Thought for the Day

Prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
Feast celebrated 4th October

The Grace of the Lord

But the Lord is waiting
 to be gracious to you,
to rise and take pity on you,
for the Lord is a just God;
happy are all who hope in him.

                          Isaiah 30:17-18

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - 11th February

A prayer for healing:

Lord, you invite all who are burdened to come to you. Allow your healing hand to heal them. Touch their souls with your compassion for others. Touch their hearts with your courage and infinite love for all. Touch their minds with your wisdom, that their mouths may always proclaim your praise. Teach them to reach out to you in their need, and help them to lead others to you by example. Most loving Heart of Jesus, bring them health in body and spirit that they may serve you with all their strength. Touch gently their lives which you have created, now and forever. Amen. 

Ecumenical Sunday Service on The Village Green
11th July 2010
Milford Music and Arts Festival July 2010

Gathered here we bring to share
The fruit grown from the planted seed
Put into our hearts at birth. . .

 God cares for, loves and nurtures us
And watches where and how
To help us tend the seedlings’ tiny shoots.

To each of us God gives
A lamp to light a path to Him
And time to learn to know His Son

Oh, did I say a path? A single path?

 But there are many paths to tread:
All start for us at birth
And chance and choice dictate the route
But all paths finish at a single gate. . .

 Some travel on a lonely trail
And some in poverty and pain;
Some ride in joyful company
As others trade in envy, hate and cruelty.

But in His kindness God holds out His Son to us,
Who we can ask to take our hand
As we ourselves go through this darkened land
To reach the light of God’s own Paradise.

Those who had the chance
And chose to be His friend
Are asked to be like sparks
Across the stubble,
Lighting up the way in turn to others
As we travel on together, arm in arm.
 

How often have we needed this prayer - or one like it. . .

Dear God, please keep you arm round my shoulders - 
and your hand over my mouth!

23rd June 2010

24th May 2010

Your prayers are requested today by Matthew for the Hayes family from Fleetwood in Lancashire.  They are experiencing a combination of illness and accident at the moment and are finding themselves overwhelmed.  Please pray that God will give them the help they need to struggle through their present storms.  Please remember especially Rev. Dennis Hayes.

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

 The Lord's descent into the underworld

     Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

  He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

  I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

  See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

  I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

  Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

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Poem heard on 'Something Understood' 3rd January 2010 (BBC)

'Francis Jammes: A Prayer to Go to Paradise with the Donkeys'
Translated by Richard Wilbur 1921 -

When I must come to you, O my God, I pray
It be some dusty-roaded holiday,
And even as my travels here below,
I beg to choose by what road I shall go
To Paradise, where the clear stars shine by day.
I'll take my walking-stick and go my way,

And to my friends the donkeys I shall say,
'I am Francis Jammes*, and I'm going to Paradise,
For there is no hell in the land of the loving God.'
And I'll say to them: 'Come. sweet friends of the blue skies,
Poor creatures who with a flap of the ears or a nod
Of the head shake off the buffets, the bees, the flies. . .'

Let me come with these donkeys, Lord, into your land,
These beasts who bow their heads so gently, and stand
With their small feet joined together in a fashion
Utterly gentle, asking your compassion.
I shall arrive, followed by their thousands of ears.
Followed by those with baskets at their flanks,
By those who lug the carts of mountebanks
Or loads of feather-dusters and kitchen-wares,
By those with humps of battered water-cans,
By bottle-shaped she-asses who halt and stumble,
By those tricked out in little pantaloons
To cover their wet, blue galls where flies assemble
In whirling swarms, making a drunken hum.
Dear God, let it be with these donkeys that I come,
And let it be that angels lead us in peace
To leafy streams where cherries tremble in air,
Sleek as the laughing flesh of girls; and there
In that haven of souls let it be that, leaning above
Your divine waters, I shall resemble these donkeys,
Whose humble and sweet poverty will appear
Clear in the clearness of your eternal love.

                                   From Things of This World (1956)

* Francis Jammes: French writer (1868 - 1938) known for poetry and
prose of considerable originality and simplicity
 

Prayer for the Year ahead - 2010

The Light of the World, c.1851 - William Holman Hunt

I said to the man
who stood at the gate of the year,
’Give me a light that I may tread safely
into the unknown.’

And he replied
‘Go out into the darkness
and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you
better than the light
and safer than a known way,’

So I went forth
and finding the hand of God
trod gladly into the light.

                         M. Louise Haskins

11th December 2009

Christmas Treat: Elizabeth's Story

 St. John the Baptist
Painting by Valentin de Boulogne (1591-1632)

The face of God

A newspaper photographer was sent to Ecuador in 1987 to cover the earthquake that devastated much of the country.
In the midst of such catastrophic suffering, he witnessed a simple scene of compassion.
He wrote:

The line was long but moving briskly.
And in that line, at the very end,
stood a young girl about twelve years of age.
She waited patiently
as those at the front of that long line
received a little rice, some canned goods or a little fruit.
Slowly but surely
she was getting closer to the front of that line,
closer to the food.

