Category Archives: General

Tuesday of Week 27 in Ordinary Time

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It is Mary who has chosen the better part.
It is not to be taken away from her.
We cannot know when we will depart.
Or indeed if it will be timely or fair.

But there is no need to assist how we are ended.
In due time it will come naturally.
Just allow me to be well tended.
Before I come to rest finally.

One day all our bustle will cease.
Only prayer then left but tasks to do, a million.
We will leave our crease.
And walk slowly back to the pavilion.

When the final breath comes.
Let me think of you , not count the runs.

——++++—-

The innings is done
The number of runs count not
It’s how we do them

———++++———

See Luke 10,38-42

Monday of Week 27 of Ordinary Time . St Francis of Assisi . 4 October

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The man left his home behind.
Abandoned his inheritance.
Will we escape the daily grind.
Immune to all circumstance.

I would never make myself penniless.
Nor then will I ever be raised up.
We always hold ourselves in readiness.
Refusing the offer of the spiritual cup.

Poverty and humility.
A world away.
Far beyond our meagre ability.
Well , who can say.

But we can look at the steps of the master.
And perhaps we might progress a little faster.

———++++——-

Our humility
Is so many steps away
But we can just try

———++++———

See The Entrance Antiphon of the Mass

27 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Let the little children come.
Do not stop them.
Their voices a gentle hum.
A life force from a small stem.

Teach me to think that  glorious way.
Seeing the world in fresh paint.
In primary reds and greens, lit by the sun’s ray.
All without  worrying restraint.

Let me welcome the kingdom.
Like a little child .
Sensing a simple wisdom.
With nothing defiled.

Do not turn any child away.
They are truly here to stay.

——-++++——

What is most precious.
The life force of all children
However tiny

———++++——

See Mark 10:2-16

Saturday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time


 

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I tell you solemnly unless you change.
And become like little children you will never enter.
All this may seem strange.
But it is pious simplicity at the centre.

Sometimes we must lay aside doubt.
Not agonise over the rational.
Not worry what it’s all about.
Remember it’s emotional.

Consider it all new .
Exciting.
Joyous to view.
Riveting.

Being just little.
Can be a great acquittal.

…….

Welcome the little
It can lead us to greatness
By very small steps

……

See Mattthew 18:1-5,10

Friday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time


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He brought our fathers out of Egypt.
To give us a land where milk and honey flow.
We who are free cannot rewrite the script.
Be we ever so high or low.

I am bidding goodbye to the sea’s eternal gaze.
Why do I find that look so Lovely yet depressing.
Is it because she does not give me plants to raise.
The sea is a desert never blooming.

She rises and falls with the moon.
Caring nothing for our whim.
I will not see her any time soon.
The sun dips beneath her rim.

I miss the green wold.
Full with tale untold.

…………

Our land overflows
Not just with milk and honey
We are truly blessed

……….

See Baruch 1:1-15

Thursday of Week26 in Ordinary Time

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Carry no purse , no haversack, no sandals.
Salute no one on the road.
We need to light no candles.
To keep our prayers flowed.

I was walking the coast path.
The only company sea and sky.
Rain washing away the narrow footpath.
Nothing about me was dry.

There was a lot of slipping
I was waking very slowly.
Not thinking , just concentrating.
On the cliffs far below, nothing holy.

Mindfully walking.
Is as good as praying.

—-+++—-

The sea quiet below
Not a sound from crashing waves
Prayer in itself

—-+++——

See Luke 10: 1-12

Wednesday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time

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You believe just because I saw you under the fig tree.
You will see greater things than that.
Standing at the top of the garden you notice the sea.
Distant , peaceful calm, blue, grey and flat .

I am at Trebah Garden, gently walking, freed from toil.
Here Mediterranean plants prosper , so much to discern.
Nurtured by rich Cornish acid, humid soil.
Hydrangeas, rhubarbs, rubber plants and weeping figs, a fern.

But I was here nearly forty years ago .
With my friend the great Tony Hibbert .
Long before it was open to all the public on the go.
It was a wild neglected jungle , care’s desert.

I think I preferred it then, we were all alone.
But let others enjoy and learn, I must not moan.

—-+++—-

A country garden
Place to quietly meditate
But best be alone

——-+++——

See John 1:47-51

Tuesday ofWeek 26 in Ordinary Time

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Lord, do you want us to call down fire.
To burn them up.
But he rebuked their ire.
And they went to another village to sup.

The light over the sea turned black.
A storm raged in with biting rain.
I walked back grateful for my mack.
This total isolation was my gain.

I took refuge in Pentireglaze.
The orchard’s apples ripening.
The sea’s rage lost to all gaze.
The herb garden contentedly sowing.

And now a glorious sunset rose over the tillage.
I walked in my mind slowly to another village.

—-++++——

Black over the sea.
Rushing towards the shoreline
Retreat then homewards

-—++++—-

See Luke 9:51-56

Monday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time

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Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless.
He will not despise their prayers.
Often our dreams are hapless.
Gloom in layer upon layers.

