Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed
Published: Fri, 09/23/11
A Daily Spiritual Seed
Weekend Edition:
September 23-25, 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 - - - Sunday: Ez 18:25-28; Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21:28-32 R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.  Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. R. Remember your mercies, O Lord. and your love are from of old. The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not; in your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble his way. - - - Amazon
Gift Cards - - - Spiritual Guidance SeeScapes. Picturing
the deeper dimensions of our spirituality. - - - Theology Note of the
Week This is associated with sacramental theology. A means of grace is a manner in which the Lord imparts grace to a believer as he partakes in the sacrament. A sacrament is a visible manifestation of the word. The bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are considered sacraments in that they are visible manifestations of the covenant promise of our Lord: "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you,'" (Luke 22:20). Generally, the means of grace are considered to be the Gospel, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The Roman Catholic church has seven total: baptism, confirmation, communion, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. - - - Web Resource of the Week Heavenly Dimensions http://www.brogilbert.org/heavendms1.htm (From the web site) My soul began to be in place at its creation, when it began to act, to animate the matter in my mother's womb. So its first place is the body. Later, when born, a soul extends its activity by means of its body to the surface of the planet and beyond. Like the angels, every human being created becomes an integral part of the universe, keeping in mind that this relationship is different from that of the angels. At death, the soul does not leave the cosmos but enters into a deeper relationship with it. The soul experiences in its morally free self determination more clearly and acutely its own harmony or disharmony with the objectively right order or the world and becomes a contributing factor of cosmic order, that is, it finds its proper place in the universe (Purgatory-Heaven or Hell). (A link at the bottom of the page continues the reflection.)  |
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. - - - The 'Logic' of Happiness: Proverbs and Practical Wisdom for Daily Living, by Philip St. Romain 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) - - - Book of the Week This our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa, by James Martin SJ. Orbis Books, 2011. - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1570759235/ref=noism/christianspiritu/ Sorrow and injustice became an everyday occurrence to Martin who as a young Jesuit, not yet ordained, spent two years (1992-1994) with refugees, offering them assistance in various forms. He came to be called Brother Martin and was welcomed eagerly by those in need. He writes like a novelist giving fine details, in interesting narratives, with the ability to evoke character in the persons he met, and human activities with an exciting element of color. The focus of Martin's ministry was to assist immigrants from Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, and Mozambique who had moved into East Africa develop income-generating activities. Martin makes clear that he never wanted to minister in Africa. It was too dangerous, too dirty, too far away. He would have preferred Europe, possibly in Paris or in Rome. Work with refugees? Never!!! Hand out food from the back of a truck? Never!!! But he was assigned by his Jesuit superiors to work in Nairobi as part of his training. He couldn't well refuse so he went and spent two wonderful years in West Africa. He learned very much about humanity at its worst and at its best as he helped many an immigrant develop a profitable way of making a living in a foreign land. He was loved by every needy person he met. James Martin came to this ministry with experiences he had had in Jamaica when he had worked with the poor for a short time. There mosquitoes and lizards had become part of his way of life . There he had ministered to the poor. Why should he now go to Africa when there were so many needy people in the States? His former Master of the Order, Pedro Arrupe, was concerned about refugees and had planted the seed in his followers. James Martin was to be one of those chosen to assist refugees in Africa. When he received his assignment, in a spirit of obedience, he began to read about some of the physical problems sure to come his way, like bugs, lizards, water, health. In prayer, these became less important; only the desire to work with the poor won Martin's interest. And he went! His previous experience in the world of business served him well as he and he needy discerned ways to create jobs and earn a living. Martin learned that he was not to bring God to the people; his mission was much more complex. "My mission was to find God among the people and to learn what God is for them."
- Thanks to Sr. Irene
Hartman, O.P. for this review. 1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.. 2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything." 3. Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted. 4. A dyslexic man walked into a bra. 5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm, and says: "A beer please, and one for the road." 6. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?" 7. "Doc, I can't stop singing "The Green, Green Grass of Home." "That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome." "Is it common?" "Well, It's Not Unusual." 8. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," says Dolly. "It's true; no bull!" exclaims Daisy. 9. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either. 10. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before. - Thanks, Carol |
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