#1 The Cloistered Heart for No Exterior Hindrance in the Readings and Reflections (RR) category.

#2 Joy of Nine9 for When a Minute Encompassed Eternity in the Readings and Reflections (RR) category.

and  #3 Equipping Catholic Families for Presentation of the Lord Craft in the Liturgical Calendar Category.

and #4 The Beautiful Gate for The Cure for Double Yoke Syndrome

“When we carry God in our hearts, we are at home anywhere.”

(from The Living Pyx of Jesus, by a Religious, Pelligrini and Co., Australia, 1941)

 An encounter that I had longed for, searched for but it had become a brittle dream, a dry leaf long abandoned.

An encounter that I had longed for, searched for but it had become a brittle dream, a dry leaf long abandoned.

I felt empty, despondent with all inner resources depleted.

A mere shell.

Yet deeper than the despair

Existed a spark of yearning, an ache of hope that was  nonverbal, even preverbal

A common yearning in all humanity.

Unexpectedly, a mere glance

slipped silently into the dark cave within me

Like a wisp of smoke suddenly bursting into flame

As if the dry litter in my heart was merely tinder, feeding this ethereal fire.

A surge of heat surged through my inner self,

Seeping into my muscles, soothing my mind.

Calming my overwrought nerves.

Eyelids fluttered as the brightness intensified now shining on my face.

Plugged into a field of awareness where suddenly I knew.

A knowing that was certain

A connection, spirit to Spirit.

Years of striving completed in a mere glance, in a minute of eternity.

No Past or future, simply an all-encompassing now.

All my yearnings, deepest longings were utterly satisfied in only a minute of eternity