Category Archives: General

Wednesday of the 3rd week in Ordinary Time

He sends out his word to the earth.
And swiftly runs his command.
We ask what we are worth.
And how we will hold on to truth’s strand.
St Jerome said the Gospel is the body of Christ.
The holy scriptures are his teaching.
As usual I was plagued by doubt, are we sacrificed.
Is our soul dead,  pass to another body , or go on living.
And then in my dream I seemed to see the scriptures.
As a light on the truth.
I saw it in my mind’s eye as reassuring pictures.
For this instant, I recovered the certainty of youth.
And then I woke up.
And doubts rose up.……

What is the Gospel
It is the body of Christ
And it’s his teaching

……

See Psalm 147

Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent

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Oh, do not abandon us for ever.
For the sake of your name.
Help us in our endeavour.
Keep alive in us the flame.
Do not repudiate your covenant.
Do not withdraw your favour.
Help us to see the ultimate.
And to know who is our saviour.
May it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly.
Those who put their trust in you will not be disappointed.
Let us never act coldheartedly.
For the hour that we will meet you is appointed.
We only hear your voice faintly.
But treat us , we pray, gently
…….
Abandon not us
Help us in our endeavour
Keep alive the flame
…. ..
See Daniel 3 :25, 34-43

Monday of the 3 rd week of Lent

No prophet is ever accepted.
In his own country.
What matter if we are feted or despised.
If we proceed with pride or humbly.
Fast from the self, the I.
Take our place in the cosmos.
Piece the illusion of the present tie.
What matter is it what we gain or whether suffer loss.
Take out an anonymous place with the wind.
Strive, through meditation, to forget ourself.
Pierce the illusion of the daily grind.
We are in reality all or any self.
But as much as we try to do this
Daily reality kicks in to trump this bliss.……

All is illusion.
Fast from the self and the I
Illusions return

…….

See Luke 4: 24-30

3rd Sunday of Lent

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Harden not your hearts as at Meribah.
As on that day at Massah in the desert.
And like them we are short sighted, we can’t see far.
Or follow our own guiding star.
Another prayer for Lent.
Fast from complaining and start accepting.
But it’s our lot to allow our happiness to be rent.
Perhaps because  we always are to others comparing.
Tormented by thirst the people complained against Moses.
Why did you bring us out of Egypt.
Of course our life is not a bed of roses.
We are wandering in our own desert out of Egypt.
Will we find the promised land.
Or just up amidst the trackless sand.
…….
Fast from complaining
And start accepting for once
Or give it a go
……..
See Exodus 17 : 3-7

Saturday of the 2 nd week of Lent

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Your brother here was dead and has come to life.

He was lost and is found
Thus can we hope for the end of strife.
And our efforts crowned .
Another thought for lent
Fast for fear of illness and decay .
That tooth hurts , a muscle rent.
It seems to get worse every day.
But what was lost will eventually be found.
Whether in this life or the next .
We will no longer be aground.
Ultimately all is balances and checks.
But oh, it still hurts.
I suppose we get our just desserts.
……
Fast from fear of death
But illness and decay too
They always come first
…..
See Luke 15: 1-3 , 11-32

Friday of the 2nd week of Lent

Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons.
For he was the son of his old age.
By the end of our innings we may not have scored many runs.

And soon we will leave the stage.

I am composing another lent prayer.
Fast from fear of death , the soul lives on.
But one thing is constant , fear.
Fear of failure , of illness, old age , it goes on and on.

But everywhere , there are children.
We are merely the rain drop running down.
They all will become women and men.
And they will go on swimming as gently we drown.

But Joseph was rescued and prospered.
And we too will prosper after we have passed.

……

If we fast from fear
And know the soul will pass on
There is always hope

……

See Genesis 37

Thursday of the 2nd week in Lent

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He is like a tree by the waterside.
That thrusts its roots to the stream.
We have a choice as to our guide.
We can do something or we can dream.

There was a rich man who used to dress in purple.
And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus.
Perhaps we too are too hierarchical.
We always think not of others but us.

I often wonder if I will end up like the rich man.
After all he did nothing wrong just nothing.
So what is our redemptive plan.
Ignoring , despising , or helping and understanding.

Then of course , all this we are constantly noting.
And then we do nothing.

…….

Then the rich man dies
And Lazarus goes heavenward
And where do we go

…….

See Jeremiah 17 : 5-10 and Luke 16 : 19-31

Wednesday of the 2nd week of Lent

 

 

 

 

 
Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink.

They replied we can.
Sometimes we feel we are on the brink.
Nothing seems to go to plan.

I can think of a twelfth prayer following Francis’ advice.

