Dear Friends of Sacred Space,

As we enter into the fourth quarter of 2005, I send you greetings from the Sacred Space Team at the Jesuit Communication Centre in Dublin. You will be happy to know that there was a positive response to the change we announced in the last issue of Latest Space with regard to our mailing list. Already more than 6,000 of our visitors have express a desire to receive the newsletter by e-mail. We will, as promised, continue to make each issue available online, with links to all previous issues. If you, or a friend, wish to receive Latest Space by e-mail, and have not yet subscribed, 1) make sure you are still online, 2) enter your e-mail address, and 3) submit. (Click here to sign up)

As you may know, feedback ([email protected]) has been coming to me as editor. I have tried to respond to all your letters. But it has been suggested that it would be good to offer the addresses of others on the Sacred Space Team so that visitors might write directly to them. So here they are:

Pat Coyle, Manager of the Jesuit Communications Centre can be reached at [email protected]
Dermot Roantree, Assistant to the Editor (among many other tasks in the JCC), at [email protected]
Jae Hong Cheon, Webmaster, with any technical problems on the site at [email protected]
Paul Andrews, SJ, with the “thought for the week” and “inspiration points” at [email protected]
Frank Doyle, SJ, with the “scriptural reflections” of Living Space at [email protected]
John Callanan, SJ, with the development of our “prayer stages” at [email protected]
I hope you will be encouraged to share your reflections and ideas with the team, and that we can work together in the community of Sacred Space. We are still working on the possibility of setting up a “meeting space” to add to our present “praying space”. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers. We hope to have another issue out before Christmas. In the meantime, God bless each and every one of you.

Sections within this issue of Latest Space:

The Translations of Sacred Space

Feedback over the Years

Sacred Space – The Prayer Book 2006

The Prayer of a Visitor to Sacred Space

Things to Watch out for in the Coming Weeks

A Word of Thanks

Ways to Promote Sacred Space

THE TRANSLATIONS OF SACRED SPACE

When you open the English version of Sacred Space, you will notice that we have now listed, alphabetically and in the English language, the nineteen languages into which the original has been translated. The languages are listed as follows: Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, French, German, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish

The translations have come about through the zeal of our Sacred Space community As we have reported in the past, letters thanking us for the site, have often expressed regret that Sacred Space is not available in their native language, or that their friends, who speak a different language, cannot have access to it. When we explain how the other translations have come about through volunteers, it is amazing how often this has quickly led to a new translation of Sacred Space. We supply the material at least one month ahead of time, and the rest is done by the translators with the help of a website that makes the material available online at the appropriate time.

FEEDBACK OVER THE YEARS
Feedback from visitors to the website has always been an encouraging and defining presence in the development of Sacred Space. For many years it has been possible, through a link given at the end of each day’s prayer, to read not only the “recent selected feedback” but also the “previous selected feedback”. Now, all that “selected feedback” – from the year 2000 to the present time – has been put together in a month by month orderly fashion. We have always encouraged those who have contributed feedback to indicate where they are writing from. This information gives an indication of the world-wide scale of the Sacred Space community and the universal appreciation of the help that the website offers – something that can be encouraging to us all. As one person, writing this week from London, England, says, “The comments from people throughout the world are very moving because you can see how prayer animates their lives.” Now those who may wish to read about, study, or even write a book on, the development of prayer in the life of visitors to Sacred Space from countries all over the world, have an abundance of material to work with.

SACRED SPACE – THE PRAYER BOOK 2006

Michelle Anderson Publications in Australia, the original publisher of “the book”, reports that THE PRAYER BOOK 2006 is already in print and copies have been sent to different parts of the world, including Veritas Publications here in Ireland. Ave Maria Press in the United States, which sold all 10,000 copies of the 2005 edition earlier in the year, have already received orders for more than 2,500 copies of THE PRAYER BOOK 2006. In their “Fall Catlog” for this year, a picture of the book appears on the front page, and inside a whole page is given to promoting the book. Inserted among comments from readers of the first edition, the publishers have their own comment: “After the success of Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2005, we are pleased to bring you Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2006. Place your order today so you don’t miss a day of prayer and reflection! And next August be sure to reserve your copy of Sacred Space; The Prayer Book 2007!” If you have found help in Sacred Space, and would like to share this grace with your family or friends, the book makes a great gift to give at any time of the year, especially to those who may not have access to a computer. Remember that, as with the current issue, The Prayer Book 2006 will begin with the 2006 liturgical year, from the first Sunday of Advent (this year – November 27, 2005).

THE PRAYER OF A VISITOR TO SACRED SPACE
[On July 8, 2005, with the rest of the feedback for that day, this detailed account of a visitor’s
prayer in Sacred Space arrived. The words under “Subject” were: My journey today thanks!
It records how one person (ME…) prayerfully reflected through the suggested “stages of prayer”.]

