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Spirit Power

 

 

Mary Ann Flanagan, IHM, PH.D 

The radical demands of following the Way of Christ could never be lived without the animating Spirit that has been given to us in Christ’s outpouring of his very own being. With such a gift received, our living can go forward with confidence and hope. 

While re-reading The Practical Prophet by Ken Untener of Saginaw, MI., I came upon these reflections on Spirit.  As a wonderful ecclesiologist, Ken always thought big and “theological.”  We know how much he loved John Cardinal Dearden, and he asked him for some advice that might ease the discouragement of those in the Church who felt things were not as they wished.  He so treasured the answer, he transcribed it from the videotape. 

I offer it here as an encouragement to stretch our own hearts wide open for the unique graces of the Spirit’s ever new coming:

    We have to realize what the church is. It is not simply a human
    institution that has one policy in one administration, and a different 
    policy in another.  It is more than a human institution.  It is something 
    that comes to us through Christ, and the action of the Spirit,
    accomplishing his will in his time and in his way.
 
    We must be conscious of the action of the Spirit not here and there
    but at all times.  I speak as one who was present for what I would call
    dramatic moments in the manifestation of the Spirit, particularly in the council.
    You could almost feel the Spirit moving us in a particular 
    direction.  (The Practical Prophet, Paulist Press, 2006, pp.275-6)

The positive trust of such believers inspires me.  They remind me to “desire big”, not only for renewal in our church, but also for the conversion of non-graced structures in our society and within our own personal hearts. We need Spirit power to change our comfortable ways into disciplined lives that work for justice and peace, sustainability of our creation, and the holiness of charity in our private and social relationships.  Friends, let us pray with eagerness and sincerity: 

                   Come, O Come Spirit of God and renew the face of the earth. 
                   Shape in us the consciousness of Christ Jesus. 

 

O Spirit of Truth!


O Spirit of Truth,
Spirit of the Living God,
Spirit of prophecy,
Spirit of Wisdom,
Re-create us in the image of the living and triune God,
Re-direct history once again toward its predestined goal of all
          Becoming one.
          Dignity to all,   
Raise up again in our land prophetic voices and give us ears to hear;
Teach us to be wise and grant us discerning hearts,
Lead us with strength to live always in Your Truth.

Don Goergen, Fire of Love

 

 

A Trinitarian Prayer

In the name of the Holy Formless One,
In the name of the Son,
who took Form,
In the name of the Spirit
between these Two,
All things are made one.

 

God for us, we call You Father
God alongside us, we call You Jesus,
God within us, we call You Holy Spirit.
But these are only names.

 

You are the Eternal Mystery that enables
and holds and enlivens all things
—even us and even me.
Every name falls short of Your goodness and Your greatness.
We can only see who You are in what is.
In the beginning, now, and always. 

 

Amen

—A prayer accompanying The Divine Dance  on God as Trinity

 Follow the Rohr Institute  website Center for Action and Contemplation

 

A Month of Rituals

From Spirituality & Practice ©

A Month of Rituals: A Resource Companion

May 1:
Everything as a Ritual
May 2:
Rituals that Shape Our Experience of Living
May 3:
Opening Ourselves to God's Grace
May 4:
Morning Rite
May 5:
Rocking Ritual

Continue reading at Spirituality & Practice/Rituals

 

 

A Blessing


Glass Poem

 From Spirituality and Practice ©

 "Source of All Blessings,
you bless us with glass — its many
kinds and shapes and colors, the
glass of windowpanes, lightbulbs,
wine goblets, the nose cones of
missiles, the marbles and beach
glass that were our grade-school
treasures, the lenses of telescopes,
the beads that have spent centuries
in tombs, the tear bottles buried by
grieving women, glass that won't
ever decay yet shatters at once.
May it teach me to handle all things
with care."
— Br. David Steindl-Rast
in 99 Blessings: An Invitation

Book reviewed by
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat on

SpiritualityAndPractice.com

 

 

Practicing Resurrection of the Body

Easter: Practicing Resurrection of the Body ©

By Christine Valters Paintner © at Patheos.com

What does it mean for us to not just say we believe in a resurrected life, but to truly practice resurrection? Here are some practices for returning "home" to your body.

Lent is a powerful season of transformation. Forty days in the desert, stripped of our comforts, and buoyed by our commitment to daily practice so that we might arrive at the celebration of Easter deepened and renewed.

But often, we arrive at the glorious season of resurrection and celebrate for that one day, forgetting it is a span of 50 days, even longer than the Lenten season through which we just traveled.  Easter is not just the day when the tomb was discovered empty, but a span of time when days grow longer in the northern hemisphere, blossoms burst forth, and we are called to consider how we might practice this resurrection in our daily lives.

 Continue reading at Patheos.com and follow Christine at AbbeyOfTheArts.com

 

O Death ... No Sting!

... We keep going, but barely;

            we gather at the grave,

                        watching the sting and

                        the victory of dread.

But you stir late Saturday;

            we gather early Sunday with balm and embalming,

                        close to the body.

                        waiting for the smell, but not;

                        dreading the withered site...but not;

                        cringing before love lost...but not;

                                    Not here...but risen,

                                                      gone,

                                                      awakened,

                                                      alive!

The new creation stirs beyond the weeping women;

            O death...no sting!

            O grave...no victory!

            O silence...new song!

            O dread...new dance!

            O tribulation...now overcome!

O Friday God—Easter the failed city,

                          Sunday the killing fields.

            And we, we shall dance and sing,

                                    thank and praise,

            into the night that holds no more darkness.

 © Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People.  Abingdon Press, 2008

 

 

Christ is Risen!

children

In the rising of the Easter dawn,

Christ is risen.

In the laughter of children playing during a ceasefire,

Christ is risen.

