Spirituality of the Family Life Minister

Opening Prayer

God of love and mercy, you call us to be your people, you gift us with your abundant grace. Make us a holy people, radiating the fullness of your love. Form us into a community, a people who care, expressing your compassion. Remind us day after day of our baptismal call to serve, with joy and courage. Teach us how to grow in wisdom and grace and joy in your presence. Through Jesus and in your Spirit, we make this prayer.

U.S. Bishops’ 1995 “Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium”)

The Term “Spirituality”

In Christian terms, the word “spirituality” can be traced to the letters of St. Paul where he uses the Greek term pneuma.

Spirituality implies an ability to commit oneself to a set of consciously chosen practices that foster Christian discipleship.

Being in Relationship

Philip Sheldrake defines Christian spirituality this way: “..spirituality is the whole of human life viewed in terms of a conscious relationship with God, in Jesus Christ, through the indwelling of the Spirit, and within the community of believers.”

Another Definition

…an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a

disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia,

a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all-

embracing ache that lies at the center of human

experience and that is the ultimate force that drives

everything else. This disease is universal. Desire

gives no exceptions…Spirituality is, ultimately, what

we do with that desire. (Ronald Rolheiser)

No Single Path to Perfection

The Christian spiritual life may be about “living Jesus,” but there is no one way to do that. There is no generic holiness, no single path to perfection, no cookie-cutter model of the Christ-life. Instead, each person must discover, with the air of the Scriptures, tradition, the witness of holy ones, and the guidance of others, what it means to “live Jesus” in the concrete specificity of his or her location, moment in history, talents, responsibilities, and sense of call.

“Be The Best Version of

Yourself”

Matthew Kelly

Centrality of Our Baptism

Beloved sons and daughters of God

Marked by God

Died to self and put on Christ

Realize Who We Are and Whose We Are

“You are precious in my sight.” (Is. 43:4)

“I have carved you on the palm of my hand.” (Is. 49:16)

“I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Is. 43: 1)

“You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.” (Ps 139:13)

Our Three Vocations

Vocation of a Christian (all share)

Vocation in life (married, single, priesthood, Religious Life)

Within that is how I live our that particular vocation – no one can be a family life minister exactly like you.

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.”

Common Life – Mystical Body

Our Catholic spirituality involves a deep sense of a common life expressed in our relationship to the Mystical Body, our common prayer, the rhythm of the liturgical cycle, and in our communion with the cloud of witnesses.

But our unity is never uniformity.

No One Way of Living the Spiritual Life

If we look at it in terms of vocation, there is not one Christian vocation, no one way of being married, no one way of being a religious, minister, priest, no one way of living the single life. Nor is there one way of acting for the common good.

Who’s Making Your Sandwich?

Personal Rule – Helps From

St. Francis de Sales

Statement of Life

Motto

Personal Mission Statement

What one needs for a happy and balanced life.

Value

Creates solid structure

Provides routine to fall back on

Protects one’s inner space. Response to being loved by God.

St. Benedict “Ora et Labora…Vacare Deo” (work and pray, Empty oneself for God) Gentleness with ourselves and others

Communal nature of the process

Intentional opening to perceive God’s presence and activity toward a life patterned on Christ.

Elements of a Rule of Life

1. Seeking God is the focal point: Prayer, worship, nurturing one’s spirit

2. Work: care of our body, physical exercise

3. Study: intellectual development

4. Service to others, hospitality

Focus equally on God’s call to you your own needs and the needs of the world.

How to Design a Rule of Life

1. How can you fit these values into your life in a balanced way including joy, play, fun.

2. Listen to your heart’s desire. Be conscious of what you do and why you do it.

3. Be concrete, specific and consistent. Take baby steps that have some challenge to them. Recognize you are human and try again.

Helps in Keeping Your Rule

1. Be realistic in getting your goals.

2. Do all for the glory of God, your own salvation and the salvation of others.

3. Ask for God’s help.

4. Gather with like-minded friends to support one another.

5. Look to spiritual practices that have stood the test of time e.g. St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila,etc.

4 - 1’s

1 hour a day of prayer

1 day off a week

1 retreat a month

1 yearly retreat

Design your own version of this.

Practices – Personal Daily

Pattern of Prayer

Frequent Attendance at Mass

Celebration of the Sacraments

Spiritual Direction

Reading the Bible daily

Spiritual Reading

Looking for God’s hand in your life

Listening to others and mentoring others as they look at God

Living in the Present Moment

Prayer Practices

Vocal prayer

Lectio Divina

Imaginative Meditation

Consciousness Examen

Contemplative Prayer

Music and Prayer

Writing and Prayer

Study and Prayer

Nature and Prayer

Consciousness Examen

Pray For Light

Review the Day in Thanksgiving

Review the Feelings That Surfaced in the Replay of the Day

Choose One of Those Feelings (Positive or Negative) and Pray From It

Look Toward Tomorrow.

Lectio

Lectio: Reading and Listening

Meditatio: Reflecting on the Word

Oratio: The Word Touches the Heart

Contemplatio: Entering the Silence

“Too Deep For Words”

Devotional Practices

Rosary

Stations

Holy Hour

First Friday/First Saturday

Use of Sacramentals

Celebrate the Sabbath

What can we do to re-instate this practice?

Prayer of Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than FALLING IN LOVE

in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination,

will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,

what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends,

what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

Resources

Durand, Dave. Time Management for Catholics. Manchester:

Sophia Institute Press, 2002.

Wright, Wendy PhD. The Essential Spirituality Handbook. Liguori: Liguori Press, 2009.

Murphy, Monsignor Charles M. Belonging to God: A Personal Training Guide for the Deeper Catholic Spiritual Life, New York: Crossroads, 2004.

What Concrete Idea/s Will You

Take From This Webinar?

Thank you for allowing me to share this time with you.

Sister Rose Marie Adams, I.H.M.

sr.rose@raldioc.org