We are immensely grateful to Roger McGough who has written a brand new poem to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The poem was premiered on 3 June 2017 at our Jubilee Dinner and is reproduced in full below.
The verses in italics are taken from a poem written previously by Roger in 1967 to mark the Cathedral’s opening.
GOLDEN JUBILEE
O Lord on thy new Liverpool address
Let no bombs fall. Gather not relics in the attic nor dust in the hall…
O Lord, so far so good.
No bombs, no conversion into bingo hall or shopping mall. No demolition to make way for Metropolitan Hotel or student high-rise. Unscathed, and soldiering on.
Let it not be a showroom For would-be good catholics, or worse:
A museum, a shrine, a concrete hearse….
So far so good.
But as the world rears up and snarls at itself,
things fall apart and violence loosed,
now more than ever let it be a hive of activity, a hub of connectivity,
a lifeline, a thumbs-up on the skyline.
Let the cathedral laugh, even show its teeth
And if it must wear the cassock of dignity
Then let’s glimpse the jeans beneath…
When needs must
not afraid to roll up its sleeves and get stuck in.
It rose to the challenge of Hillsborough
offering a warm embrace to those in despair.
An ecumenical gathering of the clans
a place for renewal, stillness and prayer.
O Lord, on thy new Liverpool address
Let no bombs fall Keep always a light in the window,
a welcome mat in the hall…
What are five decades but a drop in the font,
a gentle lap around the rosary? Until Iron Men swim down the Mersey
and the Liver Birds take wing
May your light shine out from Hope Street as we rejoice in Christ the King.