From time to time she would glance across the street.
She did not notice the growing concern
on the faces of those distributing the food.
The food was running out.
Their anxiety began to show, but she did not notice.
Her attention seemed always to focus on three figures
under the trees across the street.

At long last she stepped forward to get her food.
But the only thing left was a lonely banana.

The workers were almost ashamed to tell her
that was all that was left.

She did not seem to mind getting that solitary banana.
Quietly she took the precious fruit and ran across the street
where three small children waited – perhaps her sisters and a brother.

Very deliberately she peeled the banana
and very carefully divided the banana into three equal parts.

Placing the precious food into the eager hands
of those three younger ones
- one for you, one for you, one for you -
she then sat down
and licked the inside of that banana peel.

In that moment I swear I saw the face of God.

22 October 2009
Day of appeal for help from
Ethiopia and most of eastern Africa
for food aid.

15th October 2009
Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila

St Teresa of Avila left us this advice - which I have always found to be very true:

'Let us always be mindful of Christ's love If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely.

All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near.

Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.'

To find out a bit more about St. Teresa of Avila, [ Click here ]

13th October 2009

This is an extract from an email received today from a young Priest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The typing errors have been corrected and his name withheld in case it should come to the attention of the foes he faces along with other priests  in the region.  Please pray for all those in great peril in this area.

'Regarding security, things are not good in the region: 9 days ago priests in nearby parish were attacked and taken by force in the bush where they were to be killed if a costly ransom was not paid for,and the beautiful parish house was burnt down. 2 days later, it was the turn of the Marist brothers whose house and boarding school were attacked. Yesterday a truck transporting people was shot and military officers assassinated. The situation is so tense that our Bishop had to cut the African Synod in Rome to come back to Congo. Church institutions seem to be aimed at.  Lord, save us!
Who are these perpetrators of evil? Armed people in uniform. 
The situation is such that blood is likely to be poured, Other war is likely to happen and our parish is in a very dangerous position. Please, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.'

This time last year he was still celebrating the joy of his Ordination as a Priest at the end of August. . .

16th August 2009

We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it.
(St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians 2:10)

17th July 2009

The following poem, which was recited at the Milford Festival of Arts and Music, is printed with full permission from the author, Luci Shaw.  At the end of the poem I have printed out her web site url and her address so that if you want to, you can write and tell her how much you have enjoyed the poem. (If you do this, please mention Milford-on-Sea.)  Her beautiful books of poetry are available from www.amazon.co.uk 

 

VERY EARLY MORNING

by Luci Shaw

All the fields praise Him,
All dandelions are His glory.
Gold and silver, all trilliums
Unfold white flames above their trinities of leaves.
All wild strawberries and massed wood violets
Reflect His skies’ clean blue and white.
All brambles, all ox-eyes,
All stalks and stems lift to His light.
All young windflower bells
Tremble on hair-springs
For His air’s carillon touch.
Last year’s yarrow,
(Raising brittle star skeletons),
Tells age is not past praising.
All small, low, unknown, unnamed weeds
Show His impossible greens.
All grasses sing, tone on clear tone.
All mosses spread a spring-soft velvet
For His feet.
And by all means, all leaves, buds,
All flowers, cup jewels of fire and ice
Holding up to His kind morning heat
a silver sacrifice.

Now
Make of our hearts a field
To raise Your praise.

shawbiz@aol.com
www.lucishaw.com
 

c

20th June 2009

Dear Lord,

Our poor world is in such a mess!  Never mind what colour, faith or anything else we are,
please, please, just have mercy on your children - all of us and help us find peace and love.

Amen

10th June 2009

Prayer of a native American to Manitou

O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to the world: hear me.
I come to you as one of your many children.
I am small and weak; I need your strength and your wisdom.
Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know
the things you have taught your children,
the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
Make me strong, so that I may not be superior to other people,
but able to fight my greatest enemy, which is myself.
Make me ever come to you with straight eyes,
so that when life fades as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.

11th April 2009 - Easter Saturday

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

 The Lord's descent into the underworld

     Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

  He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

  I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

  See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

  I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

  Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

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20th February 2009

Thoughts on the poor of our world for today. . .
Central America, San Salvador in particular
Click on the picture below

 
Archbishop Oscar Romero
assassinated while saying Mass

29th January

Reading for today: Deuteronomy 30:1-20

We do have a choice. . . choose Life!

1st January 2009

Dearest Lord,

Please take care of us in the coming year.
Help us not to be frightened of
what we may think is lying in wait for us.
Let us just remember that you love us,
you care for us and you will look after us
all the way to your Kingdom.
Remind us always to love and care for each other
as you have done ,
are doing and always will do
for each one of us.
Amen

'And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.' (Matt.28:20)

[ Back ]

11th November 2008

The following poem,  Les Commandements du Destin,
translated from the French, was written in 1921 by
François Porché:

And you, English soldiers fallen on the field,
corpses hideously clothed in lime,
heroes, whose height is measured now
along the length of your green graves,
let us, since now forever you will be our guests,
in  multitudes, to fill our soil with your decay,
let us, kneeling here among the high-grown grass,
make no distinction in our dead and you.
O, English soldiers, share our Gallic honour.
If you, in endless exile, count such homage crushing,
we will beg the winds to bring you every day
the perfume of your cliffs like a great bouquet.

