in God.

With that declaration I stand with hand outstretched, with His hand covering mine. I feel the wounds in my older brother's hands that saved me. With this declaration, I look into His face.

I believe in God.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey