Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Must Support


O God, You must support us in our prayer,
how do we know that prayer works anyway?
Do not our prayers prove to You that we care,
as You prove care by answering when we pray?

We see by Your example that You prayed,
we know that God Your Father answered You,
so we believe when we ask You for aid,
that just like He did, You will answer too.

Without clear proof, we still give You our trust,
by faith we know that Your support is real,
to store our prayers in heaven where there's no rust,
no moths there to consume, no thieves to steal.

God, You know everything and love so free,
I pray You show Your love by answering me.

                                -- by Pete Voelz          9/10

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Who Knows?


Can I know God if God does not know me?
Like if I never darken His church door,
or ever pray, so Him I never see,
can I live in His home forevermore?

Will God know me if I do not know Him?
When I die, will He recognize my face?
To sing for Him with all His Seraphim
can I expect, without His state of grace?

If we are never friends, am I His friend?
Like He will welcome me with open arms?
Not friendly now, yet then His friend no end?
He’ll like me if I turn on all my charms?

Lord, now’s the time I show I know You true,
so You know me from all my knowing You.

                       by Pete Voelz       4/29/14

Monday, April 28, 2014

Test to Obey


Old Abraham obeyed, Lord, Your command
to sacrifice His own beloved son,
the message here’s not hard to understand:
obey You, God, and then our victory’s won.

Old Abe was just a standin there for You,
when You gave Your Beloved Son to die
upon the cross, the One our own sins slew,
He, tested, did with Your command comply.

You give me Ten Commandments to obey,
You promised Abe descendents there would be
like seashore sands, Your promises today--
as much for such obedience from me.

Your Great Command is that I love You best,
I pray You, Lord, for me not such a test.

                            by Pete Voelz     4/20/14

Sunday, April 27, 2014

God Rescue


How often You, O God, have rescued me,
how smashing is Your swat-team rescue squad
to lead me gently to eternity,
how deep You get involved, my Personal God.

You hover by my soul beyond the beach,
my lifeguard hauling me safe back to land,
at sea You keep my ship within Your reach,
my sail and steerage guided by Your hand.

You lend me strength and courage when I’m weak,
when hot, You cool me, cold, You hold me warm,
secure You draw me past a windy peak,
providing refuge from the threatening storm.

I know, Lord, when the terrible trouble’s through,
I mostly have been rescued, thanks to You.

                            by Pete Voelz     4/22/14

Saturday, April 26, 2014

What Trumps?


We’re supposed to look out most for number one,
but, Lord, You are the Number One of all,
we’re told to go for feel good now and fun,
but, Lord, to higher things it’s us You call.

It’s less about our feelings than our faith,
don’t go with just your heart, but with your soul,
care less to conquer life, but rather death,
look less upon the moment, more the goal.

Live less the loud, but listen more, be still,
seek wisdom of the ages, not the fad,
it’s less how much we know, but what we will,
love God and good, and He’ll forgive the bad.

Down here some trumped-up things get sacrificed,
when we, like Paul, “Put on the mind of Christ.”

                        by Pete Voelz     4/26/14

Friday, April 25, 2014

My Roommate


My life is like I’m living in a room,
that’s limited by walls of time and space,
the furniture’s my experience I plumb,
I look around to see who’s in this place.

I know God’s here since He is everywhere,
He is my Roommate more than anyone,
my floor and ceiling, sunlight, food and air,
my Father, Brother, Love--and I’m His son.

No use pretending He will go away,
He fills each need of mine with care and love,
He helps my work and studies every day,
and keeps me focused on the things above.

I can’t avoid this Roommate so sublime,
we’ll be together for the longest time.

                 by Pete Voelz       4/25/14

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Beyond All God


The universe, they say, is still expanding,
filled up with stars and galaxies galore,
on few of them have we made plans for landing,
how rare the planets that we can explore.

The universe grows at the speed of light,
beyond the view of our best telescope,
we’ll never reach its end, try as we might,
too far for us to search, too dim the hope.

Lightspeed is slow for God Who’s so, so fast,
to Him a billion years is just a day,
when all is gone, God’s spiritual world will last,
though just a speck, I’m free to go His way.

This time and space I still see God beyond,
my rhyme and face--He will be always fond.

                          by Pete Voelz     4/24/14

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

My Easter Heart


Another year, beats fast again my heart,
I hear them witness to His Resurrection,
I witness too the Scripture and the art,
He offers me the proof of His perfection.

He painfully dies and then He conquers death,
His pain, my gain, He takes my sins forgiven,
so like mankind, in my last painful breath,
repentent of my sins, I'm given heaven.

