for potential engaging spirituality participants and facilitators … · 2017-12-19 · spiritual...

© JustFaith Ministries 2015 . www.justfaith.org . 502-429-0865

JustFaith Ministries P.O. Box 221348 Louisville, KY 40252 (502) 429-0865www.justfaith.org

Overview

All Engaging Spirituality™ materials are copyrighted by JustFaith™ Ministries 2015.Permission is granted to copy and share this document with groups interested in Engaging Spirtuality.

© JustFaith Ministries 2015 • www.justfaith.org.

For Potential Engaging Spirituality Participants and Facilitators

© JustFaith Ministries, 2015 . www.justfaith.org . 502-429-0865

Indications of Spiritual Vitality Becoming…

Communitarian Connected Contemplative Compassionate

Signs of Gospel Integrity Moving away from attachment to outcomes.Moving toward humility and simplicity. Moving from willfulness to willingness.Moving gracefully in and out of silence and solitude.Moving out to embrace the world with a broader sense of connection, compassion, and co-responsibility.

1

Jesus came and stood among them and said “Peace be with you…” When he had said this he breathed on them and said, “Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” -John 20: 19, 22

Take time to reflect as you review this outline of the scope and focus of the process, including: A description of spirituality that compels us to embrace the world from our depths. An outline of the themes and components of this process. Resources, requirements and steps for implementation.

Make S PA C E for PrayerThe way we pray informs the way we live. The way we live shapes the way we pray.

All faithful endeavors begin by opening a space for prayer. Before investigating the opportunities outlined in the pages ahead, quiet yourself. Invite the compassionate Spirit of Jesus into this moment with you, to open your mind and stretch your heart.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because God has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. -Luke 4:18-19

Come Spirit of justice. Overwhelm us.

Fill our hungry hearts. Ignite in us the fire of compassion.

Reshape our lives and send us out, to restore and renew the beauty of the earth.

Breathing Space in Turbulent Times


What moves you deeply, guides your thoughts and actions? What lies at the heart and center of your world?

Spirituality fuels our life-long journey to God, who is source and wellspring of life. We could also describe it as the deep motivating force for our lives. In this sense, spirituality determines the quality of our being. Whether we are aware of it or not, we all operate out of some kind of spirituality. Jesus explained it as where you put your heart.

Set your heart on God’s Reign and justice! -Matthew 6:33

The one who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening (his/her) own self-understanding, freedom, integrity, and capacity to love, will not have anything to give others. -Thomas Merton

Sooner or later, we all deal with fragmentation, dislocation, disintegration... As the loves, labors, losses, and longings of our lives ripen us, we look ever deeper for connection.

We hunger for intimacy – the closeness that is capable of changing us. We yearn to be whole, without the constricting bonds, separations and mindsets that shrink our hearts and limit our lives.

In our fractured world many people presume this level of communion to be beyond the scope of regular folk, believing at best that we might glimpse it by retreating from or rising above our ordinary lives.

Humble mystics like Brother Lawrence of God and Thérèse de Lisieux remind us, that we can all practice the presence of God, even while we wash the dishes!

EngagingSpirituality offers daily practices for living deeply (a contemplative life) and loving broadly (a compassionate life). These practices include activities and attitudes that foster reverence such as: mindful attention to the moment, recreation and rest, compassionate outreach, spiritual reading, prayerful listening.

Integrating practices like these into our daily living develops holy patterns that do justice to mystery and sacredness in every aspect of our lives. As we engage spirituality with other seekers, we become acutely aware of the wonders as well as the wounds in our daily communion with life.

2

Setting The Scene for Engaging Spirituality


Don’t think about what we should do; think about what we should be. -Meister Eckhardt

Spirituality is never a private matter! It informs and shapes our social order (and vice-versa). Our human communities and the social systems we create reveal the state of our soul. The quality of our relationships to life reflects what lies within us.

EngagingSpirituality invites us to live our lives in creative tension with two powerful Spirit impulses: to withdraw from the bustle and complexities of the world to immerse ourselves in the gospel tasks of tending to the most vulnerable and working for justice in the social dimension of life

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part. -Luke 10:41-42

Spirituality for Today’s DisciplesJesus clearly encouraged his followers to adopt a receptive, contemplative attitude over busyness. Yet he was also fully engaged in this world, a minister of God’s love, a healer, a feeder and a prophet. His message to Martha is a reminder to us all that we too will experience the undivided life when we focus our life’s energy on becoming disciples, living into God’s Reign.

