Tuesday of Week 31 in Ordinary Time


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Come along to the banquet, everything is ready.
But all alike started to make excuses.
And own will is unsteady.
We get up to all sorts of ruses.

One said, I have bought a piece of land.
And must go and see it.
Our material wants are well planned.
Our egoism well honed and  lit.

Another said, I have bought five pair of oxen.
And I’m on my way to try them out.
God can wait, we want some fun.
And then surprised, we arrive at burnout.

They all said, please accept my apologies.
And we of course give our own apologies.

…….

He gave a banquet
They all gave apologies
And we do th  we same

…….

See Luke 14 : 15-24

Monday of Week 31 in Ordinary Time

That they cannot pay you back.
Means that you are fortunate.
We are blessed in what we lack.
We are what we are , not what we rate.Everybody is to be self effacing.
Always consider the other person to be better .
It’s good enough to walk rather than be racing.
Nicer rather than fitter.

If we worried less about number one.
And thought more of others .
If we were happy to be no one rather than someone.
We might break these selfish tethers.

Of course we say that.
But do we do that.

…….

Cannot pay you back
Perhaps you are fortunate
Being left behind

…….

See John 8 : 31-32 and Philippians 2: 1-4

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

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I love you Lord.
My strength.
We can do nothing if we lose touch with this spiritual cord.
To search for his love we must go to any length.

I was in a Quaker friends meeting.
Immersed in the silence.
We use too many words in our churching.
We should let the silent Holy Spirit be the essence.

On our own we can do nothing.
Self help is not an option.
Otherwise we find everything too demanding.
We act then just in permanent reaction.

We just need to repeat.
The Lord my strength  and we shall sit at his seat.

….

I love you my Lord
Because you are my only strength
But do we believe

……

See Psalm 17

All Souls. Saturday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time

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O let your ears be attentive.
To the voice of my pleading.
May my soul be retentive.
To your summoning.

I was in the silent church listening.
I felt the atmosphere grow heavy.
Was this my imagination surging.
Or perhaps a soul’s fitful eddy.

But in that place there was something joyous.
Sublime and welcoming.
I was curious.
And left wondering.

Out of the depths do souls  call .
Seeking us even in our busy maul.

……..

Ears are attentive
But they’re mainly to this world
Is there another

…..

See Psalm 129 . Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord

All Saints

Happy the gentle.
They shall have  the earth for their heritage.
We can never aspire to their mantle.
For they are there from age to age.I was disappointed I couldn’t get to mass today.
But I was sitting alone in church reading this gospel.
Looking for some hopeful ray.
Suddenly I just believed this tale.That’s how faith emerges.
Out of nowhere.
Belief surges.
And removes all doubt and fear.The saints have found this path joyously.
And we follow them wearily, hopefully.

…….

Happy the gentle
They shall inherit the earth
We ask what are we

……

See Matthew 5: 1-12

Thursday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time

Grow strong in the Lord.
With the strength of his power .
Take up the divine sword.
Aim all the higher.Put on God’s armour.
So as to resist the devil’s tactics.
Be a spiritual farmer.
And avoid  all his antics.

But if we pray to a saint.
And worry less.
We can fill our vision with beautiful oil paint.
And ourselves  positively express.

If I spend the night in praying.
I feel so much better than just worrying.

…….

Grow strong in the Lord
Put on the armour of God
And resist evil

.. ….

See Ephesians 6 : 10-20

Wednesday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time

Try your best to enter by the narrow door.
Because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.
Be on your guard to your very core.

We do not always need to follow , we can lead.

You say you will die.
And go to heaven’s paradise
But you may have been given a lie.
Not doing wrong may not suffice.

At death .
You will look God in the eye.
You will only have spiritual breath.
There will no longer be a physical I

You will say you have done nothing wrong.
That may not be sufficient a song.

…….

Enter by the gate
It may be very narrow
You may not make it

…….

See Luke 13 : 22-30

Tuesday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time . The martyrs of Douai College

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.
Which a man took and threw into his garden.
It grew and became a mighty tree from this tiny seed.
And birds sheltered in its branches in his garden.Why is my faith so fragile.
I could not risk death for it.
These martyrs went the extra mile.
My light will die , theirs remains lit.

But ours is a different time.
More questioning.
Difference in religion no longer a crime.
We are rightly more forgiving.

So we live in our own age.
Which perhaps is more sage.

……

From this mustard seed
A mighty tree does flourish
And so will our faith

…..

