Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed

Published: Fri, 09/16/11

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Weekend Edition: September 16-18, 2011

Contents:
 - Weekend Scripture Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Discussion Board highlights
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Theology Note of the Week
- Web Site of the Week
- Spiritual Growth Resources.
- Book of the Week
- Saint of the Week
- Joke of the Week

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Weekend Readings
http://new.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month

Saturday:  1 Tm 6:13-16;    Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5;    Lk 8:4-15
Sunday:   Is 55:6-9;    Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18;    Phil 1:20c-24, 27a;    Mt 20:1-16a

R. (18a) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.

The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.

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Amazon Gift Cards: Good for any occasion.

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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/

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Shalom Place Discussion Board

A variety of topics are under discussion.

Christian Enlightenment: a possibility worth exploring - Christian Spirituality Issues forum.
Christianity and Postmodernism - Christian Morality and Theology forum.
A pretty serious ethical dilemma - Shalom Place Lounge forum.

- see http://shalomplace.org/eve/forums for these and hundreds of other discussions.

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Affliliate Web Sites
- please give them a visit

Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in British Columbia.
Kyrie Places of Pilgrimmage and Renewal.
Contemplative Rudder: "In the midst of Consecrated Silence' atmospherics ... a Rudder!
Temenos Catholic Worker: support for homeless youth in Polk Street neighborhood, San Francisco.
Institute for Women's Spiritual Dynamics: holistic, flexible, sensible Christian spirituality for women.
The Sanctuary Foundation for Prayer: resources for spiritual growth.
Serenity of the Mind: supporting those who served and who suffer from PTSD.
Hearts on Fire: a blog to spark inspiration, thought, wonder, laughter and prayer.
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
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).
   
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.

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Theology Note of the Week
- http://www.carm.org/m

- Martyr

Someone who dies for a belief or cause. A Christian martyr would be a person who dies because of his or her faith in Christian principles.

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Web Resource of the Week

Icons of the Mother of God
- http://oca.org/FStheotokos.asp?SID=4

From the Orthodox Church in America website.  Click the links for each month to view the different icons of Mary, the the "Life of a Saint" link for each, explaining the history of the icon.  Very interesting, and an important part of the history and devotion of Orthodox Christians.
Featured Spiritual Growth Resources

Summer 2012: Renewal of Mind and Spirit
- http://heartlandspirituality.org/programs.html

Since you might need to plan ahead, check out the program offerings at Heartland Center for Spirituality for the Summer of 2012.
   A. Theology Institute with Carla Mae Streeter, June 15-19, 2012.
   B. Listening to God: A Contemplative Retreat, with Philip St. Romain, June 21-25, 2012.
You can attend one or the other: special rate for both.

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The 'Logic' of Happiness: Proverbs and Practical Wisdom for Daily Living, by Philip St. Romain
- Winner of "Angel Award" for excellence in media.

This book invites us to take a journey deep into the soul, where the mystery of self and the mystery of God are so intertwined as to seem one life. It is a treasure trove of versatile, uplifting, intuitive meditations, proverbs, exhortations, reflections and exploratory questions on such topics as Empty Lovingness, True Prayer, and Sanity. St. Romain urges us to "be here now in love" that we might know greater peace and joy in daily living.
- http://tinyurl.com/3uzynqg (paperback)
(Also available for Kindle, Nook, and on iBookstore)

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Book of the Week

A New Earth: Awakening to Your life's Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle.  Dutton, 2005.
- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452289963/ref=noism/christianspiritu/

What a book!   The author believes it is the privilege, the honor, the responsibility to birth a new and more loving earth. This will require, according to Tolle, a radical inner leap of consciousness from the present way humans deal with their current identification to a new way of thinking of who we are. He maintains that in order for this to be accomplished, his readers need to undergo an evolutionary transformation in themselves and in the world. Tolle goes into details when writing of the nature of the movement from the status quo to the shift  to consciousness. Gently he leads his readers to a new form of consciousness in which readers come to experience who they truly are, in contrast to what they currently think they are.