The Engaging Spirituality process looks to Jesus, the active-mystic, as our model of integrity or holiness.

The life-goal of Engaging Spirituality is to taste that freedom which Jesus embodied and modeled by pouring out his life.

By his words and his witness, Jesus invited his followers to be actively AND compassionately involved “IN” this world, without allowing themselves to be dominated or defined by it.

Following Jesus requires our willingness to enter into places of suffering and darkness with a listening heart.

Where has following Jesus taken you?WARNING!

EngagingSpirituality picks up the trajectory of Jesus’ prophetic ministry and mission. It calls us to engage injustice with a spirit of compassion, opening our lives to gospel justice and peace. It invokes the disturbing Holy Spirit, to unsettle us from complacency. It requires a willingness to grow a wider, tender heart, an open mind, a deeper love for poor and vulnerable life.

3

We All Hunger for Integrity


To follow Jesus means to live broadly and love deeply, balancing our lives between being an active AND reflective presence.

This involves deepening our awareness of suffering and injustice, coming to terms with mystery, and becoming present to Presence —honing our sensitivity to the sacred presence of God in the now.

When we welcome the world into our depths, when we practice contemplative attention AND reach out with compassion, we deliberately put ourselves into the path of grace.

All spirituality is linked to some kind of action Rather than withdrawing from the world and its complications, EngagingSpirituality leads us DEEPER into the field of relationships and connections.

The mundane tasks of our work, the challenges and joys of our relationships, and the great global struggles, all combined form rich soil in which to root our lives, and sharpen our awareness of the holiness at the heart of it all.

EngagingSpirituality opens up space... to revive our souls, deepen our awareness, uncover pathways to simpler, focused and connected living.

Great Crises... Spiritual - Moral - Social - Environmental ...Great AwakeningAcross the globe the human family is waking up to the realization that we are living through an unprecedented period of crisis.

Those who are painfully aware of the tragic realities of these times remind us with urgency that “things” must change. But these things do not begin to change until we do.

Some see our current age as a time of transition and suggest that we are on the cusp of a great awakening. Changing our perspective can lead to new understandings and attitudes that generate unforeseen avenues and opportunities.

EngagingSpirituality can enable us to tap into a spirit-reservoir of energy for renewal and restoration.

4

Breathing In and Breathing Out


...searching for an undivided and connected life....an invitation to practice living spaciously and gracefully....an exploration that reinforces our link to God and our responsibility to life. ...all about connecting — widening our circle of care. ...other-focused — offering our presence in concrete ways to crying need....bold and risky discipleship....being present, aware, awake, and seeking to live simply....choosing courageous involvement with life....open to reconciling, healing and growing....resolutely gentle and challenging.

A Small-Group Process 8-10 individuals in a group Twenty-one 2½ -hour sessions Spiritual practices, engagement at the margins, mutual accompaniment Intensive and resource-full Spiritual reading texts, a prayer journal, video presentations Essays by spiritual teachers Personal contributions (Bearings Letters) by contemporary spiritual pathfinders

Unique Components 2 Retreats and 2 Immersion Experiences. Personal Outreach Engagement. Participants commit to regular visits to a ministry placement. Prayerful Listening Sessions. 6 Engaging Practices.

Listening Centering Fasting

…may you be strengthened in your inner being with the power of the Spirit... that Christ may dwell in your hearts... as you are being rooted and grounded in love… -Ephesians 3:16

5

Letting-Go Slowing Blessing

EngagingSpirituality is…

With the promise of Christ’s Spirit and the indwelling presence of God, we hold within and among us the spiritual resources necessary to embrace the challenges, share the struggles, and welcome the changes that lie in store.

3 Movements toward a Prayerful Engagement of Life

Right RelationshipsThe relationships that develop among participants provide the intimate context for the integration of spiritual deepening and broadening social awareness that we seek by engaging spirituality.


