Category Archives: General

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

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This, they said, is intolerable language.
How could anyone accept it.
But still we try and engage.
The lamp will not go out , it is for all time lit.

You have the message of eternal life.
And we believe.
Reading these words of Peter gives us new life.
Now at last we too can believe.

Peter could say .
You are the holy one.
And we too can say.
You are the holy one.

Give, we pray, us true belief.
So that we can have lasting relief.

……..

You have the message
It’s one of eternal life
Now we can believe

…….

See John 6 : 60-69

Saturday of Week 20 in Ordinary Time

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He showed me Jerusalem , the holy city.
It glittered like some crystal clear diamond.
A place here of love and pity .
And far beyond.

The walls of it were of great height.
And had twelve gates.
Giving us new sight.
And inspired new fates.

That city is not far away.
It is here now in our mind.
If we will allow the present to hold sway.
And to forget the daily memory grind.

There is a city on a nearby hill.
It is here and in a mind that is still.

…….

See Jerusalem
It is not so far away
It’s here in the mind

…….

See Apocalypse 21: 9-14

Friday of Week 20 in Ordinary Time

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The Lord set me down in a valley.
A valley full of bones.
Does God exist really.
Is he master of all the thrones.

We enter a dark night.
The soul does not exist.
Nothing we were taught is right.
Truth , what is it , is hidden in mist.

Our bones will rot.
No one will remember.
This is our final lot.
It falls like the nighttime chill of November.

But deep somewhere.
Is hope , a spirit arising out of fear.

…….

We pass the valley
It is full of rotting bones
But surely there’s hope

…….

See Ezekiel 37 : 1-14

Thursday of Week 20 in Ordinary Time

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One man was not wearing a wedding garment.
How did you get in here, the King asked.
How do we prevent our own descent.
For our real future is masked.

 

But what is meant by the wedding garment.
Is it our original soul.

Have we forgotten what we were meant to be.
Have we rejected the truth, our soul.

Many are called.
But few are chosen.
We have been called
But will we be chosen.

Have we forgotten.
We are begotten.

……..

Our wedding garment
We are asked is it our soul
But we do not know

…….

See Matthew 22 : 1-14

Wednesday of Week 20 in Ordinary Time

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If I should walk in the valley of darkness.
No evil should I fear.
Coming to mass, everything seemed less.
I shed an inward tear.

Then I listened to the twenty second psalm
Near restful waters he leads me.
To revive my drooping spirit, I was calm.
I was in a better place than me.

I sat in the small yard in London.
Looking at the new huge extension next door.
So I just changed the direction of the chair to no longer look on.
Every way, but that way, the sky, the wall, even the floor.

We can always lift the spirit, we say.
If we just start again and look away.

……

We walk in darkness
But he leads us by water
We have to look there

……

See Psalm 22

Tuesday of Week 20 in Ordinary Time

With this your heart has grown arrogant.
I am going to bring foreigners against you.
You will become an embarrassment.
Your fate is written down, if only you knew.We think too much of ourselves.
We are too conscious of our own ego.
Therein lies our disappointment in ourselves.
And leads to the suffering ego.

Everyone who has left brothers , sisters for my sake.
Will inherit eternal life.
We just have to give rather than to take.
And free ourselves from our own internal  strife.

But if we choose , for his sake,  not to leave everything.
We may well end up in the next with nothing.

…….

Are we arrogant
And too conscious of ourselves
That’s the normal way

…….

See Ezekiel 28 : 1-10 and Matthew 19 : 23-30

Monday of Week 20 in Ordinary Time

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You are not to lament.
Not to weep , not to let your tears run down.
For the tree was my lament.
Its branches cut down.

So often had I looked through the west window.
Its branches gently swaying.
Now the machines had cut them low.
Were they still alive, growing.

Yes the tree will live.
Paired of the rotten branches.
It will now thrive.
Given in its long life new chances.

In our life if our hopes are pruned.
Somehow new life will be resumed.

……

Do not lament
Nor weep, not let tears run down
For you will survive

…..

See Ezekiel 24: 15-24

20 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Anyone who eats this bread.
Will live for ever.
So it is, by the Lord, said.
Faith never to sever.
For my flesh is real food.
And my blood is real drink.
But creeping doubt we cannot elude.
Into endless questioning , we ask, will we sink.
But if we doubt.
Where is the point of the mass.
If only we could put question to rout.
What joy we would have in the mass.
Just believe.
And in faith receive.…….

If we eat this bread
We will then live for ever
But we must have faith

…..

See John 6: 51-58

Saturday of Week 19 in Ordinary Time

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The fathers have eaten unripe grapes.
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.
We wander forgotten in distant landscapes.
Truth hidden by an impenetrable mental  hedge.

But by the light of the sea.
We can see a little further.
We may not hear or understand but we can see.
Here we are free , not some mere time server.

