I met you many years ago
On my chaplaincy rounds in hospital
I wish I could remember your name.
It was the Feast of Mary Mother of God
So I think of you as “Mary”.
You said hello, then stood up
Pulled the curtain around your bed,
Stood behind it, then in front of it,
Walked around a chair, and hid again.
Later I learnt you had a brain tumour.
As I began to read the Gospel to you
You sat down and became still
And one by one the words off the page
Went straight as into your heart –
Where someone was listening.
I remembered you, Mary
As I arrived here on the retreat
And my exhausted head hit the pillow
Yet somewhere near my heart
Or in it, I felt the stirring.
In the quiet of the walls
Soaked in prayer
The same presence came to life inside me
And in the days that followed
Continued its mysterious bubbling.
Fourteen years passed since we met, Mary
But I wanted you to know
It was in you that I first
Encountered this presence
And wherever you are – thank you.