Have you ever wondered
whether there is a patron saint
of D-I-Y ?

I wonder about it …

When I’m standing
at the foot of a ladder
while Paul repairs a gutter,
patches-up a porch
or repairs roof cement
I wonder … and I pray.

When Paul is sawing wood,
drilling holes,
building a log store
or fitting cladding to a wall …
I wonder … and I pray.

When Paul is painting a ceiling
high above the stairs,
when he is fitting smoke alarms
or laying loft insulation …
I wonder … and I pray.

I’m never quite sure
who to pray to
because I’ve never heard
of a patron saint of D-I-Y .
But I pray to Saint Joseph.
He was a carpenter, you see,
and if anyone knows
all about D-I-Y,
surely it’s a carpenter!

St Joseph, patron saint of D-I-Y …
I think that has a certain ring to it!
(Don’t you???)

© Claire Murray, 18th November 2025

Heart of Jesus

Buenos Aires, 1996.

A desecrated host
which has been found in the chapel
has been placed reverently
in a glass of holy water
to dissolve.
This glass is then locked safely away
in the tabernacle.

A week later
the glass no longer contains
a host –
it contains, instead,
a piece of flesh.

Three years later
the flesh remains in the glass.
It has not decayed
at all.

A sample is sent away
to a forensic pathologist
for examination.
This man is unaware of the background
of this piece of flesh.
His conclusion?
This is flesh
taken from the heart of a living person
whose body was under severe stress
at the time.
Its blood group is AB.

This is the same blood group
as Our Blessed Lord.

While this has never been declared
to be a miracle,
it is very much in my mind
as I kneel in adoration
before the Blessed Sacrament.

Not only is Jesus on the altar
in the form of body, blood,
soul and divinity
(as if that isn’t enough!)
but this is the very HEART of Jesus!

This blows my mind.

The Blessed Sacrament on the altar
feels infinitely more precious now
and I find myself praying
the words of an old hymn:

“Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus,
burning with love for me,
inflame my heart,
inflame my heart
with love,
with love for Thee.”

These words express perfectly
what I wish to say.
I need to add only one word –
Amen!

© Claire Murray, 11th November 2025

A wee clump of grass grew
in a crack in a kerbstone
alongside a busy road
in Belfast.
A wee dome of green spikiness,
only inches tall,
in the midst of bitmac, tarmac
and kerbing.

A wee green dome of beauty,
really!
I loved to see
this wee clump of grass
on my evening walks.

Then along came
an Irish summer.
First of all, the rain –
torrential and flooding,
half-burying the wee clump of grass
in mud.
Followed by a drought –
weeks without water
that caused the wee clump of grass
to wilt.
But the finishing touch came
courtesy of Belfast City Council
when one of its road sweepers
swept my wee clump of grass
into oblivion!

Oh, dear!

Now it’s autumn
with its gentle, warm
September breeze
and soft rain.
And guess what has returned?
My wee clump of grass,
all green, beautiful and spikey,
swaying slightly
as cars and articulated lorries
speed past!

Seeing it there makes me smile!

And it makes me wonder …
you know those times in life
when God doesn’t seem
to answer your prayer?
Could it be that sometimes
God isn’t saying, “No!”,
He’s simply saying,
“Not yet!”?

© Claire Murray, 13th October 2025

Lord,
someone spent fifteen years
studying the Shroud of Turin
and building a model
of You.

Shoulder-length hair
and a thick beard.
A nose that looks Roman …
or broken.
Gashes and slashes
in their hundreds
all over Your chest, back
legs and arms.
Gaping holes in Your feet,
knees bruised.

A body that was absolutely
tortured.

Fascinating
to see Your face,
horrifying
to see Your ravaged body,
humbling
because You did this for me.

And so I find myself
staring at this image of You
and I find myself to be
dumbfounded.

I did not deserve this.

© Claire Murray, July 2024

(https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252551/the-first-hyper-realistic-body-of-christ-based-on-the-holy-shroud-is-on-exhibit-in-spain)

In my mid-forties
I remember drinking coffee with friends
at Belfast City Hall.
“In years to come”,
one friend commented,
“we’ll sit and drink coffee
while we discuss our ailments.”

“Not me!” I thought to myself.
(Growing old was definitely
for other people!)

Roll-on fifteen years
and those thoughts come back
to haunt me.

You see,
now that I’ve turned sixty,
aches and pains
have begun to appear.

Words of my mother-in-law, Dolores,
come to mind –
“Nobody ever thinks
that they’re going to get old!”
And Aunt Winnie, too –
“Growing old isn’t fun!”

Feeling somewhat humbled
by my aches and pains,
I settle down to pray
before going to bed.
“If this discomfort
is what You has planned for me, Lord,
then so be it.
In the meantime, Lord,
thank You for cod liver oil.”

The final part of my prayer
shocks me.
It can only mean one thing –
I’m definitely old!

Yikes!!!
(How did that happen?)

© Claire Murray, 2nd October 2025

We’re driving to the dump
and it’s not a pleasant drive –
supermarket warehouses,
demolished buildings,
huge building sites,
galvanised spiked railings,
graffiti.

All strictly functional.

Then we turn a corner
and to our surprise we see
a huge mound of earth
absolutely covered
in red poppies,
all swaying gently
in a light summer breeze.

I stare in amazement.
Poppies?
In this desolate place?

And yet there they are,
blowing and glowing
in the sunshine!

“Who on earth planted these?”
I wonder.

A few weeks later
I discover that flower seeds
can lie dormant
for decades
and then flower unexpectedly
when the ground is disturbed.

This all makes sense –
the poppies are a throw-back
to the days when this was all part
of the Bog Meadows
and some of the recent building work
has woken the seeds!

This gives me hope.
You see,
sometimes I worry
about seeds of a different kind
that I have sown –
seeds of faith
that were sown and nurtured
through the years,
only to disappear.

Maybe, like the poppy seeds,
they’re lying dormant,
waiting for the right conditions
to burst into bloom?

And so, as I remember
that beautiful mound
of swaying poppies
down by the dump,
I take heart
and I place my trust in God.

Time to be patient, I think!

© Claire Murray, 30th June 2025