On knowing this, whose heart cannot beat fast?
The Gospel good news--never heard before,
reported every year so it can last
and promise happiness forevermore.

You show me how, O Lord, death I can cheat,
so fast my Easter heart will always beat.

                          by Pete Voelz     4/23/14

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Where Start?


Where in my soul did my belief begin?
Was it my mother's prayer before my birth,
the priests who raised my consciousness of sin,
or from what I was able to unearth?

How in my soul did I arrive at hope?
Church teaching, Scripture, or reading a book,
"Crossing the Threshold of Hope" by the Pope,
or seeing smiles everywhere I look?

When in my soul did love begin to bloom?
Did I perceive it in my mother's eyes,
or when I felt protected in her womb,
or knowing I could go to Paradise?

God planted gifts of faith and hope and love,
I struggle with but am so thankful of.

                   -- by Pete Voelz        5/08

Monday, April 21, 2014

Mundane Infinity


I feed, I sleep, my life is so mundane,
but still there is my infinite destiny,
though soon death ends my memories, my brain,
there's other ways I touch infinity.

My faith foresees a life that’s infinite,
my soul is spiritual and so lives on,
it always keeps the good I’ve done and yet
it also keeps the bad after I’ve gone.

The infinite’s in the spiritual world around,
Good God forgets repented sins forgiven,
in clouds of witnesses good saints abound,
at Mass Good Jesus comes to me from heaven.

And Infinite Lord, because You’re everywhere,
I can at anytime touch You in prayer.

                         by Pete Voelz     4/17/14

Sunday, April 20, 2014

See the Least


God says to help the small, the least, the weak,
those in a different state or other place,
who can’t defend themselves or barely speak,
made in His image, likeness, holy face.

We first defended slavery, now the slave,
we heard the anti-Semite, now the Jew,
to many now the poor we need to save,
if I won’t help the unborn child, then who?

No one denies her human DNA,
some should defend her sex, not just more sex,
no one’s more helpless, small, or weak today,
not to kill her is what our God expects.

Let’s see her little face, Lord, not be blind,
so to the least of Yours we will be kind.

                     by Pete Voelz     4/19/14

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Easter Life


The lilies bloom when spring is in her prime,
we spy the chocolate, pink and blue confection,
with bunnies, colored eggs and Eastertime,
and winter gone, life’s in full resurrection.

Christ dies, then lives, He conquers death again,
the warm breeze and our joy can no more hide,
Christ comes to life to break the bonds of sin,
we spring to life because it’s Eastertide.

The sin of Adam’s now so long ago,
Lent’s over too, the fasting and the wait,
for prayer and pain, what do I have to show--
closer to Christ and heaven’s new open gate?

Amidst the fun of Easter, let me be
more grateful, Lord, for all you’ve done for me.

by Pete Voelz     4/19/14

Friday, April 18, 2014

God's Best


If we are perfect, don’t we do our best?
And You, Lord, are the only perfect One,
You chose by perfect heaven we’d be blest,
and for that perfect task, You sent Your Son.

For that great gift, the planets held their breath,
a perfect victim for a perfect goal,
You proved Your loving best by awful death,
the earth quaked as You saved my sinful soul.

Your best gift for my sins was to forgive,
the best gift is Yourself while we’re still here--
from common bread and wine here You still live,
Emmanuel in Eucharist so near.

With no more left to give for perfect best,
You lead us by Your grace to perfect rest.

                   by Pete Voelz     4/18/14

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Christ's Honor


Did Christ have self-respect upon the cross?
What did He show of honor hanging there?
Is pain a plus to honor or a loss?
Can honor mix a crucifix with prayer?

His loving heart beat in His bloody breast,
nailed hard to that cruel symbol people cursed,
yet it was on the cross He showed His best,
though worldly ones will only see the worst.

O Christ, I win the honor in Your heart,
I know love lives beneath Your misery,
I see Your pain and honor as a part
of that same sacrifice that sets me free.

I read the bloody details in the book,
honor's inside, not in the way we look.

                    -- by Pete Voelz        9/09

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Love Supreme


Your body left, yet, Lord, You left it here,
You take Your bi-location to extreme,
You wanted to stay physically near,
Your whole self in an act of love supreme.

Your love moved You perpetually to remain,
Your body bread unleavened we can eat,
Your blood from wine a cup that we can drain,
blood, body, soul, divine Lord whole we meet.

Your Church, Your other body, You left too,
to guard us, guide us, help us to believe,
to consecrate this sacrament of You,
so we become Your hosts when we receive.