11th October 2008

Today's Readings provide another letter from Paul!

Warn those who are rich in this world’s goods that they are not to look down on other people; and not to set their hopes on money, which is untrustworthy, but on God who, out of his riches, gives us all that we need for our happiness. Tell them that they are to do good, and be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share – this is the way they can save up a good capital sum for the future if they want to make sure of the only life that is real.
My dear Timothy, take great care of all that has been entrusted to you. Have nothing to do with the pointless philosophical discussions and antagonistic beliefs of the ‘knowledge’ which is not knowledge at all; by adopting this, some have gone right away from the faith. Grace be with you.

10th October 2008

Timely letter for today from Paul
(From Readings of the Day, 10th October, Divine Office)

Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it; but as long as we have food and clothing, let us be content with that. People who long to be rich are a prey to temptation; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and dangerous ambitions which eventually plunge them into ruin and destruction. ‘The love of money is the root of all evils’ and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds. (Timothy 6:6-10)

The picture above is of the Christ Child on one of the side altars in the
Basilica dedicated to St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Lisieux, France.
October 1st 2008

A prayer as much for today as when it was written

Jeremiah 14

Lamentation of the people in the time of famine and war

Let my eyes shed tears, night and day, let them never cease,
 for the daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction,
 with the worst of all wounds.

If I go out into the fields – behold, those slain by the sword;
 if I go into the city – behold, those wasted by famine.
Prophet and priest go through the land, they know nothing.

Surely you have not rejected Judah, thrust him from you?
Surely Sion has not become hateful to your heart?

Why have you struck us down beyond all hope of healing?
We have looked for peace, but no good came;
 we have looked for the time of healing, but trouble came instead.

We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the evil done by our fathers:
 we acknowledge that we have sinned.
Do not make us a reproach, for your name’s sake,
 and do not make us a disgrace before the throne of your glory.
Remember the covenant you made with us: do not bring it to an end.

2007 AD

Thought for Today

5th December 2007

19th September 2007

'Let the sound of your voice echo always in my ears, good Jesus, so that I may learn how my heart, my mind, and my soul can love you. Let the innermost recesses of my heart embrace you, my one and only good, my sweet joy, my true friend.'

Mother Theresa

14th August 2007

Today we remember Saint Maximilian Kolbe

St Maximilian Kolbe (1894 - 1941)

He was born on 8 January 1894 in occupied Poland: he joined the Franciscans in Lwów in 1910, and was ordained eight years later, as his country became free and independent for the first time in over 120 years.
He believed that the world was passing through a time of intense spiritual crisis, and that Christians must fight for the world’s salvation with all the means of modern communication. He founded a newspaper, and a sodality called the Knights of Mary Immaculate, which spread widely both in Poland and abroad.
In 1927 he founded a community, a “city of Mary”, at Teresin: centred round the Franciscan friary, it attracted many lay people, and became self-supporting, publishing many periodicals and running its own radio station.
In 1930 he went to Japan, studied Buddhism and Shintoism, and through the Japanese edition of his newspaper spread the Christian message in a way that was in harmony with Japanese culture. In Nagasaki, he set up a “Garden of the Immaculate”, which survived the atomic bomb.
He also travelled to Malabar and to Moscow, but was recalled to Poland in 1936 for reasons of health.
When the Germans invaded in 1939, the community at Teresin sheltered thousands of refugees, most of them Jews.
In 1941 he was arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where he helped and succoured the inmates. In August of that year a prisoner escaped, and in reprisal the authorities were choosing ten people to die by starvation. One of the men had a family, and Maximilian Kolbe offered to take his place. The offer was accepted, and he spent his last days comforting his fellow prisoners.
The man he saved was present at his canonisation.

Maximilian Kolbe’s martyrdom is the least important thing about him. We are none of us likely to find ourselves in a position to emulate his sacrifice, and speculation as to the heroic way in which we would have behaved in his place is a pernicious waste of time. What is important is that he acted the way he did because of who he was – or, rather, because of who he had become. It is because of who he had become that we revere him as a saint: he would have been a saint (though perhaps not canonised) even if he had not been martyred. And that process of becoming is something we can all emulate. We can all become people for whom doing the right thing is obvious, natural, and easy. It requires no heroism, no special gifts: just perseverance, and prayer.

Copied from www.universalis.com today, 14th August
    With thanks to Martin Kochanski ©

See also 'Daily Reflection' for today from Creighton

Thought for the Day:

There is a price of US$50,000,000 on Osama Bin Laden's head;
There was a mere 30 pieces of silver on the head of Jesus. . .

So, you pays your money and you takes your pick....

Choose the bargain!

Psalm 17(18)

Thanksgiving for salvation and victory 

I will love you, Lord, my strength:
Lord you are my foundation and my refuge, you set me free.
My God is my help: I will put my hope in him, my protector,
My sign of salvation, the one who raises me up.
I will call on the Lord – praise be to his name -
And I will be saved from my enemies.

