Lawrence Hall 2d
A Shepherd's Path from La Salette
Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
A Shepherd’s Path from the Mountain of La Salette
For a good and kindly priest who is being transferred
after forty years of faithful service
The old order changeth, yielding place to new
-Tennyson, Idylls of the King
We don’t know if the cart drivers have stopped swearing
Or if the potato crops are doing well this year
Or if the rocks have indeed become wheat
Or if everyone prays an Ave each day
We don’t know if the Field of Coin still flourishes
Or if the people of Corps faithfully attend Mass
Or if barefoot boys and girls still herd sheep
Or if they listen, as did Melanie and Maximin
But we do know that Our Lady of La Salette
To care for us through our pilgrimage in time
In a land far from that holy mountain
Has blessed us with Her most faithful missionary
Through the ordinal cycles of seasons and feasts
He served the Table in the Name of the Lord
He baptized us, taught us, confirmed us, confessed us
Married us, anointed us, and buried our dead
Through blessed years and tears and nights and days –
But now to the Will of God
We surrender him with thanks and prayers and praise
And God fulfils Himself in many ways
-Tennyson
Notre Dame de La Salette, Our Lady of La Salette, Missionaries of La Salette, and, lurking in the background, a high-ranking ecclesiastic who isn't very nice to priests who actually work hard and serve the people
