Lo He comes with clouds descending!
Advent poetry from Mary Oliver
Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice – it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances – but it the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat holds the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And I still believe you will
come, Lord; you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that I am really speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.
Mary Oliver in THIRST
We don’t have too much time.
From December 3, 2020, cleaning our family grave. It was 9 days before our Mom’s death, which of course I did not and could not know. In that light, these words ring differently.
Bonnie Rodgers
Bonnie’s funeral Mass was prayed this morning at Saint Eulalia’s Church in Winchester as rain gently fell without, and tears, memories, and prayers within.
Bonnie and I met in the spring of 1999 when I arrived to serve at St. Eulalia’s. As she did constantly for so many, at our very first meeting she presented me with a gift. A birthday gift. A pair of sweatpants of Winchester High School.
How did she know it was my birthday? How did she go to the trouble?
I came to learn. She knew. And she would always go to the trouble.
Her three children were little then. Her husband Dennis was with her, as he always would be. The years since have witnessed growth, change, hope and hard times. Through all those days, Bonnie has been a consistent presence of – as Bishop Robert Reed reminded us this morning – hope. Hope that grounded love. Hope that gave birth to joy.
It doesn’t seem possible that she no longer walks the corridors and paths of this world. Why? I have witnessed her as one of the most ‘living’ human beings I have ever encountered.
Her legacy, one part of it, is an invitation to do the same. To do the same. Each in our own way.
Live on in peace Bonnie. And in love. And in hope fulfilled. Thank you, from all I am: thank you.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/alice-rodgers-obituary?id=38256599
Stay in touch: mcginty@writeme.com
Believe it. 