See Luke 13: 18-21

Monday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time

Jesus went into the hills to pray.
And he spent the whole night  in prayer.
Can we our own troubles lay.
Layer by layer.I spent a waking part of the night.
In silent prayer.
Seeking some light.
Layer by layer.

I thought of something, someone irritating.
With prayer it dissolved.
Dissipating.
Resolved.

Keep praying.
And hoping.

….

He went to the hills
Alone in the night to pray
Will we follow him

..  …

See Luke 6 : 12-19

30 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Son of David , Jesus have pity on me.
And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet.
But he only shouted all the louder , have pity on me.
And in generations past some refused to keep quiet.

The church of St Ignatius at Chideock is lonely .
It celebrates seven brave martyrs.
Put to death with barbarity , slowly.
Some laymen , some in holy orders.

In this quiet atmosphere.
Not a mile from the busy seaside you  will probably be alone.
But there is nothing to fear .
Or now after all these years to atone.

We celebrate now that we get along.
All entitled to our own praise song.

……..

Have pity on me
He shouted all the louder
And we do the same

……..

See Mark 10 : 46-52

Saturday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time

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To some his gift to them was that they should become apostles.
To some prophets.
To some evangelists writing  gospels.
To some  teachers laying spiritual  deposits.

All I can do is to attempt to  write.
Maybe inadequately.
And maybe to recite.
Somewhat nervously.

But we cannot be apostles.
Or prophets.
Or write gospels.
We can only lay puny deposits.

But we all have a role.
Just as we all have a soul

……

We’re not apostles
And we’re not evangelists
But we have a role

……

See Ephesians 4 : 7-13

Friday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time

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Bear with one another charitably.
In complete selflessness.
And calmly, amiably.
With patience and gentleness.

Do all you can to preserve the unity of the spirit.
By the peace that binds you together.
However little our merit.
And whatever the spiritual weather.

There is one Lord.
One baptism.
One faith in the Lord.
One God we are called to in baptism.

There is one Father of all.
Over all, through all and within all.

……

Bear charitably
And in complete selflessness
In calm patience

…….

See Ephesians 4 : 1-6

Thursday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time

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Out of his infinite glory.
May he give you power.
We are part of his story.
He is the sower.

Let his spirit help your hidden self to  grow strong.
So that Christ may live in your heart.
This is for what we long.
A new life start.

Through faith and then planted in love.
You will have strength to grasp the length and breadth.
Of what is built on love.
In all its height and depth.

Until knowing the love of Christ.
You are filled with the utter fullness of God in Christ.

…..

Out of infinite
Glory may he give power
To you and all yours

……

See Ephesians 3 : 14-21

Wednesday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time

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The son of man is coming.
At an hour you do not expect.
We spend so much  time worrying.
And to so little effect.

Like the rich man laying.
Stores in his barn.
Death May catch us napping.
The silver thread of life so easily torn.

We have had the first coming .
But there is one all the time.
And for us it will soon start appearing.
Without maybe reason or rhyme.

So live for now.
Do not be low.

……

Man’s son is coming
We do not know at what hour
It it is quite soon.

….

See Luke 12 : 39-48

Tuesday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time

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See that you are dressed for action.
And have your lamps lit.
Archbishop Stephen Langton facing Kings John’s sanction.
Insisted on the church’s writ.

On this day the anniversary of his death.
We remember his courage and scholarship.
Its wisdom and breadth.
His fight against the tyranny of kingship.

And his devotion to the  Holy Spirit.
Which waters what is parched.
A man of true merit.
Even if by the king besmirched.

Born perhaps in Langton  by Wragby
In Lincolnshire before consecrated to his see.

…….

Dressed for action
Making sure your lamps are lit
And being prepared

…….

See Luke 12 : 35-38

Monday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time

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We all were among them too in the past.
Ruled  entirely by our own physical desires.
Part of life’s physical cast.
Governed too by our own ideas.

When I read newspapers.
I just feel depressed.
Overcome by contemporary vapours.
Uncomfortable , stressed.

When I read something religious.
I feel happy and positive.
So away with feeling anxious.
Feel calm rather than restive.

Keep religious reading.
And start overcoming.

….

We were in the past
In our own ideas, desires
But we can move on

……

See Ephesians 2 : 1-10

29 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Allow us to sit one at your right hand.
And the other on your left in your glory.
The two disciples did not understand.
What was to be their true story.I suddenly realised at Mass the truth.
Don’t regret not being first or second.
Help others not yourself, that’s not just the enthusiasm of youth.
Better to care and be second, something to beckon.

Anyone who wants to be great among you .
Must be your servant .
Anyone who wants to be first among you.
Must be a slave to all , a mere servant.