The Presence of God
God is with me, but more, God is within me. Let me dwell for a moment on God’s life-giving presence in my body, in my mind, in my heart, as I sit here, right now.
ME…
Let me just allow that thought to penetrate my heart… when you said, “You are my son, today have I begotten you”, you meant me as well. I am your handiwork, I am your labour of love. Love conceived of such a thing as me, love gave me life. I am no accident. I am your idea, and you wanted me to be. Then, more, you came to me and settled in me like a dove in a nest. Contented, you live in the temple you created. You dwell there; me, your dwelling-place.
I receive you… or, I prepare myself to know that tender fact. God most high, you love me and you have loved me since always. AND I PRAISE YOU! You are all to me. My heart is slowly warmed into life by your presence. Worship rolls from my tongue. Slowly I thaw and am able to be freely who I am meant to be.
Worship, O my heart. Worship, O my soul. Worship, every part of me.
I call you Lord! Keeper, Comforter, Comrade. Hallelujah!

Freedom
I need to close out the noise, to rise above the noise; the noise that interrupts, that separates, the noise that isolates. I need to listen to God again.
ME…
My thoughts jabber and chat, you DID this, you ARE that.
“SILENCE!” you command. Submission.
I float upwards into your loving arms. Put my head upon your godly breast.
Only the steady rhythm of your loving heart, creator’s core, stills my empty mutterings.
Whom will you hear? The one who gave you life and calls you forth into LIFE,
or the one who has resolved to drown me out pretending to be your very own thoughts?
Find your heart in ME. Here you are yourself…cradled in my heart, creator-companion…
ever-safe, ever-loved, ever-you and ever-me together…”

Consciousness
In God’s loving presence I unwind the past day, starting from now and looking back, moment by moment. I gather in all the goodness and light, in gratitude. I attend to the shadows and what they say to me, seeking healing, courage, forgiveness.
ME…
“Shameful, self-seeking. self-satisfying” – the first thoughts that jump into my mind.
Father, I lay them down…efforts to slake my thirst at polluted pools.
Heal my heart, invade the shadows, invade my heart, heal the shadows, light me up,
like a mountain sunrise, manifest your life in me.
You have also made me know how small the fragments of my soul are,
strewn across the desolation of my life’s landscape, little bits weeping,
wailing the loss of feeling, a solemn sacrifice to survival.
Help me gather them up. Help me collect the shards of shattered self… presenting them to you.
I FEEL, I WEEP, I COALESCE INTO ONE TREMBLING MASS OF MELTING ME.

How I have been abandoned, how I have been left on the heaps of life scraps to feed me,

careless nourishment for a hungry soul. Feed me, Father, feed me.

I eat of you, I feast on you. Sustain me with your sacrifice…for me, for me, for me.
Now wash me clean. As I once was discarded, I now discard redundancy tenderly…
that cloak of shameful agreement. Wash me, wash me…your child.

The Word
God speaks to each one of us individually. I need to listen, to hear what he is saying to me. Read the text a few times, then listen.

Genesis 46:1-7; 28-30:
When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.” Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.”

What are you saying to me, Lord?
ME…
What my enemy has intended for evil, you have turned to good. Sometimes it is a small consolation. Asked to sacrifice my life before I even knew I had it. Egypt is a lonely place Father. So, my abandonment and slavery have brought forth fruit, but the cost is high. I still pay it every day and will perhaps forever. But into your arms I commit myself. You were there with me, it’s true. You snatched me from the jaws of death…the second life better than the first. I will try and trust you Lord. You are Father, the Father. Cover me..cleanse me…

Conversation
How has God’s Word moved me? Has it left me cold? Has it consoled me or moved me to act in a new way? I imagine Jesus standing or sitting beside me. I turn and share my feelings with him.
ME…
No, Jesus, you have not left me cold. I am a bit consoled, a bit healed, and a bit restored. I only hope that you-in-me will prevail…your/my heart…of course it will. My Lover-King, hold me please.

Conclusion
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR DURING THE COMING WEEKS
We plan to open our Chapel of Remembrance in the last week of October. As in previous years, you will be invited to submit up to five names of people that you wish to be remembered in prayer during the month of November, traditionally the month in which we pray for those who have gone ahead of us to eternal life. Mass will be offered for them each week by a priest of the Sacred Space Team. Last year 2,122 visitors submitted 7,785 names of deceased persons.

Paul Andrews, SJ, will offer reflections for an Advent Retreat, which will be available from the Sacred Space site, beginning the first Sunday of Advent (November 27). Visitors are invited to choose a day and a quiet place during the season of Advent to make this retreat in preparation for Christmas. Since Lent of this year, Paul’s Lenten Retreat has been available on line for those who could not avail themselves of the opportunity during the season of Lent itself. During that time some 4,300 persons registered for the retreat.

A WORD OF THANKS
The Sacred Space team thanks you for your response to our “Support Sacred Space” appeal for the financial year 2004-2005 (August 1, 2004 – July 31, 2005). The amount received amounted to 27,368.84 euro. This was a slight increase on the amount received in the previous year – 26,669.44 euro. Many of you used the occasion to encourage us by expressing your thanks for the help you have received on the site. Our campaign is ongoing, and we would be happy to hear from those of you who have considered responding to our appeal, and would still like to. Cheques can be made out to Sacred Space in your own currency, and sent to 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Or you can make your donation to Sacred Space in euro on our secure link, which you will find at the end of the Sacred Space prayer.

OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT SACRED SPACE

1. Check the website of your local diocese, parish, or other similar organization – Do they have a link to Sacred Space? If not, why not recommend a link, if you have not done so already?

2.Do any of your friends have homepages? Ask them to include a link to Sacred Space.

