OF YOU MY HEART HAS SPOKEN

  Reflection recorded for St. Richard's Catholic College, Bexhill

  A kind parishioner brought me to visit an elderly lady whom I hadn’t seen for a few years. She was the essence of elegance in the past and retains it now in the present. And in her solitude she lives a strong interior life. I brought her Holy Communion which was a delight for her. She was like the Greeks in the Gospel who said, “we would like to see Jesus!” (John 12) And see Him she does in this Holy Communion, as we all do, with the eyes of faith, the eyes of her soul. Observing her in that sacred moment was inspiring, moving. Having received her dear Lord, she joined her hands, closed her eyes, looking for all the world like the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then she seemed to move deep down into her interior where something special was taking place and, when she eventually opened her eyes she said, “I heard the sound of Angels singing.” Beautiful. It seems to me that Jesus in the Eucharist touched that place in her heart where God had written His Law, His Word. That sacred writing

Uproot from the soil Of my heart Lord This tree That bears no fruit Deep-rooted Stubborn Taking up Such precious space The bark that holds all My legitimate grievances Be burned in the fire Of Divine Love Purifying furnace Uproot from the soil Of my heart Lord This tree This egocentric self And leave behind A gaping hole That it may become A chalice for Your own Sacred outpouring Wellspring of Mercy Garden of Your Law Fertile field of Word Deepest interior Knowing

"... with Christ I hang upon the cross,  and yet I am alive; or rather, not I; it is Christ that lives in me." (Galatians 2:19-20 Knox Bible) Hands joined in prayer Reverent Protective It was You Not I Who approached Putting me on my feet As if in invitation to dance You took my hands In each of yours Slowly opening Parting them full stretched Fingertip to fingertip Face to face Body to body Lips to lips Adoration With You I hang Upon the Cross Crucified to You And You to me (2010) From the Pallottine Chapel, Ngong Road, Nairobi