 The waves of death flooded round me,
The torrents of Belial tossed me about,
The cords of the underworld wound round me,
death’s traps opened before me.
In my distress I called on the Lord,
 I cried out to my God:
From his temple he heard my voice,
My cry came to his ears.

 This section of Psalm 17(18) is from the Office of Readings on 4th July 2007
which the day Alan Johnston was released from captivity

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday
The Lord’s Descent Into The Underworld

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all!”. Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”.

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

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Click the picture to visit Eddie Askew's site

Lord, sometimes I get worried.
Uptight.
My life seems blurred,
ragged at the edges, the definition poor, unfocused.
I feel uncomfortable.
Unsure.
Nothing clear cut, decisive.
No white line along the middle of the road
to lead me through a bend.
And when I am round the corner,
there’s still another bend ahead.
The road’s not easy to see, the signposts few.

 At times like this, Lord,
I set my mind on you.
Help me to frame my life firmly,
and leave it in your hands.
Content to watch the colours ebb and flow.

 Sometimes the clear bright shining
sparkles with light.
Dazzles the eyes.
But then the muted greys,
deep darks, flood in.
As integral a part of your harmonies
as all the rest.

Then let me see your beauty
even in the shadows.

And when the time is right,
your time, not mine,
I hope to see your finger,
creative still,
trace out, in lines of love,
the purposes you had in mind
from the beginning.

From “No Strange Land” by Eddie Askew.

This thought provoking article reached us this month, January 2007

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary:

      I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

      It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

      I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

      Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

      I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too.

      But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

      In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

      Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina)

      Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

      And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

      In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

      Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

      Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about and we said OK.

      Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

      Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

      Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

      Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

      Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

      Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

      Are you laughing?

      Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

      Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

      Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

Misere nobis, Domine!

2006 AD 

October 24th

The Gospels portray Jesus as a man of quite unusual physical and psychological strength. When he was with the crowds, he was always alert, dynamic, a figure you could not ignore. He would spend a long day teaching, explaining, arguing, healing, blessing, and then withdraw from the crowds and from his own disciples. But it was not a withdrawal into sleep. He went apart, often into the hills, to pray. Can we begin to imagine what happened in that dialogue with the Father? The only notion I can form is of the Trinity: Father and Son in a loving bond with one another, and that bond is the Holy Spirit. As sisters and brothers of Jesus we too enjoy that bond with the Father. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. (Romans 8,26)

July 24th 2006

This poem/prayer was printed in the pages of the 'Songs of Praise' Service
held at Keyhaven yesterday:

'ONE SOLITARY LIFE

Here is a man who was born of Jewish parents in an obscure village,
The child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village.
He worked in a carpenter's shop until he was 30,
And then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never owned a home.
He never had a family.
He never went to college.
H never put his foot inside a big city.
He never travelled 200 miles from the place where he was born.
He never did those things which usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but  himself.
He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of his divine manhood.
While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him.
His friends ran away.
One of them denied him.
He was turned over to his enemies.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
His executioners gambled for the only piece of property 
he had on earth whilst he was dying,
And that was his coat.
When he was dead he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave 
through the pity of a friend.
Twenty wide centuries have come and gone and today 
he is the centrepiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that every marched,
All the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat,
And all the kings that ever reigned
put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that
ONE SOLITARY LIFE'

(Anonymous, but God knows who wrote it.)

This prayer was received this morning, 5th May 2006

Please remember these people in your prayers
Thank you on their behalf.

Pray-As-You-Go

2005 AD

December 9th

I Speak For The Animals:

We were there, the ox, the ass and the lamb;
We had our chance, that perfect night,
To warm the Son of our Creator
With our breath, our hair, our wool.

 I was there, the innkeeper’s cat.
I purred a lullaby, and warmed him with my fur.

We were there, us mice, my brothers and sisters.
There was little we could do – we had to be so quiet.
We nibbled through the straw, the swaddling bands
And licked his toes to keep them warm.

 Together, all of us, we did what we could
To comfort the Son of our Creator.
We always tried to do our best
From the moment of our birth.
But that night, we had our chance
To give our thanks.

October 29th

Please pray for me and my wife, Shannon.  Pray that the Holy
Spirit fills us, overwhelms us with its Grace and Hope.  Pray that
Shannon can find forgiveness in her heart and the strength and courage
to work on our marriage. Pray that God will touch her body and take the
pain and suffering caused by her gastroperesis. Pray that Shannon can
focus on the future and that her prayers become specific and determined.
Pray for me (John) that I can remain patient yet hopeful.  Pray that God
gives me peace and strength.

Thank you,

John

October 24th

July 31st

I know prayer can be a power thing and we have a friend that needs your prayers
 and I would like to ask that you put him on your prayer list.

Please pray for:

Richard Rains of Texas, who just found out he has stage 4
of Pancreatic Cancer. Please pray for his wife and two small boys as well.

Thank you,
Cheryl Taylor
 

OUR ONLY DEFENCE AGAINST TERRORISM

Do you have a prayer intention to send?
 

