Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed
Published: Fri, 02/12/10
- readings, teachings, references and reviews -
Contents:
- Ad - Amazon.com gift cards
- Spiritual Growth Resource of the Month
- Weekend Readings
- Theology Note of the Week
- Saint of the Week
- Book of the Week
- Shalom Place Discussion Board
- Personal Spiritual Guidance
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Website of the Week
- Joke of the Week
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Amazon.com gift cards
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
SPIRITUAL GROWTH RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
The Spiritual Road To Serenity
retreat conferences by Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min.
- http://shalomplace.com/inetmin/road/index.html
This retreat was presented for Contemplative Outreach of St. Louis
in 1994 and was professionally recorded by Liguori Publications,
Inc.
Now, with Internet technology and RealPlayer, you, too, can listen
to the retreat conferences and discussions between Dr. St. Romain
and participants as he explains the following pathways to a deeper
spiritual life:
* Give up on worldly peace (addictions, attachments, etc.)
* Be open to your own growth
* Love God above all
* Be reconciled in your relationships
* Learn to meet your needs
The five retreat conferences are each divided into short segments
(about 20 minutes each) to facilitate prayerful listening and
reflection. All retreat handouts are provided.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WEEKEND READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Saturday: 1 Kgs12:26-32; 13:33-34; Ps. 106:6-7ab, 19-20, 21-22;
Mk 8:1-10
Sunday: Jer 17:5-8; Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6; 1 Cor 15:12,
16-20; Lk 6:17, 20-26
(40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked,
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THEOLOGY NOTE OF THE WEEK
- Fast, Fasting
A Fast is the act of depriving oneself of food for a period of time
for a specific purpose, often spiritual. It is the "weakening" of
the body in order to "strengthen" the spirit. It is interesting to
note that sin entered the world through the disobedience of eating
(Gen. 3:6). We are called to fast in the N.T. (Matt. 6:16 ). (See
also 1 Kings 21:27; Psalm 35:13; Acts 13:3; 2 Cor. 6:5).
- http://www.carm.org/f
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SAINT OF THE WEEK
- Seven Founders of the Order of Servites
Can you imagine seven prominent men of Boston or Denver banding
together, leaving their homes and professions, and going into
solitude for a life directly given to God? That is what happened in
the cultured and prosperous city of Florence in the middle of the
thirteenth century. The city was torn with political strife as well
as the heresy of the Cathari, who believed that physical reality
was inherently evil. Morals were low and religion seemed
meaningless.
In 1240 seven noblemen of Florence mutually decided to withdraw
from the city to a solitary place for prayer and direct service of
God. Their initial difficulty was providing for their dependents,
since two were still married and two were widowers.
Their aim was to lead a life of penance and prayer, but they soon
found themselves disturbed by constant visitors from Florence. They
next withdrew to the deserted slopes of Monte Senario.
In 1244, under the direction of St. Peter of Verona, O.P., this
small group adopted a religious habit similar to the Dominican
habit, choosing to live under the Rule of St. Augustine and
adopting the name of the Servants of Mary. The new Order took a
form more like that of the mendicant friars than that of the older
monastic Orders.
Members of the community came to the United States from Austria in
1852 and settled in New York and later in Philadelphia. The two
American provinces developed from the foundation made by Father
Austin Morini in 1870 in Wisconsin.
Community members combined monastic life and active ministry. In
the monastery, they led a life of prayer, work and silence while in
the active apostolate they engaged in parochial work, teaching,
preaching and other ministerial activities.
- http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1286
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BOOK OF THE WEEK
"God Within: The Mystical Tradition of Northern Europe. 2nd
edition," by Oliver Davies. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press,
2006.
-
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565482409/ref=noism/christianspiritu/
Northern Europe seems incompatible with mysticism: skies too cold
and gray to be congenial to long hours of prayer, and a people
whose ancestors had a reputation, at least among the Greeks and
Romans, of being bearded savages. And while mystics are often
thought of as anti-rational and outside of organized religion, when
mysticism did eventually flower in fourteenth-century northern
Europe, its ranks were populated from within the rationalist
structures of the universities and the religious orders. These, at
least, were the origins of the writers whose teachings have come
down to us; outsiders such as the Brethren of the Free Spirit and
the Friends of God have left us far less material to study.
Meister Eckhart was one of these establishment mystics: a German, a
Dominican, and a university man. Though charges of heresy were laid
against him by the Archbishop of Cologne, Eckhart was very much
part of the ecclesiastical power structures -- the man in charge of
a large Dominican province, and a professor of theology at the
University of Paris. His writings reflect his thorough academic
training and include philosphical analyses of creation, beingness,
and the distinction between God and Godhead. It is our capacity for
reason, he says, that shows we have a spark of the divine within
us. And it is only by going deep within, detached from all created
things, that we transcend the ego and arrive at this spark, the
uncreated within. At this point, God's will becomes our will and we
see ourselves as we are: nothing.
It is likely but not certain that Eckhart influenced the later
Dominican, Johannes Tauler. We know Tauler's teachings from
published collections of his transcribed sermons. While Eckhart
taught that we have a spark of God within us, thus opening himself
to accusations of monism or pantheism, Tauler would say only that
we have an "image" of God within us. There is a point in the soul
that lies closest to God, but this point is not itself God. By
withdrawing into this point we can find God, even become joined to
God, and yet we remain separate. In terms of practice, we arrive at
this point by withdrawing from worldly things. However, it is God
and not ourselves who takes the final initiative after our arrival
at the still center.