3. Has your local newspaper (diocesan or otherwise) featured an article on Sacred Space? Would they be interested? If so, do not hesitate to suggest one, and even supply material that would help them. There is plenty of material in previous issues of Latest Space and in the many pages of selcted feedback from 2000 to the present (cf. above). If the newspaper or magazine wishes to contact us directly at [email protected], we will do our best to help them.

4. Download and print a poster, or some of our updated cards, from the endpage of Sacred Space, and spread them around. If you yourself are moved by the Spirit to create a new poster, or a better card, for Sacred Space, please send us a copy so that we can make it available to the community.

A FINAL WORD AND PRAYER
Finally, we offer a prayer from all the Sacred Space Team that God may continue to bless each and every one of our visitors to Sacred Space (www.sacredspace.ie). We welcome your feedback, with comments and suggestions, at all times. Note the individual addresses that we have listed above. Please let us know where you are from. But if you reply directly from this newsletter, please make sure that a copy of Latest Space #16 is not being sent back with your letter. We have the original already! Peace be with you all.

Dear Friends of Sacred Space,

Greetings from the Sacred Space Team at the Jesuit Communication Centre in Dublin. Before I write anything else, I want to tell you about a change that we intend to make with our Latest Space mailing list. We have been using, for the most part, a list that has been created when we responded to letters that have come to us since Sacred Space was launched in Lent, 1999. For good reasons, we have decided that it would be better to send Latest Space to those only who express a desire to continue receiving it by e-mail. We will continue to make each issue available online, with a link at the end of the daily prayer, and the links at the end of the current issue to all previous issues. If you wish to continue receiving Latest Space by e-mail, make sure that you are still online, click on the link, then enter your e-mail address and submit.

Now to other announcements! Since the last issue of Latest Space, Patricia Coyle has taken office as Communications Manager. We welcomed her appointment in our last issue, but she did not actually join us till the end of April. I have invited her to introduce herself in this issue below. I would like to say a word here about those in Dublin who collaborate with Pat and myself to form the Sacred Space Team. Jae Hong Cheon, who hails from Korea, continues as our webmaster, a role which includes, among many other tasks, the responsibility of forwarding the material to our translators all over the world, so that they can have it online on the specified date. Though not with us here in Dublin, these translators, too, are among our faithful collaborators.

Paul Andrews, S.J. contributes the “Thought for the Week” and the daily “Need Inspiration?” points of Sacred Space. Frank Doyle, S.J. in Living Space offers Scripture Reflections on the liturgical readings for the Sundays and weekdays of the year. Some of our readers may remember that Dermot Roantree was introduced in Latest Space #6 as Editor of Catholic Ireland, a site which developed from the Jesuit Communication Centre, and which offers, among many other things, a “prayer site for kids” (www.catholicireland.net/talk2god). We are happy to welcome Dermot back to the JCC. He will use his gifts and experience in the further development of Sacred Space. Finally, I would like to introduce the latest addition to our Team, John Callanan, S.J. He will help us by adding some more variety to the “prayer guides” and “prayer advices” offered in Sacred Space. John is Chaplain at University College, Dublin, and has written a number of books on the meditation exercises of the late Fr. Tony de Mello, S.J.

The Sacred Space Team: From left, standing: Frank, Dermot, Jae-Hong; seated: Paul, Pat, Gerry (absent: John)

I hope you will find the items in this issue of interest and that they will help all of us us in Sacred Space grow as a community . As you continue to enjoy this time of the year, please keep us in your prayers. Happy Holidays to all! I myself will be making my annual trip to Long Island, New York, on July 21, and will be helping out in the Glen Cove Church of St. Patrick until August 22. Dermot will take care of the mail during that time, and, also, while I am away making my annual retreat from July 1st to the 9th. Please keep me in your prayers. God bless every one.

Sections within this issue of Latest Space:

A Word from our New Manager

Developing As A Community

Russian – the Latest Translation

Indonesian – a Translation on the Way

Italian – a Translation Revived

The Community Continues to Grow

A Link with a Multimedia Site

Sacred Space – The Book 2006

A Word of Thanks

Ways to Promote Sacred Space

A WORD FROM OUR NEW MANAGER
Life can take some very unexpected turns! More than six years ago, I was working in RTE (Ireland’s national radio and television station) and my friend, Alan McGuckian (then manager of the Jesuit Communication Centre) rang me and asked if I would be interested in doing a story on his latest project, a website called Sacred Space, where people could log on to be led in prayer. It was the beginning of Lent and he said they would give it a trial run for the six weeks to see how it would fare. I thought it was a novel idea, and soon Alan was on radio passionately promoting the prayer site. It was no ‘one Lent wonder’! Five years later I was presenting a religious series on television in Northern Ireland and Alan was on my programme, computer to hand, clicking viewers through the success story that is Sacred Space, talking about the community of people from so many parts of the globe united in prayer on line.

Click on to January of this year! I’m back in RTE working on an early morning programme, getting up at 6 a.m., and it’s dark and cold. I have never been an early riser ( I don’t ‘do mornings’ well!), so I found this shift gruelling and there was hardly another sinner on the road as I made my way to work remembering my two teenagers at home, snuggled up fast asleep in bed. I would have liked to have had the energy to focus on a prayer but as I could barely think, let alone speak, there was no prayer and I felt very alone in those dark eerie early hours. Then one morning when I got to work I found a promotion copy of the book Sacred Space left on my desk. I went to the prayer of the day, it was Wednesday, January 12, and the reading was from the gospel of Mark. One line touched my heart. ‘In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.’ After that each morning my prayer began as I put my foot out of the bed in the company of Christ, not so lonely after all.