We look back on our career highs.
And think how little we have lit .
The dark mere is shallow in relation to its size.
But our gaze can not for all that penetrate it,

And then I remembered a prayer to enlighten me.
Guide me , strengthen and console me.
I promise to submit to all that you desire of me.
And to accept to all that you allow to happen to me.

Let me only do your will .
The dark landscape cleared of its own free will.

—-+++—-

Oh Holy Spirit
Beloved of my own soul
I do adore you

—-+++—-

See Psalm 101

26 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Love one another.
As I have loved you.
In the dream’s frustrating smother.
While waking doubts grew.

Thw walk was long watching the clock.
The September sun warming.
We walked to st Enodoc.
The wind was wipping.

We arrived in the quiet church
Passing the flowering evening primrose.
The Eucharist continued its search.
The small congregation rose.

And then we heard John’s gospel.
Perhaps those words were possible.

——++++——

Love one another
But is all this possible
Maybe with some help

——-++++—-

See John 15: 12-13

Saturday of Week 25 of Ordinary Time

I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will console them, give gladness for grief.
Purity can be found in the merest alloy.
Loneliness can turn into relief.

Thirty seven years of marriage to our credit.
A decision with no regret.
It is not I who have any merit.
To this kindest of women I am in debt.

If love is cut short.
And death claims its due.
Is there anything left to court.
Only the memories we knew.

Does beyond lie the emptiness of annihilation.
Or we dearly hope, reunion.

—-+++—-

Marriage does end
Death will always take its due
For reunion

—+++—-

See Jeremiah 31: 10-12, 13

Friday of Week 25 in Ordinary Time

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Who is there left among you .
That saw the temple in its former glory.
The mist grew.
Here is a story.

Glastonbury Tor swam into view.
Rising above the Somerset Levels.
Asking a question of me and you.
Is it just natural or built against devils

What are the mysterious terraces.
What was the origin of the tower.
Out of the ordinary of all holy places.
Exuding a mysterious power.

The car drove by.
History left with a sigh.

—-+++—-

A conical hill
Arises out of the mist
Still a mystery

—-+++—

See Haggai 1:15-2:9

Thursday in Week 25 of Ordinary Time

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Herod had heard about all that was being done by Jesus.
And he was puzzled, and was anxious to meet Jesus.
Perhaps all this also applies to us.
Are we also prepared to make a fuss.

Do we talk out.
Or remain silent.
Dispel doubt
Or just stay quiet.

Perhaps we are puzzled.
Not sure if he is dead.
Content to be muzzled.
Not accepting all we have read.

Herod thought John beheaded
Where was this new man headed.

—-+++—-

Are people puzzled
By what we write say and do
So do we speak out

——++++——

See Luke 9:7-9

Wednesday of Week 25 in Ordinary Time

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I am ashamed.
I blush to lift my face to you.
My pride is still not tamed.
And my fear too.

Nor our greed.
And our ambition.
Will I never take heed.
And give due rendition.

Am I satisfied with just a staff.
And one haversack.
At troubles just to laugh.
And accept all lack.

But I will keep going
Until my due passing.

——++++——

Carry just a staff
And a haversack only
But will we do it

——-++++——-

See Ezra 9:5-9 , Luke 9:5-9

Saint Matthew Apostle 21 September 2021

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It is not the healthy.
Who need the doctor but the sick.
It is not the wealthy.
Who need help but those given a kick.

We are like the tax collector.
Sitting by the customs house.
We don’t have to be a rector.
Or contrarily an unpleasant louse.

We just wait our turn to be called.
Patiently not knowing when it will come.
We can wait for disbelief to be felled.
It can take a lifetime for some.

I am still sitting.
Just hoping, waiting.

——+++—-

We await the call
For some that is a lifetime
Just be patient

—-++++——

See Matthew 9:9-13

Monday of 25 th week in Ordinary Time

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For nothing is hidden,
but it will be made clear.
With faith little is sudden.
And it is down to us, not a seer.

Nothing secret but it will be known.
And brought to light.
Everything is quietly sown.
A distant slowly rising kite.

Do not test your belief in the Deity.
For it is necessarily unknowable.
We are merely questioning laity.
We are only fallible.

But we can read scripture.
As a touch searching the hidden future.

———-+++++——

A torch lights the dark
Scripture too lights the future
It is all we have

——++++——

See Luke 8:16-18

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Da quaesimus omnipotens Pater.
In hunc famulum tuum Presbyterii dignitatem.
Grant we pray almighty father.
To this your servant the dignity of priesthood’s stem.

Innova in visceribus eius spirituum.
Sanctitatis acceptum a te Deus secundi meriti munus obtineat.
Renew deep within him the spirit of holiness’ drum.
May he hold the office, received from you God .and be in your debt.

I am at an ordination.
This solemn moment cannot fail to move.
A young man embarked on a new reunion.
All the rest of lift set in a new holy groove.

