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We call it the story of the Prodigal Son. But Jesus didn’t call it that. He told a story about a man who had two sons. One seems foolish and the other looks faithful. The exploits of the younger son are relayed to us in all their hideous detail. We have every reason to booContinue reading “A Gospel We Need To Hear”

What’s going on? It’s time to go to school And learn about the reasons for this war Listen to learned people Amazing what they know Peter Hitchens David Starkey Not everyone’s cup of tea I find them fascinating They are helping me   And now I find another man Very very good His name JohnContinue reading “Good Teachers”

Dying soldiers on the battlefield Cry out for their mothers in their need The ones who gave them life Be with them now And hold them close As life’s last breath they heed   So now we call on Mary Mother of us all And consecrate to her Those who fight and fall Russia andContinue reading “Mother of the Lord”

Frozen food is handy But nothing tastes like fresh Fodder from the fields is best of all I lived it in Glencullen My mother’s native home Alive with produce Now no need to roam   Eggs new laid that morning And milk from the cow And water from the river running by And potatoes ohContinue reading “Fruits of the Earth”

  I am war weary And I am far away From bombs and bullets and burning buildings BBC bulletins keep me apprised But I don’t want to know How a young child dies   I don’t turn away Not completely I must stay and watch while others suffer Like Mary at the cross with JohnContinue reading “A Bright Moon”

I wrote to my mother every week Away at school on my own Sunday morning Write a letter home   It was my lifeline How I kept in touch With those I loved Loved so very much   In later years The telephone Voices in my ear Keeping close to loved ones Those that weContinue reading “Touching Distance”

My father loved a song And he could sing one And as a child I sat upon his knee And on this quiet Paddy’s Day I sense I hear him still Singing in his pleasant voice ‘That little old mud cabin on the hill’   A song of emigration It describes the foreign shore WhereContinue reading “In Paddy’s Land”

She overcame her fear And came out to do her bit That lady on Russian television She really showed true grit And fear is the issue It has haunted all our lives From the days I prayed for Russia As the pope incentivised   We live in fear of the Russian bear They live inContinue reading “Fear Not”

Canterbury prison years ago I was a part time chaplain A pleasant young man asked to see me And told me how lost he felt about life He couldn’t see a way forward Or a way out of his troubles He was doubly imprisoned Inside prison walls and inside his mental dungeon   As heContinue reading “Stepping Stones”

  If you could be jealous Of someone’s resting place Faulmore takes some beating For beauty and for grace Down below at the edge of the sea Achill in your sights Atlantic waves come rolling in What a way to spend the nights   Where will I be buried? My mother asked of me TheContinue reading “Edge of the World”

This was the day my father died My world changed forever Suddenly loss was at my side The wall was breached The incoming tide Washed over me And looking outside The world seemed the same And totally changed And I a fatherless child   Down the pit when I was young He hardly saw theContinue reading “The Dying Day”

As disease can spread So can health And changing the world begins With changing me My spiritual condition This is now my mission I help you most When I am helping me   Talking to a counsellor Brought me back to health How? I open up to one who cares There is no condemnation NoContinue reading “Human Health”

I lived in a country house A post war semi Built in famers’ fields It qualifies Garden back and front Green fields all around A mile from town I lived in a country house   In London Thank God for Clapham Common A vast expanse of green to walk and play The concentrated clutter ofContinue reading “Country Life”

She wasn’t well A friend took her in Gave her a room at the inn next door A venerable hotel Room at the top to live in A table chair and bed And a window that looked out On the church of Notre Dame   Safe haven now in troubled times Respite from her stressContinue reading “A Safe Place”

It was annoying me It wouldn’t give me peace It was a thing deferred delayed put off It sat there looking at me Put me in the box Close the lid and tape it up Take me to the shop   And so today I did so Before it got too late Brian doesn’t doContinue reading “Pack It Up”