I continued to pray through Sacred Space and the providence of God continued in my life. I saw the advertisement for the job as Jesuit Communications Manager, prayed, went for it, and within weeks was at my desk very proud to have the overseeing of Sacred Space as part of my brief. And I am really blessed to have such a dedicated, visionary team working on this special website. I am part of a small group who feels part of a very much wider community of prayer with you. We are not alone!

DEVELOPING AS A COMMUNITY
In the April 2005 issue of The Way, a review of Christian spirituality published by the British Jesuits, Roisín Pye, one-time collaborator in the development of Sacred Space, contributed an article entitled “Sacred Space and Online Communities”. In it she suggests that while the many visitors to Sacred Space from all over the world are united as a prayer community, “It does not exploit all the possibilities of computer-mediated communication. It has none of the user to user communication that is possible through e-mail lists, newsgroups, discussion boards or chat rooms.”

On June 24, a letter in response to that article arrived from a visitor to Sacred Space in Wimbledon, London, England, in which it was said: “Sacred Space is a reminder to stop and listen to God, whatever the circumstances around or within me. It has been stated that it has its limitations: ‘Because it is a static site, as opposed to a dynamic one, there are many aspects of community that it lacks.’ (The Way, April 2005, p.89) But its strength is that it uses the potential of a static site to the full. The focus is on God, the Holy Spirit, on the Bible reading, and prayer, being one in that Spirit – there is no distraction by fulfilling, at any moment, a need to communicate (e.g. chat rooms). One simply has to stop, read/listen, think, knowing a whole community across the world is doing the same. It is the moment to seek God, especially when despairing at His seeming absence, and always to find Him there, without interruption, or distraction.”

The following day, the husband of the above writer, sent us these words in support of his wife’s comments: “Prayer is a form of communication already, and, by its very nature, would be distracted by chat room style activities. Why do participants in Sacred Space need to communicate with each other in such a mundane manner? Why can they not pray for those who are using Sacred Space that they do not know by name? Surely you cannot chat and read a prayer book at the same time! But again, do they need to chat about their prayer life – or would it turn into an agony aunt column? Just to restate the obvious – Sacred Space is excellent.”

It is that delicate balance between prayer alone and the union within a community of prayer throughout the world that we must keep in mind as we continue to explore possibilities of developing as a Christian prayer community.

RUSSIAN – THE LATEST TRANSLATION
On March 25 (Good Friday) of this year, a letter arrived from an officer of the US Air Force with this suggestion: “I come to you with a humble request. I have many acquaintances who are Russian speakers, and who have become keenly interested in this site. However, due to obvious language barriers, they cannot quite get the same benefit as I do from Sacred Space. Would it be possible to include a Russian page on here as well?”

The Editor forwarded the letter to the webmaster of our Jesuit Russian site, and sent a copy of it to a Jesuit friend with whom he had worked for a number of years in Japan and who was now teaching in Russia. He received a response from his friend the following day, with these words: “You talk about a coincidence. Some call it ‘God’s finger’. There is another coincidence, namely that our Regional Superior is now here with us, so I could talk with him about your letter to our webmaster….Our Regional Superior is very interested in your idea. Actually, he had already thought that we should do something on those lines…So, take heart!”

Two weeks later a letter came from the Russian webmaster: “It was nice to receive a letter from you. Your proposal has arrived just in time. If fact, we have been considering the possibility of making a Russian version of Sacred Space for a while. There is a strong lack of native speakers among Jesuits in our Province, but I’ll try to create a team with lay people. So let us try without long words to launch the project. Could you send me the material for April and May?” The requested material was sent to him right away. We were both surprised and happy to learn that Sacred Space in Russian was launched before the end of April!

INDONESIAN – A TRANSLATION ON THE WAY
On May 24, a letter came from an Indonesian Catholic who introduced himself as a “Father of 3 boys and married for 26 years”. He had been praying “on and off” with Sacred Space for two years, and said that he felt the benefit of praying together with the entire Church, especially since the Catholic Church in his country represented only 3% of the population, while the Muslim population was 93%. In a follow-up letter on June 8 he mentioned how English was not widely spoken, but his son, whom he called an “aspy (asperger syndrome kid)” had his own website in English. In a reply on June 9, the idea of an Indonesian translation was suggested, and on the same day came these words: “You’ve got yourself a volunteer….I love to write myself…. If you agree, I can be your volunteer.”

On that same day came some samples of the translation work he could do, with the assuring words: “One more thing, Father, we already have the official Indonesian translation of the scripture….so we only need to copy and paste.” Jae Hong has sent him the material and we are hoping that the Indonesian translation of Sacred Space will be launched on July 18.

