Yesterday I experienced a deep shift in my prayer life. On two occasions during the day, when I needed something to happen quickly due to my energy running out, I prayed in a new way, a very focused and earnest way. On both these occasions what I had prayed for happened the very next minute..

BTW, I wrote my first attempt at a (Ricardian) hymn yesterday. I will add to the section ‘New Poetry’ a bit later today.

I also wrote a complete hymn within my mind last night as I dwelt in that shadowy realm between sleep and being awake. I hope I may recollect some fragments of it as the day goes on as I quite liked it.

Finally, a word on the current Pope. I have to say my first impressions are rather good, he seems to ‘get it’ and I think he’s able to convey it to the Church at large.

A quote by Pope Leo IV I found on FB:


“Brothers, sisters…
I speak to you, especially to those who no longer believe, no longer hope, no longer pray, because they think that God has left.
To those who are fed up with scandals, with abused power, with the silence of the Church that sometimes seems more like a palace than a home.
I am also angry with God.
I also see good people die, children suffer, grandparents cry without medicine.
And yes… There are days when I pray and only feel an echo.
But then I discover something:
God does not shout. God whispers.
And sometimes he whispers from the mud, from pain, from a grandmother who feeds you with nothing.
I did not come to offer you perfect faith.
I came to tell you that faith is walking with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.
I am not asking you to believe in everything.
I am asking you not to close the door. Give a chance to God who waits for you without judging.
I am just a pastor who saw God in the smile of a woman who lost her son… but she cooks for others.
It changed me.
So if you are broken, if you do not believe, if you are tired of lies…
come too. With your anger, your doubts, your dirty backpack.
No one here will ask for a VIP card.
Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary.
God does not need soldiers.
He needs brothers.
And you, yes, you…
are one of them. “

Robert Prevost (Leo XIV)