Ash Wednesday by T.S. Eliot and Jesus of the Scars by Edward Shillito

Fr. Z has a reading of the poem Ash Wednesday by T.S. Eliot on his blog. I also found this poem which I think is great for Holy Week, but I will forget, and so I present it as a possible Lenten meditation for those who like poetry. Originally in “Masterpieces of Religious Verse” it was found in “Go To Heaven” by Venerable Fulton Sheen.

Jesus of the Scars

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on The brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The Heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear,
Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

-Edward Shillito, 1872-1948

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