ITALIAN – A TRANSLATION REVIVED?
Visitors to Sacred Space may have noticed that from early in this year the note “temporarily unavailable” has been on the link for the Italian translation. In January we learned that the person from the Christian Life Community in Rome who had begun the work of translation when he was single was now married and had a child. So he and his wife would no longer be able to continue the work. The search was on to find some person or group that would be willing to take on the work involved. We are happy to announce that after many months and thanks to the cooperation of the Jesuit Provincial in Rome and the Italian Province Webmaster, a new group has been formed consisting of three Jesuit Scholastics and one layman – Giuseppe Zito S.J., Eraldo Cacchione S.J., Stefano Corticelli S.J. and Nicola Boccia. We are hoping that before long the Italian version will once more be available.

THE COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO GROW
On the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, ’05 – the day before Palm Sunday – our counter registered 13 million visitors since Sacred Space was launched on Ash Wednesday,1999. On June 9th we reached the 14 million mark. Over those 12 weeks the average number of visitors for each day was:
Monday: 14,644; Tuesday: 14,514; Wednesday: 14,133; Thursday: 13,537; Friday: 11,154: Saturday: 7,510; Sunday: 10,124. The average for the five weekdays was 13,596, and for the days of the weekend, 8,817

Last year, we reported in Latest Space #11 the number of visitors during the five weeks between Sunday, April 18, and Saturday, May 22. The data given below, indicate the growth in visitor numbers over one year:
Monday: 11,470; Tuesday: 11,290; Wednesday: 11,075; Thursday: 15,023; Friday: 13,196: Saturday: 5,890; Sunday: 6,830. The average for the five weekdays was 11,360, and for the days of the weekend, 6,360.

The figures continue to indicate that there are more visitors on weekdays. Many seem to find it helpful to take a break for prayer during a busy working day, as their fellow workers may have a cup of tea or coffee, or a smoke!

A LINK WITH A MULTIMEDIA SITE
On June 22, we received a letter from the editor of “a Christian multimedia site aimed at providing young people with a safe, informative and exciting place to enjoy and discuss their faith.” It is called Xt3 (standing for Christ in the third millennium) and its URL is http://www.xt3.com . The letter went on to say, “We have an online magazine, two audio streams and a TV channel for audiovisual clips. The majority of content in the magazine is in-house but we are also looking to use it as a portal to showcase material on other sites that would be useful to our members and visitors. I am extremely impressed with the daily prayers at the computer concept and would love to host one a week in the Xt3 magazine and link out to the sacredspace.ie site. The idea would be to publish the full prayer/meditation on one page and then place an icon and link at the bottom (and a link to the prayer guide higher up). I would add some text along the lines of “We are praying every week with Sacred Space, if you want to join the daily prayers click here [link]”

Fr. Gerry responded positively to the proposal, and mentioned that Sacred Space was also available in book form. This response came on the same morning: “Thank you so much for your swift response, Fr Gerry. I am looking forward to putting the prayers and meditations before our visitors. We actually have a shop, too, and this (the book) would be a great item for us to carry on Xt3. I’ll flag it up to our shop manager. Can you tell me who I can contact regarding SACRED SPACE – The Prayer Book 2006?“ Fr. Gerry responded right away with the e-mail address of Michelle Anderson, the orignal publisher of SACRED SPACE – The Prayer Book. This multimedia site seems to be an excellent way of sharing our ministry, and bringing the Word of God to the ends of the earth – and especially to young people – in a gentle, non-coercive way.

SACRED SPACE – THE PRAYER BOOK
The latest news received from Michelle Anderson Publications in Australia, the original publisher of “the book”, is that Ave Maria Press in the United States has already sold all 10.000 copies they had printed. However, both the Australian company and Veritas Publications in Ireland still have some copies, and are. of course, open to further orders. The Prayer Book 2006 is about to go to the printer. Apart from the three publishers already mentioned, 300 copies have been ordered already by the Philippines, and there is a new Catholic distributor in New Zealand. It may seem a little bold to talk about presents at this time of the year, but if you yourself have found help in Sacred Space and would like to share this grace with your family or friends, the book makes a great gift to give them at any time of the year. Remember that, as with the current issue, the Prayer Book 2006 will begin with the 2006 liturgical year which begins in Advent.

A WORD OF THANKS
The Sacred Space team thanks you again for your response to our “Support Sacred Space” appeal for the financial year 2004-2005. Many of you have also used the occasion to encourage us by expressing your thanks for the help you have received on the site. Our campaign is ongoing, and we would be happy to hear from those of you who have considered responding to our appeal, and would still like to. Cheques can be made out to Sacred Space in your own currency, and sent to 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Or you can make your donation to Sacred Space in euro on our secure link, which you will find at the end of the Sacred Space prayer.

WAYS TO PROMOTE SACRED SPACE

1. Check the website of your local diocese, parish, or other similar organization – Do they have a link to Sacred Space? If not, why not recommend a link?

2. Do any friends have homepages? Ask them to include a link to Sacred Space.

3. Has your local newspaper (diocesan or otherwise) featured an article on Sacred Space? Would they be interested? If so, do not hesitate to suggest one. They will find plenty of material in previous issues of Latest Space and in our feedback pages. If they contact us at [email protected], we will do our best to help them.