9th July 2005
Mary asks for prayers to be said for Polly Wilson who is in a coma.
And Brandon Shipman to have God come back into his life. 

To send us an e-mail [ Click here ]

This beautiful poem was read at a funeral service for Michael Drake last Thursday - 9th June 2005
We hope you will find it as beautiful as we did:

I

I am the power that tears apart the stars
and folds them into galaxies.
I call the buds of flowers
to bloom in the delicate dawn.
And I am the power in the leopard's limbs,
and in the dandelioned wind.
I shake the earth apart in stormèd fire.
and spill my life-blood upon the Earth each Spring,
taking it back agbain from withered leaves
which fall upon my bosom in the year's close.
I weave the webbèd lace of spider's deeds
and hear crystals grow
in ice-locked cliffs, long abandoned.
I dance in the heavens, playing with the stars,
and garland the sun with planets,
setting the Earth's jewel in the centre of my head.
I dwell in desert drifted sands
and in the rhythm of the seas,
beneath the molten-angered rocks.
And in a child's eyes.
I soar in the flight of the snow-birds,
and creep within the burrows of the Earth.
I vibrate in the music of the stars,
and in the silences of worlds
long dead.
All creation is my being.
And if you would cease your search
of the world's ends
and the distant skies
and turn within,
you would see me vibrating in your heart
with shining Love,
as I shine in the hearts
of all men.
Go there,
and you will see me in everything.

Mala Mason: Shivoham

Note to the Poet:

Dear Mala,

l looked for you on the Internet
and didn't find you.
How sad not to find the creator of such a lovely poem!
I took a liberty here and there -
there was no title for a start. . .and
I have added one.
Then,
there is one other little alteration:
If you object,
please write to me!

Thank you.

Moi

Prayer found in Auschwitz

Lord, remember not only people of good will
but also people of ill will.
Do not remember only the sufferings
that have been inflicted on us,
But remember too the fruit we have produced
as a result of this suffering:
the comradeship and loyalty,
the humility and courage,
the generosity of heart
that has grown out of it.
And when they come to judgement,
let all the fruits that we have borne
be their forgiveness.

You tell me to carry my cross, Lord. You are not telling me to go out looking for the cross, in practices or penances. Rather I find it under my nose. Every encounter that costs me, that rubs off my ego, is part of your plan for me. I start with my own body and heart. The aches and limitations of my limbs, my awkwardness and shyness, are part of my cross. I often wish I was different, but this is me, and I will learn to love me as you do. When I can't think of anything to say in company, or when I think of the wrong things, I'm carrying my cross.

What consoles me is that you like my company. You can put up with my silences. You accept the grumpy mutterings that at times are the closest I come to conversation. I don't always feel good about myself. There are moments when, like Groucho Marx, I would not want to belong to any club that was ready to accept me as a member. You not merely accept me, but make me feel I belong, a first-born child in whom you delight.

From ‘Sacred Space’ – run by the Jesuits in Ireland www.jesuit.ie/prayer

1st to 3rd September 2004

Beslan Massacre

Dear Lord,
We pray for the souls of those who died.
We pray for the comfort and consolation of the bereaved
and for the return to health of all the injured. 
We pray too, dear Lord, that you and time will confer 
on all those who have suffered so much and so dreadfully 
the ability to experience happiness again.
Amen.

On 1st September, at the start of the school year in Russia, 30 or so terrorists burst into No. 1 School in Beslan, a small Russian town in the Caucasus, just over the border from Chechnya.  The terrorists, also known as freedom fighters, took control of the school with a large supply of arms, taking hostage more than one thousand people.  Among the terrorists were two women with bombs strapped to their bodies.  Several people were killed on the first day and the hostage-takers said that for every one of them the security forces might kill, they would kill 50 of their hostages.  On 2nd September, negotiations seemed to bear some fruit when 9 babies were released to the soldiers, without their mothers.  On 3rd September, a group of children escaped through a window, pursued by heavy fire from the windows.  Several were injured, many seriously.  More shooting and explosions broke the tension and the soldiers stormed the building.  While all this was going on, streams of injured and traumatised people managed to escape.  The school was continually rocked by explosions and fire broke out.  The roof of the gym collapsed, trapping and killing many who were still inside.  

The hostage-takers had crammed children and adults - mainly women - into the gym and into a cellar, where they killed many of the hostages.  No one had been allowed water to drink, no food, no toilet facilities during the period of the capture.  There were very young children present, those who gone with older brothers and sisters for the festival of the first day of the school year.  One young boy of eleven or so, was brave enough to ask one of the captors for water, whereupon he was bayoneted to death in one swift movement

As this is being written, 330 are known to have died, half of them children, but dozens of people are still missing.  There are over 700 being treated in hospital.

All this was done in the name of freedom on behalf of the Chechens.  It now appears that all the adults were made to go into the gym and rip up the floorboards, revealing a huge supply of ammunition.

How terrible.

Yet another phrase from the news also struck my ears.  70% of the women of Chechnya are widows....

D-DAY COMMEMORATION WEEKEND
60 YEARS

'At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we will remember them.'

