WORDS OF GOD

Jesus told stories or what are called parables to explain what He was teaching. He once told a parable that went something like this. There was once a sower who sowed seed. Some of the seed fell on the road side and did not take root. Some of the seed fell on shallow ground and grew for a while then died. Some of the seed fell among thorns and was choked by them. Then there was the seed that fell on good ground took root and bore much good fruit.

He explained that the seed was the word of God. Some people hear the word of God but they do not listen. Some people hear and obey the word of God for a little while but soon forget about it. Some people hear the word of God but the bad habits of others soon destroy all the good in them. And finally there are the good people who hear the word of God and keep it and bear much good fruit.

I love to hear the things Jesus said. The following poem is called words of God.

WORDS OF GOD
by
J. A. Fullerton

I love to hear the words of God
And He said many things
Everything He said is true
And these words to me brings –
The knowledge that if I listen
To these many words that glisten
I will be very wise in decisions that I make
And have peace of mind too
In all the risks that I take.
Love your God above all else
Are the most important words of all
And if you love your neighbour too
You will seldom have a fall.
“I will destroy this temple
And in three days build it up”
Our Lord said before he died
He gave his life for all of us,

This makes me walk with pride.
“Heaven and earth will fade away
But my word will never fade”
I once heard these words that Jesus said

And in my mind they’ve stayed.

THE TRUTH LIES IN THE HEART

In the words of Our Blessed Lord, 'It is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean but what come out of a man, because what comes out of a man comes from the heart.'

One saint who has had a great influence on the direction the church has taken has been Saint Paul. Saint Paul died about 30 years after Jesus was crucified. Initially he pursecuted christians and approved of the martyrdom of the church's first saint, Saint Stephen. When on a mission to persecute christians he was knocked off his horse by a bolt of lightning and heard a voice say "Paul, Paul why do you persecute me?" He was blinded for three days and realised that in persecuting christians he was persecuting Jesus. He then completely changed, became a christian and began helping the church he used to persecute.

He travelled through many countries where people were not christian and converted many to christianity. He said that people not of the faith could be saved because the law is written in the heart. He wrote a number of letters to his followers.

The following poem is about a letter he wrote to the Romans.

SAINT PAUL TO THE ROMANS
by
J. A. Fullerton

All glory and honour belongs to you my God
I praise your holy name
From all the wickedness of the world
I pray I do refrain
I thank you O Almighty one
I’m grateful for everything
I’m grateful for sending us Your Son
I really do love my King
I do not judge my fellow man
For in doing so I condemn myself
Instead I do good works
And in heaven build up my wealth
I closely adhere to God’s law
And know that where the law is not a part
Good men can be saved alike
For the law is written in their heart
My name is Paul a messenger for mankind
And I pass on this news to you
Please do love your God above
And love your neighbour too.

THE MAN OF SORROWS

During His lifetime Our Blessed Lord suffered much and even today is much offerended by the sins of the world.
If some people realised just how much Our Blessed Lord suffered for us they might be willing to change their ways.

God is very just and nobody has had to suffer more than God Himself. He just asks us to carry our own cross and have faith in Him.

When on earth He had an intelligence far above anybody else. He had a presence which made a lot of people jealous and caused then to say and do weird things which affected Him greatly. He was hounded from the time of His birth by people like King Herod who saw Him as a threat and wanted Him dead. He had come to do a job for His Father and the Devil was constantly trying to prevent Him from carrying out His mission. His final mission, that of a sinless man to die on a cross for the sins of others.

I have called the following poem THE MAN OF SORROWS.

THE MAN OF SORROWS
by
J. A. Fullerton

Who touched me? Our Blessed Lord did say
When down here on earth when he passed by on his way
Everybody wanted something from this divine and great man
He was so much above others few could really understand.

His feelings were very human like everyone else
But he thought more about others and less about himself
He had the perfect heart with so much to give
He taught everyone He met about how they should live.

When He cured ten people from an illness sublime
Only one returned to say thanks, He said “where are the other nine?”
And after all he did he was ‘turned in’ by one of his own
By someone it would have been better if he never had known.

At Calvary, when he stumbled and fell many spat and jeered
Only Saint Veronica offered a cloth to wipe the blood from his beard
And all of the saints gave up their todays and tomorrows
To follow this one man this great man of sorrows.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

THE TRIUMPH OF THE IMMACULATE OF MARY

by

J. A. Fullerton

When we look back on the history of the earth

A very great moment was the virgin birth

And the word of Mary's Immaculate Heart

Has changed the history of the world - view the following chart.

The chart that we view is a colourful mix

Of purple and yellow to make a red crucifix

The colour purple is the colour we see

The history of the world looks that dark to me.

But now look above and you see a bright yellow light

Glowing down from above if I'm right

The holy spirit is the light we see

Beaming down along the path of the world's history.

Now what is the new colour we see?

Purple and yellow when mixed will be?

Red is the colour of this mix

Being the blood of the martyrs leading up to a red crucifix.

The fiat of Mary - the word of her heart

Has crushed satan's head and formed a new coloured path

For Jesus and His saints have had the final say

And changed the history of the world from Adam until today.

GOD IS LOVE

Recently Pope Benedict XVI announced his first encyclical - GOD IS LOVE.

He stated there is a great deal of confusion in the world today of what is the real meaning of love. First he states that the first meaning of love is a term he refers to as 'eros'- that love shared between man and woman. He says that we have to be careful this form of love is not degraded into commodity sex and loses its original dignity.

The other meaning of love he refers to as 'agape' love which refers to the love we have for one another as commanded by Our Blessed Lord.

