Dying to self
Letting ego go
Giving up your
Plans, your dreams,
Your hopes and
Expectations
Offering to God
Your past, your pain,
Your wounds, your shame
That you might
Come before Jesus
In your emptiness
Your vulnerability
Your poverty
Surrendering all

This is but
The beginning
Of discipleship:
To follow in the footsteps
Of our Crucified Savior
Across borders of
Indifference and
Artificial boundaries
That separate us
From our unknown
Sisters and brothers,
Breaking down barriers
Of division and distrust
To stand with the oppressed
The outcast and the poor

Giving voice to the voiceless
Recognizing in all broken hearts
The same Risen Lord revealed
In the breaking of the bread
Hearing prayer in the cries
Of those who mourn and
Seeing in their tears
Symbols as sublime
As chants of solemn high Mass.
Now at length you can
Remove the shoes from
Your feet, for the ground
On which you stand
With God’s chosen ones
Is as holy as you are.