A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)
Contents:
- Book/Resource of the Week
- Weekend Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Saint of the Week
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Theology Note of the Week
- Discussion Board
- Joke of the Week
- Advertising and Archives
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe links. Attributions.
- - -
Book/Resource of the Week
The Story of the Volga Germans, by George J. Walters. Halcyon House Publishing Inc. 1993.
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/0911311416/?tag=christianspiritu
This
story of the Germans who as early as the 16th century were
disillusioned by the economic, political, and religious situation had
visions of emigrating from Germany to a neighboring nation. Service in
the military and denial of religious freedom were the final straws that
precipitated their move to Russia in the 18h century. In the meantime, Catherine the Great in Russia was making plans for the development of non-cultivated lands in Russia, and even in Siberia. She was a creative person, a great ruler, and a person with enormous energy. She ordered a Manifesto calling upon foreigners to settle in her great country. She saw the Germans especially as very industrious and people who would make her proud of their settlements. Neat and hard working, she knew they would be assets and examples to her own somewhat lazy farmers.
Catherine’s incentives included freedom to practice religion, the right to build churches and schools, bell towers, (but no monasteries), the right to have priests or ministers, and teachers. A majority of the emigrants were either strong Lutherans or Roman Catholics. A further incentive was a promise of freedom from all taxes, levies, and land service for thirty years. There was a promise of exemption from military and civil service forever. Financial assistance was given to those who could not afford to make the move to Russia; more help was provided for those who needed money to settle and build homes.
Rose colored promises…many of which did not materialize…were indeed inviting. But real life was painted a different color. Rulers come and go. Farmers who had built with great industry soon found the other promises were not kept. Freedom of religion was true only up to a point. Exemptions from taxes were only temporary, as were other exemptions. Jealousies arose between the Germans and the Russians. Germans began to long to go Home to Germany.
Other immigrants started looking to the United States for a new home. Scouts were sent to the States of Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, and other states, and returned with good news. There were places in Kansas, especially in Ellis County, Kansas, which looked attractive to many groups of immigrants. Encouraged by the freedom to practice their faith, pioneers in Kansas wrote that their first act was to erect a cross as a place of worship; this was followed by the building of a church; then their own new homes, first of mud, then of more suitable materials were constructed.
Some of the Germans who had been living in Siberia chose a warmer climate and settled in Argentina.
(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman OP for this review.)
Weekend Readings
- http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
Saturday
Wis 18:14-16; 19:6-9
PS 105:2-3, 36-37, 42-43
Lk 18:1-8
Sunday
Mal 3:19-20a
Ps 98:5-6, 7-8, 9
2 Thes 3:7-12
Lk 21:5-19
Spiritual Guidance
- http://shalomplace.com/direction
Need a companion for the spiritual journey?
We have several wonderful people ready to help, using email, telephone and/or video conferences to bridge the miles.
Consultations and spiritual direction available.
Saint of the Week
- http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saintofday/default.aspx
St. Rose Philipine Duchesne (1769-1852): November 18
Born
in Grenoble, France, of a family that was among the new rich,
Philippine learned political skills from her father and a love of the
poor from her mother. The dominant feature of her temperament was a
strong and dauntless will, which became the material—and the
battlefield—of her holiness. She entered the convent at 19 and remained
despite their opposition. As the French Revolution broke, the convent
was closed, and she began taking care of the poor and sick, opened a
school for homeless children and risked her life helping priests in the
underground.When the situation cooled, she personally rented her old convent, now a shambles, and tried to revive its religious life. The spirit was gone, and soon there were only four nuns left. They joined the infant Society of the Sacred Heart, whose young superior, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, would be her lifelong friend. In a short time Philippine was a superior and supervisor of the novitiate and a school. But her ambition, since hearing tales of missionary work in Louisiana as a little girl, was to go to America and work among the Indians. At 49, she thought this would be her work. With four nuns, she spent 11 weeks at sea en route to New Orleans, and seven weeks more on the Mississippi to St. Louis. She then met one of the many disappointments of her life. The bishop had no place for them to live and work among Native Americans. Instead, he sent her to what she sadly called "the remotest village in the U.S.," St. Charles, Missouri. With characteristic drive and courage, she founded the first free school for girls west of the Mississippi.
