The following is a poem I wrote while reflecting on a chapter in the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s great masterpiece The World’s First Love. The chapter is called “The World’s Happiest Marriage”, and it focuses on the marital union of Mary and Joseph.
Against the Grain
The virtue in the sacrifice
Humiliates my inner vice.
My heart of stone cannot contain
A love so pure and free of stain.
So take, dear Lord, this stony heart,
And with it may my sins depart.
For I have seen the greater good,
But in between, transgression stood.
When confronted with Love’s grace
Instinctually I hide my face.
Not from Love’s beauty, do I hide,
But from my ugliness inside.
The hopelessness of honesty
Comes crashing down in front of me.
I cannot move myself to take
A single step for heaven’s sake.
The road is paved, the path is clear,
But here I lay encased in fear.
Such lavish mediocrity,
A preference for infirmity.
Protection of the ignorant
Is mercy’s gift from Heaven sent
For having seen, I fear delay
Would truly be to disobey.
So steel me, Lord, against my grain.
I empathize with the insane.
Against myself, spur me to strive
To be a man, fully alive.
Written by: Matthew Giardina