COME Out to the LIGHT: The Positive Current Engaging Sacred Space ...

Engaging Wonder ...

Engaging Gratefulness ...

HOLY Into the DARK: The Negative Current Engaging Violence & Suffering ...

Engaging Mystery ...

Engaging Darkness and Loss ...

SPIRITDown to EARTH: The Grounding of Holiness

Engaging Oneness ...

Engaging Healing & Reconciling ...

Engaging Justice and Joy ...

6

21 Sessions ... 3 Movements ... 9 Themes ...

Implementing the Process: Resources and Requirements

Rich ResourcesThe content for EngagingSpirituality is communicated through a rich array of online resources that outline the practices of quiet prayer, prayerful listening, heart sharing dialogue, Bearings Letters, and journal reflection.

A Pair of Co-facilitatorsEach EngagingSpirituality group is led by 2 co-facilitators supported (as needed) by JustFaith Ministries’ staff.After registering online, co-facilitators receive access to comprehensive session materials and outlines for each component of the process.

8-10 Participants Co-facilitators invite and convene participants for their small group. Support materials for recruitment include: bulletin announcement, flyer, and online video.

Co-facilitators lead a 45-minute Introductory Session that offers a taste of the process and a forum to address questions.

Co-facilitators distribute a discernment resource. To complete the discernment, prospective participants arrange a brief participant interview with facilitators.

Additional resources include the purchase of a small number of books and DVDs. Facilitators can order these directly through JustFaith Ministries Books & Videos.

© JustFaith Ministries, 2015 . www.justfaith.org . 502-429-0865 1

SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light

Sess ion 1

Engaging Sacred Space

Part 1MeditationBearings PresentationBearings DialogueBreak

Part 2Sacred Listening (small & large group)Community BusinessMeditation

75 Minutes20 Minutes20 Minutes20 Minutes15 Minutes

75 Minutes60 Minutes5 Minutes

10 Minutes

Overview of the 21/2 hr Session

JustFaith Ministries P.O. Box 221348 Louisville, KY 40252 (502) 429-0865www.justfaith.org

All Engaging Spirituality™ materials are copyrighted by JustFaith™ Ministries, 2015.

For Engaging Spirituality Facilitators only

© JustFaith Ministries, 2015 • www.justfaith.org.


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light These notes are summarized in Pointers for Participants, Session 1. Review these comments BEFORE Session One.

Open a Listening Space You gave me room when I was in distress. Psalm 4: 1This first session invites us to consider how we punctuate our lives with sacred space: pauses for reflection; listening spaces to gain broader perspective, and room for compassion in our daily dealings with a world that is always knocking at our door.

Graduated Silence: As your group becomes familiar with the pace and tone of this process, the opening meditation and periods of silence will gradually extend.

The just are those who hear the word and do it! Building on the opening retreat, the first two sessions focus on the practice of prayerful listening as: God-like behavior; a spiritual orientation toward neighbors and enemies;a humble stance toward the world; a way to embrace the joyful and sorrowful mysteries of life;an opportunity to welcome presence, the Christ among us.

Practical Applications

Over the next few sessions, you are encouraged to integrate these contemplative practices into the daily rhythm of life:

• Receiving and Returning the Day. • Creating or enhancing a listening space, a sacred spot in your home environment.• Making time for attentive, quiet prayer and alone time.• “Touching the Holy,” by connecting with people who are vulnerable or on the outskirts of our

circle of care; allowing them to reach into our lives. During prayerful dialogue, encourage participants to share their own experience with any of these practical challenges.

Moving from Heady to Heartfelt SharingThe second hour of the session is dedicated entirely to prayerful listening. The listening modes (large/ small group; inspirational and invitational) outlined in the materials are designed to keep the dialogue reverent, participatory and dynamic. Be judicious and flexible in discerning how to facilitate the dialogue. Invite people to speak from the heart. Use these or similar invitations to keep the sharing grounded: “Let us open our hearts to the Spirit!” “Let us listen from the heart.” “If you feel moved, share what is in your heart.” If someone dominates or detracts from sacred listening, graciously interrupt. If needed, use the chime. Thank the speaker and offer a comment like: “Let’s pause now, and listen to another voice.”Encourage people to receive every sharing with reverence, resisting the temptation to offer direct responses to one another, allowing each person’s reflections to stand alone.

