I Am Said I (Huruma)

“…they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said, ‘and the day is almost over.’ So, he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’ ” This is one of the loveliest and most tender moments in the Bible, a moment that inspired this prayer that we say in the Divine Office: ‘Stay with us, Lord Jesus, as evening falls; Be our companion on our way. In your mercy inflame our hearts and raise our hope, So that, in union with our brothers and sisters We may recognize you in the Scriptures And in the breaking of Bread Who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.’ It is the desire of us all that the Lord...

The Resurrection of Jesus is a fact in itself, but for the disciples the experiences of the Resurrection are different and varied. Each of them experienced it in his or her own way and at their own pace. And the running of Peter and John to the empty tomb is very symbolic of that. John ran faster than Peter and got there ahead of him but each of them came to the experience of Jesus in their own time and at their own pace. Resurrection can be a very difficult reality to comprehend or to make a connection with. I find myself when I’m going through Holy Week that I have a very strong connection with Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the early part of Holy Saturday – these touch something very deep inside the heart. Resurrection is a very different thing because we haven’t yet experienced it ourselves. But what I do believe is important is the intensity of desire that is in our hearts to have the experience of Jesus risen from the dead and that we go on and persist in our intensi...

Being an ordained priest is a wonderful privilege and some of the most inspiring moments are not those that we plan ourselves but the ones we are led to experience through God’s kind providence. On Tuesday of last week I was called to anoint a man who was given just a week to live and at first sight he looked like he might not last even a day. But he sat up in the bed, asked me to sit on the edge of it and he leaned against me for support. We had never met before and he seemed to have lost his connection with God, at least consciously, a connection that was broken because of the hurt he experienced as a father. Both of his sons, his only two children, were dead and the pain of that loss was palpable. For some reason we started talking about home. He came from Connemara and his great-grandmother was from Inis Mor, the same island that my grandmother came from. They were both Flahertys from different villages but the two families are related. And this thought that he and I...

When I was Addicted To Eurovision She would be The most beautiful Presenter I built her a stage Appropriate for the Graceful Entrance She would make A sanctuary of all The tender goodness In the world She did not come To this theatre Yet I find her here In my soul In memories of her son On this stage And Bohemian Rhapsody Sung Live Awakens memories Of an innocent Winter A happy Spring And a Summer filled With sorrow A long delayed Autumn And a recovery Of sorts

My Soul Was a child An infant In flight In slow descent A rasping Desperate cry Without words To express the pain That cannot be Consoled By a mother's Total tenderness Nothing at all avails Until flight is ended And we whimper Into relieved silence Quivering Sleeping My Soul Is a child That soon forgets Its distress As God forgets My sin And I am Lazarus Waking Called forth Into Sonlight In Christ And by Him Unbound