Profiles in Catholicism

Prayers

“An Enlightening Love” 

How, Lord, little by little, I forgot to spend your love, not mine,

On the children who wear me away, like water on a rock, rising

Early, even midnight or four in the morning, ready to play and

Rock the day, ready to play and wear me away, ready to play day

By day, when I am no longer ready to play but ready for a rest.

Dear Mary, you were alert at the marriage feast and knew that

The wine had run out and that we needed an extraordinary help

In the gift of your

Son taking the waterless jars used to wash

And, just as we used up that water to clean externally, to rinse

What can be rinsed off, and to soak what can be soaked off.

Dear Joseph, you were close to running out of goodwill when the

Angel spoke to you of a divine gift of accepting a child not your

Own but your wife’s and to live that love of Him as if it was your only

Son, your most precious son, yet the son you adopted amidst

The adoption of other children, too, which were not your own.

Oh Joseph, you needed the help of an angel to see beyond a child,

Not your own, mysteriously conceived in the womb of Mary, your

Betrothed, knowing that the child was not your own but, by angel

Grace, knowing that this child was divine and was given as a grace

To help the human race and so, like Mary, you took up the task.

Oh Mary, you needed the help of an angel, too, to accept the truly

Mysterious nature of a uniquely holy conception, wholly holy, in

The very embryonic reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God made

True man, come to unfold the path of redeeming love for all who

Live, traversing human life from conception until an untimely death.

And you Lord, in the garden of anguish, confronted with an inescapable

possibility of a terrible suffering, an angel came to

Strengthen you, giving the strength that comes from the presence

Of God Himself, making us realize that in our hour of desperation,

When it is impossible to be patient, that the angels are there to help.

Lord, may you and your holy Mother and spouse, St. Joseph, all

Of whom have known the help of an angel, press into service for each of us,

our guardian angel, given us by God to be exactly there,

At our side, in order to turn our hearts into helpers especially when

Our goodwill is spent, we are tired, and the child is in danger too.

Let your word, coming as it does more freely than psychiatric

Assessments, more routinely than a regular appointment with

The doctor, revealing more than an x-ray and opening,

more discreetly than we can be, what untold stresses are in our hearts

And hammering at our door, day in and day out, to ask for help.

And so we pray, Lord, not just for ourselves but for those we love

And care for, that we need the vigilance of our Guardian Angel

So that, on call more than any monitor, our angel may help us to

Seek the help that we need to be of help to others without the snap

And crack of wear sending us to prison to get the help we needed.

by Francis Etheredge Catholic married layman,

father of 11,3 of whom are in heaven, and an author.

Just published: The Word in Your Heart: Mary, Youth, and Mental Health