"To everyone who has, more will be given."
We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.
Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.
Sunday, November 8, 2020
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Fall 2020 Facilitator Bulletin: Seasonal Resources
Dear CONSD Facilitators,
Although it is the middle of October, I thought I would send out the Facilitator Bulletin now to give you some resources that may be helpful for you and your group to get through the coming season.
I’ll begin by sharing my story of
an experience I had a few days ago: a response of mine during this time of the
pandemic.
I was driving to CVS, and the
panorama of what I was seeing opened up to a 180-degree angle and I became an
detached observer. For a short time, I experienced the trees, sky, ground,
homes, people walking, and cars around me, with a sense of well being – there
was less me! I wasn’t thinking of anything else – not the future or the
past, or of any of my attachments, especially of my attachment to family (love
and worry). I thought: This is the gift that my practice of Centering Prayer
gives to me – rarely that is for sure - but given. I think that the reading
that we have been doing in my Centering Prayer group led me to label my
experience as peace.
In our Centering prayer group at
St. Peter’s, we have been reading Father Keating’s Daily Word for July
which is taken from his book Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit. We
facilitators (Nichola and myself) chose this because we thought that it would
be a good idea to focus on the positive changes that can occur within us
through the practice of the prayer, especially at this time. We approached the
readings as a “Thoughtful Reading” and the responses in Lectio Style. Each week
our format was to take three days and read each day twice, in a slow manner. We
then offered a few questions to bring awareness/attention to the readings; then
people could respond or not. When we finished the readings and the responses to
the individual days, we opened up the discussion. Over time as the group became
more comfortable with this style of reading and response, the sharing became more
personal and the discussion indeed more “fruitful”.
Here a reading from the July 8th
entry of Father Keating’s Daily Reader for Contemplative Living:
“My
peace I give you.” --John 14:27 NIV
The third Fruit of
the Spirit is peace. Peace is the pervasive sense of contentment that comes
from being rooted in God while being fully aware of one’s own nothing-ness. It
is a state that endures beyond the ups and downs of life, beyond the emotions
of joy and sorrow. At the deepest level one knows that all is well, that
everything is just right despite all appearances to the contrary. At all times
one can pray with Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. (Luke
23:46) (Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit, pg. 19)
“And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus.” --Philippians 4:7,
NIV.
* *
* * *
The format of this Bulletin is
different from most of the ones I’ve sent out. I know we are supposed to let go
of our attachments, but this email has a number of them!
The topics of each are:
1 - Responses from CONSD members to
Centering Prayer, the pandemic, and zoom meetings. These responses are in the
form of stories, poems, photographs, and testimonials. Reading through what
members sent in, I found expressions of faith conveyed through the heart. They
are “From the Heart”.
2 - An essay for Advent written by
Father Keating in 1988 titled “The End of Our Worlds”.
3 - Formation ideas from facilitators to use for Advent material. Mary Williams added a wonderful
assortment of ideas. The others included are from 2019.
Please Note: We will have a
facilitator meeting sometime in the beginning months of 2021. I would ask that
if you have any topics that you would like covered, please let Mary Williams and
me know what they are. This will help us a lot in designing the program for the
day.
I wish you a peaceful time these next few months--times full of grace and love and a sense of connection.
In gratitude,
Kathy
Agnew
Facilitators' Advent Resources
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Here are some Advent materials gathered from YouTube: A couple of Taize chants with Advent themes, a chant with a bell choir, a beautiful instrumental version of “O Come Emmanuel”, a 23-minute video with a mix of songs, stories, and poems, a video with James Finley, and a video with Ilia Delio. Through screen sharing, these are easy to incorporate in a Zoom prayer group (at least on my laptop, it is).
“Within Our Darkest Night (Taize)” --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqQsZK57OX8
“Wait for the Lord (Taize)” --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7GexIvX8HU&list=LL&index=14
“On Jordan’s Bank (chant and bell choir)” --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d9wrI8IY0Q
“O Come O Come Emmanuel (instrumental)” --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc
“Contemplative Evening Prayer for Advent” (23 min) --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCMVOBi8X0
“An Advent Meditation with James Finley” --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POAu-09Hg2o&list=LL&index=2
“An Advent Message from Ilia Delio” --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLo80ycQhgE&list=LL&index=1
Father Thomas Keating (2019)
The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, a book by Father Thomas Keating. Includes a chapter on Advent.
Awakenings
by Father Keating. A book of commentaries on Gospel texts by
Father Keating in the spirit of Lectio Divina.
The first short chapter is about Advent.
The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating has scriptures for Advent.
Richard Rohr:
Preparing for Christmas, by Fr. Richard Rohr.
Every year during the Christmas season, Fr. Rohr includes messages about the incarnation in his online daily meditations. These can be read and discussed in the group. The archives of Fr. Rohr's daily meditations can be accessed at: https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/.
Besides discussing a Richard Rohr Advent daily meditation, one facilitator added a poem by St. John of the Cross, a Lectio, and a Magnificat. The St. John of the Cross poem is found in Daniel Ladinsky's Love Poems from God.
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One facilitator: “always gives members copies of the Magnificat Advent reader, and we pray Vespers in addition to centering on the week with the O Antiphons [for Vespers]”.
"The O Antiphons are titles for Jesus and also found in the hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.' The O Antiphons are part of vespers [evensong] the week before Christmas and can either be sung or read depending on the capacities of the pray-ers."
Another group:
One year I bought the DVD: "A Thrill of Hope: The Christmas Story in Word and Art" from Emory University, the Candler School of Theology, also available through Barnes and Noble (about $12). It is 50 minutes total and presents the Christmas story as told in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Each passage of scripture is illustrated by the artwork of John August Swanson. I used about 10 minutes each time, and we had lectio with the scripture presented. I also made color copies of the paintings to share with the group.
During the year we close each meeting with a prayer we read from a card, but at Advent, I print this prayer by Henri Nouwen on cards and then give them the card to keep at the last meeting:
Advent Prayer
Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness
Send your Holy Spirit upon our preparation for Christmas.
We who have so
much to do seek quiet spaces
to hear your voice each day.
We who are
anxious over many things
look forward to your coming among us.
We who are
blessed in so many ways
long for the complete joy of your Kingdom.
We whose hearts
are heavy
seek the joy of your presence.
We are your
people, walking in darkness
yet seeking the light.
To You we say,
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
Amen
A book by Nouwen: Advent and Christmas Wisdom: Daily
Scriptures and Prayers
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