4. Download and print a poster, or some cards, from the endpage of Sacred Space, and spread them around.

5. If anyone is moved by the Spirit to create a new Sacred Space poster, please let us have a copy.

Dear Friends of Sacred Space,

I am hoping this issue of Latest Space will reach most of you during Holy Week. It brings greetings for Easter, the greatest feast of the Christian Year, from all of us here in Dublin. May the joyful message of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ bring peace and joy to all of you who listen and respond to His word in Sacred Space.

This issue may be a little shorter than usual. One reason is that Easter is very early this year and there has not been much big news since the Christmas issue. Another reason is that, recently, I have been, like Martha in the Gospel, “busy about many things”, and have not had the time to gather more material. However, I hope you will rejoice with me at the good things that have been happening in our community.

Please keep all of us in the home of Sacred Space in your prayers, as you and yours will continue to be remembered in ours.

Sections within this issue of Latest Space:

Welcome to our new Manager

The Community continues to grow

The Sacred Space Lenten Retreat

An Electronic Shrine

News from Our Polish Translator

A Word of Thanks

“Bubbaz Daily Prayer” – Another Use of Sacred Space

A Booklet for Campus Ministry

Five Ways to Promote Sacred Space

Easter – A Time For Reflection

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MANAGER
With the departure at the end of 2004 of our Jesuit Communications Centre manager, Garry O’Sullivan, for his new post as Editor of The Irish Catholic newspaper, the search began for a successor. We are happy to announce that after Easter his position will be taken by Ms Pat Coyle, a Senior Producer in our national RTE television and radio service. Pat has helped out from time to time in the JCC on Media Training Courses, and has trained priests in homiletics, and parish lectors in liturgical reading skills. She has won several awards for her work in broadcasting. We look forward eagerly to her arrival, convinced that she will bring great creativity and dynamism not only to the JCC itself, but, through it, to the development of our own Sacred Space.

THE SACRED SPACE LENTEN RETREAT
The material for our Lenten Retreat this year was prepared by Fr. Paul Andrews, who, for some time, has been contributing “thought for the week” and “inspiration points” as helps to prayer in Sacred Space. He has faithfully continued to send us material from Dunedin, New Zealand, where he has been serving three parishes over the past three months. We look forward to his return to Dublin in Holy Week, when he will take up once more his ministry at our Spirituality Centre in Manresa House, Dublin, while continuing to be a pillar of support for us in Sacred Space.

The number of those who have registered for the retreat from Ash Wednesday (Feb. 9, 2005) to Monday of Holy Week (March 21) has reached 2,472 from 95 countries. The largest number were from the USA (1,347), followed by the UK (219), Canada (207), Ireland (116), Philippines (106) and Australia (104). The remaining 373 were from 89 countries in almost every corner of the globe, giving further testimony to the international character of our Sacred Space community.

The Lenten Retreat will continue to be available for some time, and can easily be adapted by each visitor for personal use at other seasons of the liturgical year.

THE COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO GROW
On the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, ’05 – the day before Palm Sunday – our counter registered 13 million visitors since Sacred Space was launched on Ash Wednesday, 1999. Over the six weeks from Feb. 7 (Monday before Ash Wednesday) of this year to March 20 (Palm Sunday) the average number for each day was:
Monday: 15,585; Tuesday: 15,610; Wednesday: 15,498; Thursday: 11,480; Friday: 11,475: Saturday: 8,971; Sunday: 9,472. The average for the five weekdays was 13,920, and for the days of the weekend the average was 9,221

Last year, we noted in Latest Space the average number of daily visitors for each day during the five weeks between Sunday, April 18, and Saturday, May 22. Below you can see the average data given at that time. There has been a significant increase.
Monday: 11,470; Tuesday: 11,290; Wednesday: 11,075; Thursday: 15,023; Friday: 13,196: Saturday: 5,890; Sunday: 6,830. The average for the five weekdays was 11,360, and for the days of the weekend, 6,360.

“AN ELECTRONIC SHRINE” – a letter from Chile
It is 7:30 AM, and I am about to start a new workday. I am sitting in my office and the first thing I do is to turn on my computer and log on to Sacred Space. As I stare at the screen, I feel like I am in front of a shrine, an electronic shrine.

For the real shrine is within ourselves, as we gather in silence and intimacy with Jesus. I thank you all at Sacred Space for bringing us this shrine every day. May God bless you with unending grace and strength to continue with this shrine forever.

NEWS FROM OUR POLISH TRANSLATOR

The Polish version of Sacred Space is still alive, and all is going really well. It is already 3 years since the Polish version was first set up, and we rejoice that 69,178 visitors have been registered by our counter. We are getting really good and positive feedback. It is a delight to hear from visitors to Sacred Space that it helps them in their everyday prayer, and in finding God for short periods during their work day.

The big interest and good feedback has brought about two online chapels of prayer – one where you insert the names of deceased, www.jezuici.pl/sp/rip , and another for any intention for which a person can ask prayer, www.jezuici.pl/sp/intencje In future we hope to develop a prayer and art portal which would be a space for prayer on line.
Presently we do not have big troubles with translation, although sometimes it’s difficult to adapt poetry from the original version. It’s of big value to have the spiritual care and the content-related help of Fr. Zygfryd Kot, S.J. who is at the same time chief of the Christian Association of Sacred Art and an Icon painter. Finally, our link is now www.jezuici.pl/sp

A Word of Thanks
The Sacred Space team thanks you again for your response to our “Support Sacred Space” appeal both for the financial year 2003-2004 (€26,669.44) and for the first six months of this financial year (€19,252.82). Many of you also used the occasion to encourage us by expressing your thanks for the help you have received on the site.

