Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mark 3:31-35   Happy Valley paints for us the scene Traumatic stories Troubled homes the norm Drugs and dodgy dealings Control freaks on the loose And police pick up the pieces While others turn to booze   Our families are anchors In a world of crime Refuge from the cold outside Safety every time KnowingContinue reading “God’s Will”

Mark 3:22-30   Big Wigs from Jerusalem Will put the upstart down These experts in the Law Will annihilate this clown His healing power satanic That their expert view They spread that word abroad That will do for you   For this the Lord has telling words So serious the charge You destroy the wholeContinue reading “Unforgivable”

Sound and solid fishermen Men of Galilee Mending nets to go again And hunt upon the sea Yet open to the wider world Their own philosophy The journey of this mortal life Whatever that might be   They knew the preacher heard him talk Seen what he could do Healing sick folk here and thereContinue reading “Gone Fishing”

Dark haired and good-looking A man in love with words A poet and a lover His feast day now returns Not all of him was lovely But who are we to scorn A man like any other His frailties well known   I found his words a student They held me in their thrall WhatContinue reading “Robert Burns”

Ireland was a romantic place to me Scene of summer holidays and free Open air and mountain views Turf fires burning wear no shoes A paradise on earth and utterly   For others it was hell and misery Magdalen laundries another history The State bowed down before the Church Many folk left in the lurchContinue reading “Hidden Things”

Mark 3:20-21   Stampedes or a crush Crowds are dangerous Unless there is control It will be the end of us   Hillsborough or Burnden Park In 1946 Bodies lying on the ground At a sporting fix   Crowds can only cheer or boo That is all their power Chant your name and carry youContinue reading “Crowds”

This icy cold this arctic blast Takes me back in time To a moment in my childhood Coming home at dinner time   Myself and Tricia both at school Walked home for lunch one day Wrapped up against the winter chill For dinners we did not stay   My balaclava kept me warm As snowContinue reading “Winter’s Day”

Mark 3:7-12   Always have your escape route planned James Bond gave good advice And Jesus up in Galilee Would need that sound device The crowds were gathering thick and fast Danger he might be crushed So Peter and his fishing boat Were ready in case they pushed   And when his foes assembled ToContinue reading “Great Escape”

Jesus sat beside a well High noon of the day A woman came for water Please give me some I pray   They fell in conversation And gently it poured out Her tale of troubled living He gently listened out   Her life that day she truly told Her story was received She felt herselfContinue reading “Beside A Well”

A man has died in Erris Itself is nothing strange Only it sets my mind a-travelling Along lonely road and range Geesala and Dooyork The road out to the sea This quiet night so dark and cold Nobody out but me   And yet the word has travelled The Internet alive And messages of condolenceContinue reading “The Death has occurred…”

Boys together so they are And brothers But are they alike? Not a bit One is quiet and conscientious Hardly says a word The other is all gallivant Oh and he’ll be heard!   And heard he was and off he went Discovering foreign places Last I heard his money spent He was pulling thoseContinue reading “Two Sons”

Mark 2:23-28   Pharisees finding fault Is how it starts They’ll make a habit of it Satanic arts The Nazarene is wiser than them all His power to heal Has people in his thrall   Later on they will call him evil names Saying that he plays the devil’s games Reporting him higher up theContinue reading “To Be Like Christ”

I do not like big cities Full of crowded streets Give me the quiet villages Where town and country meet Where people have green spaces And hills that they can climb And gently flowing waters Creation in its prime   The cobbled streets of Tyldesley Were built to house a force Of hard working peopleContinue reading “Nature’s Remedy”

The church is never empty The presence always there Sanctuary lamp at evening Again at morning prayer Hic est Domus Dei Et janua coeli I am with you always His promise made to me   Go into your private room You will find him there Ever attentive to you Listening to your prayer These areContinue reading “With You Always”

  I passed my grandfather Shuffling down the street A man of eighty then A lovely man to meet He was on his way to Paddy’s Hump A pint of mixed to sip And I for playing snooker A very special trip   The year I’d say was 61 And I fourteen years old GranddadContinue reading “Ould Mick Foy”