Fast from depression and embrace enthusiasm.
We seemed called to sacrifice.
We look into a dark chasm.
But then we shake ourselves out of torpor.
And try to be a bit more merry.
We listen and hear the celestial harper.
Nothing is for ever , all is temporary.
He gave us all he had.
Do we have a right to be sad.
……..
Fast from depression
Embrace enthusiasm
All’s temporary
……..
See Matthew 20 : 17-28

Tuesday of the 2nd week of Lent

Hear the word of the Lord.
Listen to the command of our God.
Hear the spiritual musical chord.
So may we be awed.
The eleventh prayer of Francis is now reached.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.
Thus we are beseeched.
Now with new faith we can christen.
But we love speaking so much.
Anyway listening tests our patience.
We say how else to keep in touch.
How else to make clear our presence.
So even if we make a vow to be silent.
Our thoughts seldom remain silent.
…….
Fast  from many words
be silent so to listen
But we keep talking
……..

See Isaiah 1 : 10, 16-20

Monday of the 2 nd week of Lent

Be compassionate as your father is compassionate.
Do not judge and you will not be judged.
We can be angry just  because they are late.
Or perhaps because they have not budged.
I am trying to do Francis’ tenth prayer.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
If only we could do this we would be relieved from care.
If only all these irritations could be filed.
Of course we will not succeed.
We can only try.
Even if we don’t do the deed.
But we will not lie.
We nurture  all these grudges.
But we should know we are not the judges.
……..
Fast  then from grudges
Be reconciled to others
That must be the way
…….
See Luke 6: 36-38

2nd Sunday in Lent

The Lord said to Abram, leave your country.
I will make you a great nation.
Have we the courage to seek another spiritual  country.
Or we wedded to our own mind’s nation.The ninth prayer of Pope Francis.
Fast from selfishness, be compassionate to others.
For what really enhances.
Is it our interest or that of others

We are tied with a great anchor to our ego.
But what we ask are we.
What in truth is our credo.
We do not know, however often we make this plea.

What if we are less in the world , less selfish.
And more other worldly more elvish.

…….

Fast from selfishness
And be compassionate
To all the others

……

See Genesis 12: 1-4

Saturday of the 1st week of Lent

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He causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good.
And his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.
I should have known this from my boyhood.
Perhaps we should be more trusting, childlike.
I am praying Francis’ eighth piece of advice.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Value, we feel is rated less than price.
Our efforts unrewarded by lesser alloy.
But why worry about what others do.
Or what they are given.
To appreciate that we have enough is the clue.
That we may not succeed,  but we have striven.
Bitterness is so corrosive.
Let’s just live.
…….
Fast from bitterness.
Try to fill your heart with joy
Perhaps that may help
……
See Matthew 5 : 43-48

Friday of Week 1 in Lent

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If the upright man renounces his integrity.
Copies the wicked man, is he to live.
Is this going to be our destiny.
How are we to thrive and forgive.
I am on the seventh prayer of Francis for Lent.
Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
All these seem a new advent rather than a lament.
Teaching us to reach out , not just be careful.
We can try our best all our lives.
And fall at the last.
The bad man is forgiven and thrives.
Whereas we feel the full righteous blast.
We just always have to try our best.
And leave all the pressures to the rest.
……
Fast from our pressures
And always be prayerful
Then enjoy some rest
…..
See Ezekiel 18 : 21-28

Thursday of the 1st week of Lent

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Come to my help for I am alone.
And have no helper but you.
How may I atone.
What is the clue.
I am now trying Francis’ sixth prayer.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
But still I am struggling with care.
Of course always looking for felicity.
We are always complaining in our mind.
Why this has happened to me, why that.
Maybe instead we should concentrate on being kind.
And pick ourselves off the mat.
I wonder if the key to felicity.
Really is simplicity.
……..
Fast from all complaints
Contemplate simplicity
That must be the key
…….
See Esther 4 : 17

St David

All I can say is that I forget the past.
And I strain ahead for what is to come..
Nothing bad need necessarily last.
And what seems large may turn out no than a crumb.I am thinking about Francis’ fifth prayer.
Fast from worries and trust in God.
Look at everything as just part of another layer.
For which we must assume we are well shod.

But worries just keep coming.
However hard we try to meditate.
They are beyond all reasoning.
Not just part of inevitable fate.

So keep trusting
Not fathoming.

……

Fasting from worries.
And trusting also in God
That’s all we can do

……..

See Philippians 3 : 8-14

Tuesday of the 1st week of Lent

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The Lord rescues the just in all their distress.
Look towards him and be radiant.
We have to be content with less.
We are after all not finished, we are extant.
I am looking at the the fourth prayer of the Pope.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
And indeed the prayer itself gives me new hope.
It seems to lead me up from a descending slope.
I suppose it’s a glass half full, half empty thing.
Most events can be looked at either way.
Or it’s the length of a piece of string.
Nobody else can help , only we can say.
A door that  abruptly closes.
Always opens, sometimes with roses.
…….
To be filled with hope
We must fast from pessimism
That’s not so easy
…….
See Psalm 33

Monday of the 1st week of Lent

You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts.
You must pass judgment on your neighbour according to justice.
We cannot just rely on our own edicts.
Or to tolerate injustice.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Is the third prayer of Francis for Lent.
But how often are we filled with impatience.
Giving anger full vent .
We try to do better .
But it surges up in an instant.
For that moment patience is a dead letter.
Disappearing into the distance.
Pray let be me be patient .
Even if I just achieve it during Lent .
…….
Fasting from anger
And being filled with patience
That’s not so easy
…..
See Leviticus 19: 1-2 , 11-18

First Sunday in Lent

 

 

 

It is even more certain that divine grace.
Coming through Christ came to so many as an abundant free gift.
I try to put the second of Francis’ prayers in place.
To stop into depression, any drift.