And you, English soldiers fallen on the field,
Corpses hideously clothed in lime,
Heroes whose height is measured now
Along the length of your green graves, 
Let us. since now forever you will be our guests,
In multitudes, to fill the soil with your decay,
Let us, kneeling here among the high-grown grass,
Make no distinction in our dead and you.

O, English soldiers, share our Gallic honour.
If you, in endless exile, count such homage crushing,
We will beg the winds to bring you every day
The perfume of your cliffs like a great bouquet.

Translated from the French
LES COMMANDEMENTS DU DESTIN 
François Porché

2003 AD

PRAYER FOR TODAY

20th November 2003

This e-mail arrived today:

The Difference

I got up early one morning
and rushed right into the day:
I had so much to accomplish
that I didn't have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me,
and heavier came each task.
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered.
He answered, "You didn't ask."
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
but the day toiled on, grey and bleak,
I wondered why God didn't show me,
He said, "But you didn't seek."
I tried to come into God's presence:
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning,
and paused before entering the day:
I had so much to accomplish
that I had to take time to pray.

The above prayer was circulated with
St. Patrick's Missionary Society's* magazine 'Africa', Sept/Oct edition 2003.
There is no name for the poet, but God knows who he or she is and will
surely bless them for writing it and sharing the talent He gave. 

* St. Patrick's Mission Society (Kiltegan Fathers) is at
St. Patrick's, 20 Beauchamp Road, East Molesey, Sy. KT8 0PA

Why not visit
SACRED SPACE?

This is a prayer page run by the Jesuits which has been used well over 7,000,000
times since Lent 1999

Extract from 'The Tablet' 24th May 2003

If it should happen one day - and it could be today -
That I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to engulf
all the foreigners living in Algeria,
I would like my community, my Church, my family,
To remember that my life was given to God and to this country.
I ask them to accept that the Sole Master of all life
Was not a stranger to this brutal departure.
I ask them to pray for me - 
For how could I be found worthy of such an offering?
I ask them to be able to link this death with the
many other deaths which were just as
Violent, but forgotten through indifference and anonymity.
My life has no more value than any other.
Nor any less value.
In any case it has not the innocence of childhood.
I have lived long enough to know that I am 
an accomplice in the evil
Which seems, alas, to prevail in the world,
Even in that which would strike me blindly.
I should like, if the time comes, to have the moment of lucidity
Which would allow me to beg forgiveness of God
And of my fellow beings,
And at the same time forgive with all my heart
the one who would strike me down...

I certainly include you, friends of yesterday and today,
And you, my friends of this place,
Along with my mother and father, my sisters and brothers
and their families,
The hundredfold granted as was promised!
And also you, the friend of my final moment,
Who would not be aware of what you were doing.
Yes, I also say this Thank you and this A-Dieu
to you, in whom I see the face of God.
And may we find each other, happy good thieves, in Paradise, 
if it pleases God, the Father of us both.
Amen. In sha'Allah!

Dom Christian de Chergé
Spiritual Testimony

(The Prior of the Trappist Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas,
in Tibhirine, Algeria, Dom Christian de Chergé, and six of his confrères,
were killed by Islamic fundamentalists in May 1996)

EASTERTIDE

AFTERMATH

by Sister Marcella LaKoske OP

The angels were still singing
while the Baby slept,
but the shepherds had long departed.
Joseph, concerned, had the floor well swept,

and Mary lovingly watched her Child.
She kissed each tiny finger
and pondered all that happened,
wondering how long they could linger

in Bethlehem with insight so clear.
She knew God would reveal
the time and the place,
so she did not fear.

She pictured her Son
doing the will of the One
who held the universe in His hand.

Love had descended to help mankind,
and she knew there'd be work to do.
Those hands she had kissed would
raise the dead,
heal the sick,
bless the children,
embrace the world,
rescue the apostles,
forgive the sinners
comfort the lonely,
feed the hungry,
serve the disciples...and then?

She didn't know that nails 
would pierce those beautiful hands.
She held him close and prayed,
"Thy will be done."
Amen.

Published in the April 2003 issue of Africa St. Patrick's Mission
St. Patrick's, 20 Beauchamp Road, East Molesey, Sy. KT8 0PA

A new Prayer for the day:

IF TODAY

If you planted hope today
in any hopeless heart

If someone's burden was light
because you did your part

If you caused a laugh
that chased some tears away

If tonight your name is named
when someone kneels to pray

Then your day
had been well spent

Circulated with the April 2003 issue of Africa St. Patrick's Mission
St. Patrick's, 20 Beauchamp Road, East Molesey, Sy. KT8 0PA

[ Back to Read Page ]

Dear Lord,
Look down in mercy on your people, all those for whom you came and who are now fighting in Iraq. We all need your tender loving care so now we call on you for servicemen and civilians, 
Christian and Moslems alike.

O Lord, hear our prayer.

Amen

2002 AD

17th December 2002

WELCOMING THE STRANGER - A THOUGHT FOR ADVENT

'In the name of God I come here of Iran - not easy.  God know I have bad life, very bad at this way.  Left my everything, my life in Iran, my dress, my money, my mother, kindness.  But I doesn't left my book Bible.  I think this is important.  I think in life everybody must learn one thing to be kind.  Because this was and is God golden law.  I wish all people to be kind together.