It was a mistake. Though she was as hardy as any of the pioneer women in the wagons rolling west, cold and hunger drove them out—to Florissant, Missouri, where she founded the first Catholic Indian school, adding others in the territory. "In her first decade in America, Mother Duchesne suffered practically every hardship the frontier had to offer, except the threat of Indian massacre—poor lodging, shortages of food, drinking water, fuel and money, forest fires and blazing chimneys, the vagaries of the Missouri climate, cramped living quarters and the privation of all privacy, and the crude manners of children reared in rough surroundings and with only the slightest training in courtesy" (Louise Callan, R.S.C.J., Philippine Duchesne).
Finally, at 72, in poor health and retired, she got her lifelong wish. A mission was founded at Sugar Creek, Kansas, among the Potawatomi. She was taken along. Though she could not learn their language, they soon named her "Woman-Who-Prays-Always." While others taught, she prayed. Legend has it that Native American children sneaked behind her as she knelt and sprinkled bits of paper on her habit, and came back hours later to find them undisturbed. She died in 1852 at the age of 83 and was canonized in 1988.
Affliate Web Sites
- Please give them a visit
Shalom Place: Resources on Christian spiritual living.
- http://shalomplace.com/
Inner Explorations: a vast array of spirituality resources for the mature Christian.
- http://innerexplorations.com
SeeScapes: picturing the deeper dimensions of our spirituality.
- http://www.seescapes.com/
Heartland Center for Spirituality: sponsoring Internet workshops year-round.
- http://heartlandspirituality.org/
Emanuella House of Prayer: a place for prayer and silence in British Columbia.
- http://emmanuellahouse.shawwebspace.ca/
Kyrie Places of Pilgrimmage and Renewal
- http://www.kyrie.com/places/index.htm
Temenos Catholic Worker: support for homeless youth in Polk Street neighborhood, San Francisco.
- http://www.temenos.org/
The Sanctuary Foundation for Prayer: resources for spiritual growth.
- http://fromholyground.org/index.htm
Philothea.net: promoting the love of God as expressed in The First Great Commandment
- http://philothea.net/
Hearts on Fire: a blog to spark inspiration, thought, wonder, laughter and prayer.
- http://heartsonfire33.wordpress.com/
Stillpoint: Programs in spiritual direction, contemplative prayer.
- http://www.stillpointnashville.org/
The Ark: Providing a variety of scripture and lectionary study resources.
- http://theark1.com/
Contemplative Ministries of the Pacific Northwest: Teaching and support on contemplative practice.
- http://www.prayeroftheheart.com/
Reach hundreds of people who have a similar interest in Christian spirituality. Simply publish a link to Daily Spiritual Seed-- http://heartlandspirituality.org/dailyseed.html --on a prominent place on your web site and we will reciprocate with a weekly link to your site in the newsletter. Contact the Editor when you're ready to begin.
Theology Note of the Week
- http://carm.org/r
Remnant
A remnant is an object, thing, person, or group that survives an event, catastrophe, pruning, etc. It is what is left over. In the Bible, the idea of a remnant deals mainly with the believers. But remnant is also used in other ways, such as a remnant of a name (2 Samuel 14:7), of the Amorites (2 Sam 21:2), of the house of Judah (2 Kings 19:30), of an inheritance (2 Kings 21:14 ), and of the saved (Rom. 9:27; 11:5).
God retains for himself those who are his people. Many religious groups believe themselves to be the remnant of God's true followers. Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc., claim to be what is left over after the falling away of the world into sin and apostasy. However, the true remnant are those who are the elect of God (Matthew 24:24; Ephesians 1:4-5). They are the ones whom God has called to himself and to our redeemed.
Discussion Board
- http://shalomplace.org/eve/forums
Topics being discussed at this time include:
Belief.net Quiz on your religious beliefs.
- Religion and Culture forum
Obamacare experiences
- Religion and Culture forum
Supernatural adoption
- Christian Morality and Theology forum
Joke of the Week
- http://www.pacprod.com/jokes.pl
Golf challenge . . .
A young man, who was also an avid golfer, found himself with a few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured if he hurried and played very fast, he could get in 9 holes before he had to head home. Just as he was about to tee off, an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being able to say no, he allowed the old man to join him.
To his surprise, the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't waste much time.
Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball and directly between his ball and the green.
After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot, the old man finally said, "You know, when I was your age, I'd hit the ball right over that tree."
With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally lay.
The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was your age, that pine tree was only 3 feet tall."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Amazon Gift Cards: Good for any occasion.
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
- - - -
Please support this ministry with a tax-deductible donation.
- http://heartlandspirituality.org/support.html
_________________________________________________
* Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
* RSS: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed
* To subscribe by email: http://heartlandspirituality.org/dailyseed.html
* Blog subscription (includes comment options): http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment