Weekend Edition - Daily Spiritual Seed
Published: Wed, 12/12/07
- readings, teachings, references and reviews -
Contents:
- Amazon.com Gift Card
- Weekend Readings
- Saint of the Week
- Book of the Week
- Christian Spirituality Series
- Shalom Place Premium Groups
- Personal Spiritual Guidance
- Shalom Place Discussion Board Highlights
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Web Site of the Week
- Joke of the Week
* * * AMAZON.COM GIFT CARD * * *
- A great gift for any occasion!
http://tinyurl.com/2gl6ox
WEEKEND READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Saturday: Sir 48:1-4, 9-11; Ps 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-19; Mt
17:9a, 10-13
Sunday: Is 35:1-6a, 10; Ps 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10; Jas 5:7-10;
Mt 11:2-11
R. (cf. Is 35:4) Lord, come and save us.
The LORD God keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations.
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SAINT OF THE WEEK
- December 14th. St. John of the Cross.
Born in 1542 at Fontiveros, a wind-swept Spanish village in Old
Castile, he joined the Carmelite Order in 1563, but was persuaded
by St. Teresa of Avila, who discerned his spiritual gifts, to join
her reform (the 'Discalced' or barefoot Carmelites) as a chaplain.
Externally his life then consisted of hastening from one
impoverished new foundation to another, punctuated by an interlude
when he was 'captured' by the unreformed Carmelites in 1575 and
imprisoned at Toledo (where allegedly he was placed under the table
during meetings of the friars' Chapter in order to be kicked by all
the members). After St. Teresa's death in 1582 he met with almost
as much hostile treatment from the superior of the reform, and died
in virtual exile in Úbeda (northern Andalusia) in 1591. His body
was taken to Segovia, where it is enshrined; in "Don Quixote" there
is an incident where the spindly knight and his fat squire Sancho
Panza are frightened by witnessing a ghostly procession passing
them in the night, and it is believed that this is a description of
the translation of St. John's remains. St. John is above all a
mystic poet, seeking God in the nada, the 'nothing'. In his
'Spiritual Canticle', 'Ascent of Mount Carmel', and 'Dark Night of
the Soul', he seeks to find God beyond the outer limits of human
experience; it is a quest which can seem morbid or frighteningly
lonely until we realise that it is the ultimate search for the
companionship of God. 'In order to arrive at having pleasure in
everything, desire to have pleasure in nothing'. St. John,
diminutive in stature and vast in spirit, was canonised in 1726 and
declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926.
- http://www.hullp.demon.co.uk/SacredHeart/saint/StJohnoftheCross.htm
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BOOK OF THE WEEK
"An Infinity of Little Hours," by Nancy Klein Maguire. Public
Affairs of New York, 2006.
- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000MKYKD6/christianspiritu/
This is the very interesting story of five young men and their
trial of faith in the western world's most austere monastic order,
the Carthusians. Maguire has done hours of research into archives
and into the lives of many of the members of this austere Order and
presents a touching picture of a world that is now lost. The
monastery doors are opened in this book and a vivid account of the
Order's lifestyle and worship are presented.
The five young men, one of whom is now married to the author,
journey for five years behind the gates of Parkminister, England in
the 1960's. Their struggles are clearly enunciated: their agonies
about the choice they have made; their searches for meaning in a
lifestyle so foreign to each of them; the strange customs practiced
in an Order that has never been reformed; and the constant call for
personal solitude and deep prayer practiced alone in the quiet of
each one's tiny compartment, called a cell.
This book also gives a detailed history of the foundation and early
years of the ageold Order of Carthusians, following the members as
they enter upon an intense search for communion with God.
- 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
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"The Way of Christian Spirituality"
- 24 teachings on Christian spirituality and practice
Conferences now available as free email subscription.
- see http://shalomplace.org/basXspir.html for more info and to
subscribe.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- 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/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SHALOM PLACE DISCUSSION BOARDS
- Discussions this past week featured the following topics:
Mitt Romney's speech - Religion and Culture forum.
- see http://shalomplace.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php to read these
topics -
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AFFILIATE WEB SITES (please give them a visit)
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/
Contemplative Outreach of St. Louis
http://www.centeringprayerstl.com/
SeeScapes. Picturing the deeper dimensions of our spirituality.
http://www.seescapes.com
Contemplative Ministries of the Pacific Northwest: teaching and
support on contemplative practice
http://www.prayeroftheheart.com
Heartland Center for Spirituality (sponsoring Internet workshops
year-round).
http://www.heartlandspirituality.org/index.html
Kyrie Places of Pilgrimmage and Renewal.
http://www.kyrie.com/places/index.htm
Stillpoint: programs in spiritual direction, contemplative prayer.
http://www.stillpointnashville.org/
Inner Explorations: a vast array of spirituality resources for the
mature Christian.
http://innerexplorations.com
Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in
British Columbia
http://members.axion.net/~massf/
Carry the Light CD: Piano Meditations for the Hopeful Heart
http://www.sharonkcooper.com/pages/1/index.htm
The Ark: Providing a variety of scripture and lectionary study
resources.
http://www.theark1.com
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 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.)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
WEB SITE OF THE WEEK
The O Antiphons
- http://www.wf-f.org/OAntiphons.html
On the evening of December 17 the final phase of preparation for
Christmas begins with the first of the great "O Antiphons" of
Advent. These prayers are seven jewels of liturgical song, one for
each day until Christmas Eve. They seem to sum up all our Advent
longing for the Savior.
You can learn more about the O Antiphons at the website above, and
also the following:
- http://www.fisheaters.com/customsadvent10.html
- http://www.umilta.net/sophia.html
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JOKE OF THE WEEK
A little boy opened the big old family Bible and with fascination,
he looked at the old pages as he turned them. Then something fell
out of the Bible and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It
was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the
pages.
"Momma, look what I found," the boy called out.
"What have you got there?" his mother asked.
With astonishment in the young boy's voice he answered: "It's
Adam's suit!"
(How cute!)
- - -
"The Jewish people have observed their 5758th year as a people,"
the Hebrew teacher informed his class. "Consider that the Chinese
have observed only their 4695th. What does this mean to you?"
After a reflective pause, one student volunteered, "Well, for one
thing, the Jewish people had to do without Chinese food for 1063
years."
(Who would want Chinese when you can have that yummy kosher food?
:-)
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