What is about the sea that frees us slaves.
That transports us to another country.
Is it the relentless, lapping, sound blessed waves.
We seem here to belong to no century.

Time here is not of  the essence.
Only our physical sense.

…..

We eat unripe grapes
And our teeth are set on edge
Yet we have the sea

…….

See Ezekiel 18 : 1-10, 13, 30-32

Friday of Week 19 in Ordinary Time

You were as unloved.
As on the day you were born.
Rejected , abandoned, shoved.
But not for all time , forsworn.I prayed again during the night to the blessed.
But this time a blank , the dream a dark void, no answer , silence.
Perhaps he was helping another wretched.
Do I have always to ask , can I not wait in silence.

I wonder if the saints watch out.
Waiting to help some poor soul.
Can they help more than one from despair to climb out.
Yes they regard equally surely every soul.

They are always there for us.
But not of course only us.

…….

So we were unloved
As on the day we were born
But perhaps not now

…. .

See Ezekiel 16

The Assumption of Our Lady


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The last of the enemies to be destroyed is death.
For everything is to be put under his feet.
Our last on this earth may not be our last breath.
We may breathe again after we approach his seat.

Awake at night , of course I started worrying.
And then suddenly I thought of Blessed Richard Leigh.
Immediately I saw wonderful lights appearing.
And a joyful  sense of peace set me free.

Are the dead really living.
How strange that he seemed so present.
Over four hundred years of death defying.
Maybe I should truly believe his ascent.

But how wonderful was that vision.
With the distant past true union.

……

Death can be destroyed
It’s the last of enemies
But God has the key

…….

See 1 Corinthians 15 : 20-26

St Maximilian Kolbe

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Whatever you bind on earth.
Shall be considered bound in heaven.
At our death we find our true worth.
Death is the true leaven.

We should think of Maximilian Kolbe not because of his death .
But of what  he had become.
His choice already made with every breath.
He had to save life even if death would thereby come.

When the final trial comes at last.
The choice, if we have prayed,  will be clear.
He had lived his true self as he breathed his last.
He was just a true man , no sear.

We are what we have become.
Which only may be clear to some.

….

What you bind on earth
Will now be bound in heaven
That is surely clear

.. ….

See Matthew 18: 15-20

Tuesday of Week 19 in Ordinary Time

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Your will is my delight.
Your statutes are my councillors.
I seek your translucent light.
And your holy mentors.

Do not be a rebel.
Like that rebellious set.
Can we our own dissatisfaction quell.
Are all our desires truly met.

What is it about the seaside.
That soothes the restless.
The everlasting waves an incoming guide.
The antidote to ever moving stress.

If you walk quietly amongst the dunes.
You can read the calming runes.

…….

Your will my delight
Your statutes my councillors
But do I seek light

……

See Ezekiel 2 : 8-3 : 4

Monday of Week 19 in Ordinary Time

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So as not to offend.
Go to the lake and cast a hook.
We do not need always to break , we can mend.
We only have to really see aswell as look.

I woke up in the night depressed.
Negative thoughts racing.
Everything just messed.
Hope abandoning.

Then I said ,  remember no one who sought thy intercession.
Had their prayer unanswered.
Praying to Mary relieved the tension.
Nothing ventured , nothing tended.

When depressed cast a hook, pray.
And the Rosary say.

……..

He said cast a hook
And then they found the shekel
Can we do the same

…….

See Matthew 17: 22-27

19 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Be friends with one another.
And kind, forgiving each other.
We are not separated from each other.
We have no distinct entity apart from each other.Like the Buddha we should worry less about God.
More about our impermanence.
An ever changing lengthening, shortening, connected rod.
An imprecise passing essence.

Where is suffering,
Save in our own ego.
Resenting not loving.
Diverted into our own high and low.

Rejecting our emptiness.
Not accepting our nothingness.

……..

Friends one another
And forgiving each other
That’s the better way

…….

See Ephesians 4

Saturday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time . Edith Stein, St Benedicta of the Cross.

I am going to lead her out of the wilderness.
And speak to her heart.
Can we be content with less.
Resolved to make a new start.
I am thinking of Edith Stein , St Benedicta of the cross.
Cruelly persecuted and killed by evil.
Her martyrdom , her example , triumphant in loss.
Her beautiful  soul now is resting, still.
And here am I looking now at the harvest.
All sunlit , calm , radiant.
But we must not just enjoy our rest.
We must remember others’ sacrifice,  not just be content.
When I think of Edith Stein.
I just hope now she’s in heaven and fine.
…….
Led from wilderness
We speak to our lonely heart
If we speak to God
…….
See Hosea 2

Friday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time

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The foolish ones brought no oil.
Whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil aswell as their lamps.
We make mistakes despite our toil.
And we receive precious little thanks.