Our campaign is ongoing, and we would be happy to hear from those of you who have considered responding to our appeal, and would still like to. Cheques can be made out to Sacred Space in your own currency, and sent to 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Or you can make your donation to Sacred Space in euro on our secure link, which you will find at the end of the Sacred Space prayer page.

“Bubbaz Daily Prayer” – Another Use of Sacred Space
In Latest Space #13 we informed Sacred Space visitors, who might like to receive by e-mail the Scripture and “inspiration points” of Sacred Space, that they might contact Bruce Heidt with the request at [email protected]. He sends out an e-mail daily which he calls “Bubbaz Daily Prayer”, including, usually, points from our site.

On Palm Sunday he sent us this message: Since you mentioned “Bubbaz Daily Prayer” in #13, I have received 122 requests to be placed on our list. Added to the 80 or 90 I already had, the total is now about 200. Some of the prayers are forwarded to others, and one Catholic School administrator distributes it in his high school. The worldwide impact is that I have 3 readers in Singapore, and many in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, the US, and, yes, even in Ireland….Many report having received comfort from the prayers and some report opening the prayer e-mail first before any other e-mail. I have also received positive comments on the Sacred Space website. One subscriber dropped his “bubbaz” subscription in favour of staying with your website for its meditations. All in all, I would say your help has been tremendous. I receive between one and four requests each day….. I keep you and all the subscribers in my prayers…

A Booklet for Campus Ministry
At the end of January, 2005, we received this letter from Sr. Carla Kovack, OP:

Dear friends,

Needless to say, we were happy to grant permission.

Five Ways to Promote Sacred Space

1. Check the website of your local diocese, parish, or other similar organization – Do they have a link to Sacred Space? If not, why not recommend a link?

2. Do any friends have homepages? Ask them to include a link to Sacred Space.

3. Has your local newspaper (diocesan or otherwise) featured an article on Sacred Space? Would they be interested? If so, do not hesitate to suggest one. You may even put them in touch with us, and we will cooperate with them as best we can.

