O key of David and sceptre of Israel.
You who open and nobody then can close.
Of long lineage royal.
Thus the truth shows.

Come and lead the captive from prison.
Free those who sit in darkness.
He is risen.
There will be no more emptiness.

I sat by the darkening winter lake.
In the utter solitude of nature.
Wondering what one can do for his sake.
It is prayer, there is nothing greater.

David’s key can open.
We can open.

……

The key of David
Can open and it can close
It is eternal.

…..

See Todays Anthiphon from Vespers

O stock of Jesse.
Who stand as a sign of the nations.
God exists, the translation of Jesse.
His son David, inspiration of nations.

Before whom kings fall silent.
Whom the peoples acclaim.
Our faith keeps us resilient.
Surely our hopes are not lame.

I sat alone in the church silent.
What was this together joyful feeling.
Why did I feel more resilient.
Was I closer  to heaven and earth’s ceiling.

Come stock of Jesse to us.
Deliver us.

…..

O stock of Jesse
Come to us, deliver us
That is what we pray

…….

See O radix Jesse . An Antiphon at Vespers before Christmas

Behold the days are coming.
When I shall raise up for David a righteous branch.
His reign will be never ending.
Leading to a spiritual avalanche.

I sat in the church looking quietly
At the winter sun through the window.
Just looking meditately.
If I concentrated, I could not be low.

The branch was moving.
Amid an orange glow.
The winter sun shining.
No, I could not be low.

Here is stillness.
Quietness.

……

The days are coming
A righteous branch raised up
Our eternal king

……

See Jeremiah 23: 5-8

In his days justice shall flourish
And great peace for ever.
There is always something to cherish.
We never say never.

May the mountain bring forth peace for the people.
And the hills bear peace in uprightness.
We are those people.
And we walk forward in hopefulness.

May he defend the poor of the people.
And save the children of the needy.
That is all who ask amongst the people.
On behalf of all the needy.

In his days justice shall flourish.
And great peace until the moon is no more shall flourish.

….

Justice shall flourish
Great peace until there is no moon
And peace shall flourish

..  ….

See Psalm 72

Which of the two sons did the will of the father.
They said the one who repented, the first.
Can we try and see further.
For what do we really should thirst.

I now believe, there has to be a first mover.
It can only be spirit , not physical.
It is God the Son and Father.
Not temporal , eternal.

Our soul is spirit.
Our body is mortal.
It is now hidden our soul, our spirit.
Holy , pre ordained, loved , eternal.

Only spirit can unite with spirit.
But God and our soul are both spirit.

….

Who’s the first mover
It can only be spirit
That’s what we call God

…..

See Matthew 21: 28-32

 

 

 

He knows the knowledge of the most high.
Who sees the vision of the almighty.
We pray, we sigh.
Where is he , is he not mighty.

I was at  a funeral in the Cathedral.
Of someone I did not know.
But his great spirit  spoke in the small chapel.
Somehow it was joyous , we could not be low.

In the eulogy and the sermon.
All came right.
The choir came on.
And here was celestial light.

He obviously lived a good life.
And now , we pray enjoys an even better life.

….,,

He lived a good life.
His funeral was joyful
Will they commend us

……

See Numbers 24

 

 

 

 

Gaudete in Domino semper.
Interum dico Gaudete.
Rejoice in the Lord always, semper.
Again I say rejoice, Gaudete.

In the Lord we feel love.
Above all joy.
To all men love.
And in our life joy.

Was John in despair.
As he languished in prison.
Was he gripped by fear.
Then in joy he heard Jesus’ lesson.

Hard times and doubt come for all of us.
But in hope and faith we will have joy.

……

Doubt and hard times come
But if we have hope and faith
We will then have joy

……..

See Matthew 11: 2-11

Elijah has already come, they did not recognise him.
But did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer for us and him.
Then the disciples recognised.

That he was speaking.
Of John the Baptist.
They started understanding.
Their sight penetrated the mist.

St Lucy is the martyr of light.
Of courage.
And of sight.
Proclaiming the Christian message.

We can follow her.
Without fear.

….

