WITH YOU ALWAYS

When the road,

Ahead is narrow,

And the journey

Darkly bleak

Know that I,

The Lord am with you,

Where the Shepherd ,

There His sheep.

Life can oft be,

Seamed in sorrow,

Faith can falter,

Hope can dim.

Lift your gaze,

And you will find me,

Right beside you,

In your need.

Come to Me,

When you are weary,

Lean your head,

Upon My breast.

Bear with joy,

The cross you carry,

In Me let your soul,

Find its rest.

Myra D’Souza – 30 March, 2018

ENFOLD ME IN YOUR LOVE

Wrap me up in your love O Lord,

Draw me into Yourself,

Grant me nothing more than this,

In the depths of your Being to dwell.

My spirit is parched, the well runs dry

Your Spirit will quench my thirst,

Hunger gnaws within my soul,

I pant for Your Precious Word.

Where do I go to meet You Lord,

Do You dwell where the earth

Meets the sky?

Or fathoms deep, beneath

Crested waves,

Or on mountains higher than high?

Do you dwell in a valley,

deeper than deep,

Where life giving waters flow?

Where is Your Sanctuary Lord,

Where plenteous mercies pour?

I long to know my precious Lord,

So I can be touched by Your grace,

Where is that place where I can go,

To gaze on Your Holy Face?

   Myra D’Souza – 29 March 2018

THE HOUR OF PRAYER

I wait for you in silence,

Soul and spirit yearn,

For Your Holy Presence,

My heart begins to burn.

My arid soul is thirsting,

As the deer for running streams,

You give me Living Water,

Refreshing, cool, and clean.

You ask if I will share with You,

The cross I’m called to bear,

You bring me to Mt. Zion,

In my hour of prayer.

-Myra D’Souza, 22 March, 2018

MY REFUGE AND DELIGHT Psalm 59 2-4, 7-11, 17-19

 I will sing your praises Lord,

With all my strength and might,

I'll sing too of Your great Love,

My refuge and delight.

In times of grave distress my voice,

To You I’ve always raised,

You came in haste to help me,

You heard each time I prayed.

You commanded with a word,

The raging storms you stilled,

Every promise You have made

You’ve faithfully fulfilled.

My Rock, my Strength, my Stronghold,

On You I can depend,

Bearing me beneath Your wings,

I’ll reach my journey’s end.

-Myra D’Souza, 20, March 2018

O my Strength, I look up to you, for you, O God, are my fortress.

My loving God will come to help me.

But I will sing of your might; in the morning I will sing of your love. For you have been a fortress to me,  a refuge in time of distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my strong­hold; you are a loving God.

SEND ME LORD

Stooping low from heaven,

You answered when I called,

Speaking to me tenderly,

My heart you have enthralled.

I’ll weather every hardship,

As long as You are near,

Willingly I leave behind,

All I’ve long held dear.

Send me, I am ready,

E’en though my flesh is weak.

With Your hand in mine O Lord,

I’ll have the strength I seek.

-Myra D’Souza 20 March, 2018

HERE I AM

Here I am Lord Jesus,

I come to do Your will

I’ve battled long Beloved,

But now my heart is still.

You gathered every teardrop,

You heard each anxious sigh,

You pierced my soul and now,

In You, quiescently I lie.

My stubborn heart now melted,

My willful will now tame,

From this moment on I live,

To magnify Your Name.

-Myra D’Souza 20 March 2018

THE NAME THAT SAVES

The mighty Word of God upholds creation,

He protects His creatures great and small,

He provides the earth with rain and sunshine,

So grass and grain and fruit can grow for all.

His the Name spoken in faith moves mountains,

At His command the waves rush to the shore,

He who keeps His upon the sparrow,

Renews the wearied soul with strength once more.

He rides the storm and walks upon the water,

The jeweled stars He strings across the sky,

He made The Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

He designed the Milky Way on high.

From the rising of the sun and to its setting,

Continually is offered in His Name,

The only Sacrifice in all creation,

With power to erase our guilt and shame.

-Myra D’Souza, 15, March 2018

BORN TO HEAVEN

Born: 10.11.1986

Gone to God: 12.03.1988

******

The first of four, this little one,

Came from God as leaven,

From the moment of her birth

She was born to heaven.

Her time with us was much too brief,

She left with no goodbye,

All she left are memories,

Too few to satisfy.

She came with lavish treasures,

From the hand of God who knew,

That she was born to heaven,

Her months with us were few.

She brought with her much laughter,

Rich graces from above,

But best of all her precious gift,

Was that of endless love.

Yes, she was born to heaven,

In time we too will share

With our precious baby girl,

God’s glory when we’re there.