As Holy God Communion You persist,
at Mass we taste Your heavenly Eucharist.

                      by Pete Voelz     4/16/14

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Cross Borne


Christ bore His cross so we could carry Him,
the wood we venerate, so often kissed,
for us on it He offered life and limb,
we offer now and bear His Eucharist.

The soldier pierced His side with his long knife,
observed by only John and three called Mary,*
He gave His life for our eternal life,
His body now from hand to mouth we carry.

Cross borne, He’s in a thousand works of art,
seen by the sinners He was crucified for,
so we can bear Him buried in our heart,
recalled by all He suffered, bled and died for.

O Christ upon the cross, help me to bear
Your cross and mine in me forever there.

* Under the cross were Mary His Mother,
Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Clopas.

                        by Pete Voelz     4/4/14

Monday, April 14, 2014

Forest God


I do believe in God, and thus in prayer,
I cannot doubt Who spun the galaxies,
my spiritual God’s got to be everywhere,
I can’t miss Forest God for all the trees.

Omnipotent, God made us humans too,
our omnipresent God sustains each tree,
omniscient God, my atoms through and through,
my brains, my branches, every leaf of me.

My personal God, You see my heart and soul,
Your sap and sun that stir my thoughts and cares,
Your freedom breeze that puts me in control,
You heed Your birds and squirrels, and hear my prayers.

Help me, Lord, see both of my neighborhoods,
God of my seasoned soul and holy woods.

                           by Pete Voelz     4/14/14

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Weary Prayer


It’s not from laziness I would give in,
nor from lack of commitment I’d give up,
the devil’s strong, the world is too, with sin,
sometimes I have to drink a bitter cup.

It’s more I’m weary and could use some rest,
it’s more I’m failing and I feel so lost,
I grasp at anything, if not the best,
each avenue--I see too steep a cost.

I’m in the dark, I hope to see a light,
a lighthouse near when I can’t go alone,
a lodestone I can grab with all my might,
I ask a fish, You won’t give me a stone.

This smoldering wick, O Lord, this straining reed,
I look to You in this my hour of need.

                           by Pete Voelz     3/31/14

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Practical God


God’s far away, but I deal with the near,
God’s always all this stuff that’s spiritual,
heaven is nice, but I have problems here,
in my real life, I must be practical.

Creation--that’s the most real thing there is,
a lot of work. God took a Sabbath rest,
He made us all, so everything is His,
the spiritual is the natural at its best.

The practical is really spiritual too,
I need my Sunday rest--God is most real,
reality is more than what I do,
my soul’s more powerful than how I feel.

Director, Maker of things large and small,
O Lord, You’re the most practical of all.

                       by Pete Voelz     4/12/14

Friday, April 11, 2014

Book God


I pick up God, Who lies near like a book,
I open up His ways like turning pages,
I hurry up with one brief prayer and look,
then close Him up again, this Rock of Ages.

God's handy like a dictionary list
of words that give reply to any need,
defining well whatever may exist,
providing providence for us to read.

God's doodles shine like nothing we could write,
yet they are often less than our demands,
despite the studying with all our might,
more's always left that no one understands.

I should have recourse to this volume more,
to figure out what everything is for.

                               -- by Pete Voelz       9/04

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Free Space


God comes to me, but I'm too blind to see,
God starts it but He won't go all the way,
He leaves me space because He made me free,
His price is low, I still don't want to pay.

I may be wrong, but I still have my pride,
I'm fallen, true, but I still think I'm great,
attracted by the  world, I try to hide,
I take my time, and God prefers to wait.

The world is fallen too, and I should know,
if I just stopped and listened, I would hear,
for there is somewhere better I can go,
unfallen God calls me and He is near.

The more I open up, the more Your grace,
to get You, God, I need to give some space.

                            -- by Pete Voelz       1/08

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Prayer Routine


Night after night my prayers sound all the same,
same words, same thoughts, what difference do they make?
After a while the prayer routine seems lame,
do I do it for me or for God's sake?

Of course, intentions change as needs arise,
my children win a special prayer or two,
sometimes a heart that sighs, an eye that cries
get prayers when all the rest are through.

I think it takes some faith to say a prayer,
when there is no one there that we can see,
and hope someone will hear who has a care,
and actually answer some from little me.

O God, I would not pray night after night
if I did not believe You're in my fight.

                         -- by Pete Voelz       4/07

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

The Faith One


God is my Maker, so my faith is His,
without Him nothing would exist at all,
for He created everything there is,
stamped on my heart, I listen to His call.