Where the hungry celebrate with feasting,

Christ is risen.

Where people find their voices and sing their songs,

Christ is risen.

When enemies give up violence and become friends,

Christ is risen.

When love is allowed to flourish and grow into community,

Christ is risen.

We welcome you our crucified and risen Christ,

Christ is risen, Alleluia.

 

(Clare McBeath in Just One Year, edited by Timothy Radcliffe, Orbis Books, 2006, p.169)

 

A Presence so Immense



 

“This Presence is so immense, yet so humble;
awe-inspiring yet so gentle;
limitless, yet so intimate, tender and personal.
I know that I am known.
Everything in my life is transparent in this Presence.
It knows everything about me
    – all my weaknesses, brokenness, sinfulness
    – and still loves me infinitely. 
This Presence is healing, strengthening, refreshing
   – just by its Presence. 
It is nonjudgmental, self-giving,
seeking no reward,
boundless in compassion. 
It is like coming home to a place I should never have left,
to an awareness that was somehow always there,
but which I did not recognize.”                                                                                              

-Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart


 

Earth Healing

 From The United Nations Environmental Sabbath Service ©

A Prayer of Healing

Reader: We join with the earth and with each other.
To bring new life to the land
To restore the waters
To refresh the air

We join with the earth and with each other.

To renew the forests
To care for the plants
To protect the creatures

We join with the earth and with each other.

To celebrate the seas
To rejoice the sunlight
To sing the song of the stars

We join with the earth and with each other.

To recall our destiny
To renew our spirits
To reinvigorate our bodies

We join with the earth and with each other.

To create the human community
To promote justice and peace
To remember our children

Reader: We join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery:
for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life.

 

God Our Challenger

 

God our challenger,               

Stir up our lives and shatter our complacency,
That through the people we meet

And the life stories we share
We may be challenged to change
and move into action.

Hear us in your mercy,
Strengthen us to do your will
And let our lives reflect your purpose.

Amen

Annabel Shilson-Thomas, Just One Year

Edited by Timothy Radcliffe                                                                                                                                               


 

O Most Loving Heart of Jesus - B. Haring

 

 

O Most loving heart of Jesus, what fools we are when we concentrate all our energies on garnering different kinds of knowledge and skills, while we strive with only a divided heart for the real wisdom of knowing you and your way of loving people! 

We confess that in this supreme art we have always remained inept.  Yet, thanks to your grace, our hearts are still able to see our folly and perverted sense of proportions.  We are deeply pained by our lack of understanding, and in this sorrow we see signs of your gracious patience and forgiveness.  So, with your grace, we dare to hope that we shall seek first the reign of your love and all else for your sake.

Yet, because we fear our inconsistency, superficiality, and weakness, we implore you, by your loving heart, to confirm our resolve and to increase our desire to seek first your love and the art of loving people in union with your heart.  This we ask, no matter what the price may be.  Amen

Bernard Haring, CSsR,  The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Yesterday, Today, Forever

 

 

 

Help Us Live What We Pray

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


    

    

     God of justice, God of love,
     we keep praying for peace,
     while harboring resentment in our hearts.
               Have mercy upon us.
               Help us live what we pray.

     We keep praying for an end to the world’s hunger,
     while enjoying the comfort of more than we need.
               Have mercy upon us.
               Help us live what we pray.

     We keep praying for suffering people,
     forgetting that we could be sharing their load.
              Have mercy upon us.
               Help us live what we pray.

     And teach us again to keep praying,
     not only with words,
     but in all that we say and all that we do,
     that your love and your justice
     may be known on the earth
     in each generation.   Amen
 
     Timothy Woods.
     Just One Year
     Edited by Timothy Radcliffe

 

Prayers for Change and Transformation

 

O God,
you love justice and you establish peace on earth.
we bring before you the disunity of today’s world:
the absurd violence, militarism, exploitation and
oppression threatening life on the planet.
Human greed and injustice,
which breed hatred and strife.
For change in our world we pray,
God in your grace, transform the world.

O God,
send your Spirit and renew the face of the earth:
teach us to be compassionate
toward the whole human family;
lead all nations into the path of peace.
For the peace that only you can give we pray,
God in your grace, transform the world.

Remind us of avoiding greed
and enable all of us to exalt people
in poverty.
Remind us that all of us and the whole creation
belong to you and we are only stewards.
Forgive us for not abiding to your will
of thy Kingdom on earth.
Give us strength and courage to work for peace and justice. 
Amen.

Council of Churches Just One Year
Edited by Timothy Radcliffe

 

 

The Ultimate Reality of God

 

“Freedom is what makes us perhaps

most like God

and we find ourselves

becoming more and more perplexed

by just who we are

and we don’t know

what true happiness is.

We don’t know God in a relational way.

 

We have this immense ego that really prevents us

from manifesting the beauty of the human spirit

and its capacity to integrate itself first body, soul and spirit;

and then out of that unity, to unify with all of reality,

of course, beginning with the Ultimate Reality of God.”

 

                                                              Fr. Thomas Keating: Our Ego Gets in the Way


 

Bishop Ken Untener's Homilies

ken

In a very special and gracious gesture Mary Ann Untener IHM, has shared with us Bishop Ken Untener's Sunday Homilies for publication on VisitationNorth.org. We all agree this is another wonderful way to pray through the liturgical year and enjoy Ken's insightful reflections. Just click on the link below to read  the homilies.

CYCLE  C:
The Year of Luke's Gospel

 

Bishop Tom Gumbleton's Homilies



tom_gumbleton

Follow this link to Bishop Tom Gumbleton's homilies on the National Catholic Reporter's site:

Bishop Gumbleton's Homilies

Visit his own new web site: http://bishopgumbleton.org/

 
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