We follow Lucy
She is the martyr of light
And of great courage

… …

See Matthew 17: 10 – 13

John came neither eating nor drinking.
And they say he has a demon.
The son of man came eating and drinking.
And they say he’s a drunkard and glutton.

Yet wisdom is justified.
By her deeds.
If we are justified
It is by faith and deeds.

It does not matter what we drink
Or what we eat .
Or whether we drink.
Or where in church is our seat.

We will revive.
In hope we shall survive.

…….

We may eat or drink
Or we may not do either
It does not matter

……

See Matthew 11: 16-19

He who has ears to hear.
Let him.
Sing and hear.
In glorious hymn.

We hear.
But do we listen.
Or just hear.
Rather than listen.

The words are clear.
Not hidden.
but we do not listen although they’re so clear.
Is it just us, because what is so hidden.

John the Baptist came, they did not listen.
Jesus came, we do not listen.

……

We have ears to hear
We only have to listen
But do we do so.

….

See Matthew 11: 11-15

Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden.
And I will give you rest.
We are bidden.
We only need more spiritual zest.

Take my yoke upon you.
And learn from me.
This all applies to us too.
If only we could see.

For I am gentle.
And lowly of heart.
Yes his touch is gentle.
We only have to believe to start.

For my yoke is easy.
And my burden is light, easy

…….

We’re heavy laden
But his burden is so light
His yoke is easy

….

See Matthew 11: 28-30

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray.
Does he not leave the ninety nine on the mountain.
And go in search of the one who has gone astray.
Of this we are in the parable certain.

I dreamt I climbed down a mountain,
In real life I am scared of every height.
Here in my dream I was fearless, certain.
Up and ready for the fight.

In real life we would stay with our livelihood.
The ninety nine sheep.
In the parable we do what is right and good.
And we do so in our dreams and sleep.

Against all reason God cares for the one.
And we all of us are the one.

…..

The ninety nine left
And he goes after the one
And we are that one

……

See Matthew 18 : 12-14

The spirit of wisdom and understanding.
The spirit of counsel and might.
The prophets are worth reading.
Like Isaiah they foretell and shed light.

But who am I,  I keep asking.
Where are we going.
From where are we coming.
In just a few years will our soul be existing.

Don’t worry, just accept the spirit of the Lord.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist.
And your delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
We are here , we are going to to exist.

…..

Our understanding
And our wisdom and counsel
Will keep existing

…..

See Isaiah 11: 1-10

On every high hill there will be brooks running.
The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun.
We are praying in Advent and waiting.
For the birth of the long awaited son.

We read St Paul , You are God’s chosen race.
He loves you and you should be clothed in compassion.
In kindness and humility on every face.
Gentleness and patience remembering  Jesus’ passion.

Bear one another.
As soon as a quarrel begins.
Forgive each other.
Let bygones be bygones.

As we left our Oblates meeting we were told to teach each other.
And advise each other.

…..

Bear one another
As soon as quarrels begin
Forgive each other

……

See Isaiah 30

The deaf shall hear the words of a book.
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.
We too shall be able to look.
To understand and not just to see.

The meek shall obtain fresh joy.
In the Lord.
Purest alloy.
The strongest spiritual cord.

The poor among mankind.
Shall exult in the holy one.
We all can be kind.
If we have faith in the one.

Isaiah gives us poetic joy.
Again the purest alloy.

….

The meek obtain joy
Exult  in the holy one
And the blind shall see

…..

See Isaiah 29: 17-24

Everyone who hears these words of mine.
Will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
We need to look for a spiritual sign.
Then we can unlock our own spiritual lock.

And the rain fell and the floods came.
And beat upon that house , but it did not fall.
Because it had been founded on rock not on sandy grain.
Neither will we if we do the same, we shall not fall.

And anyone who hears these words of mine.
And does not do them will be like the man who built his house on sand.
He did not look for the holy sign.
His actions drained into the sand.

Which man are we .
Do we know, can we see.

….

If we build on rock
Our house yes will surely stand
But do we do so

……

See Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

The Lord will make a feast of rich food.
A feast of well aged wine.
From Isaiah what can we conclude.
To help us understand how we can approach the holy shrine.

The disciples gave the loaves to the crowd.
And they all ate and were satisfied.
What can we say from this out aloud.
Surely scripture is confirmed.