We know more about the life of the southern German Dominican Henry
Suso, at least if his biography is to be believed. He joined the
Dominicans as a teenager, was counseled personally by Eckhart, and
spent sixteen years practicing extreme mortifications until a
vision told him to stop this. Suso, as may be gathered, was a
mystic of the trances and visions variety that Ruth Burrows calls
"lights on" mysticism.
The Dominicans -- known originally for their preaching, of course --
may have taken this mystical turn as a result of their
responsibility to supervise and direct nuns. This brought them into
contact with the mystical spirituality that flourished in northern
European convents beginning in the twelfth century, of which
Hildegard of Bingen is the best known exemplar. This mystical
spirituality worked its way into popular consciousness in the form
of lay movements such as the Beguines and the Brethren of the Free
Spirit. The Beguines were particularly influential in the Low
Countries, and it is to them that we owe the feast of Corpus
Christi. From this Dutch soil came Jan van Ruusbroec. His mysticism
is devotional, and while in some respects he resembles Eckhart,
Ruusbroec puts the emphasis on love of God as the driving force.
While the German and Dutch mystics get a chapter each in this book,
the English mystics must share one between them. What they have in
common, says the author, is a preference for the practical over the
theological. The Cloud of Unknowing receives the most attention,
but sections in the English chapter also cover Richard Rolle,
Walter Hilton, and Julian of Norwich.
Finally, the author asks why the fourteenth century should produce
so many mystics and even lay mystical movements. The answers must
at best be speculative. One can point to clerical corruption, a low
point in Papal power, and the Black Death, but these neither
separately nor taken together provide a satisfactory explanation.
Throughout the book, Oliver Davies situates his subjects within
their religious and political contexts, in addition to describing
the chief characteristics of their writings. It would be
interesting to know more about the mystics' personalities and
lives, but sadly very few facts have come down to us. This is the
second edition of a work the author first published some twenty
years ago.
- Thanks to Derek, a contributor to the Shalom Place discussion
forum.
(Amazon.com book reviewer.)
Make the Christian Spirituality Bookstore your starting point for
online shopping at Amazon.com. You can buy books, cds, videotapes,
software, appliances and many other products at discount prices.
As Amazon.com affiliate, we are paid a small fee for purchases
originating from our web site. Every little bit helps!
http://shalomplace.com/books/index.html
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- PERSONAL SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE -
Need a companion for the spiritual journey? We have several
wonderful people ready to help, using email and telephone
conferences to bridge the miles.
- Now providing -
Consultations: this option is best for short-term guidance
pertaining to a specific issue.
Spiritual Direction: ongoing relationship with a spiritual director
to become more attuned to God's presence in all of life.
See http://shalomplace.com/direction/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SHALOM PLACE DISCUSSION BOARDS
A variety of topics are under discussion. Also, you can use the
Find tab to search the forum, or scroll through forum topics to
find one that interests you.
my letter to phil - Christian Morality and Theology forum.
ObamaNation - Religion and Culture forum.
Yoga and Body Work - Christian Spirituality Issues forum.
- http://shalomplace.org/eve/forums
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
AFFILIATE WEB SITES (please give them a visit)
Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in
British Columbia
http://members.axion.net/~massf/
Serenity of the Mind: supportint those who served and who suffer
from PTSD.
http://serenityofthemind.com/default.html
The Ark: Providing a variety of scripture and lectionary study
resources.
http://www.theark1.com
Kyrie Places of Pilgrimmage and Renewal.
http://www.kyrie.com/places/index.htm
Contemplative Rudder: "In the midst of Consecrated Silence'
atmospherics ... a Rudder!
http://www.contemplativerudder.com/
Inner Explorations: a vast array of spirituality resources for the
mature Christian.
http://innerexplorations.com
The Sanctuary Foundation for Prayer: resources for spiritual growth.
http://fromholyground.org/index.htm
SeeScapes. Picturing the deeper dimensions of our spirituality.
http://www.seescapes.com
Temenos Catholic Worker: support for homeless youth in Polk Street
neighborhood, San Francisco
http://www.temenos.org/
Contemplative Ministries of the Pacific Northwest: teaching and
support on contemplative practice
http://www.prayeroftheheart.com
Heartland Center for Spirituality (retreat center in central
Kansas).
http://heartlandspirituality.org/index.html
(Reach other people who have a similar interest in Christian
spirituality. Simply publish a link to Daily Spiritual Seed--
http://shalomplace.com/seed --on a prominent place on your web site
and we will reciprocate with a weekly link to your site in the
newsletter. Contact the Editor when you're ready to begin.)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
WEB SITE OF THE WEEK
None this week. Please send recommendations to phil@shalomplace.com
- - - - - - - - - - - -
JOKE OF THE WEEK
- Doctor's Orders
A woman accompanied her husband to the doctor's office. After his
checkup, the doctor called the wife into his office alone.
He said, "Your husband is suffering from a very severe disease,
combined with horrible stress. If you don't do the following, your
husband will surely die."
"Each morning, fix him a healthy breakfast. Be pleasant, and make
sure he is in a good mood. For lunch make him a nutritious meal.
For dinner prepare an especially nice meal for him. Don't burden
him with chores, as he probably had a hard day. Don't discuss your
problems with him, it will only make his stress worse. And most
importantly, make love with your husband several times a week and
satisfy his every whim." If you can do this for the next 10 months
to a year, I think your husband will regain his health completely.
On the way home, the husband asked his wife.
"What did the doctor say?"
"You're going to die," she replied.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please help support Heartland Center's Internet ministries:
- For more info on tax-deductible donations, see
http://shalomplace.com/seed/donations.html.
Thanks for your consideration!
_________________________________________________
Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
RSS feed: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed