Holiness and a Good DeathHoly Week and Easter 2025We call this week holyand the day of his death good.How did he live that holinessknowing trauma and deathwere closing in on him?Though a victim of inhuman cruelty,how did he die revealingthe goodness and love of Godand the potential of humanity?Now in my seventies,I look to himContinue reading “Holiness and a Good Death”
Author Archives: barbmessneroutlookcom
Song for Holy Week
Song for Holy Week (to be sung to Kingsfold, the tune of “I heard the voice of Jesus say” Together in Song 585)1. Their cheering had a hollow soundthat only he could hear.Their expectation of a kingfell grating on his ear.They thought that God’s Anointed Onewould claim the throne to save.The woman who anointed himpreparedContinue reading “Song for Holy Week”
The House was Filled with the Fragrance
The House was Filled with the FragranceLent 5; John 12:1-11Whether or not he robs the common purse,his carping words steal beauty from her choice,and try to rob her of her hard won placeat Jesus’ feet, although her act gives voiceto gratitude for brother’s life restoredand grief prophetic of their teacher’s death.The ones who come toContinue reading “The House was Filled with the Fragrance”
The Prodigal Daughter
The Prodigal DaughterLent 4; Luke 15:11-32A young woman went off to a faraway landat a risk-taking age, with the gifts she had claimed.There she more or less squandered the hopes she had dreamed,for a love that her church-going lessons had blamed.How she hungered, and lived for the scraps that he threw,with her singer’s throat blockedContinue reading “The Prodigal Daughter”
Unless You Repent
Unless You RepentLent 3; Luke 13:1-9The victims of chance or a tyrant’s decreedid not die condemned for some personal sin,but Jesus spoke harshly to let people seesociety poised on the brink could fall in.The axe that is laid at the roots of our treeis nuclear war that no nation could win,abuse of Earth’s climate andContinue reading “Unless You Repent”
Lament for our Cities
Lament for Our CitiesLent 2; Luke 13; 31-35Weep for industrialized citieswhere the sky is dirtyand the earth cemented,where the waters are pollutedand the churches abandoned.How often has the Child of the Creatorsought to restore the Earth,and guide the people to healingin the clean flow of the Spirit,but we were not willing.Wail for commercialized cities,where theContinue reading “Lament for our Cities”
Temptations in the Wilderness
Temptations in the WildernessLent 1; Luke 4:1-15I have walked that wilderness,breathed its gritty, brazen air.Seems our culture lodges there!Voices work on our distress,tempting us to be secure –“Wealth can happiness ensure!”Spirit dreams evaporate!Bread is conjured out of stones,our reward as worker drones.“You can master petty fate!Power will help you keep your nerve!Just don’t question whoContinue reading “Temptations in the Wilderness”
The Churches of St. Moses, St. Elijah and St. Jesus on the Mountain
The Churches of St. Moses, St. Elijah and St. Jesus on the MountainLast Sunday after Epiphany – Transfiguration; Luke 9:28-36 It is upon the mountaintop that lighttransfigures features that we thought we knew,and we are dazzled seeing what’s beyondas past and future balance on that peak,and in that moment God and prophets speak.We vow thatContinue reading “The Churches of St. Moses, St. Elijah and St. Jesus on the Mountain”
Loving my Enemy
Loving my EnemyEpiphany 7; Luke 6:27-38To call that man my enemywould seem too strong a claim,yet still I feel unloving,remembering his name.A bully in the workplacethe three of us agreed.It’s many years behind me,and still I am not freed.One dived into a bottle,one left for pastures green.I plodded on, diminished,with wounds that felt unclean.I neverContinue reading “Loving my Enemy”
Blessings and Woes
Blessings and WoesEpiphany 6; Luke 6:17-26Confront us with the mysterythat blessing graces miserywhile fortune loads the dice for woe!Our poverty can strip awaythe gilded idols of our day,while wealth can stifle what might grow.Our hunger seeks out nourishmentand hungry souls will be contentwith nothing short of Spirit source,but bellies filled beyond excessfind illness shows themContinue reading “Blessings and Woes”
Barb, poet priest 