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John 20:19-31   Two men crossing a desert One says to the other Is that a mirage… Or am I seeing things?   And were they Irishmen? I can’t remember But I remember the joke And I like it   And today the disciples are seeing things Jesus and not a ghost But Thomas isContinue reading “Doubting Thomas”

Mark 16:9-15   Every day we hear the daily news We feed on it for breakfast dinner tea It’s wearisome dispiriting Casts a gloomy pall Better if we didn’t listen Heed it not at all   But ignored won’t make it go away There’s war out there Ignorance at play And broken-hearted people Living inContinue reading “The Appearances of Jesus”

Yesterday Three boys coming home from school Nine or ten they were and playing cool Stopped before my neighbour Dougie’s house All manicured lawn and flowers neatly there Then they jumped upon the grass And threw a plastic carton on the lawn And walked on by I saw it all unfold   I went outsideContinue reading “Killing Beauty”

What I have I give you Said Peter to the man Who lay a cripple by the Beautiful Gate Silver and gold I do not have But what I have I give In the name of Jesus Christ arise and walk   My father had no choice about his life After school at 14 downContinue reading “What I Have I Give”

  A decent man indeed was Gorbachev You could see it in his face his honest soul He wanted the top job to do some good Glasnost perestroika on a role   Overtaken by events he then resigned And earned a pretty penny out on tour A philosophy of openness and kind A better timeContinue reading “Shared Life”

  If some one told you the story of your life It would be very different from the one you tell yourself They see with other eyes another point of view You see with inner feeling you know what it cost you   Early days are hopeful the sun often shines Early expectations pave theContinue reading “Walking the Road”

You lose the common touch when at the top The captain in his quarters The crew all down below The garden of Number 10 like the crow’s nest So high and mighty they will never know   And this is the engine of the country The workplace where great thoughts are begun So cheese andContinue reading “Boris”

The people of Bangor Erris bury their dead on a hillside, on rising ground that looks out westward towards the sea, the Atlantic Ocean. Below the road is blanket bog that stretches out towards Blacksod Bay, where shiny water can be seen, and the low-lying Mullet peninsula and the height of Slievemore on Achill Island.Continue reading “The Easter Garden”

A memory from my childhood is of a Redemptorist mission in our parish. Father John Berry CSsR is standing in the pulpit preaching. He is a tall and impressive figure. Our little church is full, every seat taken. People are there and they are keen to listen to what this man in the black habitContinue reading “The Line of my Life”

We sing ‘Abide with me’ Each Cup Final Day And everybody sings it The words demand their say For Francis Lyte their writer When death was drawing near Wrote the words for us to sing Words so very dear   The Lord does tell us constantly Do not be afraid But afraid is what weContinue reading “Our Fears”

You would think educated people Would have more bloody sense Than to start a war destroying things And shedding blood and losing limbs And causing mayhem and other things And seeing women and children die And soldiers loose to rape and steal And all for what? For crowd appeal? For what we call security BecauseContinue reading “Mayhem”

My neighbour across the road A gardener fine His garden back and front Surpasses mine For he has been a gardener All his days He knows his plants and shrubs Their many ways   And here today in springtime’s Warm sunshine A bank of yellow daffodils So fine I thank him for this ever-changing viewContinue reading “Yellow Heads”

Fake News is told on Easter Day Two stories from the tomb break out that day The women with their spices meet the Lord The soldiers in confusion spike the word   The Lord appears the women cry for joy Go tell my brothers – the word they must employ But soldiers meanwhile fearing derelictionContinue reading “What’s The Story”

In Matthew’s Gospel the risen Lord sends a message via the women to the disciples, telling them to leave for Galilee. ‘They will see me there’. It is an evocative moment: Galilee, the place of peace and happiness, the beautiful green place where the story had begun. Jesus was also saying that they needed toContinue reading “A Better Life”

The Holy Shroud Medieval forgery or holy souvenir Like Jesus himself Did he exist? Say some Or is the story true?   And why would people make up a tale like that! And why would people give their lives for it! The image on the shroud it haunts us still The crucified is risen that’sContinue reading “Image of God”