VOICE OF PEACE

 Let conflicts cease,

Bring on the peace

For all who dwell in our land.

Play your part,

For peace is an art,

Reach out a helping hand.

List’ to the voice of Gandhiji;

With dying breath his final plea

That open hearts should understand

The joy of ans’ring love’s command.

mervyn carapiet

                               

LAST HURRAH

THE LAST HOORAH

Then and Now

When I was young and in the dawn,
I rose to put my trousers on
For some adventurous new day
Of shining sun and making hay,
There was no sense of déjà vu
No fears possessed me in the loo,
And when I shaved my stripling chin
I found it hard to check a grin.
Handsome and brave, devoid of cares,
I'd race to breakfast down the stairs.

Now I have drained that youthful cup,
It takes me ages to get up
And first among the day's adventures
Is finding where I put my dentures.
The bathroom mirror's ruthless light
Suggests I passed away last night.
And at the door the postman knocks
With mail that's full of evil shocks
While by my plate a heap of pills
Bears witness to a dozen ills.

One simple pleasure does remain -
I'll go and change my will again.

WHEN I DEPART THIS EARTH

WHEN I DEPART THIS EARTH

When I depart this earth, where I’ve been blessed since birth
It won’t be a day for heartache and pain.
So when it’s time to leave
this world so bitter and sweet
a joy I’ve never conceived
will be waiting for me.

You said eyes haven’t seen
No heart could even dream
of everything you’ve prepared that’s waiting for me
I’ll see the brightest light
your love that pierced the night
the moment I prayed and gave you my life
I’ll finally put a face
with your mercy and grace
that would always erase my sorrow and strife
So when it’s time to leave
this world so bitter and sweet
a joy I’ve never conceived will be waiting for me.

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SAFELY HOME

I am at home in Heaven, dear ones,

Oh, so happy and so bright.

There is perfect joy and beauty

In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,

Every restless yearning passed.

I am now at peace forever,

Safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly

Trod the valley of the shade?

Oh, but Jesus’ love illumined

Every dark and fearful glade.

And He came himself to meet me

On that way so hard to tread,

And with Jesus’ arm to lean on,

Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,

For I love you dearly still.

Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,

Pray to trust our Father’s will.

There is work still waiting for you,

So you must not idly stand.

Do it now while life remaineth,

You shall rest in Jesus’ land.

When that work is all completed,

He will gently call you Home.

Oh, the rapture of that meeting,

Oh, the joy to see you come.

VINE AND THE BRANCHES

                             The Vine and the Branches

                                                                   Fr. Mervyn Carapiet

“I am the trusty Vine,

And you my Branches are.

Blest be he who adheres to me:

A branch that spreads afar.

True Vine am I;

So will you be,

If you but cling to me.

But more than cling,

For I shall bring

The sap that fructifies

That branch of mine,

To give sweet wine

For life that never dies.

Whichever branch that bears much fruit

My Father will renew

To feed my sheep more plenti’ly,

And bind them to the root.”

O Holy Vine, O Jesu Lord,

We love and cling to you.

O prune our hearts

And cleanse our minds,

And teach us how to bear you;

That men may taste and savour sweet

Your wine of truth and love,

And praise the Dresser of that Vine

He planted from above.

Amen.

 CHILD OF NOBLE PARENTAGE

When I peruse the years that have passed

and scan the lines of my diurnal course,

images, both sweet and bitter, alight

upon the screen of memory:

some of undiluted bliss,

others starkly macabre;

yet others indistinguishably bitter-sweet,

burned indelible into the weave

of every fibre of my heart.

I sense my memory’s recording angel’s

greater readiness to erase

the sights and sounds of pure happiness

no less than those of horror;

but fain to surrender

the marks of bitter-sweet experience,

for they abide with uncommon

meaning and intent.

The lessons of the past –

not to be forgotten –

tell the tale of gladness,

not without its cost;

and of sadness, commingling intimate

in the dance of life with joy.

So no reason do I see

of ultimate regret;

but from the marriage of joy

and sadness

processes the child I call

“Thanksgiving”:

conceived in pain, knit in ecstasy,

extolling both the one and the other,

denying to neither the honour

of noble parentage. 

So let this offspring lead me

for the remainder of my days;

its limpid eyes looking into mine,

to empower me

when the way is steep;

and be there when the road is ended, and

my eyes are closed in sleep.

- Mervyn Carapiet

POPE BENEDICT'S SELF-DISPOSSESSION

BENEDICT’S SELF-DISPOSSESSION

Pope Benedict’s warm and humble gentleness, informality and humour replaced the baleful image of the cold disciplinarian. The spirituality of St. Benedict tends to dissolve all harshness, advising leaders “to seek to be loved rather than to be feared.” Pope Benedict XVI pledged not to follow his own will or pursue his own ideas, but to “listen with the entire Church to the word and will of the Lord.” In fact, “listen” is the very first word of the 6^th. Century Rule of St. Benedict, which begins by instructing the monks to “incline the ear of the heart” and then urges the Abbot to “listen” to the counsel of the “whole community”, including its youngest and lowest-ranking members. Pope Benedict’s gentle demeanour and the congenial tone of his talks endeared him to one and all. He opted for dialogue between all religions, and his humble resignation proved him right.

The Vedic dream to fulfil one’s desires has virtually universal appeal, as does the urgency of the Upanishads for one to abandon concern with ephemerals and marshal his faculties for seeking out one’s true self. Jainism’s definition of life challenges us more acutely to consider the impact and implications of our daily actions upon other life forms. The Buddhist emphasis on the transitory nature of what meets the eye serves as a reminder to all people not to search for absolutes in the realm of change. The Confucian quest for propriety holds an undeniable appeal, particularly for societies rocked by uncertainties and upheaval. And the Taoist abandonment of ambition and self-concern seem like good medicine, especially with those obsessed with activity aimed at their self-image and aggrandisement.

          Looking at these religious systems and ways of thought, one is tempted to exclaim, “How very Christian!” and he would not be entirely wrong, since one cannot help arriving at the conclusion that every religious persuasion calls for the minimising of arrogance or “hubris” in order that a higher value can emerge to which one can attach oneself, and which guarantees stability, permanence, and harmony - precisely the imperative of Christianity. Benedict belongs here!

In his resignation from “Pontifex Maximus”, Benedict has imitated his Master, Jesus Christ, who emptied himself in order that God may take over his creation resuméd in his Incarnate Son.  The Vatican Council reminds us that human nature is not absorbed but assumed by the divine.

Pope Benedict will remain a theologian until death.  He understands that the paradox of the Incarnation consists in self-fulfilment through self-dispossession. As such, it was realised by Jesus Christ, “the first-born of many brothers” (Rom 8, 29).” Pope Benedict will soon enter into a transcendent contemplation of God in the divine act of accepting him, thereby making him more free and authentic. God is not in competition with man and the world, but in a healthy tension of correspondence and intensifying intimacy. In retirement, Benedict will embrace the humanity he loved, and pray that all men and women would realise their possibilities in God’s environment.