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Tuesday of Week 3 in Ordinary Time

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Your mother and your sisters are outside.
He replied who are my bothers and sisters.
Perhaps we should start with the view that all are onside.
That there are as many good people as beautiful vistas.

Anyone who does the will of God.
That person is my brother and sister.
We should all surely be awed.
As we look on our own vista.

I was watching a program about older people in love .
They seemed to be so happy in each others company.
Maybe too we can  fly like  a dove.
We can all be somebody .

Love achieves so much
We know so little and not really much.

……

Who are my brothers
Are they not everybody
Part of one body

……..

See Mark 3 : 31-35

Monday of Week 3 in Ordinary Time

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If a kingdom is divided against itself.
It cannot stand.
Perhaps we should think less of self
More of the common good at hand.

All men’s’ sins will be forgiven.
And all their blasphemies.
So perhaps there is hope we will be striven.
Despite all our infamies.

But we need to stand together.
However much we disagree.
Our differences are merely a floating feather.
Cast upon a turbulent sea.

One day we will see all this.
But only when at death we receive the Lord’s kiss.

…….

Kingdoms divided
Will certainly fall apart
So we must take care

…….

See Mark 3 : 22-30

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

God is close at hand.
Repent and believe the Good News.
But where do we stand.
What truly are our views.As I walked into Vespers this evening.
The alto cantor was singing the Our Father.
Suddenly my mind was resting.
I did not need to go any further.

The words were so soothing.
So manifestly true and inspiring.
And so in that moment arriving.
There was for a short time no need for more doubting.

There was no need for zest.
I was at rest.

…….

Singing Our Father
Just listening was enough
And just accepting

……..

See Mark 1: 14-20

Saturday in week 2 in Ordinary Time

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Jesus went home and such a crowd collected.
That they could not even have a meal.
On hearing this I recollected.
What was false and real.

His relatives set out to take charge of him.
Convinced he was out of his mind.
Against the tide we swim.
Do we truly see or are we blind.

When I heard of him calling his disciples by the lake.
I felt that we were being called too.
That we should do something for his sake.
And that is a pledge we would not rue.

But perhaps others think we are out of our mind.
Who knows , is it us or them who are blind.

…….

We think we are called
Or are we out of our mind
We just do not know

…….

See Mark 3: 20-21

Friday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time

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So they came to him snd he appointed twelve.
They were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach.
Like them we wander and we for truth delve.
Maybe just to ponder and not necessarily to teach.

Ita Missa Est.
Translated As Go The Mass is Ended.
But actually Go It Is Sent meaning us, est.
Perhaps he is sent or are we sended.

So at the end of Mass do we forget.
Or do we think of it for the rest of the day.
Remain calm or break out in a sweat.
Or perhaps better occasionally pray.

We walk out pondering.
Remembering, hoping.

…….

Ita Missa Est
And Go the Mass is Ended
Or just it is sent

…….

See Mark 3 : 13-19

Thursday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time

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In God I trust.
I shall not fear .
We will not just end up as dust.
We are not just here.

In the 1994 film Miracle on 34th Street, a one dollar note is produced.
It bears the words, In God  We Trust.
Some beliefs whether in Santa Claus or God cannot be induced.
We just have to take them on trust.

Of David , Saul was jealous
Jonathan persuaded him to forgive.
And we too must be loving not just zealous.
If so we will not die , we will live.

But in God we must trust.
That maybe is a must.

……..

In God do we trust
And with that we shall not fear
But of course we do

……..

See Psalm 55 and 1 Samuel 18

Wednesday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time

Stretch out your hand.
He stretched it out and it was better.
We seek out a spiritual land.
Where we will no longer merely be a debtor.
When we are beset with possible tragedy.
Everything else falls into perspective.
We just need to count our blessings thankfully.
And be reflective.It helps to pray.
Stand before Mary.
Petitions to lay.
Burdens she will help carry.

Time may heal.
And it may turn, the wheel.

…….

Just stretch out your hand
If we do so it’s better
Or that’s what we hope

…….

See Mark 3 : 1-6

Tuesday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time

Why are they doing something on the Sabbath day.
That is forbidden.
Ah, but what  is the way.
To what we ask , are we really bidden.
So there was something  I really wanted to do.
That I could not.
It was frustrating that this I knew.
How could I untie the mind’s knot.
I remembered the words of Galadriel when she resisted.
I have passed the test, I will diminish go into the West.
And thus in my resolve I felt assisted.
And to fate I could leave the rest.
We think , submitting to our will.
We can do good but it may be better to remain still.
…….
I have passed the test
And I will diminish now
It’s for the better
…….
See Mark 2: 23-28

Monday of Week 2 of Ordinary Time

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Why is it that John’s  disciples fast.
And yours do not.
Shall the first be last.
What will be our lot.

Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of fasting.
While the bridegroom is still with them.
Nothing is ever lasting.
But we will find eventually some comfort crumb.

I am watching Call The Midwife.
A simple tale of love despite poverty.
What’s important is not what you have but what you give in life.
And be imbued with simple sincerity.

The first may well end up last
And the last first.

…….

Should we be fasting
Perhaps it’s better giving
And also being

…….

See mark 2: 18-22

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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As John stood with two of his disciples Jesus passed.
John stared at him and said there is the lamb of God.
And what would we do if we were asked.
Even if by his side we trod.

Why do we measure ourselves against others.
Could we not just feel part of the same whole.
We wrap ourselves in these jealous tethers.
And dig ourselves deeper in an anxious hole.

Can we not just look at others as we look at a sunset.
Marvelling at its beauty and timelessness.
Not trying to be by it won or beset.
Not pursued by restlessness.

When in the night sky we marvel at Venus.
We do not say it is less or greater than us.

……..

Looking at others
We should sunset staring
Not just comparing

…….

See John 1: 35-42

Saturday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time

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It is not the healthy that need the doctor.
But the sick.
And perhaps the not so proper
And the not so quick.

All suffering or dissatisfaction.
Arises from a mistaken understanding.
That we are a separate and distinct self in tension.
I think of the Buddha’s words often even if they’re demanding.

We are so self judgmental.
But we need to free ourselves from our ego.
We are part of something monumental.
A universe where there is no ego.

If only we could learn to see.
We could burst free.

……

All this suffering
Comes from our sense of ego
But we can feel free

…….

See Mark 2: 13-17

Friday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time

When they had made an opening.
They lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay.
We wonder how we will find our own healing.
And we do not know the way.
The paralytic like us had to be carried.
He did not even asked to be healed.
We too often need to be ferried.
Before our fate is sealed.
I had not wanted to do some work.
And then I remembered how he cured the paralytic.
Doubts always lurk.
My senses are so arthritic.
I need his inspiration ongoing.
Just to keep going.
…….
An opening made
And a stretcher was lowered
But is it for us
……..
See Mark 2 : 1-12

Thursday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time

If you want to, you can cure me.
Of course , Jesus replied , I want to, be cured.
But do we ask for the right thing, for our soul to be free.
Or just to be reassured.We won’t  always  be given what we ask for.
It may not smooth our path to heaven.
We may by attracted not by truth but the lure.
So much of what we want is mere digression.

The leprosy left him at once.
And he was cured.
And what we suffer from may leave us at once.
But do we need to go without even if long endured.

Do we ask for what helps the soul.
Or is it really about the body and nothing about the soul.

……

What do we ask for
Really, is it the right thing
Or just what we want

………

See Mark 1: 40-45

Wednesday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time

The Lord called Samuel, Samuel.
He answered here I am.
Who calls , how can we tell.
Is it God’s lamb.How often do we lie awake at night.
What calls do we receive.
We cannot tell the night from the call of the light .
Is this punishment or reprieve.

Samuel answered , Speak.
Your servant is listening.
And thus we are told how to seek.
And to whom we are answering.

And thus the call comes as light.
Dispelling the perils of the night.

…….

When the Lord does call
How do we answer this call
It is as servant

…..

See 1 Samuel 3

Tuesday of Week 1 of Ordinary Time

Here is a teaching that is new.
And with authority.
And yet we increasingly are not the many but the few.
Filled with temerity.What is the Greek for authority.
It is exousia or power.
But he does not exude superiority.
His is as delicate as a flower.

The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions.
And with a loud cry went out of him.
Thus he releases all tensions.
Nothing will deter him.

If we have faith to seek.
We must surely speak.

…….

It’s a new teaching
It’s filled with authority
And a new power

…….

See Mark 1: 21-28

The Baptism of the Lord

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Come to the water , all you who are thirsty.
Why spend money on what is not bread.
The way surely is mercy.
Our minds are after all read.

What is baptism.
But the annihilation of previous sin.
Or is all this mere escapism.
I think it’s more a way to win.

Water is soothing.
It washes away imperfections.
The past diffusing.
A sense of new directions.

But like John do we accept.
Or question and reject.

……

When baptism comes
Do we accept the witness
Or question it

…..

See Isaiah 55: 1-11

The Epiphany of the Lord

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The nations come to your light.
And Kings to your dawning brightness.
And yet often he seems tantalisingly out of sight.
As if it was too great , his very lightness.

Sometimes a  nagging depression  descends.
Of course we can go for a good walk.
We can realise that life doesn’t give, only lends.
Or we can meditate more and give up the talk.

But still like the Kings on a journey.
We seek a distant star .
The road twists and is all too thorny
We are like the three kings of Orient are.

Born is the King of Israel.
Let’s be content in the now, the future we cannot tell.

…….