Be happy in one’s own condition.
And just give rendition.

….

If you want greatness
Seek the lower place at first
And you will find it

….

See Mark 10: 35-45

Saturday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time

May he enlighten the eyes of your mind.
So that you can see what hope brings to you.
This gentle spirit is kind.
We are one of many not the few.How infinitely great is the power.
He has exercised for us believers.
We reap, he is the sower.
He gives , we are the receivers.

He has put all things under his feet.
And made him the ruler of everything.
Wiping away every tear.
A joyous melody we can sing.

He fills the whole creation.
And washes any cancer we can mention.

………
He enlightens minds
You see the hope he brings you
Now and for ever……

See Ephesians 1 : 15-23

Friday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time, St Luke

Your friends , O lord make known.
The glorious splendour of your reign.
We all can , if we wish, approach his throne.
And sit at his feet for his everlasting reign.I wonder if it’s worth writing.
It can be a burden.
But maybe someone is listening.
And it allows me to unburden.

To talk of dreams.
To dream that we are all really one community.
That all is not as bad as it seems.
That there is the mysterious everlasting entity.

So I go on writing.
To make known my belief that you’re living, loving.

…….

Your friends, Lord make known
Your reign’s glorious splendour
Now and for ever

…….

See Psalm 4

Thursday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time. St Ignatius of Antioch

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Before the world was made.
He chose us in Christ.
Our fate is known and laid.
But still for redemption we thirst.

What did St Ignatius of Antioch say.
The Eucharist is the medicine of immortality.
These words at mass seemed like a sunlit ray.
Full of merciful integrity.

A daily feast .
Beyond compare.
How can we resist.
What wipes away every tear.

Holy communion.
With the world in communion.

……

Before we are made
We are all chosen in Christ
Our fate known and laid

…….

See Ephesians 1 : 1-10

Wednesday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time

When self indulgence is at work.
The results are obvious.
We enter into the murk.
Life becomes tedious.What the spirit brings is very different.
Love, joy , peace, kindness.
A true testament.
Of goodness, trustfulness and gentleness.

You cannot belong to Christ Jesus.
Unless you crucify all self indulgent passions.
This is true for all of us.
We can then enter his many mansions.

So easy to write.
But for most of us a distant light.

……

Our self indulgence
Leads to what we know happens
But we have a choice

…..

See Galatians  5: 18-25

Tuesday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time

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Lord , let your love come upon me.
The saving help of your promise.
Help me to understand and to see.
To give more and worry less.

As usual the night time waking started badly.
Worrying about what was going wrong.
Then I started praying for a dead colleague slowly.
He hadn’t been a friend , he sang a different song.

But all this really helped.
We do not entirely exist.
We are with all of humankind shaped.
We are not whole we are like a vanishing mist.

I started to calm down.
And lay my head down.

……

Lord , let your help come
The saving help of promise
For this and all time

…….

See Psalm 119

Monday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time

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High above all the nations is the Lord.
Above the heavens his glory.
The satellites flying above are the heavens signboard.
They reveal our solar system’s story.

Back to back I looked at 2 programs during an evening’s course
The dead planet Mars and the blue planet earth.
This is our most precious resource.
Let’s preserve ourself from dearth.

The elephant struggles from drought.
The seals from too much melting water.
There can be little doubt.
We must look after this planet or they are led to the slaughter.

But how it is all so inspiring .
So we must start caring.

…….

High above nations
The satellites do circle
And they reveal all

……

See Psalm 112

28 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Make us know the shortness of our life.
That we may gain wisdom of heart.
Doubt need not be rife.
We can make a new start.
A colleague has died suddenly.
In an instant he is gone.
All too untimely.
Is he still alive somewhere , is it all a con.
But whatever, death puts everything in perspective.
Why worry overmuch about the present.
Whether we just die or once again live.
This body into death will be sent.
And who are we anyway.
We just have to believe in the life and the way.
…….
The shortness of life
Must give us wisdom of heart
Or we die within
……..

See Psalm 89

Saturday of Week 27 in Ordinary Time

The promise can only be given to those.
With faith in Jesus Christ.
Can we choose , or are we chose.
Will we rise to glory or to oblivion be sacrificed.
I was sitting in the church porch.
Looking at the cemetery.
Wondering how I would carry the torch.
Into death or glory.Here my bones would rest.
What then would I care.
Freed from all worry and zest.
How would I fare.My body here.
My soul , I pray, up there.

……..

But where do we go
Do we just rest in this place
Or is there glory

..  ….

See Galatians 3 : 22-29