THE GRACE OF A DAY

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Woman smiling
In the back seat of a taxi
Morning sunlight on her face

A single Swan in flight
Magnificent dazzling white
Against the deep blue sky

Moving in the grace
Of a day without cloud

Strain suspended

Strolling friends
Beside a city river

Learning to part
Before meeting

Learning
To let go

To the One
True Friend

The blessedness
Of Life in  mind

A prayer for the broken
Those of battered faces
In our soul


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30 Days

IN THE NAME OF THE KING OF KINGS: Our Royal Identity in Christ

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  “Are you the Parson?” asks the old man sitting alone at the back of the church. “I don’t share your faith, but I come in here very often when it is empty, and I just sit here and feel well. I feel love! Loved!” “I’m very pleased” I say. “But it’s not just a beautiful building” he goes on, “there’s something else…” And his voice trails off as he ponders, searching for a word that escapes him, so I prompt him. “A Presence?” I ask. “Yes!” he replies, raising his index finger. “There is a Presence here!” “There is indeed” I reply. What a wonderful thing for him to experience and for me to hear, to be reminded again of what I already know and experience. The abiding Presence of Jesus that is hidden in the Tabernacle and it strikes me that our church does its own work in drawing people in, Jesus does His own work without any effort on my part. All I do is open the door in the morning and leave it open. God does the rest! This is the blessing that is ours as a Catholic Community. Weekly and
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That We May Be True (A Prayer of Consecration to the Holy Spirit)

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Most loving Holy Divine Spirit Here I am I am Yours All Yours Now in this moment Forever I worship You And I love You And I surrender my whole life To You That you may remove me From myself Take me out of the way Of Your purpose, Your plan And sweep me up Into Yourself To be as Your spouse In Mary Not knowing where You will take me Or how I will be Heal my fear Purify my anger Vanquish my resistance Seduce me! Purge my soul of sin By the Fire Of Your Divine Love Breathe the Breath Of Your Peace In me Blow away the cobwebs Of my mind My judgements My comparisons Fashion me Into the image of Jesus That I may be Wholly like Him Let this be done in me Let it be done in us Your People Your Church That we may be Neither liberal nor conservative But True True to You And the gifts That You have given In the name of Jesus To the Glory of God the Father For the salvation of the world. Amen! (The above came to me in prayer yesterday evening 14-05-2023 in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament)
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THE LILAC TREE: Connection and Communication

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  In the back garden of my home in Mervue there’s a lilac tree that was planted by my Mother and it was once tall and beautiful when in full bloom. The winter after she died a storm uprooted and knocked the tree flat on the ground and we were all very sorry for it because it represented her. The tree lay there through the winter and into the spring. I left it like that because I felt it had something to say to me about what is fallen in life, even though people were urging me to get rid of it and then to my great surprise, the following May new lilac blossoms emerged from the fallen tree and when I went to look at the roots I noticed that one single slim root was still connected to the earth and by it the tree lives on. So, it rests there as a parable for me of the hope that abides in the fallen states of life, in times when things fall apart and out of place. A reminder of the line from the Book of Job,  " there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and
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I BELIEVE IN HARMONY

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I believe in harmony I believe in kindness I believe in gentleness I believe in forgiving I believe in being forgiven At all times In every relationship And not just sometimes And not just with some Words that build up And not knock down I believe in Jesus The personification of all these I love Jesus who has loved first He who is Love I love You Jesus And I ask you to take me Into the very depths of my being Where You abide Into the deepest recesses Of Your most beautiful Sacred Heart Where I reside And seek to abide Where going inwards Meets with moving outwards Towards another Where falling and rising Embrace Where descending and ascending Are one in You Who are the wellspring Of salvation In whom I bathe And rise to live In heaven now Even while still on earth O my Jesus I love You so much More than I ever knew. "I am for peace but when I speak they are for fighting" (Psalm 120)
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SURRENDER TO SILENCE

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Anger Surrenders to sadness Hurt To a softening sorrow For all that is lost To us The one who stays Away And those we love Who have kept us at bay We say nothing Like a lamb that is dumb Before the shearer As sadness and sorrow Surrender to silence Lest more be lost In the saying Yet gained again When we pray
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THE DARKNESS OF LOVE

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  God is full of Love For me He cannot Love me more I cannot Be more loved You say How precious Life is That I should value Mine more Let yourself Be loved They said Stoking my guilt With good-intentioned Platitudes With no insight Into the Darkness That marks A soul for Life The Gethsemane That holds onto me Like a vocation From childhood The sudden Unbidden impulse Taking me To a place Within myself Where I hoped Not to venture Inciting me To step out in front Of the beautiful Bus speeding Down the road And end it The torment O God protect me From myself Give me perfect Self-forgetfulness The grace that keeps me Safe Holds me back From the brink I understand The one who goes Over the edge Into the abyss Jesus understands What it means To be loved in the dark To be loved and not To feel it To not feel it And still trust In it (Dublin June 5, 2017)
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I STARTED TO ATTEND: Moments of Absence and Surprise

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  “…the moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning shine up over the deserts of Santa Fe, something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend. There was a certain magnificence in the high-up day, a certain eagle-like royalty…”  (DH Lawrence)   “You’re out early!” said a surprised James as he ran past me on the seafront. 7.17 on a beautiful, sunny morning. It’s not me at all, not like me to be out so early and this is the third morning in a row. I’m surprised by myself!!! And I was surprised to see a hawk-like bird on High Street as I was starting out on my walk. It was lifting off the footpath with a pigeon in its claws. Startled by my arrival, it dropped its prey, swooped down and dropped it again before perching on the roof of a house. Suddenly an intermingled flock of seagulls and pigeons went ballistic, circling round and round, flapping and screeching with all their might until the predator fled and the unfortunate prey lay dead on the ground. Surprises! Yesterday I took
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THERE IS A MOUNTAIN

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There is a mountain That calls A place Not yet revealed Where solitude Speaks no more And thoughts are stilled Emotions calmed All argument surrendered All obligation ended No meetings to attend No deadlines to be met There will be No talk of God Of whom nothing Can be said The abiding Presence That seeks only My silence Trusting Without a word That HE IS Already now The summit of my soul Love unspoken Hope unwritten Faith fulfilled Forgiveness felt To this May I attend
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