Myra D'Souza - 12 March 2018

MINE FOREVER (Psalm 73:23-26)

 You my Lord are ever with me,

Day by day at my right hand,

Guiding, leading me serenely,

I am Yours Lord to command.

Led by You and Your great glory,

Joyfully I follow You,

Bereft of You my Lord I’d languish,

Not heart alone but spirit too.

My heart, my soul, my spirit’s pining,

Who but You can mitigate,

All the ardor of my longing,

Who but You can satiate.

Hungering for You my Savior,

Heart and flesh will waste away,

Hasten Lord, my Rock, my Refuge,

I beg You Lord, do not delay.

-Myra D’Souza / 10 March 2018

NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

We offer our worship on altars,

Name, money, power and fame.

The world we live in glorifies sin,

And fanatics kill in God’s name.

Where are the voices raised in outrage,

While the gallant and brave disappear?

We’ve blinded our eyes to victims of vice

We are deaf to their whimpers of fear.

Our vision lackluster, unused thru’ the years,

Our scruples are dull with disuse,

We tear limb from limb the babe in the womb,

Our children we scorn and abuse.

Intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, pride,

Sow discord and make us mere tools,

Of people to whom we have given the power,

To make of us puppets and fools.

Our world can be changed from hatred and rage,

When Christians will boldly proclaim,

That Jesus alone who is Savior and Lord,

Saves all through His glorious Name.

                                Myra D’Souza/10 March 2018

STAR OF HOPE

Looking out the window,

This morning while at prayer,

I saw the dark night paling,

Dawn hinted she was there.

The starry hosts had vanished,

Just one lone star shone bright,

Unperturbed was she to be,

The only one in sight.

The pearl grey sky now tinted,

The wispy clouds grew bright,

My little star of hope refused,

To leave and bid goodnight.

Twinkling with great merriment,

She shone with all her might,

But as the sky grew brighter,

It dimmed her little light.

The secret that she taught me,

At Morning Prayer today,

Is hope can keep from dimming,

If faith will light the way.

-Myra D’Souza/10 March 2018

ASCENDING MT. TABOR

I ascend Mount Tabor,

Before the blush of day,

In sublime submission,

God stoops to hear me pray.

Tuning out the babel of,

The world so I can hear,

The tender timbre of His Voice,

Dispelling every fear.

In response to grace divine,

I concede control,

To the Living God who is,

The Bridegroom of my soul.

I yield to Him in silence,

I lean upon His breast,

Grace imbues my spirit,

In Him is perfect rest.

-Myra D’Souza/8 March 2018

MY HEART’S DELIGHT

You O Lord are everything,

My soul could e’er desire,

It’s you I pine for every hour,

Your love sets me on fire.

You satisfy my hunger,

You quench my spirit’s thirst,

Encompass me that I in You,

Be utterly immersed.

Each sunrise at God’s table,

With the Eucharist I’m fed,

I eat the Bread of Angels,

At the Banquet You have spread.

I’ll cleave to You Beloved,

We two will be as one,

The sinner will be wedded,

A spell to God’s own Son.

When eventide will dim the sky,

And nighttide curtains fall,

I’ll ponder every blessing,

As Your mercies I recall.

My eyes will close in slumber,

But my heart awake will stay,

To worship and adore You,

Until the break of day.

 Myra D’Souza, 08, March 2018

AN ALLEGORY FOR SIN - LUKE 5:12-15, Mk 1;40, Mt. 8:2

The leper limped his way
before the Lord,

He was a mass of putrefying flesh,

Revolting and disgusting.

A choking, reeking stench emanates.

Sickened to my stomach,

I almost retch and shudder,

As I look away.

My reaction is,

Bereft of love,

Bereft of charity.

I hear a gasp,

The crowd dumbfounded,

Is aghast at the approach,

Of the wretched man,

Who dropping to the ground,

Begins to cry,

 “Lord, if You will,

You can make me clean.”

His distress aroused 

Compassion,
In the tender heart of God

Where mercy overflows.

The leper dared to hope,
When he beheld the Lord

And God in turn did touch

The seething mass of dying flesh

And said “I will. Be healed!”

,

Forthwith he’s whole again,

But just his body.
Not his soul.

The miracle 
Is incomplete,

Until he stands before a priest,

Who will declare him free 
Of the disease.

This will seal the work

God has begun.

I too did reek of sin,

And leprous was my soul,

Until I fell upon my knees,

And I confessed,

“Bless me father, I have sinned.”

Mercy overflowed,

God healed me and restored

All I had lost.

Absolved in Jesus’ Name

My soul is clean again,

My Lord has made me whole.

-Myra D'Souza 
March 07, 2018