Some of the chapters of this book are: The Flowering of Human Consciousness, The Current State of Humanity, The Many Faces of the Ego, Breaking Free, Finding Who You Truly Are, The Discovery of Inner Space, Your Inner Purpose, and A New Earth.

One special section of this book is in the chapter called 'The Pain-Body' in which Tolle repeats a story he used in his earlier book "The Power of Now."  He relates that two ducks had a fight of short duration in which they separate and float off in opposite directions.  Then each duck will flap its wings vigorously a few times, thus releasing the surplus energy that built up during the fight. After they flap their wings, they float on peacefully, as if nothing had ever happened.

"If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story-making. 'I don't believe what he just did. He came within two inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I'll never trust him again. Next time he will try something just to annoy me. I'm sure he is planning something already. But I am not going to stand for this. I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget.' And on and on the mind spins its tales, still thinking and talking about it for days, months, or years later. As far as the body is concerned, the fight is still continuing."

How fortunate the duck doesn't have a mind like humans who keep the fight going long after it is over. "But this is how most humans live all the time. No situation or event is ever finally finished. The mind and the mind-made 'me and my story' keep it going."

Tolle encourages his readers to flap their wings, let go of the story, and return to the only place of power, the present moment. The price of the book is modest compared to the wealth of this story!

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

Note: this book generated quite a bit of discussion on the Shalom Place Discussion Board sometime back. 
- see http://shalomplace.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/18910625/m/75610406/p/1
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

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Saint of the Week
- http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1136

St. Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555): September 22

St. Thomas was from Castile in Spain and received his surname from the town where he was raised. He received a superior education at the University of Alcala and became a popular professor of philosophy there.

After joining the Augustinian friars at Salamanca he was ordained and resumed his teaching-despite a continuing absentmindedness and poor memory. He became prior and then provincial of the friars, sending the first Augustinians to the New World. He was nominated by the emperor to the archbishopric of Granada, but refused. When the see again became vacant he was pressured to accept. The money his cathedral chapter gave him to furnish his house was given to a hospital instead. His explanation to them was that "our Lord will be better served by your money being spent on the poor in the hospital. What does a poor friar like myself want with furniture?"

He wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate, mending it himself. The canons and domestics were ashamed of him, but they could not convince him to change. Several hundred poor came to Thomas's door each morning and received a meal, wine and money. When criticized because he was at times being taken advantage of, he replied, "If there are people who refuse to work, that is for the governor and the police to deal with. My duty is to assist and relieve those who come to my door." He took in orphans and paid his servants for every deserted child they brought to him. He encouraged the wealthy to imitate his example and be richer in mercy and charity than they were in earthly possessions.

Criticized because he refused to be harsh or swift in correcting sinners, he said, "Let him (the complainer) inquire whether St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom used anathemas and excommunication to stop the drunkenness and blasphemy which were so common among the people under their care."

As he lay dying, Thomas commanded that all the money he possessed be distributed to the poor. His material goods were to be given to the rector of his college. Mass was being said in his presence when after Communion he breathed his last, reciting the words: "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."

Thomas of Villanova was already called in his lifetime "the almsgiver" and "the father of the poor." He was canonized in 1658.

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Joke of the Week

- More humor from children

First-time Ushers
A little boy in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed around the offering plates. When they came near his pew, the boy said loudly, "Don't pay for me, daddy. I'm under five."

Climb the Walls
"Oh, I sure am happy to see you," the little boy said to his grandmother on his mother's side. "Now maybe daddy will do the trick he has been promising us." The grandmother was curious. "What trick is that?" she asked.
"I heard him tell mommy that he would climb the walls if you came to visit," the little boy answered.

The water pistol
When my three-year-old son opened the birthday gift from his grandmother, he discovered a water pistol. He squealed with delight and headed for the nearest sink. I was not so pleased. I turned to mom and said, "I'm surprised at you. Don't you remember how we used to drive you crazy with water guns?"
Mom smiled and then replied, "I remember."

Grandma's Age
Little Johnny asked his grandma how old she was. Grandma answered, "39 and holding."
Johnny thought for a moment, and then said, "And how old would you be if you let go?"

- Thanks, Carol

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