As we move closer to the time of remembering Jesus’ death, this week’s poem comes from Ukrainian-born poet Anna Akhmatova, whose poem sequence “Requiem” explores the grief that she and others witnessed of the height of Stalinist rule. One striking image that Akhmatova returns to continually throughout the sequence is that of a mother mourningContinue reading “40 Days of Mercy Week 6: Mercy at the Cross”
Tag Archives: consolation
Ordinary Wednesday: Rising, Setting
“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised…” (Psalm 113:3) I have struggled to find the words for today’s reflection, because across Australia lockdowns continue and many I know are weary and broken. I am wary of what Australian writer Kathy LetteContinue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: Rising, Setting”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 9
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Jonah 2:7 It’s extraordinary how long we can try to live disconnected from the source of life. One of the things I value about Jesuit spirituality is the way it leads us to identify the sourcesContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 9”
“Consolation” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I don’t normally share other people’s work here but I read this gem this morning and it was so precious – especially the ending – that I thought I had to post it. Consolation – Elizabeth Barrett Browning All are not taken; there are left behind Living Beloveds, tender looks to bring And make theContinue reading ““Consolation” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning”
The Consolations of Lent
Comfort sits, unexpected, in our waiting with weakness. No giant leaps needed, only the baby steps of the heart slowly learning contrition. Begin with incapacity, then the slow-dawning knowledge that you are nothing but dust. Dust transfigures at His breath. Exhale in the sigh of your Lenten frailty. Then inhale, inspire. O brother in ourContinue reading “The Consolations of Lent”
Christmas 5: Heaven’s Eternal Christmas
Today’s reading tells the story of Jesus being presented to Simeon, the faithful follower of God who had waited in expectation of the “consolation of Israel” for all of his life and could now be “dismissed in peace”. In keeping with this theme of “consolation” – a favourite of mine at this blog! – today’sContinue reading “Christmas 5: Heaven’s Eternal Christmas”
Pink Cotton Promise (Glenroy Lent #10)
Even in new homes, morning has old narratives formed by other mornings, by schedules, by delays. So I approach the day as though it’s been before, as though its parameters are fixed, its possibilities known. Adam beheld the first sunrise, called himself inventor. I almost ignore the miracle, too entangled in strands of ground toContinue reading “Pink Cotton Promise (Glenroy Lent #10)”
20 Contemplations #16: Consolation
With weeping they shall come, and with consolation I will lead them back… (Jeremiah 31:9a, NRSV) Noise. The ages seem to verge upon chaos. Yet crescendo is not crisis. What men of old saw has not failed. Four hundred years of silence did not climax now, to then leave us empty. He always spoke gentlyContinue reading “20 Contemplations #16: Consolation”
You can’t read in traffic
Stuck in horrendous traffic on the way to work yesterday, I began to reflect on the irony that, as someone who spends most of my life talking about reading and writing, I have remarkably little time to read or write. This is what those thoughts generated.
Luke 2: The Shepherds and the Temple
The child interrupts commerce, the daily graze of life, the expectations of a quiet night in the fields. The child demands leaving flocks, abandoning norms, following the angel’s call in evening disquiet. The child enters the daily, the simple: cries, shivers, needs food and warmth, yet transforms it all.Continue reading “Luke 2: The Shepherds and the Temple”
The Consolations of Writing 