3rd Sunday in Eastertide

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I , John heard the sound .

of an immense gathering of angels.
Truly enough to astound.
With ever lasting ringing bells.
Why be so sad here.
When we are destined for heaven.
So shed here no tear.
We are all one and whole,  none riven.
Jesus is calling from the shore.
We do not recognise him.
He has made the fire, but bend the oar.
We must steer the boat towards him.
He asks us three times if we love him.
Three times we must answer yes we love him.
…….
We are fishermen
Jesus calling from the shore
Are we listening
…….
See Apocalypse 5 : 11-14 and John 21 : 1-19

Saturday of the 2nd week of Eastertide

 

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They saw Jesus walking on the lake.

And coming towards the boat.
He did it all for our sake.
To keep our own lives afloat.
So often we feel like giving up.
We seem to slowly drown.
But should it be perfect before we drink the last cup.
And bring life’s  tattered flag down.
St Augustine says if too comfortable with life.
We will forget we are on a journey to heaven.
So difficulties are all too rife.
All that matters is that we have striven.
For us to walk on water is a lie.
We just have to carry on with a sigh.
……
It’s perseverance
That is all that counts in life
The rest is nothing
…..
See John 6 : 16-21

St Catherine of Siena 29 April 2022

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Come to me all ye who Labour.
And are overburdened.
Help me to become a good neighbour.
We only ask to be pardoned.

St Catherine’s letters to the Pope.
Distinguished by familiarity and respect.
Encased in hope.
Her advice certainly correct.

Give us strength to speak out with good sense.
Even when we are ignored, as is our lot.
But her strength is in mystical experience
Told by God I am he who is , you are she who is not.

God she saw is the eternal sea.
We the fishes we may not see.

……

We may find the truth
Mystical experience
Maybe the true key

…….

See Matthew 11: 25-30

Thursday of 2nd week of Eastertide

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He who is born of the earth.

Is earthly himself.
We are of true everlasting worth.
Just in own mortal self.
I was looking at Negretti’s Salvator Mundi.
The image pieced my soul.
Painted  with so much sadness, so gently .
A complete  moving whole.
And then at Mass today.
I stared at the crucifix in devotion
Before it all my troubles  I could lay.
Overcome with emotion.
The mass  in time ended.
Any sadness suspended.
……
We look at pictures
So many just pass us by
Then one does not
…..
See John 3 : 31-36

Wednesday of 2nd week of Eastertide

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No one who believes in him will be condemned.

But whoever refuses to believe is condemned already.
We will try to be loyal to the end.
Always, even unwittingly ready.
Today I went to Mass at the Strasbourg seminary.
They are filling up with young men.
All was calm at the seminary.
A sense of holiness with these men.
And then we had vespers.
The chant rising up.
In tuneful whispers
With no let up.
Are we always in our faith steady.
And for the end always ready.
……
Are we  then always
Steady and ready in faith
For the coming end
……
See John 3 : 16-31

St George 26 April 2022

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These sufferings bring patience.

And patience brings perseverance.
And perhaps we inch closer to his presence.
And understand better his appearance.
We know this should be the case.
That suffering is good.
But that only comes with grace.
We should understand , if only we could.
We know the love of God has been poured.
Into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
We know it all comes from the Lord.
And it it has nothing to do with our merit.
That’s all so easy to proclaim
But our comfort is all to difficult to tame.
…….
Is suffering good
They say it brings patience
I am not so sure
…..
See Romans 5: 1-5

St Mark

Be calm but vigilant.
Because your enemy the devil is prowling around.
This not all  mythical cant.
But a dim  disturbing and distant sound.

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I was feeling a little depressed.
Then I read these words travelling.
Maybe the devil did have me assessed.
It made me feel better in responding.

If the devil is there so is Jesus there.
We just need to turn to him.
His answer is so clear.
But below material horizon’s rim.

So we keep going
No point in complaining.

…..

Is the devil there
If so God is there as well
A comforting thought

……

See 1 Peter 5: 5-14

Divine Mercy Sunday . 2nd Sunday in Easter

 

 

 
AAFE9DEC-085E-48E5-9F8B-6D7CD61F14CF The tomb the living did enclose.

Death with life contended.
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose.
Combat strangely ended.
Easter was not just last week.
It is this and every day for ever more.
We only have to seek.
To be content to our very core.
You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Yes, we merely hope yet Andrew could see.
It is  only by grace  that we receive.
Let’s now celebrate.
It’s never too late.
……..
We merely believe
Yes we cannot touch those hands
But it is enough
…….

See Today’s Mass Sequence and John 20 : 19-31

Easter Saturday

 

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He reproached them for their incredulity.

