Weekend Edition - Daily Spiritual Seed
Published: Fri, 06/01/07
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- readings, teachings, references and reviews -
Contents:
- Summer at-home retreat
- Theology Note of the Week
- Shalom Place Premium Groups
- Book Review of the Week
- Personal Spiritual Guidance
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Web Site of the Week
- Joke of the Week
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- Are you looking for an at-home summer retreat?
Silence, Solitude and Sabbath will be a four-week online series presented by Kathy Bence, M.Div., D. Min., beginning June 13, 2007. Retreat conferences will be sent to your email address and a private discussion forum will be created for participants to share experiences and interact with Kathy and one another.
- see http://shalomplace.
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WEEKEND READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Saturday: Sir 51:12 cd-20; Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11; Mk 11:27-33
Sunday: Prv 8:22-31; Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15
R. (2a) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place --
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place --
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
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SAINT OF THE WEEK
- June 4th. St. Kevin.
Founder of the Abbey of Glendalough in County Wicklow. Traditionally he was from a noble Leinster family, was educated by monks and took to the hermit life at a site known as "St. Kevin's Bed" within the area where the buildings of Olendalough would rise. There are all sorts of attractive stories told about his relationship with animals, and even if these are not strictly true they still represent an aspect of that real closeness to nature which is such an appealing feature of Celtic Christianity. So we are told that for some time Kevin's community were fed on salmon brought to him by friendly otters, and also that a bird hatched its eggs in the palm of his hand as he held them gravely extended in the prayer position. He died in 618.
- http://www.hullp.demon.co.uk/SacredHeart/saint/StKevin.htm
SHALOM PLACE PREMIUM GROUPS
- Life-long learning and study and spiritual growth.
Groups now open include the following:
A. Psychological Types and Spirituality
B. The Way of Christian Spirituality
C. Freedom from Codependency
D. Christian Spirituality Resources
E. Wonderfully Made . . . (Christian metaphysics)
F. Growing in Christ
G. Communities in Transition (Spiral Dynamics)
H. Discerning God's Will
I. Dark Night of the Soul
J. Silence, Solitude and Sabbath (begins June 13, 2007)
K. Alpha Group -- includes all the above and all to come for only $95.00 lifetime fee.
- see http://shalomplace.org/groups.html
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BOOK OF THE WEEK
Where There's Hope There's Life: women's stories of homelessness and survival, by Anthony J. Gittins. Liguori, 2006.
- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764814109/ref=noism/christianspiritu/
Homeless women are not a project, according to Gittins; they are a revelation for all people and an invitation to respond personally to another unique, rich human life. Gittins gives the results of his twelve interviews with women without a home to call their own. Gittins meets them on the streets; he finds them in shelters where they don't want to be; he listens to their pain and their sense of uselessness. He senses their inner beauty and their terrible loneliness as they have their children taken from them. He sees those with hope and he wonders "just how they can hope" in such terrible scenes of hopelessness.
The aim of the author is not to elicit the readers' sympathy, but to evoke compaSSionate understanding and a concrete response. Gittins wants his readers to note Jesus in the stranger. "I was a stranger and you took me in." The author writes in order that the proceeds of his book may help to continue the work of shelters, by providing fresh hot food for the women who are down and out. He encourages the readers to venture into the streets in search of God, or images of God, and of others people's encounters with God. He calls for pastoral responses and new initiatives. "Might not a renewal of outreach provide a renewal of our own apostoliC lives?" He says that we are called together in church that we may go out to our brothers and sisters who are scattered and may be withering on the vine, hungering for a hot meal, a pillow, a good night's rest.
(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman, O.P. for this review.)
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
http://shalomplace.com/books/index.html
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- 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.
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/
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AFFILIATE WEB SITES (please give them a visit)
Carry the Light CD: Piano Meditations for the Hopeful Heart
http://www.sharonkcooper.com
Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in British Columbia
http://members.axion.net/~massf/
Kyrie Places of Pilgrimmage and Renewal.
http://www.kyrie.com/places/index.htm
Stillpoint: programs in spiritual direction, contemplative prayer.
http://www.stillpointnashville.org/
Solitude and Streets: an emerging faith community.
http://www.solitudeandstreets.org
Family Life Training and Counseling Center: an online Bible college/seminary
http://www.familylifetrainingcenter.com/
The Ark: Providing a variety of scripture and lectionary study resources.
http://www.theark1.com
Contemplative Ministries of the Pacific Northwest: teaching and support on contemplative practice
http://www.prayeroftheheart.com
Contemplative Outreach of St. Louis
http://www.centeringprayerstl.com/
Inner Explorations: a vast array of spirituality resources for the mature Christian.
http://innerexplorations.com
SeeScapes. Picturing the deeper dimensions of our spirituality.
http://www.seescapes.com
Heartland Center for Spirituality (sponsoring Internet workshops year-round).
http://www.heartlandspirituality.org/index.html
Contemplative Rudder: "In the midst of Consecrated Silence' atmospherics ... a Rudder!
http://www.contemplativerudder.com/
Holy Trinity: Old Catholic Orthodox Church. Corpus Christi, TX
http://www.holytrinityoldcatholic.org/
Temenos Catholic Worker: support for homeless youth in Polk Street neighborhood, San Francisco
http://www.temenos.org/
(Reach thousands of 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.)
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WEB SITE OF THE WEEK
Sacred Music Preserved
- http://www.sacred-music.org/
Sacred Music Preserved offers streaming audio of great sacred, inspirational and gospel music mostly from the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. SMP audio works for dial-up and broadband listeners, and the audio player you already use will probably work just fine. SMP is streaming only, no MP3 downloads - sorry!
- from the web site
I don't know many of these artists, but I do know some of the hymns, and the ones I've listened to are very well done. These are apparently the original albums, and I had no trouble getting the music to stream using iTunes. Much of the music is what I'd call down-homey country gospel, but there's a lot of faith and trust expressed in those hymns.
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JOKE OF THE WEEK
A policeman pulls a man over.
"Sir," he says, "I noticed that your eyes are bloodshot. Have you been drinking?"
"Officer," responds the man, "I noticed that your eyes are glazed. Have you been eating doughnuts?"
(That didn't help the cause, I'm sure.)
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The visiting church school supervisor asks little Johnny during Bible class who broke down the walls of Jericho. Little Johnny replies that he does not know, but it definitely is not him.
The supervisor, taken aback by this lack of basic Bible knowledge, goes to the school principal and relates the whole incident.
The principal replies that he knows little Johnny, as well as his whole family very well and can vouch for them, and if little Johnny said that he did not do it, he, as principal is satisfied that it is the truth.
Even more appalled, the inspector goes to the Regional Head of Education and relates the whole story.
After listening, he replies: "I can't see why you are making such a big issue out of this; just get three quotes and fix the darn wall!"
(In the beginning, God made idiots. That was for practice. Next, he made school boards. Mark Twain.)
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