When depression comes.
We can talk less and think more
And follow our star

…….

See Isaiah 60: 1-6

6 January

We accept the testimony of human witnesses.
But God’s testimony is much greater.
Yet still we are only left with vague images.
As we search for the creator.

And this is God’s testimony.
Given as evidence for his son.
We don’t ask for ceremony.
As we search for the ultimate one.

Everybody who believes in the son of God.
Has this testimony within him.
It’s as if we are spiritually shod.
We know that this is no whim.

Perhaps we need something to search for.
Is there something there , we do not know.

We stand in front of a shut door.
But that is no excuse for feeling low.

……

If the door is shut
How then will we ever know
If God is behind

…….

See 1 John 5 : 5-13

5 January

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God is greater than our conscience.
And he knows everything.
What is this strange sense.
Is it everything or nothing.

Is our conscience the voice of God.
Or is it the mere rattling of nervous  electricity.
Let it be a spiritual lightning rod.
Guarding against all  mendacity.

I wonder if we can have a Tom Bombadil type freedom.
Just taking delight in nature.
Not constrained by time , accepting all as a Te Deum.
Taking solace in song., not worrying about what is  the lessor or greater.

And as Nathanial just accepted.
We will have received.

…….

What is conscience
It’s truly the voice of God
Or that’s what we hope

……..

See 1 John 3 : 11-21

4 January

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Rabbi, they answered , where do you live.
Come and see Jesus replied.
It doesn’t  give much away as to whether we thrive.
Where we reside.

But a better question to ask.
Is how do we live.
That is our task.
Can we pass through the spiritual sieve.

It may be in the smallest things.
That we pass the test.
Not grand gestures are needed to complete these rings.
Nor whether we worry more or lest.

But at the call, did we stand up and follow.
Out of our comfortable hollow.

…….

How do we answer
The question posed to us
As to how we live

…….

See John 1 : 35-42

The Most Holy Name of Jesus

What we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed.
All we know is that when it is revealed we will be like him.
Probably already our fate is sealed.
But we cannot see over the celestial rim.The horseman  was far away.
I could barely make him out in the winter twilight.
Thus so much we pray for seems far away.
Indistinct , fleeting , too little light.

The image was beautiful , reassuring .
In control the rider passed on behind a tree.
Thus our hopes and insights are fleeting.
One moment we are entranced then we cannot see.

But we can treasure the memory.
And put it on our mind’s directory.

……..

Horseman riding by
Merely a fleeting image
But reassuring

…..

See 1 John 2 :

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2 nd January

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What is promised to you by his own promise.
Is eternal life.
When it comes to all this I am a doubting Thomas.
Doubts surge but hope is rife.

We worry about our body’a demanding lie.
Resting it, feeding it , obeying its demand.
But one thing is certain , it will die.
Very soon now annihilation is at hand.

We hope that the soul will survive.
But we spend so little time pampering it.
We’re obsessed with whether we will thrive.
But what is I or we , what is it.

We really do not know.
So we go undemanding , unquestioning with the flow.

……..

What is his promise
It is nothing less than life
And it’s eternal

……..

See 1 John 2 : 22-28

Mary the Mother of God , 1 January

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May the Lord Bless you.
And keep you.
And I hope all others too.
And my family too.

From Numbers, a good greeting.
All we really need for this New Years  day.
As we ponder the year while resting.
And hope for a blessing.

If we ask her.
Does Mary ever say no.
She knows what’s fair.
And will always help us go with the flow.

But we have to ask.
And she will help us in any task.

…….

May the Lord bless you
And keep you with all others
That’s what we hope for

…….,

See Numbers 6: 22-27

The Holy Family

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It was by faith that Abraham set out,
Not knowing  where he was going.
We though are plagued by doubt.
Pausing , questioning not reaping.

It was by faith that Sarah was able to conceive.
In spite of being past the age.
If only we were open we could all hope receive.
But against fate we rage.

It was by faith that Abraham offered up Isaac.
He was confident that God had even power to raise the dead.
If only we were content with what we have rather than lack.
So much of our unhappiness could finally be laid.

But always we have this nagging feeling.
But we must have confidence in our ultimate healing.

……..

By faith he set out
And yet Abraham arrived
And so too will we

……..

See Hebrews 11: 8

30 th December

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Nothing the world had to offer.
Could ever come from the father.
Of course you can be an unrepentant scoffer.
But the word gets us further.
I had a bad dream .
I couldn’t  find a child in my responsibility.
But things are not what they seem.
What a relief to wake up to actuality.
When a really bad dream happens.
We realise how lucky we really are.
And that things are not really so bad as one imagines.
Worry is near , real disasters are usually far.
And anyway what the world has to offer.
Cannot compete with what the father can proffer………The world can offer
So much less than the father
Let’s just be grateful

……..

See 1 John 2 : 12-17