OF YOU MY HEART HAS SPOKEN

  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

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)

  “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