The Little Black Book, Six-minute meditations on the Sunday Gospels of Lent (Cycle B)

Sr. Pat Dowling, Vocation Director, recommends this companion for Lent. This Lenten booklet is based on the writings of Bishop Ken Untener, and put together by Catherine Haven, editor of the Little Books, with the help of Sr. Nancy Ayotte, IHM.

For today’s reading, Monday–Second Week of Lent, it provides this text:  “After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.” (Mk. 9:2-3)

It then shares how to apply this text to our lives by saying, “The Transfiguration of Jesus is not just an interesting incident in the life of Jesus–it’s supposed to happen in my life too. Transfiguration happens when I let the brightness and beauty of God’s life within me shine forth so that others can see it. The brightness … continue reading…

Awakening the Heroes Within
by: Carol S. Pearson
Discerning one’s vocation is not an easy job. A key element of discernment is self discovery…truly understanding who you are, prior to listening to where God wants to lead you.

Awakening the Hero Within is a book that delves into personality types and can offer some very eye-opening ways of focusing from within.
“The heroic quest is about saying ‘yes’ to yourself and in doing so, becoming more fully alive and more effective in the world…”
If you have read it, tell us what you think. What did you learn? What advice can you give other discerners?

To view our Suggested Books on Discernment, CLICK HERE.

The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See
by Richard Rohr

Are you looking for inner calm and true peace?  Do you want to explore your Catholic spirituality further?  Deeper?  Do you want to encounter your own personal connection to God?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then this is the book for you!  Sr. Jean Aulenback recommended The Naked Now: Learning to see as the Mystics See as a great read.  The author, Richard Rohr, is a Franciscan Priest who is well established as a writer. 

In The Naked Now, Mr. Rohr takes excerpts from several of his other books, on subjects such as non-duality, and weaves them together offering an alternative perspective.  He guides the reader through a journey of self-discovery and spirituality deepening, but he does it in simple terms.
“Theism believes there is a God. Christianity believes that God and humanity can coexist in the same place! These are two utterly different proclamations about the nature of the universe.” 

                                                                   -Richard Rohr
Now available at the … continue reading…

James Martin, SJ quickly tell us, “…this book…is not a guide to understand everything about everything (thus the Almost). Rather, it’s a guide to discovering how God can be found in every dimension of your life. How God can be found in everything. And everyone, too.” (p. 7).   Martin, with his typical humorous style, lights up topics on Ignatian spirituality, the role of desire, discernment, prayer, the vows, and more.

If you are exploring (discerning) a vocation, read, Chapter 3 “What Do You Want?” to learn how to recognize your own desires (like road signs) as a path leading you into God. Martin reminds us that “our deep desires help us know God’s desires for us and how much God desires to be with us” (p. 59). Like a skilled surgeon, he pinpoints the fact that our desires are often masked; presenting themselves from time to time as a sense of incompleteness, a longing for connection, and even feelings of vulnerability. At other times we may experience our desires as … continue reading…

“Bounce: Living the Resilient Life” by Robert J. Wick is the current selection in our book club, here at Sisters of Bon Secours Provincial House.  In fact, we just got together this week to discuss the new chapter. 

So far, Mr. Wick has taken us on a journey through our natural tendencies and reactions to stress, and is highlighting ways to use daily “debriefing” techniques and “self-talk” to stop the drain of valuable emotional energy.  It seems like it would be a nice book to take on a trip, where I could get away and really focus on the content and its meaning in my life right now.  So far, so good!
“Bounce treats us to ‘Have a Life!’ and live it more fully. Wicks helps us to develop hardiness, learn to debrief ourselves after a hard day, and create a personal self-care program we will actually follow. Insightful, practical, and often humorous, Bounce is the right tonic for the spirit that we need in today’s stressful world.” –Sister Helen Prejean, author … continue reading…

Ecology at the Heart of Faith
by: Denis Edwards
Orbis Books. Maryknoll, NY. 2006.

An Excerpt from the Introduction

One of the gifts we have received from the twentieth century is a picture of Earth as our shared home. The human community of the twenty-first century can see Earth as a blue-green planet set against the darkness of interstellar space. We are able to think of our home planet in the context of the vast distances of the Milky Way Galaxy and of the roughly one hundred billion galaxies that make up the observable universe, and be led to a new appreciation of Earth’s beauty and hospitality to life. We can see human beings as part of a global community, interconnected with other species and with the life systems of our planet. This represents a precious new moment in human cultural history.

At the same time we are confronted by the damage human beings are doing to the atmosphere, the soil, … continue reading…

Don’t wait for the Sabbath Day to find a little rest and relaxation. 

Pick up the book, “Sabbath” by Wayne Muller for some simple pointers for busy people.  It is a great read!

Barry opens up the issue of discernment in the church in order to help people bring their actual experience of God to bear not only on their own spiritual lives, but on the whole Christian community.