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Category Archives: holy days
Out of time
A little Lenten story. ______________ Beginning to surface from the night, sleep-weed still encircling my ankles, I thought, with langorous urgency, that I must text my mother right away; I soothed my awakening conscience that we had kept in touch … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, story
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The story of Barry Baker
A little legend for Lent Once upon a time, an indeterminate number of centuries ago, a little boy was found on the Barry Island beach. The child, not more than a year old, was wrapped in a blanket and laid … Continue reading
Bread
A little Lenten story I made my own bread when the children were small, with the aid of a machine. They ate it ravenously, sometimes playing Eucharist: “This is my toast, given for you.” My eldest bequeathed me a recipe … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection
Tagged bread, Eucharist, Lent, Lent 1, temptation
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Ash Wednesday
Lent is a time, if nowhen else is, not to perform piety, but to practice humility; not to perform beneficence, but to practice generosity; not to perform mourning but to practice grief, for all that is done that should have been left undone; for all that should have been done that has been left undone; with tears and trembling, and the sure and certain knowledge that God, who is compassion and mercy, sees us. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon
Tagged Ash Wednesday, ashes, dust, God, Lent, Matthew 6:1-6 16-12, mercy, repentance
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Shrove Tuesday
O God of branches and hosannas, forgive the dried state of last year’s palms; trampled by Holy Week and scant adoration, they have desiccated, as our hearts too often do, too. Kindle them, our hearts and our psalms, to fresh … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, poetry, prayer
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Fall silent
A short (but true) story for the Sunday Last before Lent: “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven” (2 Peter 1) _______ Every day, at around about eleven in the morning, the world stood still. Teachers fell quiet mid-lesson, … Continue reading
A Song of Anna
Anna, too, breaks into praises, and she, too, has something to say about what this means, the coming of the Messiah, the birth of the Christ, and his appearance in the Temple. She tells all who will listen – but her words, unlike Simeon’s, are not recorded. Continue reading
(A conversion) not (of St Paul)
No lightning bolt nor sudden fall but the gentle tap-tap of mercy raining like hoofbeats like heartbeats over the umbrella of consciousness – Who are you? You sang, my pied piper;I was powerlessnot to follow; you led my soul astray, … Continue reading
A star that never burns out
Be of good courage. Follow, not the flaming ball of gas, but the light that is Christ: the embodiment of the love of God; the innocence that is wiser than our wiles, the grace that journeys with us, washes our feet when we are weary, feeds us when we are hungry, encourages us where we are faithful; the star that never burns out. Continue reading
Follow the star
But what if I have spent too long staring into space longing for a sign What if the mystery were here all along in the tall grass of childhood the stumbling steps of grief the sudden sharp discovery underfoot that all is not yet seen the … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, poetry, prayer
Tagged Epiphany, Incarnation, Matthew 2:1-12, twelfth night
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over the water 