Because they refused to believe.
But we too suffer from obstinacy.
As we refuse to perceive.
We have to study the Old Testament.
It is all there .
All is foretold without sentiment.
Perfectly clear.
He says Go out into the whole world.
Proclaim the good news to all creation.
But will we do as we are told.
That’s  surely better than damnation.
He will never stand here in this room with me.
But that does not mean I cannot see.
……..
The Easter Octave
So glorious with new life
But do I believe
……
See Mark 16 : 9-15

Easter Friday

 

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Peter said, I am going fishing.

They caught nothing that night.
Had Peter decided to start working.
The Lord gone from his sight.
But nothing happened , were they unskilled.
Till Jesus called from the shore.
Their nets were now filled.
They could catch no more.
One hundred and fifty three fishes.
The number of known nations.
Meeting all our own wishes.
And  being all our foundations.
He calls to us as well.
Of that we must tell.
……
If I catch nothing
Perhaps I am not looking
He just may be there
……
See John 21: 1-14

Easter Thursday

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Jesus stood among them and said.

Peace be with you.
Their fears were laid.
How their faith grew.
This was a true theophany.
A visible manifestation of God’s presence.
To the few here not the many.
But still his true essence.
He did not need to say, be not afraid.
Only peace be with you.
They had waited and prayed.
Now life grew anew.
He does not stand amongst us.
But we must believe , it is all for us.
….
His peace be with us
What need there’s to be afraid
He was and is here
……
See Luke 24: 35-48

Easter Wednesday

 

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Their eyes were opened and they recognised him.

But he had vanished from their sight.
Our eyes too are aswim.
We, doubt , we believe, then gone is his light.
I woke agin in the night.
But this time he was not walking beside me .
Not recognising our common plight.
His presence we cannot hear or see.
And then we go to Eucharist.
And as the bread is broken.
We can no longer resist .
This is real , no mere token.
……..
So we are walking
A stranger walks beside us
We ask who is he
……
See Luke 24 : 13-35

Easter Tuesday

The tomb the living did enclose.
Christ my hope has risen.
Death is close.
Opened the gates of  death’s prison.

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As usual I woke in the middle of the night.
Ready for the usual churning anxiety. Then miracle,  I I I I I had this sense of trust and light.
My fears taken over by more than piety .

I knew before I need only rest my fears in God.
And here half dreaming was the reality.
Here was the lightening rod.
And it for a few fleeting moments ended anxiety.

For one moment , all doubts ended.
Disbelief suspended.

….

We wake in the night
For one moment we believe
And then it is gone

……

See Today’s Mass sequence Victimae Pascali Laudes

Easter Monday

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Filled with awe snd great joy.

The women came quickly  away from the tomb .
Jesus asks us not to cloy.
But to be not afraid as he dispels the gloom.
I love the Mass on these Easter days.
The Cathedral bedecked with flowers.
The Resurrection stories blaze.
These are  truly happy hours.
Do not think it is over .
It has  only just begun.
Now Holy Week is over .
New life truly begun.
The proof is clear .
It is all there.
….
We look at the tomb
Has the body been taken
No he is risen
…..
See Matthew 28 : 8-15

Easter Sunday

 

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I have risen and I am with you still.

Too wonderful for me this knowledge , Alleluia.
We have climbed the hill.
At an end our Dolorosa.
Whatever our difficulties now .
This glorious amazing news pierces with darts.
We can return to life’s weary  plough.
With happiness in our hearts.
As I heard that John saw and believed.
My mind cleared.
And I too believed.
All doubt cleared.
He is truly risen today .
This is the greatest day.
…….
Where depression
How can it survive this day
With this great good
…….
See todays Entrance Antiphon

Holy Saturday

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Like the deer that yearns for running streams

So my soul is thirsting for you, my God.
The long vigil keeps me from my dreams.
But here is grateful , tiring ,  praising laud.
The twilight light serene.
The bonfire in the church porch lit.
The  sung Exultet sets the scene .
And now we hear holy writ.
With candle held in the dark .
The readings tell salvation’s story.
Of how one people made their mark.
And led  us all to the great glory.
And thenwith the Gloria , candles put out.
The lights and song blaze out.
…….
We stand with candles
And hear the old psalms
This is our story.
….
See Psalm 41

Good Friday

 

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I am like a dead man , forgotten in mens’ hearts.
Like a thing thrown away.
Pierced by fierce darts.
My troubles I cannot lay .

But he suffered so much more .
He who had done nothing wrong.
It grieves me to my core.
Forcing me to raise his name in song.

So when we are ignored ,  bored.
Unemployed , undervalued.
We remember his poor hands bound by cord.
Crucified , unloved , tortured.

