OF YOU MY HEART HAS SPOKEN

  “…find me on my knees with my soul laid bare” (Delirious?, Find Me In The River )   There’s part of a homily that you think might be better left out because it’s too focused on self, but it turns out to be one of the pieces that people connect with. The bit about me going round the empty church on my hands and knees on a Sunday evening. We are beginning to listen to the Sermon on the Mount in Chapters five, six and seven of Matthew’s Gospel, teachings that are central to the teaching of Jesus. They are Divine Revelation and not optional extras. Jesus is presented as the new Moses who climbed Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments that were inscribed on stone by God Himself, Commandments that are the foundation of the faith of Israel. Here Jesus goes up the Mount of the Beatitudes to deliver the New Law and that he sits down to teach emphasises the importance of what he is saying. He teaches “ex cathedra!” The translation of the Beatitudes that we have had for ma...

  Stone in my heart Kind Shepherd Knot in my stomach Tender Lamb Primeval screech Of the troubled youth The strains of Love Where ease once abounded Burdens of all Your people I tell to the Cross In my hand That salvation may come falling Like the dew of the dawn Descent of the Spirit Consecrating Thus I pray As I walk And turning the corner Of the street of my home You surprise us again With your Shepherd's delight Making us smile At the silence of sky On fire

I thought It was you But perhaps It was God Who loosened  The ropes That fast held my boat To your harbour wall There is water now Between us No more The effortless movement In and out Of each other's Space Untied Undone Unbound I have no oar To row Against the current Only the tide That carries me Imperceptibly further Away We wave and speak Across the distance There is love In our smile There always will be Love Even as we move Out of earshot Out of sight Into that unseeing Silence Another shore Another state of being I am constrained now Until it is accomplished This baptism This fire An unhurried haste Has entered into me Quickening Every thought And word and deed Each prayer Each restless desire Strains eagerly forward For the consummation The Love That knows no fall And does no hurt or harm And does not take offence

  Moment in history. Moment of grace! Moment of Divine Providence! I'm still amazed at the timing - that I should be here in Rome for the death and funeral of Pope Benedict XVI; that God has brought me here for a reason and a purpose that is yet unknown to me. A few months ago I decided that I would come to Rome after Christmas instead of going home as I usually would. In part I needed to break away from habitual living, to live more freely for a week. Perhaps even to simply suit myself. The upcoming 80th birthday of Fr. John Fitzpatrick settled me on Rome rather than anywhere else. I want to honour him and this milestone in his life because he has been a very significant person in my life. The original decision meant that I would miss the Living Family retreat due to take place in early January. But, out of the blue, completely independent of me, the date of the retreat was changed to February around the time I will be in Ireland for the Provincial Assembly. In this I reco...