Note to Facilitators


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light

Guiding Questions Use the prompts provided in the materials as guidelines. Be at ease with pauses. When you feel the need, offer a new question or prompt.

Refreshments Ask people to bring refreshments, coffee and snacks to share at the break.

Pearls of WisdomAt every ES session, someone shares ONE brief quote from a spiritual reading text and ONE quote from the ES Journal. Time is set aside during Community Business for this brief sharing. Facilitators model this process for the first couple of sessions; identifying and sharing one quote each from the journal and a current spiritual reading text.

You will need: a small ceramic bowl of water; 2 pillar candles; a small cross; the covenant cloth; matches; a CD player and reflective music; bible (Luke 14:15-24); 2 Bearings letters (Shelley and Richard): refreshments. Participants will need journals and pens. Select ONE quote from the Prayer Journal and ONE from the spiritual reading text to share after the break.

Co-Facilitator Prayerful PreparationArrive at least 10 minutes before the group. Set the room (circle of chairs with additional Bearings seat; small central table; candle; covenant cloth; cross; bible; reflective music; music player). Light the candle and have reflective music playing. Sit together in silence for 3 minutes.

Silence Silence Silence

Offer a word of blessing to one another. Alternating voices, call upon the Holy Spirit:

Come Spirit of justice overwhelm us. Fill our hungry hearts. Ignite in us the fire of compassion. Reshape our lives and send us out, To restore and renew The beauty of the earth.

Gospel Meditation (20 minutes) Have the small bowl of water on the table.

When everyone has arrived, invite people to find their place in the circle and enter the silence. Introduce the silence with these words:

Let us listen to the world!

Note to Facilitators cont’d

Session 1 • E n g a g i n g S a c r e d S p a c e • 2 ½ h o u r s


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light Invite people put everything down and sit in a receptive posture.Open 3 full minutes of silence.

Silence Silence SilenceStrike the chime again to break the silence.

Encourage participants to become attentive to the rhythm of their breathing:

We come here to catch our breath, to conspire with God who is intimate with all that is.

(Omit this ritual if its Catholic flavor does not fit with your group. )Pick up the bowl of water. Dip a finger in the bowl and share these words with a sign of the cross:

God KNOWS + (touching your forehead)God CARES + (touching your chest)God is INVOLVED + (touching each shoulder)

Pass the bowl, hand to hand, inviting everyone to quietly repeat the gesture. Return the bowl to the central table.

Pause

Alternating voices, offer A L L or A N Y of these comments for silent reflection:

Spiritual life is all about spaces. It is about making space, and making space sacred……space for all that can be experienced but not measured.

Pause

Living in a spacious way means clearing away, to make room for the world…The Holy Spirit is an expansive movement.As our awareness deepens, so our lives are enriched.As our love broadens, so our hearts stretch.As our minds open, so our kinship connections widen.

Pause

Like dew sparkling on the tracery of a spider web, spiritual practices illuminate the threads that link us all to all that is.

Pause

Opening a listening space means opening a door to the pains and the promises of God’s world.

Gospel spirituality is all about opening: opening eyes, ears, hearts, and doors to other things, other ways, other people.

Gospel Meditation cont’d


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light

Read the Gospel parable of the Great Dining Room: Luke 14: 15-24

Offer O N E of these prompts for silent reflection:

• Where do you find yourself in this Gospel story? • What does this Gospel say to our world?

Pause for a full minute of silence...

Silence Silence Silence...or use reflective music.

Large Group Listening – Open Response (10 minutes)This brief dialogue allows a few voices to be heard. Open the floor for those (2 or 3 people) who feel moved to share from the heart. Strike the chime between each sharing and pause briefly.

Close with these words (from Psalm 4:1): O God, You gave us room when we were in distress.

Bearings Presentation (20 minutes) A co-facilitator introduces the Bearings letter from Shelley Douglass, placing her picture on the empty seat, before prayerfully reading the letter aloud.

