Arms Outstretched

You stand just beyond eyesight

With your arms outstretched wide,

As though still on the cross, crucified,

But now ready to wrap us all inside

The love your life and death defined.

Love for the lost, the broken and half-dead,

Their eyes dulled by unending dread,

You gather us to you in this sacred place,

To safety and love within your embrace.

By M. Lynell Chamberlain

(M. Lynell Chamberlain is a member of St. John Paul II Parish in Sellersburg.) †

The Criterion