Author: Jocelyn Soriano

See her books like "Questions to God", "Mend My Broken Heart", "To Love an Invisible God", "Defending My Catholic Faith", "Of Waves and Butterflies: Poems on Grief" and more - click here.

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(You may freely quote excerpts from this website as long as due credit is given to author Jocelyn Soriano and the website itakeoffthemask.com)

Categories
Grief

A Very Present Help

He’s helping me now this moment, though I may not see it or hear
Perhaps by a friend far distant, perhaps by a stranger near
Perhaps by a spoken message, perhaps by the printed word
In ways that I know and know not, I have the help of the Lord.
He’s helping me now this moment, however I need it most
Perhaps by a single angel, perhaps by a mighty host
Perhaps by the chain that fetters me or the walls that shut me in
In ways that I know and know not, He keeps me from harm and sin.
He’s guiding me now this moment, in pathways easy or hard
Perhaps by a door wide open, perhaps by a door fast barred
Perhaps by a joy withheld, perhaps by a gladness given
In ways that I know and know not, He’s leading me up to heaven
He’s using me now this moment, and whether I go or stand
Perhaps by a plan accomplished, perhaps when He stays my hand
Perhaps by a word in season, perhaps by a silent prayer
In ways that I know and know not, His labor of love I share

-Annie Johnson Flint

Categories
forgiveness

Accept and forgive yourself

As much as we must learn to forgive others,
so too, should we learn to forgive ourselves.

As much as we should learn about our strengths,
so too, should we learn and accept our limitations.

The problem with us is that we often attribute
every tiny bit of problem to ourselves.

In our obsession to be in control of everything,
we consequently believe that anything that ever goes wrong
is our fault.

Accept your faults.

Do everything you can to correct them.

But learn also that not everything is your fault.

Learn that you cannot correct the things,
which are beyond your control.

Stop trying to carry the burden of the world upon your shoulder.
Carry only your own cross.
That is all that is asked of you.

Categories
Poems

Passing Through

When I lose my courage
He gives me hope
when I lose my footing
He gives me steady ground

Whenever I stumble
He is there
whenever I’m weak
He becomes my strength

Who am I
without Him
What do I do
without His love

This terrible longing within me
is killing me
this aching for true love
bids me to come home soon

O how sick am I with love
how the desire for His vision consumes me
when will my suffering ever end
when shall love be mine forever

yet let me not depart
for mine own good alone
and let me not forget
this valley of tears
let my pain be a balm to the wounded
and let my wounds bring life to the faint
heal me and sustain me that I may yet smile also in joy
and that I may bring some light to those living in the darkness

in sorrow do we journey forth
yet in hope do we trust and regain our strength
in weeping do we remember our afflictions
yet in prayer do we rejoice for our eternal home!

Categories
Divine Mercy

Mercy and Grace

This life is full of mercy
and abounding in grace
In this life, God does not withhold from us
countless good things we do not deserve

What of each sunrise and each morning
or each bright night filled with sparkling stars
what of the sea breeze and of the soft sand
what of the music that pleases our ears

what of the rain and the snow
what of the stream or the stillness of the lake
what of each smile we behold
or the warmth of each hand we hold

Truly in this life,
it is God who sustains every good thing
that He may reveal unto us
His ever unfailing love

He could have just left us desolate
in the darkness
He could have made us wait in pain
or in refining fire

He could have thrust unto us the vision we have lost
and the misery of the depths to which our souls have fallen fast
He could have plunged us where the fallen angels are
and made us decide right there and then which way we yearn to go

He could have withheld His goodness
He could have spoken to us in Judgment alone

But He opened wide for us the door of His mercy
and spoke as a Gentle Shepherd to the lost

He took our pain
and gave us everything we do not deserve

He loved us
not because we are worthy to be loved

But because He is Love Himself
and bestows upon all
such Mercy and Graces we can never understand

Categories
Healing

Where can I find Compassion?

No one knows my sorrow, O God
No one knows my suffering
No one sees the wounds of my heart
nor the bitterness of my tears



I long for company
yet no one can bear with me
My heart longs for shelter
yet it cannot be embraced



In this miserable state
I lose all loveliness
and become as repulsive
as a thorn



Yet you know, my Lord
that it is the unlovely
and the miserable
who need to be held
and to be loved
the most



Walk not away from me, desert me not
Leave me not in emptiness on my own
Show me your wounds that are far deeper
and hide me in it
Let me take refuge in your cross
for it is only there
where I can find
COMPASSION