I Am Said I (Huruma)

She stayed by the tomb weeping faithful to the emptiness she found there longing for her absent Lord While we are not inclined to stay with weeping or emptiness We run away ahead instead But it is in her weeping and her waiting that Mary met Jesus becoming the first apostle of Resurrection

The first time I went to MEDJUGORJE   our leader took us up KRIZEVAC (Cross M ountain) to do the Stations of the Cross. She was old enough to be my mother so, when she took off her shoes to go barefoot, I felt I had no option but to do the same. It’s a slow climb of about two hours over large and sometimes sharp rocks. The pain and discomfort I felt helped me connect with the sufferings of Jesus in some small way. When we got to the top I sat myself down to relieve my dirty, bruised feet and what happened next is one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. An old woman came over to me unbidden, carrying a small basin and a bottle of water and she proceeded to wash my feet. She was Jesus to me in that moment, touching me in a concrete way with her love, doing something that I needed. It also became clear that she washed my feet because I am a priest. My feet are symbolic of who I am as a man and a priest – dirty and bruised, needing consolation and healing....

Fresh Frozen Frost Freezing Feet For everyone God’s Son’s Godless  Distress  Arrested Divinity Dripping Drops of Blood Betrayed And kissed Dismissed Despicably

No longer Will I Bear it On my own I will no longer Wear it all alone I will let you Take a thorn From my crown The crown upon My head The thorn Of my mistake The crown Of my disgrace And shame The veil that covers My face No longer need I Hide from You For ours the crown And ours the thorn One the blood We share We die one death We live one life And one the heart That carries Every other

Listening to the readings for the Easter Vigil, I have a sense of obstacles: the obstacles facing the people of Israel on their way to the Promised Land; the obstacles that face us in our spiritual life as we search relentlessly for Jesus; external obstacles and the more difficult internal ones. “Who will roll away the stone?” asked the women on the way to the tomb. “Who will deliver me from this body?” asks St. Paul when he reflects on the struggle that is part of human life (Romans 7). Who will ease my pain and dry my tears? His answer is, “It is the Lord.” “I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh instead. A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you” (Jeremiah 31).  The stone is rolled away and we are opened up to new possibilities, new life. This is done by God. Our task is to allow it be done. The strange thing is that on entering the tomb the women learn that Jesus is risen, but at this stag...

O friend of mine Whom I love Companion of my soul You have gone To the rightful place Of your belonging And I to mine Jet-streaming across the sky All sign of you has vanished Still I watch Across the distance Between us It is empty space And silence The way of pilgrims You might say The truth So simply said So painful