Bearings Dialogue – Inspirational Mode (20 minutes)Pause after the reading and final Lectio sharing. Holding the candle, share one insight that struck you from the letter. Pause before passing the candle to a neighbor on your left or right. Offer this prompt:

• What resonated with you? Remind people to pause before and after sharing. If someone does not wish to share, s/he holds the candle silently before passing it on.

Break (15 minutes)Select a reader to present the Bearings letter (Fr. Richard Rohr) at the next session. If possible, match the gender of the reader with the author. Give the Bearings letter to the reader. Remind the reader NOT to make copies of the letter, but to reflect on it and come prepared to lead the Bearings process at the next session.

Gospel Meditation cont’d


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light

Call everyone back to the circle.

Intimate Circles Dialogue – Open Response (20 minutes)If your group includes six or more people, light a second pillar candle and divide participants into 2 smaller groups. One co-facilitator joins each small group. Locate the groups out of earshot of one another. Each group takes a lit candle, placing it at the center of the smaller circle. Keep the same circular dynamic as the large group. Open with a period of silence.


Offer A N Y of these guiding questions:

• Where is your holy ground, your sacred listening space?• Who listens to you?• As you listen to the world, what places or situations are crying out for attention?

Pause before opening the floor for dialogue with these words:

We are invited to listen deeply and share from our hearts.

After 20 minutes, thank everyone for sharing and invite the group into moment of silence.Call the groups back to the large circle.

Large Group Dialogue – Invitational Mode (30 minutes)

You could use reflective music to draw the group into stillness.

Offer these directions:

We come to this circle not just to talk… but leaning-in to listen;not to tear down or take over… but ready to receive.Let us make room for a wider, deeper presence, and welcome the Spirit that lives, moves, and breathes among and through us. Pause for a full minute of silence before presenting this guiding question: Silence Silence Silence

What kind of sacred listening space have you opened in your life?

Nominate a person, inviting him/ her to share from the heart.After that person has shared, s/he nominates another person in the circle. (If the invitee is neither ready, nor inclined to share, s/he can decline and nominate another person.) The process continues until everyone has spoken.

Thank everyone for sharing. Close by inviting the group into stillness.

Sacred Dialogue (60 Minutes)


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light Remind people about their commitment to write a personal Bearings letter. The first personal Bearings presentations are offered by co-facilitators at Session Four. Inform everyone of the date and time of the next session. Refer people to the Pointers for Participants. One facilitator shares a quote from the ES Journal and a brief excerpt from a current spiritual reading text. A second facilitator will bring their quotes to the next session.

Meditation (10 minutes)Invite the group into 3 minutes of silence with these words:

Let’s quiet ourselves so that the sounds of God’s world, the joys and the anxieties,break through.


Alternating voices, share these guiding words:

Who do YOU find it hard to listen to?

Pause

You have probably heard (or used) the expression “what you need is a good talking to!” It’s often said by someone who is frustrated in his or her ability to communicate or who thinks that more words will alter the other person’s behavior. Oftentimes our problems arise because we aren’t listening to the person who is frustrating us. Imagine how it would change the interaction if that person responded by saying, “What I really need is a good listening to.” The recognition that listening has the power to transform our relationships just doesn’t occur to us. -Kay Lindahl

LONGER Pause Invite everyone to stand and link hands. Alternate voices as you offer this prayer:

God Knows… God cares… God is leaning-in to listen…

Consider all the voices crying out to be listened to at this moment. Add the sounds of creation groaning.

Pause God, what is YOUR prayer in us for the world?

If there is in you a word, a name, a situation that cries out to be heard, share that prayer with us.

PauseWhen people have shared a prayer, conclude with this blessing:Let us bless one another with a word, a sign, a gesture of God’s peace.

Community Business & Pearls of Wisdom (5 minutes)

This concludes the session.


SA

MP

LE

Out to the Light When everyone has gone, revisit the session together.

• Begin with a few minutes of silence.• Let a grateful word surface. • Offer a word of affirmation to one another.• Share your response to A N Y of these:

I felt the Holy Spirit…I was stretched or challenged by...I have learned…

Co-facilitator Afterglow (10 minutes)

Look ahead to the next session or activity.

for potential engaging spirituality participants and facilitators … · 2017-12-19 · spiritual...

Documents