Weekend Edition - Daily Spiritual Seed
Published: Sat, 10/02/10
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- 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
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Amazon.com gift cards
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
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SPIRITUAL GROWTH RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
"Cricital Issues in Christian Contemplative Practice" paperback
book or PDF download.
- by James Arraj and Philip St. Romain
The stories, discussions and short essays you will encounter in
this book can at first glance appear bewildering. What does talk
about everything from the psychological unconscious to strange
energy movements in the body that the Hindus called kundalini have
to do with the Christian life of prayer and contemplation? But the
wide-ranging debates found here are the result of the Christian
mystical tradition trying to wake up and throw off the torpor of a
sleep that has lasted more than 300 years. And the most amazing
thing about these discussions is that they are taking place in a
new context which is not a theoretical theological analysis of the
spiritual life, but among people who are concerned with how one
would go about living the contemplative life day by day, and who
are actually trying to do it. In short, we face the first sustained
practical interest in contemplation since the end of the 17th
century, but already this enthusiasm has raised critical questions
that need to be addressed lest these new beginnings go astray.
Part I introduces us to three modern attempts to renew the
Christian life of prayer.
Part II allows us to meet people today who have had Christian
experiences of prayer and contemplation.
Part III explores how the renewal of the Christian contemplative
life is interacting with Eastern forms of meditation.
The material here came originally from www.shalomplace.com and
www.innerexplorations.com
- see http://shalomplace.com/view/criticq.html for purchase
information
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WEEKEND READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Saturday: Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17; Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125,
130; Mt 18:1-5, 10
Sunday: Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8,
13-14; Lk 17:5-10
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
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THEOLOGY NOTE OF THE WEEK
- Heresy
A doctrinal view that deviates from the truth, a false teaching. We
are warned against it in Acts 20:29-32 and Phil. 3:2. Heresies
include teachings that Jesus is not God and that the Holy Spirit is
not a person (Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians, The Way
International), that men may become gods (Mormonism), that there is
more than one God (Mormonism), that Jesus lost His divinity in hell
and finished the atonement there, and that good works are necessary
for salvation (all cults say this), to name a few.
- http://www.carm.org/h
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SAINT OF THE WEEK
- St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-38): October 5
St. Mary Faustina's name is forever linked to the annual feast of
the Divine Mercy (celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter), the
divine mercy chaplet and the divine mercy prayer recited each day
by many people at 3 p.m.
Born in what is now west-central Poland (part of Germany before
World War I), Helena was the third of 10 children. She worked as a
housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the
Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook,
gardener and porter in three of their houses.
In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, generously serving
the needs of the sisters and the local people, she also had a deep
interior life. This included receiving revelations from the Lord
Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of
Christ and of her confessors.
At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict
judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility
of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and
forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. "I do not want to
punish aching mankind," he once told St. Maria Faustina, "but I
desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart" (Diary 1588).
The two rays emanating from Christ's heart, she said, represent the
blood and water poured out after Jesus' death (Gospel of John 19:34)
Because Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had
already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in
her diary: "Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor
gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate
union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the
soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My
sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with
the will of God" (Diary 1107).
Sister Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on
October 5, 1938. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and
canonized her seven years later.
- http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1931
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BOOK OF THE WEEK
"Rise Up, O Judge: A Study of Justice in the Biblical World," by
Enrique Nardoni, translated by Sean Charles Martin. Hendrickson,
2004.
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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565635302/ref=noism/christianspiritu/
Nardoni offers his readers a comprehensive study of social and
liberating justice beginning with the very early history of ancient
Mesopotomia and Egypt. Ancient codes, texts of faith,
proclamations of mercy, and social reforms show that justice was
not a new concept but began before the time of the Exodus. He
then offers a deep study of justice in the world of both Old and
New Testaments.
The author emphasizes the Bible's teaching in social, political,
and economic arenas. Throughout his book, Nardoni exhibits sound
judgment, attention to intricate detail, and offers a massive
bibliopraphy.
All his writings connects justice to contemporary living and offers
the readers a sound reason for being people who seek and work for
justice today.
Nardoni's final chapter is a treasure, especially for the beginner
in the study of social justice issues. This final chapter entitled,
"Overall Conclusions" offers short explanations of justice as
exemplified in several books in the Bible. He writes of the
washing of the apostles' feet and says, "The Christian
community....is committed to care for any person in need, following
the lesson of the good Samaritan. It works, exhorts, and prays that
Zaccheus may have many followers so that the impoverished Lazarus
may sit at the rich man's table."
This comprehensive book is an outstanding source for teaching and
discussing the issue of social justice in universities, seminaries,
religious communities, and biblical study groups.
- thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman OP 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
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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.
See http://shalomplace.com/direction/
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SHALOM PLACE DISCUSSION BOARDS
A variety of topics are under discussion.
The God dimension of experience - Christian Spirituality Issues
forum.
Sharing suffering with God - Christian Spirituality Issues forum.
Christianity and Postmodernism - Christian Morality and Theology
forum.
- see http://shalomplace.org/eve/forums for this and hundreds of
other discussions.
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AFFILIATE WEB SITES (please give them a visit)
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
Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in
British Columbia
http://emmanuellahouse.shawwebspace.ca/
Serenity of the Mind: supporting 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
Institute for Women's Spiritual Dynamics: holistic, flexible,
sensible Christian spirituality for women.
http://www.womensspiritualdynamics.com/
(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.)
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WEB SITE OF THE WEEK
Spirituality and Ecology
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http://www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/ejp/background/articles/ecological.shtml
"Spirituality goes beyond moral action and transmutes it.
Ecological spirituality begins in the acknowledgment, grateful and
joyful, that all creatures owe their existence to God. Humans are
not somehow separate from the rest of creation. We share it
intimately with other creatures. We acknowledge God as Creator of
us all.
This ecological spirituality grows from a change in the way we
think about God's creative work. For centuries, Christians viewed
God's action in the world in terms of sin and redemption. First we
sinned and then God redeemed us. The pattern was holy and helpful.
A new awareness of the whole of creation expands this view, and we
now tend to think of God's action in the world this way: God
creates and, when we reject grace, saves us from our sin. By
understanding creation as part of God's plan for our salvation, we
more readily understand that God remains first, Creator and Lord at
every moment of history."
- from the web page
I found this short reflection to be helpful in its emphasis on the
relationship between ecology and spirituality. There's much more
on the page.
While we're on this topic, you might check out "The Ten
Commandments for Ecological Spirituality," by Eugene C. Bianchi.
- http://www.religion.emory.edu/faculty/bianchi/kohntalk.htm
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JOKE OF THE WEEK
- Census
Census Taker: "How many children do you have?"
Woman: "Four."
Census Taker: "May I have their names, please?"
Woman: "Eenie, Meenie, Minie and George."
Census Taker: "Okay, that's fine. But may I ask why you named your
fourth child George?"
Woman: "Because we didn't want any Moe."
(All right, all right, I know . . . so here's another.)
- The Super Duper Police Dog
A police dog responds to an ad for work with the FBI. "Well,"
says the personnel director, "You'll have to meet some strict
requirements. First, you must type at least 60 words per minute."
Sitting down at the typewriter, the dog types out 80 words per
minute.
"Also," says the director, "You must pass a physical and
complete the obstacle course."
This perfect canine specimen finishes the course in record
time.
"There's one last requirement," the director continues; "you
must be bilingual."
With confidence, the dog looks up at him and says, "Meow!"
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