Today remember in your heart the life and ministry of Bill Mahedy who was born today in 1936 and died of cancer from serving in Vietnam 2011.

                                                     Collect for Peace 

   

  O 

  God, 

  the

  author

  of 

  peace

  and 

  lover of concord,

  to know you is eternal life 

  and to serve you is prefect freedom…

Shepherd  of a varied flock, 

Sing  praise, O Lord, to Thee. 

Black-robed, in silence, 

khakied chaplain 

(chopper blades roar) 

shirt-sleeved now in 

concrete jungle ,OSA to SOB.

Sing praise,my soul, to Thee. 

Shepherd of  assassins 

and seekers, 

students and priests,

those touched by evil 

and those steeped in it,

of  the spoiler and the spoiled,

Sing praise my soul, to Thee.

Companion of those perched on the verge 

of adulthood, wings outstretched,

and those old beyond their years;

the despairing  and the faith filled  

both, Monastery to marriage bed.

Sing praise, my God  to Thee. 

Keyboard pulpit (the Word 

springing to birth) 

Coffeeshop confessional 

bringing absolution and peace,

showing the Way

to the newborn baptized

in water and hope,

to the reborn, 

baptized in blood ,

thrust into the depths of the tomb 

and resurrected in Pascal mystery,

Sing praise, my soul, to Thee. 

Led through the desert, 

sustained by heavenly fare

- a taste and a sip, yet enough -

- the feeder, fed, 

- the wounded healed.

- Traces of grace shimmer 

- and dapple the dark path,.

Shepherd of a varied flock, 

sing praise, my soul, of thee. 

A poem for Bill Mahedy 

6/3/1936- 7/20/11 

written for his 28th ordination anniversary 9 Feb 1991

by Louise Buck