Those who were  ready.
Went to the wedding hall.
Are we alert and steady.
Can we walk tall.

We can work hard all our lives.
And then make one foolish mistake.
And then nothing worthwhile survives.
We seem submerged in a deep dark lake.

But out of despair.
Can come lessons and repair.

…….

Have we brought some oil
Or did perhaps not buy some
Thus will hang our fate

…….

See Matthew 25: 1-13

Thursday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time

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But you, he said.
Who do you say I am.
Are all our doubts really laid.
Can I honestly say I know him as I know what I am.

This is the abiding question.
Nothing else really matters.
Is his Godliness just a suggestion.
Our all our doubts and fears in grateful tatters.

Peter spoke up, you are the Christ.
The son of the living God.
In our hearts do we really believe he is the Christ.
The only son of a living God.

This in our lives is the most vital question.
Is it fact or mere speculation.

…….

He asks who am I
Who do you say that I am
And we answer what

.. …..

See Matthew 16 : 13-23

Wednesday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time

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They have found pardon in the wilderness.
Those who have survived the sword.
We are given so much , we should ask for less.
Always seeking truth through a spiritual sword.

I have loved you with an everlasting love.
So I am constant in my affection for you.
Seeking peace like the dove.
Not just for me but you.

I build you once more.
You shall be rebuilt.
Seeking and learning from holy lore.
Working through doubt’s cloying silt.

You will go out dancing.
For the planters have done their planting.

……..

Pardon, wilderness
If we have survived the sword
Everlasting love

…….

See Jeremiah 31 : 1-7

The Transfiguration of the Lord

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There in their presence he was transfigured.
His clothes became dazzlingly bright.
At last he was fully measured.
We see him in his true light.

When they looked round.
They saw no one but Jesus.
When we think or look around us,
Normally we think of anything but Jesus.

Jesus became for a moment as he is.
And as one day we may see him in reality.
He cannot be described as, he just is.
We can never in this life understand his true reality.

Perhaps we should spend less time looking around us.
And more time looking at a man standing before us, Jesus.

……

He was transfigured
His clothes were dazzlingly bright
But can we see them

….

See Mark 9: 2-10

Monday of Week 18 in Ordinary Tome

Keep me from the way of error.
And teach me your law.
Let me be spared any night time terror.
Fill me with love for you to the core.Do not take the word of truth.
From my mouth.
Let me enter your holy booth.
As I head East, West , North and South.

Let my heart be blameless.
Lest I be ashamed.
Let me be happy with more not less.
And my passions tamed.

Though some may lie in wait for me.
You  have taught me.

…….

Keep me from error
And then teach me all your law
Lest I then forget

…….

See Psalm 118

18 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.
Even though doubt is rife.
All the other promises seem empty.

He who believes in me will never thirst.
We will win though.
Because we know he comes first.
In every high and every low.

Do not work for food that cannot last.
But work for food that endures for eternal life.
May we at last join the holy cast.
For a new life.

It is my father who gives you the bread.
From heaven, the true bread.

……..
He’s the bread of life.
With it we’re never hungry
But we must believe

…….

See John 6: 24-25

Saturday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time

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Rescue me from sinking in the mud.
Save me from my foes.
Save me from the coming flood.
Dress me in spiritual clothes.

Save me from the waters of the deep.
Lest the waves overwhelm me.
I know I sow what I reap.
But be merciful to me.

As for me in my poverty and pain.
Let your help O God lift me up.
Save me from pointless strain.
In my weakness give me a hand to help me up.

Do not let the deep engulf me.
Nor death close its mouth on me.

…….

From sinking in mud
Save me from the coming flood
From the deep’s waters

……

See Psalm 9

Friday of Week 17 In Ordinary Time

More numerous than the hairs on my head.
Are those who hate me without cause.
My fate is read.
They pursue me without pause.Those who attack me with lies.
Are too much for my strength.
They do not hear my sighs.
They will go in their vengeance to any length.It is for you that I suffer taunts.
That shame covers my face.
And envy me haunts.
I have come to the final race.

In your great mercy answer me O God.
With your help that never fails O God.

……..

Answer me O God
With your help that never fails
I turn to you God

……

See Psalm 68

Thursday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time

So I went down to the potters house.
And there he was working at the wheel.
I proceeded, quiet as a mouse.
Hoping the deal with God to seal.Whenever the wheel he was working on came out wrong.
He would start afresh.
So I continue with my spiritual song.
Hoping to escape life’s enveloping mesh.

Our hands work away.
Things come out right or wrong.
Our troubles we store away.
And continue with our own tuneless song.

Our life turns endlessly.
For the good  and messily.

…….

We work at our wheel
Sometimes things come out alright.
And other times not

……..

See Jeremiah 18: 1-6