Pope Benedict states that eros and agape love must not be separated from each other. When eros and agape love are in harmony with each other the purist form of love is expressed.

The pope goes on to say the greatest act of love was that of Jesus dying on the cross for the salvation of mankind. He says Jesus has left us the blessed eucharist as a way of participating in this act of love. In participating in the eucharist we become one body united with Christ.

The following is a poem called GOD IS LOVE.

GOD IS LOVE
by
J. A. Fullerton

The first encyclical of pope Benedict the sixteenth has been announced
God is love he did pronounce
The term love is one of the most used and abused in the world today
I’ll tell you what real love is he did say

The first meaning of love is eros between woman and man
We then move to the term agape and to oblate love we do expand
With eros we need discipline, purification and maturity to be our guide
Otherwise it will be degraded to sex as a commodity and love won’t abide

Eros and agape love must not be separated from each other
They will work in harmony if we really love one another
In Jesus Christ we find this way to living
His dying on the cross was the greatest act of giving

And Jesus has left us the eucharist to participate in His act of giving
If we don’t eat His flesh and drink His blood we aren’t really living
In the eucharist love of God and for one another together are fused
We become a single body and love isn’t abused

WORLD PEACE

I am very positive about the future of the world. I am not looking foward to future wars but to world peace. The Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph. In the bible it states 'I will send this woman and she will crush your head.' Mary is often depicted standing on the head of satan. She has always been God's trump card. The perfect creation whom the devil has no power over. Jesus surrended himself to be crucified and thereby conquered death, but at no stage has the devil had any hold on Mary.

THE FIAT OF MARY- THE WORD OF HER HEART- HAS CRUSHED SATAN'S HEAD AND FORMED A BRIGHT GLOWING PATH.( fiat- something that has been set and can't be changed.)

WORLD PEACE
by
J. A. Fullerton

Worldwide peace is nearly here
And all mankind shouldn’t fear
That another world war is about to start
Peace will come about with Our Lady’s Heart
For Our Heavenly Mother has been working hard
She always has been God’s trump card
So when in a world at peace yourself you find
You can thank Our Heavenly Mother for being so kind.

A SHOWER OF ROSES

As I have mentioned earlier Saint Therese of Lisieux is my favourite saint. During her short life she endured much suffering. She welcomed suffering and to do this one would have to be a saint. She saw it as a chance to win souls for God. She longed to be a missionary and preach the word of God in foreign lands and to place the cross of Christ on every shore. However, because of her sickness she was unable to do so.

The relics of Saint Therese (pictured above) are currently circulating the globe.

Before her death she said she would spend her heaven doing good on earth. She is patron of Catholic missions throughout the world.

At Fatima Our Blessed Lady said that during the last fifty years of the last century the church and the pope would have much to suffer. And during the last fifty years many priests and religious became rebellious and left their vocation in droves. This was of great concern to the Holy Father. Also pope John Paul II was shot and almost killed. Pope John Paul made great strides in stemming the flow of religious leaving the church.

It appears now that the tide has turned and people are once again considering a religious vocation. Saint Therese said that within the church she would be love. She said she would send down from heaven a shower of roses. The following poem is called 'a shower of roses.'

A SHOWER OF ROSES

by

J. A. Fullerton

I 'll spend my heaven doing good on earth

I was close to God from my birth

Now up in heaven I look down on you
The Catholic Church I love through and through.

The ‘little flower’ is how I am known
And while on earth my love was sown
For the triumph of God’s church
And I’ve come to the end of my search.

I’ve found many souls to carry God’s cross
No longer will the church be at a loss
I’m sending them all in a shower from above
And I’m sending them down with all my love.

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

Jesus said,"Take up your cross and follow me." Everybody has a cross to carry. It's how you accept or reject your cross that makes the person you become. Everybody has something in life they don't like but must live with. Whether it be status in life, a job you don't like or find stressful or something more personal such as height, looks or weight. There is always something that will get you down at times.

Somebody might argue if there is a God why do we suffer so much? The answer is simple. Nobody completely knows Gods plan. Even Jesus must take His place behind the Father. And Jesus at times asked questions of His Father. During His agony in the garden when the time He was to be 'handed over into the power of men' was approaching, Jesus said to His Father, "If it be possible, let this cup pass me by." However He then went on to say, "not my will, but thine be done." He accepted His cross. And nobody had a heavier cross to carry than the Son of God. An innocent man to suffer for the sins of others.

To take up your cross and follow Jesus is God's way of living. It could be said 'the way of the cross is the way to God."

Jesus has left His church as a guide as to how we are to follow him. If we did not have the Catholic Church as a guide we would be completely confused as to what lifestyle we should lead. One can justify almost any lifestyle and believe it to be christian if he tries hard enough. The Catholic Church and the way of God cannot be separated. The Catholic Church is guided by the holy spirit and the pope is infallible when he makes a decision regarding faith or morals.

The following is a poem called 'the night before He died.'

THE NIGHT BEFORE HE DIED
by
J. A. Fullerton

I like to think of the night before
Our Blessed Saviour died
And how much agony it must have been
To know He would be crucified
He knew full well of His coming death
And how much He was to suffer
For He was man as well as God you know
And He was heard to utter
Father, if it be possible
Please let this cup pass me by
And if it all be possible
Please don’t let me die.
And He wanted the company of His friends
On the night before He died
But none of them could stay awake
Because they were all too tired.
So He sat alone with His thoughts
While His friends were asleep
For He was the Good Shepherd
And all the rest were His sheep.


‘MY GOD, OH HOW WE LOVE YOU’