Word in the Hand

Magdalen Lament I am sick. Not the sick of an excited, shrieking, palm filled road Not the sick of what happens next? Not the sick of too much food, too much wine. Not the sick of too little sleep. This is the sick I felt lost in the market-place This is the sick I felt sold into slavery This is the sick I felt at a child born dead This is the sick I felt when the demons laughed and the men spat at me This is the sick of fear drenched, screaming desolation. He is gone. The one who knew me, The one who saved me, The one who loved me. Oily clouds draw a veil over the night sky Moon and stars refuse to look upon those That condemned the Brightest One. His light no longer in this world. Eclipsed by the blackness of men’s hearts, The blindness of their eyes, The shadows of their ambition. He is gone. But I have a star, Fallen from his mouth. A promise to return. I fear I misheard, A demon awakened at his going Taunts me with my loss. For where are the others? I have a star, And by its li...

Matthew 28:8-15  Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.   And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.’   While they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.’ The soldiers took the money and carried out their instruction...

Matthew 28:1-10  After the sabbath, and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulchre. And all at once there was a violent earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. His face was like lightning, his robe white as snow. The guards were so shaken, so frightened of him, that they were like dead men. But the angel spoke; and he said to the women, ‘There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would. Come and see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has risen from the dead and now he is going before you to Galilee; it is there you will see him.” Now I have told you.’ Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.   And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetin...

Mark 15:40-42 There were women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women followed and *served him, and had come up with him to Jerusalem. *in the Greek - diekonoun - to minister; as the angels ministered in the desert. The root assumed to be from the phrase to be 'covered in dust' as the busy servant, follower or disciple would be;  leading to the title of 'deacon'. The only person named as a deacon in scripture is Phoebe (Romans 16:1)   Much as I hate to go to the foot of the cross there is something in the air that has brought me back.  Recent reports regarding the Vatican and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious has created an incredible air of debate, discussion and argument  flying across the airways of social network and blogging sites.  The rights (and rites) and wrongs of the Catholic hierarchy is a never-ending debacle of tr...

Complines Reading 1 Thessalonians 5:23  May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes Advent does not begin on the nearest Sunday to 30th November.  Sometimes, like a pregnancy, it makes itself known in imperceptable, internal movements. Movements that are sensed but not seen.  There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. (Martha Graham) The Advent journey is unique - it is a girl dreaming in the dark after the Angel has left; it is a man staring into the fire wondering if dreams can be believed; it is an older woman knowing that they can. It is whatever it needs to call you into the anticipation of waiting.   wordinthehand2011

The Feast of Mary Magdalen Gospel Matthew 13:18-23  Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’ Matthew expects Jesus' explanation to make everything plain...and simple....

Mary Magdalen I’ve been watching your men, Peter. Chattering like rooks in their bell towers; Covetous of their traditions, their status quo. Sending us back to the kitchen and bedroom yet again. What dogma did they use this time? Which chapter and verse? The only time I ever saw the Master write Was in the sand at a woman’s feet And that was swept away by His Word. There were always women, Peter; Uncompromising, bleeding, sinful women. Causing embarrassment even then. You may have been the first chosen But we were never an afterthought. We sat at the Master’s feet Spoke the words of faith, Loved without compromise, Believed without proof. It wasn’t only you He sent out And it wasn’t only you that came back. And I know you remember When the time came, where were the men? Where were you? Who walked the Via Dolorosa at the end? Who cradled the Child of Light in the bloody mire of Calvary? Who were His witnesses? He has forgiven you, Peter. But you have forgotten us. Remember He loves us ...

Magdalen Lament I am sick. Not the sick of an excited, shrieking, palm filled road Not the sick of what happens next? Not the sick of too much food, too much wine. Not the sick of too little sleep. This is the sick I felt lost in the market-place This is the sick I felt sold into slavery This is the sick I felt at a child born dead This is the sick I felt when the demons laughed and the men spat at me This is the sick of fear drenched, screaming desolation. He is gone. The one who knew me, The one who saved me, The one who loved me. Oily clouds draw a veil over the night sky Moon and stars refuse to look upon those That condemned the Brightest One. His light no longer in this world. Eclipsed by the blackness of men’s hearts, The blindness of their eyes, The shadows of their ambition. He is gone. But I have a star, Fallen from his mouth. A promise to return. I fear I misheard, A demon awakened at his going Taunts me with my loss. For where are the others? I have a star, And by its light...

Stone Jars Sunday Gospel - John 2-11 There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said ‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’, and they filled them to the brim. ‘Draw some out now’ he told them ‘and take it to the steward.’ They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said; ‘People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till...

Reflection It’s funny how some things that the Lord tells us seems to mean more to him than others. Surely, more important to where the Gospel writers are coming from; everything the Lord says must be important you would think? Yet even Jesus seems to have his favourite subjects. Jesus is watching a woman in the Temple; one of the little ones; the poor ones; the ‘don’t really matter’ ones and perhaps, as he is watching her, he is reminded of his own mother. Perhaps he is reminded of the scrimping and saving that she had to do before and after Joseph’s death. After all; there was no likelihood that they were a well-off family. Joseph was no more than an odd-job man and their place in the community is suggested by the comments of those who hear Jesus preach – ‘this is only the carpenter’s son’, ‘only Mary’s son’ – with the veiled addition of ‘who does he think he is?’ Yet it seems that Jesus is certainly brought up to be a good Jew; to know about the traditions of his faith; to know them...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. St Paul to the Ephesians 5:21 ‘give way to one another in obedience to Christ’ Reflection ‘Who do you belong to?’ When the feminist movement got off the ground in the 20th century; one of their first actions was to remove the vow to ‘obey’ from the marriage vows. St Paul was derided as sexist and as someone who hated women; no-one would read him. Yet Paul’s writings refer over and over again to his admiration and reliance on women in their nurturing of the early church. But Paul is infamous for his ability to produce ‘soundbites’ - nuggets of a phrase that stick in the mind and can be used like virtual weapons in a discussion. Please don’t read Paul in ‘soundbites’; his letters answer important questions that we don’t even know; yet hold enough in them to talk to us now. But never mind obeying our husbands; as a society we don’t much like obeying anyone; unless we can see the sense in it. ...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Luke 1:45 Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true! Reflection ‘Who do you trust?’ You would imagine that for God to decide to come to us as a human being, He must have had something in mind; must have had a Grand Plan. Yet, when you consider the circumstances of Jesus’ arrival; surely, even now, we must wonder why God decided to do it this way. Why such a people? How long had Israel belonged to God yet look how low they had come – had He not been paying attention? Why such a place? The Galilee was a place you ‘overlooked’ if you had any sense. Perhaps He hadn’t been paying attention. Why such a person? To have had less rank in the community would have been difficult, although Mary managed that by her ‘questionable’ condition. You’d imagine He didn’t want the attention. Even though the writings are there, the archaeologists; the cultural histor...

It doesn't seem that long since this was my first start, only beginning blogging in February 2008. It was a big step for someone brought up as a Liverpool/Irish cradle Catholic inbred with a fear and reverence for the Roman church, personified by the parish priest, but not much knowledge of God and not particularly expected to have or voice an opinion about their faith. But new beginnings aren't limited to blog sites and over the years I have learnt a bit about priests, more than I would sometimes like about the Church, and lots (but never enough) about God. Today's Gospel story was Luke's account of Martha and Mary which, considering it is only about 120 words long, tends to haunt me on lots of different levels and probably tells you a lot about where I am 'coming from'. On one (not all) of its levels this is a woman's gospel, particularly if you are a Catholic, because this says a lot about the attitude to (and often by) women and their role in the church....