Contents:
- Weekend Scripture Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Shalom Place Premium Groups
- Discussion Board highlights
- Affiliate Web Sites
- A Few Miscellaneous Resources
- Book of the Week
- Saint of the Week
- Web Site of the Week
- Joke of the Week


Weekend Readings
     http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/

Saturday:   Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a;   Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7;   Mt 10:24-33
Sunday:   Dt 30:10-14;   Ps 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37;   Col 1:15-20;   Lk 10:25-37

R.     (cf. 33) Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.

I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness:
in your great mercy turn toward me.

I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.

“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”

For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
The descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.

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Spiritual Guidance
Need a companion for the spiritual journey? We have several wonderful people like Vicki Kensinger (pictured here) 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/

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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
K. Alpha Group -- includes all the above and all to come for only $65.00.
- see http://shalomplace.org/groups.html for more info.

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Shalom Place Discussion Board
- Discussions this past week featured the following topics:

Liberal influences in media and universities - Religion and Culture forum.
Global warming - Religion and Culture forum.
English Al Jazeera: professional reporting or propaganda? - Religion and Culture forum.
Watching Turkey - Religion and Culture forum.

- see http://shalomplace.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php to read these topics -

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Affliliate Web Sites
- please give them a visit

Contemplative Rudder: "In the midst of Consecrated Silence' atmospherics ... a Rudder!
Holy Trinity: Old Catholic Orthodox Church.  Corpus Christi, TX
Temenos Catholic Worker: support for homeless youth in Polk Street neighborhood, San Francisco
Carry the Light CD: Piano Meditations for the Hopeful Heart
Stillpoint: Programs in spiritual direction, contemplative prayer.
Solitude and Streets: an emerging faith community.
Family Life Training and Counseling Center: an online Bible college/seminary
The Ark: Providing a variety of scripture and lectionary study resources.
Contemplative Ministries of the Pacific Northwest: Teaching and support on contemplative practice
Contemplative Outreach of St. Louis
Inner Explorations: a vast array of spirituality resources for the mature Christian.
SeeScapes. Picturing the deeper dimensions of our spirituality.
Heartland Center for Spirituality (sponsoring Internet workshops year-round).
Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in British Columbia
Kyrie Places of Pilgrimmage and Renewal.
   
Reach hundreds 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.

Finding the Mystic Within You, by Peggy Wilkinson O.C.D.s. ICS Publications Institute of Carmelite Studies. Washington DC. 1999.

Written by a Carmelite Associate, wife and mother of eight children, this book gives the story of the author's journey to come to deep contemplative prayer in the midst of a busy family life. From her husband and her children, she learned that God could be made present in everyday situations, and she "made" time to be alone with the Master of all.

Was she misunderstood? Yes, at first her husband thought she was a bit crazy to even think that her day could be filled with God in prayer. She showed by her own attention to family duties that God was the source of all her strength and her very being as she sought out young people who were thirsting for a closer union with Someone more powerful than self.

The author reached out to some young people who might be considering suicide and she offered them a few basics in learning how to pray. She used this book to led them in a new way and helped many overcome tendencies that were unholy. In simple language she taught them to pray. Some call this book "a safeguard of personal freedom and spiritual growth."

'Come to Me all who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest for your souls.' This invitation to a close relationship with Jesus is addressed to everyone, not just to a "spiritual elite". Although being a Third Order Carmelite was the author's way of leading a spirit-filled life, she assures the readers it is not a prerequisite for contemplative prayer.

Some of the chapters are entitled: Beginning the Practice of Contemplative Prayer, The Nature of. .. , Preparations for ... , Approaches to ... , The Effects ... , Tracing the Journey with Teresa and John of the Cross.

- Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman, O.P.  for this review.

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http://shalomplace.com/books/index.html

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Saint of the Week

-  St. Bonaventure: July 15 (or 17)

Born at Bagnoregio north of Rome in 1221, he joined the Franciscan Order and became one of its most distinguished theologians, tending to mystic rather than to 'rational' theology; he is called the 'Seraphic Doctor'. In 1257 he became Minister-General of the Order. As Franciscans preached and ran missions, and thus needed to study, he had to defend the possession of property: books, buildings (including the new Universities). He defended his position against the 'Spirituals', those who rejected all property and claimed that only they were faithful to the Franciscan spirit. Bonaventure's gentleness and courtesy were proof enough of his authentic Franciscan nature, and one only has to see the humble cell he used in the friary at Greccio to see he was no lover of materialism. He was named Archbishop of York in 1265, but declined; in 1273 he was named cardinal-bishop of Albano and ordered not to refuse. In 1274 he was a leading light at the Council of Lyons which sought reconciliation with the East; St. Thomas Aquinas died on the way there, and Bonaventure just after it, before the East rejected the agreed terms. Canonised in 1482, he was declared a Doctor in 1588.

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Web Site of the Week

- Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Find out more about Howard Gardner's theory that we all have aptitudes in at least seven areas.  There are profound implications for education, and for how we regard the term, "intelligence."  Take the test to see which of your own intelligences are strongest.

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Joke of the Week

Lost and Found . . .

The man approached the very beautiful woman in the large supermarket and asked, "You know, I've lost my wife here in the supermarket. Can you talk to me for a couple of minutes?"

"Why?"

"Because every time I talk to a a beautiful woman my wife appears out of nowhere."