Massoud K from Iran

(This was spotted in a prayer request book in Sangatte)

15th October 2002

We offer our prayers for the repose of the souls 
of those who died in Bali, 
for the restoration of health to those 
who have been so badly injured and traumatised 
by the horrors of the night of 12th October.

We pray too for all those bereaved by this tragedy: that they may be comforted and eventually reunited with those they love.

Amen.

23rd April 2002

'GIVE GOD A CHANCE'

by
Robert Kelly SJ

This book will do wonders for those who used to know where they were 
but are now out of practice with Christianity; 
for those who are interested but don't know where to start;  
for the curious about what on earth does Jesus means to anyone and 
for those who search about in a void for something 
which gives some meaning - any meaning - to life as we live it.

This prayer arrived via e-mail the other day. It is printed here in the hope you will enjoy it as much as we have here

Dear Lord JESUS, I thank You for this day.
I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning.
I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God.

You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me.
Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you.
I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm.
Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude.
Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.

Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.
Let me continue to see through God's eyes and see his people with love.
And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example - 
to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. 
It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits.
I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart.
Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others.
Keep me strong that I may help the weak.
Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others.
I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way.
I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood.
I pray for those who don't know you intimately.
I pray for those that will delete this without sharing it with others.
I pray for those that don't believe.
But I thank you that I believe.

I believe that God changes people and God changes things.
I pray for all my sisters and brothers.
For each and every family member in their households.

I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God.
Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.
I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them
willingly.

This is my prayer.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE

I was walking down life's highway a long time ago.  One day, I saw a sign that read 'Heaven's Grocery Store'.  As I got a little closer, the door came open wide. And when I came to myself, I was standing inside.  I saw a host of Angels.  They were standing everywhere. One handed me a basket and said: "My Child, shop with care."  Everything a Christian needed was in the Grocery Store, and all you couldn't carry, you could come back the next day for more.  First, I got some Patience; Love was in the same row.  Further down was Understanding; you need that everywhere you go.  I got a box or two of Wisdom, a bag or two of Faith.  I couldn't miss the Holy Spirit for it was all over the place.  I stopped to get some Strength and Courage to help me run this race.  By then my basket was getting full, but I remembered some Grace.  I didn't forget Salvation, for Salvation is free, so I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.  Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill, for I thought I had everything to do my Master's will. As I went up the aisle I saw Prayer and I just had to put that in, for I knew when I stepped outside, I would run right into sin.  Peace and Joy were plentiful, they were on the last shelf.  Song and Praises were standing near so I just helped myself.

Then I said to the Angel, "Now, how much do I owe?"  He just smiled and said, "Take them everywhere you go."  Again, I said, "How much do I really owe?"

He smiled again and said:
"My Child, JESUS paid your bill a long, long time ago!"

C Copyright 1990 ~Use With Permission Only~

w

12^th September 2001

Dearest Lord,

This morning we stand before you, numbed by the horrors of the terrorist attacks in America.

We ask you to have mercy on the dead, to comfort the bereaved but above all we ask you to help us remember that you said that vengeance was yours.

Let us all remember your words, recorded by Saint Matthew in his Gospel:

Help us all to understand that these words are the only hope we have for peace on earth, and that anything else will inevitably lead to horror, violence and death for all.

In your mercy, Lord….

We commend ourselves and all the world to the care of Mary, our Mother:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you,
Blessed art though among women,
And blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners, now,
and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Extract from Milford Parish Magazine - September 2001

A Prayer

I leave aside my shoes               - my ambition
undo my watch                          - my timetable
take off my glasses                   - my views
unclip my pen                           - my work
put down my keys                     - my security            

to be alone with You, the only true God

After being with You,

I take up my shoes                           - to walk in your ways
strap on my watch                            - to live in your time
put on my glasses                             - to look at your world 
clip on my pen                                  - to write up your thoughts
pick up my keys                               - to open up your doors      

Anonymous                      

Quotation from 'Be Still and Know...' by Fr. Robert Kelly, SJ

'It was the time of the second World War, the Russian front, the invasion of Stalingrad by the Germans.  A young Russian soldier is defending his country.  It is night time and he is out in a field in full battle outfit, crouching in a shell-hole waiting orders to attack.  As he lies in the shell-hole, he gazes up at the sky full of stars and in a moment finds faith.  He believes there must be a God.  He is excited and wants to communicate with this God.  He has never said a prayer in his life.  He decides to write.  He pulls out a pencil stub and piece of paper and writes his message to God.  Then the signal goes.  He shoves the paper into his pocket, stands up, moves forward and is cut down by enemy fire.  Next day his comrades find the body and take his personal effects.  They do not hand in the unusual letter.  It gets smuggled out of Russia, is translated and published in a religious magazine.  Here is the prayer:

