OF YOU MY HEART HAS SPOKEN

A beautiful Friday afternoon. Walking the sea front by Pelham Beach in the direction of the Bathing Hut Café which never seems to be open and is exactly three miles from my door. It’s a walk I do every other day, mostly in the evening. Six miles in total and it’s really good for my head. I pray as I go and think as I pray and often just let my eyes and my mind float, taking in what’s there. The beauty of everything. Every one. September 28 th . I remember it’s exactly a year ago since I was inducted as Parish Priest of St. Mary Star of the Sea. 28 is a significant number – January and July. I was 28 years old the last time I became a Parish Priest in Galapo, Tanzania. I don’t know how to assess the last year, to know whether I’m doing well or not. There’s always a bit of a shadow lurking to suggest I will never really get it right, that I never have in fact gotten it right. The shadow suggests that my mistakes - past and present - are bigger than they actually are. The...

In this fallow land My debts rise up To harass Having no way Of paying She becomes The Tent of Meeting With our Savoiur Bowing in Adoration Of Him Protecting me It is a serene enfolding Peace filled sanctuary I am all yours Mother of Christ Mother of the world My Mother In Him who cancels Every burden of debt For the poverty stricken soul

The Great Commission by Gerry Flaherty in Loving Memory of Fr. Seamus Stapleton SAC “The Lord has opened my ear. For my part I made no resistance, neither did I turn away.” (Isaiah 50:5) Sometime before he died, Fr. Seamus Stapleton commissioned a painting to be hung by the baptismal font. Sadly, he died before it was completed but the artist, Gerry Flaherty carried on the work which is entitled “The Great Commission”. I collected it when I was in Ireland in August and we hung it in its place on September 14 th  which is Seamus’ birthday and feast of the Triumph of the Cross. The setting is Rockanore here in Hastings, so it localizes the Gospel, brings it home to us and depicts Jesus on the shore with St. Peter and some saints who were of importance to Seamus and includes St. Vincent Pallotti. The rest of the apostles are on their fishing boats coming in to shore and you will notice on the front on one boat is Fr. Seamus himself dressed in white. The decision to includ...

You stand at the crossroads Of time and eternity Intersection of all creation A desire as old as Eden Burning in your soul The yearning of every child Who has graced the earth Embodiment of humanity's Hope  Of Redemption, Restoration You have held in your heart The wandering aridity Of the desert and there  God comes to find  Lifting you up and keeping You the apple of His eye Humanity has found A response to God in you From you is deliverance Brought forth in Christ In whom we are born and breathe Our perfect peaceful consummation Healing for our scars

Sailing east into the morning sun on a calm sea, with Ireland behind me, I am grateful and make a prayer of thanksgiving for all who have blessed this past month from the moment I arrived in Dublin at the beginning of August until leaving it today. My friend and my friend! Family and all whom I encountered inbetween. Kind people who speak kind words, the sort who build up rather than pull down. That was the quality of this time. I asked the girls what were the highlights of their summer. They said, "everything!" - having had a great time. I too could say there were a number of special moments but I also like to name specific experiences. A different kind of experience came when I was welcomed into the home of my Camino companions and their two sons - one aged four years and the other four weeks.  The uniqueness of this was being with a baby so young for such a long period, observing him develop day by day, being trusted to hold him and being trustworthy i...