Censuramque exemplo suae conversationis insinuet.
And by the example of his manner of life may he inspire right conduct yet.

——-++++—-

A solemn moment.
A man gives up everything
For God whom he trusts

——-++++++——-

See The laying on of hands and Consecratory prayer of an ordination

Saturday of Week 24 in Ordinary Time

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Some fell on the edge of the path.
Some fell on rock.
How can we avoid all wrath.
Emerge from our constant lock.

Will we be cast into the thorns.
Or onto rich soil.
Held between pride’s thorns.
Or made forever whole.

Is our faith weak.
Or entangled by care.
Continuing evermore to seek.
Nothing ever clear.

We pray to be cast not just by the sower’s gait.
But hope that we may be masters of our own fate.

—-+++—-

The path is narrow
Our fate is cast randomly
Can we control it

—-+++—-

See Luke 8: 4-15

Friday in Week 24 of Ordinary Time

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Religion does bring large profits.
But only to those who are content with what they have.
There is more to life than the office.
We should be happy with the small things we have.

Some things make us joyful , some make us cry.
The garden dahlia was blooming.
As beautiful as the church nearby.
Small , insignificant yet rewarding.

We may doubt whether or how we or God exist.
But the dahlia certainly does.
Nature clears away doubt’s mist.
Here is no gainful buzz.

The moment brought no profits.
But was certainly better than the office.

——+++++——

Garden dahlia.
Deep light reds greens and orange
A spiritual moment

———-+++++++——

See 1 Timothy 6:2-12

Thursday of Week 24 in Ordinary Time

Butterfly on Rudbeckia

 

 

You have within you a spiritual gift.
Which was given to you when the prophets spoke .
You can be saved from all drift.
The future is not hidden by some impenetrable cloak.

It can come in any moment.
Today a butterfly landed on my book.
A Red Admiral for a second freed from movement.
I scarcely had time to look.

We do not have to think hard about this.
We do not have to take great care on how we advance.
The spiritual moment need not be bliss.
But in nature pierces like a Lance .

The butterfly’s orange black tints are gone now.
But a thought remains as it rests on another bough.

——++++———-

A butterfly lands
A spiritual moment
But it is soon gone

———++++++—-

See 1 Timothy 4: 12-16

Our Lady of Sorrows 15 September

 

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Woman this is your son.
This is your mother .
He looked to the soon darkened sun.
And the Stabat Mater.

The cost of love is suffering.
We love though it brings pain.
Lamenting and weeping.
Always  we reach the end of the lane.

Because we all die .
Without suffering if lucky
Every knot will untie.
But not alone if lucky.

So look after each other .
As we were looked after by our mother.

————-

In death do we die
We cannot know the answer
We have each other

—————-

See John 19: 25-27

Tuesday in Week 24 of Ordinary Time . The Exultation of the Holy Cross 14 September


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Yet he who is full of compassion.
Forgave them their sin.
They showed no compunction.
They were determined to win.

He turned hatred into love.
Death into life .
The true dove.
The answer to the knife .

He came not to condemn.
But to save.
Even to them.
He only gave.

The dead wood we see.
Became the living tree.

……….

It was only wood
It became a living tree.
To save all mankind

……..

See John 3: 13-17

Monday in Week 24 of Ordinary Time

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Do not put yourself to trouble.

Because I am not worthy to have you under my roof.
We are happy enough in our own bubble .
Only too happy to stand aloof.
Every time we take communion.
Can we be like the centurion.
Expecting no reunion.
Content just to be in union.
Just ask for the word to be given.
And we will be cured.
Not even having to be striven.
But then restored.
If only we had faith like this.
Nothing would we miss.
……..
I am not worthy
To have you under my roof
Only give the word
……….
See Luke 7:1-10
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Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Someone who has never done a single good act.

But claims he had faith , will that faith save him.
I have not done my full quota , that’s a fact.
And my faith would hardly add up to much of a hymn.
Is faith dead without good acts.
I cannot believe so .
They are a pair and  those are the facts.
Whether we believe ourselves high or low.
Who do we think he is .
That is the key question .
If we can answer yes he is.
Nothing else needs a mention.
Can we honestly say he is more than a prophet.
That is  the greatest of all profit .
………..
Is he a prophet
Or is he much more than that
That is what matters
…,,.,,,,,.,
See Mark 8:27-35
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Friday in Week 23 of Ordinary Time

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Jesus came into the world to save sinners
I am the greatest of them.

As for sin am I  just one of the runners and riders.
From what does all of this stem.
Paul could safely describe himself of the greatest of sinners .
Nobody did or would believe the Saint.
We cannot in this race be winners.
It all smells of cant.
I’m on the foothills of sin.
A sort of mediocre sinner .
Certainly a lot worse than him.
But better than many another.
Better not to be outstanding in anything.
Even the pleasure of sinning.
……….
Mediocre sin
Is usually just our lot
But better that way
……….
See 1 Timothy 1: 15 -17
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