'Hear me, O God, never in the whole of my lifetime have I
spoken to you.  But just now I feel like sending you my
greetings.
You know, from childhood on, they always told me you did
not exist.  I, like a fool, believed them.
I've never contemplated your creation.  And yet tonight,
gazing up out of my shell-hole I marvelled at the shimmering
stars above me and suddenly knew the cruelty of the lie.
Will you, my God, reach out your hand to me, I wonder?
But I will tell you, and you will understand.  Is it not strange
the light should come upon me and I should see you amid 
this night of hell?
And there is something else I have to day.  This - I am glad
I have learned to know you  At midnight we are scheduled to
attack. But you are looking on and I am not afraid.
The signal....well, I guess I must be going.
I have been happy with you.  This more I want to say:
As you well know, the fighting will be cruel and even tonight
I may come knocking at your door although I have not been
a friend to you before.  Still, will you let me enter now when
I do come?  Why, I am crying, O God, my Lord!
You see what happens to me.  Tonight my eyes were opened.  
Farewell, my God, I'm going and not likely to come back.
Strange is it not, but death I fear  no longer.'

Please pray for:

April 2nd

People in your area who have nowhere to call home.

March 25th

If you haven't yet thought to pray for our farmers, please do.  It's not just the sheep, pigs and cattle farmers:  arable farmers are having huge problems planting crops in the sodden ground.  Dear Lord, please have mercy on our country.  Among all the other countries suffering from climatic changes.

March 18th 2001

David seems to be making a good recovery from his operation.  Please continue to pray for a complete restoration to health.  Thank you on behalf of those who have submitted prayers to anyone who has seen this page and said prayers for people mentioned.

March 7th 2001

Your prayers are asked for a successful multiple heart bypass operation for David, who goes into hospital to-day for the operation tomorrow.

December 25th 2000

Peace to the World to celebrate the 2000th Anniversary of Our Dear Lord, Jesus Christ.  It would be a huge thing, but if we remember that great oaks grow from little acorns and we could just be kind to all the people whose lives touch ours, it could happen.  Amen.

27th October 2000

Please pray for the repose of the souls of Giles Cunningham(qv) who died after a brave battle against cancer on 25th October, and Lesley Weiss, who suffered a long and distressing illness for many years. She died peacefully to-day, 27th October.  May God have mercy on their souls and welcome them into his kingdom of love and light.  Please pray too for the comfort of their friends and families.

3rd September 2000

Chrissy asks for your prayers for her dear friend's husband, who is terminally ill.  She asks for a peaceful death for him with as little pain and suffering as possible.

19th August 2000

The families of the poor Russian submariners in the crippled Kursk, who like their relatives seem to have been deserted by their government.  May God have mercy on the souls of the dead and comfort the living.

10th July 2000

Please pray for the recovery to her family of Sarah Payne.

26th June 2000

David is back from hospital with his heart ticking as regularly as a grandfather clock in prime condition.  Thank you for the prayers you said.

22nd June 2000

David is going into hospital to-day and he and his family would be grateful or your prayers that he will have a successful stay and be restored to much better health very soon.  Thank you.

31st May 2000

Please pray for Phil.  Below there is more about him.

Phil  is a member of a choral group. He is an architect and was
part of the team that designed the Dome. 

He is about 55 years old and is married to a history teacher who also sings. He had to drop out of being in "Beat the Drum" on Bank Holiday Monday as he was in pain and had an operation to remove a tumour from his bladder. He has now had further tests and is awaiting news as to whether he has to have chemotherapy or another operation.  He has been looking at various websites which he found very useful. His village waits and prays.

Updates - 31st May 2000

David made some progress but there was a slight complication and he is now working his way back from square one. Please continue your prayers.

Bill is back home and in good health.  We pray it all lasts and he will stay fit.

Giles is putting up a strong fight against his cancer but he needs prayers to help him through all his difficulties. 

Ulster seems to be getting it right thank God, but keep praying!

18th March 2000

Please pray for David who is in hospital.

10th March 2000

David is now out of hospital but still needs prayers as he waits for further treatment.  Thank you to those who remembered him in their prayers.

8th January 2000

Bill made it home for Christmas and is making progress.  Giles has finished his chemotherapy and appears to be on the mend.  Bill and Giles still need to be remembered in our prayers, as they would both like to be quite better! 

12th December 1999

Dear Lord, may the joint efforts of our local churches in giving to the people of Milford the lovely copy of your story by St. Luke, meet with success in bringing your word, and the joy it gives, to people who may know nothing about you.

8th December 1999

Please pray for Bill Ingham, who has undergone an operation to-day at Southampton,  and for Chris. 

Please pray for success in the Northern Irish talks.....27th November has seen a big step in the right direction...please continue to pray for this cause.  1st December:  Don't stop praying now - they will need prayers for a long time to cure the effects of the last 30 years.  3rd December:  Let us pray that all parties, who say the Our Father, may concentrate particularly on the idea of forgiving as set out in that prayer.

Your prayers are also asked for those involved in the war in Chechnya, for the South Sea Islanders in the new earthquake, for those who have suffered in Turkey and in the floods in Orissa. 

Giles in Canada, who has had his operation and is now undergoing therapy.  Please continue to pray for his recovery.

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