Thoughts on spiritual reading

 

Spiritual Reading

Spiritual reading is not only reading about spiritual people or spiritual things. It is also reading spiritually, that is, in a spiritual way! Reading in a spiritual way is reading with a desire to let God come closer to us. The purpose of spiritual reading . . . is not to master knowledge or information but to let God’s Spirit master us. Strange as it may sound, spiritual reading means to let ourselves be read by God! Spiritual reading is reading with an inner attentiveness to the movement of God’s Spirit in our outer and inner lives. With that attentiveness, we will allow God to read us and to explain to us what we are truly about. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on MLK

 

MLK

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on him
So let it be
So let it be

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on him

Bono - U2
from The Unforgettable Fire album released in 1984

Thoughts on gratefulness

 

Growing in Mindfulness

Is there a method for cultivating mindfulness? Yes, there are many methods. The one I have chosen is gratefulness. Gratefulness can be practiced, cultivated, learned. And as we grow in gratefulness, we grow in mindfulness. Before I open my eyes in the morning, I remind myself that I have eyes to see, while millions of my brothers and sisters are blind—most of them on account of conditions that could be improved if our human family would come to its senses and spend its resources reasonably, equitably. If I open my eyes with this thought, chances are that I will be more grateful for the gift of sight and more alert to the needs of those who lack that gift.

—from the book The Way of Silence: Engaging the Sacred in Daily Life
by Brother David Steindl-Rast

Thoughts on silence

 

Connecting in Silence Silence is that ever-faithful companion, a portal to constantly deeper connection with whatever is in front of you. That which is in front of you does not need to be big or important. It can be a stone. It can be a grasshopper. Anything can convert you once you surround it with this reverent silence that gives it significance, identity, singularity, importance, value, or what Duns Scotus called the “thisness” of everything. Scotus, building again on Francis’s love of animals and creatures— Brother Sun, Sister Moon—said that God does not create genus and species. God only creates this: this frog, this moment, this dog. And the fact that this dog is persisting and being in this moment means that God is choosing it and loving it right now or it would fall into oblivion. Wow, that is good! At least I think so. —from the book Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation by Richard Rohr

Thoughts on savoring

 

The Joy Within

Savoring isn’t something you add or acquire. Unabashed joy is already inside. It springs from within. It is a well of abundance that you draw from. So, savoring is not a technique. And savoring is never an end unto itself. It is always fueled by gratitude. And gratitude lights up our senses. We enter into, we show up to the needs and cares of this day. I suppose that it’s a chicken or egg scenario. And which comes first, I’m not sure. I do know that savoring makes space for gratitude. And gratitude begets savoring. Either way, we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the present.

—from the book This Is the Life: Mindfulness, Finding Grace, and the Power of the Present Moment by Terry Hershey

Thoughts on the New Year!

 

Happy New Year! And what better way to start 2022 than with the Blessed Mother! Today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a day which reminds us of Mary’s incredible and key role in our salvation. Her title, "Mother of God", is the first of the four Marian Dogmas and was declared by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Since  Jesus Christ has two natures – human and divine – but only one person – divine  – it can be rightly said that Mary is the Mother of God because She is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God.  This is shown through her Greek title of "Theotokos", which translates to "God-bearer." Imagine that – an earthly being receiving the honor of such a title! We say "Mother of God" every time we pray the Hail Mary,  and we do that fifty-three times each evening when we pray the Family  Rosary  Across America. Read more about this historic feast in today’s article, and celebrate the new year  with the Mother of God tonight at the Family Rosary Across America, 7 PM CT.  We will pray in joy for your new year and intentions together. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

Thoughts on New Year's Eve

 

Another Year Ends

As another year draws to an end, let us pause before the manger and express our gratitude to God for all the signs of his generosity in our life and our history, seen in countless ways through the witness of those people who quietly took a risk. A gratitude that is no sterile nostalgia or empty recollection of an idealized and disembodied past, but a living memory, one that helps to generate personal and communal creativity because we know that God is with us. God is with us. Today the Word of God introduces us in a special way, to the meaning of time, to understand that time is not a reality extrinsic to God, simply because he chose to reveal himself and to save us in history. The meaning of time, temporality, is the atmosphere of God’s epiphany, namely, of the manifestation of God’s mystery and of his concrete love.

—from the book The Peace of Christmas: Quiet Reflections from Pope Francis by Diane M. Houdek