And all this done for the rest of us.
And he didn’t even make any fuss.

……

We look at the cross
Something moves within us all
Yet unaffected

….

See Psalm 30

Maundy Thursday

 

 

 

 

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He then poured water into a basin.

And began to wash the disciples‘ feet.
To whom then do we hasten.
Whom do we really want to meet.
Maundy , mandate, command.
What are we commanded to do .
First serve others at his demand .
Second take communion and be true.
Third to follow him up to the garden.
Up to the altar of repose.
And seek pardon.
And know he arose.
On this sorrowful night.
We will keep up the fight.
……
Whose feet do we wash
And ask why do we do it
Is it just to serve
…..
See John 13 : 1-15

Wednesday of Holy Week

 

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The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue.

So I may know how to reply to the wearied.

Scripture cannot be left unsung.
The truth cannot be buried.
Each morning he wakes me to hear.
To listen like a disciple.
He wipes away my fear.
Opening up the bible.
For my part I made no resistance.
Neither did I turn away.
It is part of my existence.
Keeping those doubts at bay.
I offered my back to those who struck me.
Even those who hate me.
……
It is in scripture
We find inspiration
To maintain our hope
…….
See Isaiah 50 : 4-9

Tuesday of Holy Week

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Judas had taken the piece of bread, he went out .
Night had fallen.
Now starts our period of fear and doubt.
We will know soon if too we are fallen.

Into the night we pass.
All creation falls silent and waits.
We walk through history’s narrow pass.
Pausing at salvation’s gates.

Are we to be redeemed.
Will he be our sacrifice.
Nothing was as it seemed.
Will he pay the ultimate price.

Of course we know the answer.
He is the answer.

…….

Now night has fallen
But we know the dawn will come
And we are grateful

………

See John 13 : 21-33, 36-38

Monday of Holy Week

You have the poor with you always.
You will not always have me.
On the path to truth there are many ways.
A thousand different ways to see.

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I was dreaming all this God business is a myth.
A great boulder seemed to block this thought.
As if Jesus had laid in my path  a monolith.
His  teaching net the idea had caught.

Maybe a trick of the dreaming brain.
But it all seemed real to my sight.
But for it I had been on a clear plain.
And I saw things in a new light.

When we are spoken to .
Do we listen too.

……

A dream in the night
And therein is a message
But do I listen

……

See John 12 : 1-11

Palm Sunday

 

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They carried palm branches.

And cried out Hosanna in the highest.
On fear they put  only patches.
Yet here they confronted the finest.
But our support is so fickle.
We praise one day then condemn.
Our hosannas reduced to a mere trickle.
One day they are heroes then we condemn them.
Now we follow Jesus step by step.
On this Dolorosa way.
We also make our own misstep .
Fearful to have our say .
We are no different from that crowd.
The voice of our cowardice just as loud.
…..
One day we lay palms
The very next day we flee
We are no different
…….
See Luke 19 : 28-40

Saturday of the 5th Week of Lent

 

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It is better for one man to die.

Than for the whole nation to be destroyed.
And so we are prone to lie.
As we find our own beliefs foiled
Help free me .
From someone challenging my belief.
Keep me free.
As I let them find their own relief.
Calm my anger.
As St Jerome learnt to do.
I have a saviour.
He is there for the many and the few.
Neither the end nor the means were justified.
By his death he became our true guide.
…….
If it takes one man
To die for all of mankind
That still is enough
……
See John 11: 45-56

Friday of the 5th Week of Lent

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I said you are Gods.
To whom the law of the word is addressed.
So in a way we are all Gods.
But only at his behest .

I dreamt that at last my faith was clear.
And then I saw myself in a mirror .
All signs of age gone , the skin clear .
Anger , depression , fat cut with a scissor.

I was looking at myself fifty years ago.
As my son is now and then the image was gone.
But I was happy, not for a second low.
This is the future, we are not alone.

The Dorian Gray mirror was future reality .
Not the present actuality .

……..

We ask what is truth
Is it the mirror image
Or what we see now

……..

See John 10: 31-42

Thursday of the 5th week of Lent

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Consider the Lord and his strength.
Constantly seek his face.
We need to go to any length.
To seek divine grace.

We want to be loved and highly regarded.
We think all we do should be approved of.
This makes us restless and troubled.
If we sought God only and his love.

We would always be content.
And would find all things in him.
A truly engaging thought for lent.
We just ask for our faith not to dim.

Give me the grace not to think of myself.
But of God in himself.

………

Am I approved of
Let me not care about this
And just think of God

………

See Psalm 104 and More Saintly Solutions by Fr Joseph Esper