Heart of Jesus, Bruised for Our Offenses
In this lesson, Annabelle Moseley, poet; author; and Professor of Theology, leads Day 24 of the 33-Day “Our House of the Sacred Heart” Consecration and teaches “The Lesson of the Book” as a real-life example of answering the call. Beautiful prayers, devotions, art, stories, scripture and poetry are included in this podcast that won’t take much of your time… but is time well-spent.
Reflection on Art
Light in August
I haven’t heard your voice in twenty-five years—
but this evening, as the amber light of summer’s last days
sweetened the coming darkness like ripe honey—
one of your old books was found, behind a shelf in the basement.
This is the time of year you would have opened it again,
Teacher that you were,
reviewing the themes and metaphors,
ready to discuss Faulkner’s outcasts.
It is an eighth-month evening, percussive with crickets.
My eyes leap ahead to the words you underlined:
When she was twelve years old her father and mother died
—and you didn’t know I would lose you at eleven.
The story I still need all these years later is the one you’ve started—
just with the words you circled, Daddy, the sight of your singular penmanship—
the exclamation mark pencilled near a phrase you liked,
garland of Augusttremulous lights.
The garland of Augusttremulous lights you left for me:
carefully chosen words rising up like fireflies or bonfire sparks, a confirmation—
singeing this vigil of study, reminding of all I’ve never been able to ask you—
and teaching me, through the wise words you chose to mark—
I’d never have reached the end of all I could learn from you.
–Annabelle Moseley
( from Our House of the Sacred Heart, page 257)
Today’s Challenge
Think of your favorite prayer, one that you have memorized. If you had to underline one line in that prayer, which one would it be and why? If this was to be found later by a loved one, what lesson would they learn about you?
Questions of the Day
- Do you ever underline in books? Why or why not?
- Do you ever go back to the underlinings in your book or Bible or a loved one’s book?
- Have you ever found a long-forgotten or hidden, misplaced or lost object that brought back a wealth of memories or a connection to a particular person or place that was important in your life?
Download the prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus here if you’d like to save it or print it for reference!
Listen to Author Annabelle Moseley interviewed by Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis on her show “Vows, Vocations, and Promises: Discerning the Call of Love.” Hear Annabelle talk about what inspired her to write this book, what it was like to write it, why she decided to lead a Consecration to the Sacred Heart and answers to other intriguing questions.
Another beautiful poem and I can see how you take your sadness and loss of someone so special like your dad and grandparents by redirecting loss of loved ones using a positive strategy. This is very effective way to remember the ones we love and who God has called. “Light in August” reminded me of my beautiful sister Patty who was a light to everyone. She had a beautiful smile and was always kind to everyone. When she became sick, she was a real beacon of hope. Both my brother and I miss her everyday. Patty was born in August which makes this title of your poem and its contents special and comforting. The Victorian girl reading on the couch reminds me of my sister. She always read on a small Victorian couch. I keep and cherish all her notes and cards that she has written and my moms as well. Reading them keeps me close. Reading Scripture and prayers keeps me close to God and the Blessed Mother.
My favorite prayer is the Our Father, because it was given to us by Jesus Himself. The Our Father unites us with God the Father as His beloved children. In uniting us with God the Father we also adhere to His will and are told of the Kingdom that we all belong to here on earth and in heaven. We ask God the Father for our daily bread, not just for bodily sustenance but for spiritual sustenance as well. And the next two phrases would be the ones that I would underline: forgive our trespasses as we for those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen
I would hope that my family would realize that forgiveness is the lynch pin of the virtues. It definitely goes hand in hand with charity. I have said to my nephews Connor and Zachary, and my four nieces: Giavanna, Valentina, Adriana and Julianna) if they were upset with a class mate, or if they had a disagreement with a friend: “let it go honey, if Jesus can forgive those who crucified Him, who are we not to forgive.”
The lesson that I hope they would learn is that God is Love! And I hope that they would know that that God loves them and forgives them always.