ODE TO MARY AND JOSEPH

 

To heaven’s gate you came so willing

To claim God’s Son as your own;

The seeds of love you offered there

In noble soil forever sown.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: On To Egypt by Rose Datoc Dall)

IN HIS ARMS

 

I wandered and I strayed in unknown paths,

Far from my eternal home;

I knew not where to find You

And how to become Your own.

 

Then You came when I was trapped

In brier, bleeding, helpless and all alone.

You worked so gently while Your hands were

Bleeding much more than my own.

 

I now take the roads I know

And avoid the paths unknown;

I remember Your arms that held me

And how they felt like home.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by Yongsung Kim)

THE TRUTH IN MY SOUL

 

How deep He buried the truth in my soul
Long before this body of clay
Began the journey below!

He has watered the seed of my faith
And cleared my garden of weeds of gloom;
He is the Gardener who tenderly watches
My soul’s everlasting bloom.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Symphony of Suffering by Aeron Brown)

HOME

 

I know you are standing in
The shadow of Your love,
Watching my every move
Hoping I will remember You
And our home above.

I see You beckoning
For me to rise majestic and tall,
But my path is unsteady beneath me
And I seek for a soft place to fall.

Angels are around me
They whisper and they mourn
Spreading their wings to catch me
Wanting to take me home.

I don't know if I am ready,
If I have given my very all
So I can join You in Your shadow,
The safest place to fall.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Through Heaven's Veil by Greg Collins)

TRIALS

"While you are passing through your trials, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love."

- Richard G. Scott, "Trust In the Lord", Ensign Nov 1995

You brought me to the foot of
Your throne today.
You pierced my soul
And understood all I had to say.
You opened my heart
And whispered the
truths I needed to know.
I surrender
My sins, my all, in gratitude
Of the suffering You bore.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Jesus Serene Saviour by Ivan Guaderrama)

 

SAMPLING GETHSEMANE

 

 

I wondered why You were absent

When I most needed Thee;

I felt so alone in my suffering,

Yet You promised You’d be with

 us in everything.

 

I thought I was in my own

Garden of Gethsemane,

Until I saw Your footprints

And Your drops of blood

that had eluded me.

 

I looked around and I understood

You knew every tree,

Every shrub, even every blade

Of grass in Your vicinity.

I was in Your garden, not mine,

That beckoned me.

 

I realised You are there still

Praying for my weak soul

to come to Thee;

I will come, I will honour Thee;

Let me first sit under this tree

A while and reflect upon Your suffering.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(ART: I Have Suffered for You by B. Laura Wilson)

SENTINEL

 

Angels are you near me

To catch me if I fall?

Do you stand guard at the entrance

Of my heart

On God’s errand and sentinel’s call?

 

Do you pave the way

And steady my feet,

And ensure my enemy’s defeat?

 

You are unsung heroes

Of every journey’s flight

You are phantoms of love

Concealed from mortal sight.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sentinel of Light by Greg Collins)