The Lord’s my Shepherd, so He has my faith,
He loves me, fills my cup beyond the brim,
He came and gave to me His life to death,
His gift of life I offer back to Him.

Christ founded His own Church, my faith is there,
to it He sent His Spirit as guard and guide,
one, holy, Apostolic, everywhere,
its truth I can’t deny, defy, or hide.

To me the evidence for this is true,
and so I put my faith, O Lord, in You.

                     by Pete Voelz     4/8/14

Monday, April 7, 2014

I Welcome God


I welcome God each day to show I'm His,
His protege, His vassal and His child,
for He's my Lord, the God of all there is,
I want us to be always reconciled.

God comes to me in human form as Christ,
I aim to treat Him as my favorite guest,
His heaven, His life for me He sacrificed,
we meet best in His gift of Eucharist.

This gift He wishes me to give to others,
to see His countenance in every face,
for both of us are joined to all as brothers,
and He begs me to help to spread His grace.

O God, You’re here to welcome me each day,
may I be there to welcome You, I pray.

                     -- by Pete Voelz           1/07

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Love Knows


No thing is known without some sympathy,
so, God, I can't know You from just outside,
just as You know me, Lord, from inside me,
so to know You, I go where You abide.

O Son of God, did You become a man
that You could understand us as we are,
so now as human God You really can
know us up close instead of from afar?

O Christ, not being God, how can I know
the point of view of You so far above?
And yet I think I know: You made me so
I too can share in loving as You love.

O God, if I but love the way You do,
as You know me, I'll partly know You too.

                       -- by Pete Voelz       2/08

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Transparent God



O God, Your heart is so transparent to us,
Your love so clearly shown so many ways,
Your generous gifts so much more than what's due us,
I am not able to keep still my praise.

Who can look at and doubt that Your Creation
brings us far comforts more than all we boast,
and if not every gift can bring elation,
through suffering is how we learn the most.

Though we can't fathom all your mysteries,
it's clear how much You do forgive our sinning,
we're grateful too that You, because You please,
help us so much Your heaven we are winning.

Your gifts of faith and love are so great too,
why not transparently give all to You?

                            -- by Pete Voelz       1/06

Friday, April 4, 2014

Accepting Faith


God gives the gift of faith and I accept,
I choose to take the gift and it to keep;
a leap of faith I do not feel I've lept,
I'm glad for faith the miles before I sleep.

I just thank God His gentle chance to choose,
I thank God made me free to make this choice;
each day I choose my faith to keep or lose,
faith sets me free to listen to His voice.

Before all that, God breathed His life in me,
before I was, God gave me all His love,
after this life, He gives eternity,
we'll go there--just as all comes from above.

All these Your gifts show how You love me so,
I must say yes, God, how could I say no?

                       -- by Pete Voelz         2/08

Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Lazy Atheist


What’s wrong, I wonder, with the atheist?
Too busy with a thousand things, he’ll say,
yet I’d conclude he is the laziest--
he will not study Scripture, read or pray.

Take soldier Ignatius or playboy Francis,
their books and prayers saw time with God increase,
and busy with new spiritual circumstances,
they changed from men of war to men of peace.

We study Scripture and God does His part,
who can read history and yet not believe?*
An honest prayer brings God into your heart,
we find a church our soul won’t want to leave.

So look and listen, see that God is near,
the biggest foes--just laziness and fear.

* Convert Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman said
that to be deep in history is to become Catholic.

                              by Pete Voelz     4/1/14

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Spirit Wings



Between You, God, and me, what's in the way?
I deeply feel I have a spiritual side,
but there's all the distractions of the day,
and I'd like You to be more cut and dried.

It seems we're not on the same playing field,
still You made me so we could come to terms,
I'm quite sure You want me with faith to yield,
and trust all that Your universe confirms.

The biggest thing between us, Lord, is me,
my wants, my sins, my pride, the list is clear,
from things that blind, I must set myself free,
with all that sent away, I'll find You near.

O God, help me my spirit wings unwrap,
so I can fly to You across the gap.

                   -- by Pete Voelz       8/08




Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Gathering Grace


God gives me grace to compensate my flaws,
this fallen world I fall in as He knows,
I, broken, break His natural moral laws,
I need the grace He gathered as He rose.

My darkened mind, my weakened will I feel,
though sin seems good, to fall is still my fault,
and yet He sets His sacramental seal
upon my soul, commanding I be salt.

I did not plan my parents or my place,
my country or my century of woe,
all helpless, I, though guided by His grace,
am still responsible for where I go.

God, help me in fulfilling all Your plan,
as I am gathering all the grace I can.

                               by Pete Voelz