The crowds knew what this meant.
Jesus feeding the huge number
He had been sent.
So we might know the truth and remember.

We are with them.
We are them.

….

Isaiah foretold
Jesus completed the truth
He’s the holy bread

…..

See Isaiah 25: 6-10 and Matthew 15 : 29-37

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb.
The leopard shall lie down with the  young goat.
These words of Isaiah break down our doubting dam.
They keep our spirit afloat.

With them we know that Christmas is here.
We can keep going.
There is nothing to fear.
The lamps are glowing.

Peace is coming.
We are not lost.
Our hearts are glowing.
Despite the ground’s frost.

This is our Advent.
Adventus in Latin ,arrival in English, Advent.

…..

The wolf with the lamb
The leopard with the young goat
This is now Advent

…..

See Isaiah 11 : 1-10

Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.
But only say the word and my servant shall be healed.
We cannot stand aloof.
We must acknowledge that we have received.

The winter wind shook around the cottage.
The gentle sound ceaseless eternity.
Somehow it gave me courage.
A new kind of spiritual fraternity.

If the incarnation is true at all.
Then nothing else matters very much.
And most things don’t matter at all.
Beyond all things spiritually we are abundantly rich.

Under our roof we have received.
And from all things hurtful we are healed.

……

If Jesus is God
Then now nothing else matters
We have to believe

…….

See Matthew 8: 5-11

They shall beat their sword into a ploughshare.
And their spear into a pruning hook.
And we wonder, in Advent, how shall we fare.
Where for salvation should we look.

Perhaps we should try and make our own Bethlehem.
Every day of our own life.
And think not just of us but them.
And ask that we pick up the flower and lay down the knife.

Every day giving birth.
To new hope.
That the world may have a rebirth.
Into peace and universal hope.

That is our true way.
The sun’s glorious ray.

……

Make every day
A day of our Bethlehem
Not just for our sake

……

See Isaiah 2 : 1-5

All you people bless the Lord.
Priests of the Lord bless the Lord.
Servants of the Lord , bless the Lord.
Spirits and souls of the just bless the Lord.

Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down.
With the cares of this life.
And that day come like a trap for you to  drown.
For it comes upon all who now enjoy life. No

We are so obsessed with this life.
That we forget that coming soon is death.
Why care overmuch about this life.
When it is but a gateway to death.

But death too is just a gateway.
A mere passing into our spiritual way.

…..

We’re obsessed with life
But it’s a gateway to death
But death’s a gateway

……

See Daniel 3 and Luke 21: 34-36

Mountains and hills bless the Lord.
All that grows on the earth bless the Lord.
Seas and rivers bless the Lord.
Springs of water bless the Lord.

As soon as the trees come out in leaf.
You know that the summer is already near.
So also when you see these things taking place even on relief.
You know that the Kingdom of God is near.

There are so many signs just for us.
Yet we ignore them.
But the kingdom is near us.
We should embrace them.

The kingdom is so close. We could touch it.
But first we have to accept it.

……

The kingdom is close
We just to reach out now
And we can touch it

….

See Daniel 3 and Luke 21 : 29-33

Dew and rain bless the Lord.
Frost and cold bless the Lord.
Ice and snow bless the Lord.
Night and days bless the Lord.

I was at Lincoln Cathedral evensong.
It was the New Testament reading.
Jesus was saying he must suffer from great wrong.
But that he would triumph with his rising.

The disciples were perplexed.
But in that moment I believed.
My doubts were relaxed.
I listened and received .

Thus faith comes .
Hope waxes , doubt numbs.

…….

We all bless the Lord
We are like the dew and rain
Our faith pours down now

……

See Daniel 3

You will be delivered up.
And some of you they will put to death.
The death of the body is a fate we must sup.
One day we will draw our last breath.

But not a hair of your head will perish.
By your endurance you will gain your lives.
This hope for the future is something to cherish,
As our immortal soul thrives.

This is all that matters to us.
The body dies , the soul lives on.
Fate will shine kindly on us.
There is no end point, we carry on.

So never despair.
There is no need to shed a tear.

……

See Luke 21: 12-19