There is no distinction between Jew and Greek.
For the same Lord is Lord of all.
After all don’t we all seek.
All of us waiting for the call.

He is bestowing riches.
On all who call on him.
We can build bridges.
We are all one body , one limb.

Pray for Christians in  Syria
Persecuted , numbers declining.
Even today killed in Latakia.
Fleeing, hiding.

All God’s people are one.
That is the prize to be won.

…….

No distinction
Between all religions
The prize that we seek

……

See Romans 10 : 8-13

Teach me O Lord your way.
That I May walk in your truth.
We search , is our path right, who can say.
To our old age all the way from our youth.

Did God create man.
Or did man create God.
Who knows for sure , how narrow is our scan.
We are so flawed.

But one thing is certain.
God’s love is real.
We just need to draw aside the curtain.
It is there all around us, this we cannot know, only feel.

We know this through the joy we feel.
And that certainly is real.

…..

Teach me Lord your way
That I may walk in your truth
Now and for ever

……

See Psalm 86

Cry aloud, do not hold back.
Lift up your voice like a trumpet.
Truly there is little we lack.
We are indeed well met.

Declare to the people their transgression.
To the house of Jacob their sins.
This too is our mission.
Although there will always be losses and wins.

Yet they seek me daily.
And delight to know my ways.
Certainly if we pray daily.
Seeing God in our thoughts like the sun’s rays.

Always searching.
And we pray believing.

……

If you cry aloud
And if you do not hold back
You make some progress

……

See Isaiah 58 : 1-9a

Consecrate a fast.
Consecrate the  congregation.
To the last.
In sorrowful meditation.

All this will pass away.
Not just ourselves fast or slow.
But even the sun’s ray.
Everything will go.

So fast.
Pray.
Give alms to the last.
This and every day.

Lent is here.
But there is no need to fear.

…….

Consecrate a fast
Consecrate congregations
For all this will pass

…….

See Joel 2 : 12-18

He who keeps the law makes many offerings.
He who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.
Maybe we indulge in too many mutterings.
Too concerned with our own suffering.

He who returns a kindness.
Returns a fine flour.
An end to restlessness.
Living in this hour.

And he who gives alms.
Sacrifices a thank offering.
Absolved from harms.
In grateful giving.

To keep from wickedness.
Is to forsake unrighteousness.

……

If we keep the law
We will make many offerings
And heed commandments

… …

See Sirach 35 : 1-15

Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful.
Because he had great possessions.
Are we too mournful.
Wondering if we will enter his mansions.

I too am disheartened by this Gospel reading.
Not that I have great possessions.
But the little I have , I am slow  in giving.
To hang on to what little we have , we all have reasons.

But I paid five pounds for a candle today.
In gratitude.
Not really enough for today.
In rectitude.

We give a little.
We live a little.

……

He was disheartened
For he had great possessions
But then we do not

…….

See Mark 10: 17-27

When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears.
So a person’s filth in his thought.
But we are never forsaken.
Never permanently in despair caught.

The kiln tests the potters vessels.
Likewise the test of a person’s filth is in his reasoning.
In our hand we have our mental pestels.
In our mind too much is happening.

We spend too much time worrying about the  I.
And too little about the infinite.
We are not truly the I.
Our true destiny is  the infinite.

This is the only path to happiness.
Turning away from exclusiveness.

……..

The sieve is shaken
And then the refuse appears
As with reasoning

…….

See Sirach 27 : 4-7

If salt has lost its taste.
How can it be restored.
Nothing needs to be put to waste.
For we are called.

You are the light.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
As long as we keep this in sight.
We are bidden.

Nor do people light a lamp.
And put it under a basket.
We climb happily our spiritual ramp.
As we remember that one day there is but a casket.

Let your light shine.
As we tread our life’s finite line

…..

You are then the light
A city set on a hill
And then we are called

…….

See Matthew 5: 13-16

When you gain a friend gain him through testing.
And do not trust him hastily.
Knowing , advising, supporting.
Wearily yet still merrily.

For there is a friend who will stand by you at his own convenience.
And never stand by you in your day of trouble.
Not one for steady maintenance.
Friendship can be mere rubble, a struggle.

Brought low this friend will be against you.
And will hide himself from your presence.
Thus true friends are all too few.
Not made of true essence.

But a faithful friend is a sturdy shelter.
He that has found one has found a treasure.
In our life’s helter skelter.
And we know his true measure.

……

What’s a faithful friend
He is a sturdy shelter
And a true treasure

…….

See Sirach  6 : 5-17

When the chief shepherd appears.
You will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Relieving so many of our fears.
As we live out our story.

Pope Francis is ill .
And I am praying.
That he will go on remaining with us still.
Praying is hoping, is believing.

This unbroken apostolic succession.
For two thousand years.
Is not in question.
Wiping away unbelieving tears.

Onwards from St Peter.
We will not falter.

…….
Love the Chief Shepherd
Win the unfailing glory
That is our belief

……

See 1 Peter 5: 1-4

For whoever will save his life will lose it.
That  we know.
But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Yes, in our heart of hearts this we know.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world.
And forfeit his soul.
In the next world.
For what can a man give in return for his soul.

How these words from Mark pierce our soul.
They seem to be the whole truth.
We know that all that matters is really just our soul.
There is no other truth.

But too often we forget.
And our path is earthbound set.

……

If we lose this life
For his sake we will save it
Better to lose

……

See Mark 8 34-9:1

I will never again curse the ground because of man.
For the intention of man’s heart is evil.
Can we not comprehend our true scan
Do we not understand still.

I am in Hebron.
At the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Here peace waits for a new dawn.
A place for all religions’ divine sparks.

But I see only the army.
Shouldn’t this be a place for all.
A place for a new spiritual journey.
Where we all can walk tall.

Surely all faiths are one.
Where we worship the one.

…….

Should we curse the ground
Because man’s will is evil
Or should we include

……..

See Genesis 8

Do you not perceive.
Or understand.
Receive.
Or comprehend.

I am at mass.
At the Holy Sepulchre.
Reading now this gospel at mass.
Standing not 20 feet from Christ’s sepulchre.

It is dawn.
A gentle light hits the tower.
As on another long ago morn.
When a great light caused the soldiers to cower.

Here we feel at the centre.
At the start of a new spiritual adventure.

…….

Do you not perceive
Do we really understand
We just can but try

…..

See Mark 8: 14-21

By the sweat of your face.
You shall eat bread.
He ran his  race.
It has all been said.

Till you return to the ground.
For out of it you were taken.
Even though we thought ourselves sound.
And not forsaken.

For dust you are.
And to dust you shall return.
Our final goal seems far.
Thwarted at every turn.

Like Adam we will keep trying.
And no doubt failing.

……

For dust that you are
And to dust you shall return
That is just our fate

……..

See Genesis 3 : 9-24

The harvest is plentiful.
But the labourers are few.
We just have to be merciful.
And not mind where we are in the queue.

Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest.
To send out labourers.
To his harvest.
We are those labourers.

We each have a role ourselves.
To write or preach.
Or to be ourselves.
To search  and to reach.

We may not be able.
But we all bring something to the table.

……

Plentiful harvest
But just too few labourers
So we must do more

…….

See Luke 10: 1-9