 

 

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He says, fast  from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
That’s the key, be happy with what we have.
All we need to lift our mood.
It’s a soothing salve.

So away with any sadness.
But we can never just wish it away.
It often seems to trump gladness.
It’s difficult to keep at bay.

Perhaps we can’t do it on our own.
We have to ask him for it as a loan.

……

Fast now from sadness
And be filled with gratitude
That must be the way

…….

See Romans 5 : 12-19

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

If you do away with the clenched fist, the wicked word
Your light will arise in the darkness.
Fast from hurting words and say a kind word.
This is the first exhortation of Francis in this wilderness.
But how easy it is to criticise.
Rather than than advise
Or commend as we politicise.
Or encourage to the skies.
How often do we turn away.
Or ignore.
Embarrassed to mean what we say.
And make for the door.
We don’t need to be nasty
We can just be eager to get away , hasty.
……
Saying a kind word
We may not want to do it
But it is worthwhile
… ….
See Isaiah 58 : 9-14

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Fasting like yours today.
Will never make your voice heard on high.
But we can at least pray.
And look ourselves in the eye.
I like Pope Francis’ exhortations.
They somehow seem possible to do.
And they are true foundations.
A sort of inspiring glue.
Less sadness.
Less pessimism.
Less selfishness.
Certainly that’s not sophism.
Perhaps more compassion.
And less fashion.
……
What to do in Lent
Give up something physical
Or doing some good
……
See Isaiah 58 : 1-9

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine.
Take up his cross .
Lord , take me over the line.
And be a little happier and less cross.
I am reminded of Pope Francis’ prayer.
Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude’s prayer.
Fast from anger and be filled with patient words.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and have trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity in hope
Fast from pressures and be prayerful to God.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others in joy.…….

Fast then from grudges
And be reconciled always
Fast from many words.

….

And pray be silent
So that you can then listen
Now and for ever

…….

See Luke 9  : 22-25

Ash Wednesday

Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn.
Turn to the Lord your God again.
We needn’t look careworn.
As we celebrate his everlasting reign.
Who knows if he will not turn again, will not relent.
Will not leave a blessing as he passes.
Leaving us to lament.
However many are our masses.
Proclaim a solemn assembly.
Call the people together.
But will we be granted entry.
And will we be altogether.
Sound the trumpet .
We will be well met .
……
Our hearts are broken
But our garments remain whole
And we will still fast
…….
See Joel 2 : 12-18

Tuesday of Week 7 in Ordinary Time

If anyone wants to be first.
He must make himself last of all and servant of all.
Is this what for we thirst.
Or do we resist the call .
Be sincere of heart and be steadfast.
And do not be alarmed when disaster comes.
What is our answer, we have been asked.
The question is not shouted out but comes in hums.
Whatever happens to you, accept it.
And in the uncertainties of your humble self be patient.
Start by following holy writ.
But of course in the end, we are impatient.
We may be tested in the furnace of humiliation.
But we are all equally just part of creation.
……..
Are we patient
And are we also humble
Of course we are not
…….
See Mark9 : 30-37 and Ecclesiasticus 2 : 1-11

Monday of Week 7 in Ordinary Time

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The sand of the sea and the raindrops.
And the days of eternity , who can assess them.
And  often there are  falling teardrops.
But here is a true everlasting  gem.

The height of the sky and the breadth of the earth.
Who can probe them.
But with all this comes new birth.
We can only sound the welcome drum.

Before all other things wisdom was created.
Shrewd understanding is everlasting.
Ultimately all things are weighted.
Before we even begin fasting.

For whom has the root of wisdom ever been uncovered.
If from God we are severed.

…….

Who can probe the sea
Or measure he breath of earth
All things are weighted

…….

See Ecclesiasticus 1 : 1-10

7 th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts.
He knows how useless they are.
But we can untie all their knots.
Leaving we hope less of a scar.
So this week when I think of something negative.
I remember Nam myoho  renge kyo.
And somehow I feel less restive.
I can the more easily go with the flow.
We must learn to be a fool.
Before we can be considered wise.
It’s not easy to follow this difficult school.
But this is where we meet fewer lows, more highs.
Meanwhile put these revolving thoughts to rest.
And then we might be less stressed.
…….
What then of our thoughts
Are they really useless
That is up to us
……
See 1 Corinthians 3 : 16-23