PORTIUNCULA CENTER FOR PRAYER April 2024 | |
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I was talking with one of our maintenance men this week as he related a story about a person that exhibits a fairly obvious lack of self awareness. His next line was brilliant and thought provoking. “What mirror are you looking in?”. He was referring to the person we were discussing, I think. But tell me that is not an attention getter. Sigh, having what seems like an innocuous conversation and suddenly, in my face, reality check. What mirror indeed. Driving to work last week I looked up as I was heading under the viaduct to see a semi-trailer painted the most amazing vivid pink with ONE emblazoned on its side. Hard to ignore. And later that day a semi-trailer truck crossing my path, also shouting ONE. Don’t you love when the universe is yelling at you and you are thinking, what are you trying to tell me.
I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Dr. John Haught. It was offered by The Well. I am including the link to the YouTube recording so you can experience it if you choose. It is quite a roller coaster of ‘no energy left in the universe to support thought’ (Dennis Overbye NYT) to we continue to evolve, and faith is the essential element of our journey to a cosmic reality that embraces a truly enlightened knowing and being with God. So suddenly this appearance of “ONES” in my line of sight is a reminder of the connectedness of all of life from a blade of grass to human consciousness. (Yes, this is how my mind works—pink truck to the cosmos:) To me it means we are at once a human body and a limitless consciousness that encompasses energies and possibilities yet to be explored and understood. But I do believe we are on the path to a beauty we must begin to imagine. It is our belief and our faith joined together that will take us there. And so, what mirror am I looking in? Well now it feels much more like a looking glass where there is so much more than my aging, but still laughing image. It is a view that sees the sacrifice of a man who gave his all for us and also the Easter Bunny. I don’t think Jesus minds at all a little candy to celebrate his emergence. So along with your prayers and songs and rituals, grab your Easter baskets, it is after all, a celebration.
Blessings, Mary Lou Nugent
The New Cosmology and the Reasons for Hope
Dr. John Haught sponsored by The Well
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Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring
down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring
I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue
like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:
how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge
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to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else
my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its glass cities,
it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;
all day I think of her -—
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.
Spring by Mary Oliver
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MARY MAGDALENE AS MODEL FOR OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Tuesday, April 2 9:30 a.m. – Noon $25
Mary Magdalene as disciple, witness, and prophet is one of our strongest role models for understanding the elements that emerge on a spiritual journey. This reflective morning based on her spirituality offers a very specific example of the Ignatian spiritual elements which see God as an active God, always at work in us. Once Mary encountered Jesus, her life was transformed, and she was invited to an ever deeper walk in faith even amidst sorrow and suffering. Through personal reflection and group sharing we will consider the process of grieving and the forgiveness of life’s hurts, and then the transformation to moments of healing so that we can, as the song says, "dance, dance, wherever we may be, for he is the Lord of the Dance said he”.
Facilitator: Michael Jennings, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and is the conserve for the Chicago area lay Ignatian community. He has studied and written about Ignatian spirituality for over a decade and is an Ignatian Spiritual Director.
REGISTER
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WOMEN LIVING AUTHENTICALLY: PROTECTING OUR INNER PEACE via Zoom
Tuesday, April 9 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Donation
When we are in alignment from within, we have a greater capacity for self-acceptance while experiencing an innate wellspring of inner peace. When working with our parts/inner family members, it is important to practice curiosity, and self- compassion and to take small daily steps to assist in our inner healing and acceptance. The more healed our parts become, the less they tend to distract us from our inner peace. This alignment creates a ripple of peace and acceptance that contributes to our connecting with others.
Facilitator: Danielle Vaquer, LMFT is an empathically intuitive Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, and public speaker. She is in private practice in Oak Lawn, IL and runs retreats and workshops dedicated to inspiring healing from within and creating the ripples of change through our lives and into our communities and the world at large.
REGISTER
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INTRODUCTION TO MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION
Monday, April 15 9:30 a.m. – Noon $25
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present and aware of where we are and what we are doing. There is a lot of information available about mindfulness but some of it can be confusing. In this interactive session, participants will engage in several mindfulness practices led by the facilitator, practices that can easily be implemented into daily lives. Additionally, participants will learn what mindfulness is and what it is not, the benefits of practicing mindfulness, and they will have an opportunity to take part in discussion and ask questions about mindfulness.
Facilitator: Debra Vinci Minogue, an Associate Professor at Dominican University, is trained in Mindfulness Meditation (with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach), Chair Yoga and facilitating Veriditas Labyrinth. She is also trained in Heartwork Journaling.
REGISTER
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