It’s hard to keep up with the news   

Extreme happenings everyday 

Earthquakes, hurricanes and floods

With the forecast of more on the way

 

Stories of abuse fill the air

With some details too hard to speak

The purity of little ones robbed blind

By leaders charged with their keep

 

Mass shootings infiltrate our schools

Driving this mother to prayer   

States strive to legalize pot  

While heroin is everywhere  

 

Political scandals abound

Conflicting views split us apart

Being right and “sounding-off” 

Outweighs love and rips at the heart

 

Yet if we would stop and listen

In the midst of the waves and the wind 

We might hear Jesus gently knocking

At the door of our hearts once again

   

For our mission is not about

The power of our daily posts

It is Calvary’s blood alone 

By which those saved by grace should boast  

 

Let us open the door once again

Recalling the true mission at hand

To reach a world that is scared

For it’s on the Gospel we stand

 

–Catherine H. Cieciuch DeBenedetto

October 3, 2018