WEDNESDAY 14th DECEMBER

                                                                   Cold Christmas?

Gaudete         by  Brad Reynolds

Because Christmas is almost here
Because dancing fits so well with music.
Because inside baby clothes are miracles.
Gaudete
Because some people love you
Because of chocolate
Because pain does not last forever
Because Santa Claus is coming.
Gaudete
Because of laughter
Because there really are angels
Because your fingers fit your hands
Because forgiveness is yours for the asking
Because of children
Because of parents.
Gaudete
Because the blind see
And the lame walk.
Gaudete
Because lepers are clean
And the deaf hear.
Gaudete
Because the dead will love again
And there is good news for the poor
Gaudete
Because of Christmas
Because of Jesus
You rejoice.

Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.'  A poem for the third Sunday in Advent.

Brad Reynolds S.J. is a photographer and artist, one time in residence at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington State. He's also the author several mystery novels.


Today...

Don't forget the concert by Alison Roddy's pupils in church at 14.30

And Bill Kingston (plus hat and ukulele, we hope!) will be singing as the uniformed organisations arrive and leave church between 19.10 and 19.30. We expect you'll be able to join in the choruses if you're there...

And tomorrow...

Bill will be hosting seasonal music at The Bold Dragoon from about 20.00.  You'll be very welcome to join in the fun!


A thousand up...

We're delighted to announce we're now well past a thousand hits. Mrs Trellis writes from North Wales to say: " I have repeatedly visited your bog hoping to find out something of the Adventures of St. Peter, hopefully presented by Ewan McGregor or that nice David Attenby. But sadly in vain. I must warn you I have now complained to Mr Hyssop on 'Have I got news for you' about this flagrant misrepresentation which must surely fall under the umbrage of the Trades Descriptions Act. Yours etc."

We're truly sorry, Mrs Trellis, but other people seem to quite like visiting our bog.

                                                         Make straight a pathway...

The Exceedingly Strange Case of Zechariah the Priest Part II

He continued to scrawl,
A babbling fountain
Of prophecy,
Arcane, ecstatic.
People said
His mind had gone.
There was no child.
For Elizabeth
Was nowhere to be seen.
Rumours circulated.
He'd murdered her.
She'd done away with herself,
Unable to bear
The disgrace of
Childlessness.
Then one morning
As if in a magic show,
She appeared outside the house,
Cradling a wild-eyed baby
In her arms.
A hot wind
Blew in from the desert.

                (Third and final part tomorrow...) 

                                         VC