Gratitude & Thanksgiving

19 April 2018 - 3rd Thursday of Eastertide A peaceful drive to school and back this morning - and blessed with thoughts for the day from a song and a BBC interview…. Find me a place on the earth w here a weary man can rest a nd listen for your voice  In the turning seasons. A quiet place in the world wh ere I can bow and  confess that I fear w here you have brought me, m ysterious  God All of my life, y ou have been with me - my  comfort in loneliness, m y hope in the dark.   All of my life,  Lord, please stay with me, b e my sustaining breath,  Guardian of my heart. My days are passing by l ike falling stars t hat blaze across the night sky, t hen they are gone. Father , at your side,  I will never be afraid, f or you have held all my days in  the palm of your hand Lyrics from song:  A Place on the Earth  by Fernando Ortega Listen to the song here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhaCSIdP3d4 "It doesn’t matter if things are b...

  17 April 2018 - 3rd Tuesday of Eastertide Capturing snippets of beautiful thoughts about silence, from an article I am reading…. To be silent  is not to be quiet, but to create a space, a place within oneself,  to fall back on, where we can rest,  and where we can  listen to ourselves,  and receive others. Silence is  like a room, available in our interior. Silence is listening. Silence is the language of love, and it is the depth in relationship. It is  a way of living  our relationship, with self, and with others. Silence prepares us, to live differently, to have a deeper look at life. Silence in the spiritual life, unifies the heart, and expands interiority. Silence opens us to a relationship with God, in a deeper, and radical way. Those who live from silence before God -  they discover others, the world, life, things, and their entire existence, in a new light. Those who live from silence before God - their gaze beco...

Meditation of Pope Benedict XVI (St Luke Production) As we wait in the night, dark church for the Easter light to be struck, we should experience the consoling realisation that God is fully aware of the night by which we are surrounded.   The night enables us to appreciate what the light really is.   It is brightness, or luminousness that enables us to see, that s hows the way and gives direction , helps us to know others and ourselves.   The tiny quivering flame is an image of the wonderful mystery that we call life and that is profoundly dependent on light.    At this moment we are not only celebrating the Resurrection we are also given a distant glimpse of the second coming of the Lord, whom we are advancing to meet... We should also ask ourselves the question “ Does my lamp have enough oil for the wedding feast?”   The world is indeed dark, but even a single candle suffices to bring light into the deepest darkness.   Did not God give us a c...

  3 April 2018 Easter Tuesday Today’s Gospel speaks about Mary at the empty tomb, and tells me so much about the state I must be in to recognise and to hear the Lord…. John 20:11-18:   stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to t...