4. Download and print a poster or some cards from the endpage of Sacred Space, and spread them around.

5. If you have an idea for a new Sacred Space poster, please send us a copy.

Easter – A Time For Reflection

Easter is a time for reflection, and a time for making some changes too. People all over the world, as of Lent, have given something up; one or two. Now Jesus died on the cross, out of the love He had for us, and He wants us to die to self, so our lives can be better than what it was. We can make a difference, those changes can lead others to do the same. He doesn’t want us to suffer, He already did that on the cross; that’s why He came. Let us continue those changes, not just once a year; let us go out on a limb. Let us give His death a purpose by living a life that will bring people closer to Him. As we make those changes better people we will be, more content; more at peace, His love is what others will see. Through Him there is nothing we cannot face. He will help each one of us make this world a better place. Written by Frances Berumen for Latest Space #14 on 3/13/05 < Latest Space #13 As Editor of Sacred Space and its newsletter, Latest Space, and on behalf of all of us here at the Jesuit Communications Centre in Dublin, I want, first of all, to send you, members of the Sacred Space community, our wishes and prayers that this time of Advent and the coming season of Christmas may be filled with many special blessings for each and every one of you. As I put together this issue of Latest Space, I am hoping that the contents will be a further reminder of the way in which God continues to bless our work in Sacred Space. May the same Lord bless you and yours. – Fr. Gerry Sections within this issue of Latest Space: A Message from Fr. Paul Andrews An Advent Retreat The Chapel of Remembrance Farewell to our Manager Reviews of Sacred Space – The Prayer Book 2005 “Bubbaz Daily Prayer” – Another Use of Sacred Space Translators’ Response on Importance of Feedback The Latest Statistics on Sacred Space Continuing to Spread the Word about Sacred Space A Christmas Poem A Message from Fr. Paul Andrews      While you in Sacred Space are celebrating the Coming of the Lord in Advent, I am planning a Going, a temporary Exodus, to the other end of the world. In early December I’ll take off for the South Island of New Zealand to care for a series of one-man parishes and allow their pastors a holiday. I might even meet some of you in that lovely island where Christmas falls in mid-summer, where the rivers run crystal-clear, and the trout are big and hungry: a blissful prospect. Thank you for your companionship on Sacred Space during this last year; your feedback has meant a great deal to me. – Fr. Paul An Advent Retreat      Fr. Leon Ó Giolláin, who directed the Lenten Retreat in Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Dublin, on February 28, 2004, has prepared another retreat for Advent, which is now available online. When we made his points for the Lenten Retreat available online, it was very consoling to note the number of visitors who used his insights to make their own retreat not only during Lent itself, but in the months since then. When we moved to the Advent retreat at the end of October, 4,857 persons had signed up for the Lenten Retreat over the months since February. Since there had been many requests for another retreat, we trust that the new retreat will continue to respond to the spiritual needs of many visitors. The “Chapel of Remembrance”      Once again this year during November many members of our Sacred Space community availed themselves of the opportunity to submit names of their beloved dead, who were listed in our “Chapel of Remembrance”. Many visited daily to pray for their loved ones, and for all the faithful departed. The total number that submitted names was 2,120, and they were from some 66 different countries. The total number of deceased persons for whom prayers were requested is a little more difficult to ascertain, since a few people wanted prayers for all the deceased members of their family. However, the number was in the area of 7,800.      Again this year, it was interesting to note that the highest number of those who submitted names were from the USA: 883. Next with 367 persons was Australia, followed by Ireland with 295. The United Kingdom (including England, Scotland and Wales) was next with 183, followed by Canada (96), and the Philippines (83). The other 58 countries were represented by 25 or less persons submitting names of deceased. Farewell to our Manager      At the end of this year, the Manager of Jesuit Communications here in Dublin, Mr. Garry O’Sullivan, will become the Editor of The Irish Catholic, Ireland’s national Catholic newspaper. This will mean, unfortunately, that he cannot continue with us, and the search is on to find his successor. While we regret that he must leave us, we congratulate him on his new appointment, and wish him success in the challenging task ahead of him.      Readers of Latest Space will have come to know Garry, especially through the “greetings” that he has included in the newsletter, and the “appeals” that he has sent out for financial support toward the end of each of the two years that he has worked for the development of Sacred Space. He wishes to thank all who responded for the encouragement he received in his work with us. And we promise him our prayers for God’s blessing on him as he assumes his new responsibilities. Reviews of Sacred Space – The Prayer Book 2005      According to reports received in mid-November, the book with the contents of Sacred Space for the liturgical year 2005 is immensely popular. The original publisher in Australia reports the sale of more than 1,000 copies; Ave Maria Press in the United States over 8,000 copies; and Veritas Publications in Ireland is pleased with the sale of more than 1,000 copies. The reviews of the book, too, have been very positive.      On October 27, 2004, Fr. Edmund Campion wrote in Books Etcetera on an Australian website, OnlineCatholics.org: “In Melbourne, I’d met a woman called Michelle Anderson. She started her own publishing house, led to it by her own need. An alumna of a Loreto school, she found herself seeking spiritual sustenance; and so she discovered www.sacredspace.ie, the website run by the Irish Jesuits to meet the modern hunger for a prayer life that nourishes. Good stuff, she found. “Coming from a background in publishing, her next thought was “BOOK – had anyone thought of turning this wonderful website into a book?” And the answer was no. So we have Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2005…It follows the church’s liturgical year, which means that Page One is about to start.. “As I was looking at this, the postman brought the latest copy of Madonna, the Jesuit spirituality magazine, and I found that they have seen it, too. I’ll borrow two of their sentences: ‘This is a book to help everyday prayer go more sweetly and to help you find unexpected space for God each day. It offers prayers for each day of the year, with reflections on prayer set within a standard weekly format, the gospel reading, and a few questions about the reading.’ I say ‘Amen’ to that.”      After a visit in October to the International Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, Michelle herself wrote to Sacred Space: “A priest from the order of St Paul’s in India wants to buy rights to the book for Asia and Africa. He also said he would contact his other offices around the world and tell them to contact me. A publisher wants it for Mexico, another for Brazil; my Spanish agent thinks she will easily find a Spanish publisher, and I have been given the name of a publisher in Poland to contact…..I received an order a couple of days ago which said ‘Sacred Space is the best thing on the internet’ – I agreed with them, of course….”      Then she sent us this review written by Kevin Mark and published in two magazines: “As with most technologies, the internet can be used for good or evil. A form of its evil application was brought home to us all with the recent uncovering of hundreds of Australian’s allegedly caught in a sinister web of child pornography distributed through the internet. But the internet can also be put to good use. In the religious area alone, via the Web we can access virtual libraries of classic and contemporary theological texts, keep up to date on religious news, participate in discussions, and even pray.      “A pioneer in the latter is the website www.sacredspace.ie, run by the Jesuit Communcation Centre in Ireland….Now the creators of Sacred Space, have turned to a much more ancient technology – the book. Sacred Space is a daily prayer book for the period from the coming Advent until the end of the 2005 liturgical year. The book offers the same process of prayer as the website, which is grounded in Ignatian spirituality……”      In a short review in the Irish Catholic newspaper for September 30, we read: “Many things have changed with the advent of the internet, even our devotions. Sacred Space has proved a most popular web resource, enabling many to open their day at the office with a short prayer and meditation. This book contains material published on the website, which by now has had eight million visitors (sic) since it was inaugurated in 1999. This is a book to be valued and recommended, for it shows that as older expressions of faith fade, others come forward.”      Finally, here is the review, mentioned above, that appeared in the November/December 2004 issue of Madonna in Australia: “Books of prayer are a bit like chocolate liquers. When your life is running out of sweetness, they give you a lift. But offered six or seven, you feel the beginnings of indigestion. coming on. The connoisseur of such things knows, too, of course, which flavour of chocolate indulges what moods – cointreau for liveliness, benedictine for contemplation, cognac for superiority, and so on. “So, too, the prayer books. A good selection of goodies for different moods and occasions. Sacred Space – the Prayer Book 2005 is the Book of the Movie – or, more exactly, the book of the wonderful Irish Jesuit website which offers images and prayers each day of the year so you can pray by your computer. This is a book to help everyday prayer go more sweetly and to help you find unexpected space for God each day…. All it lacks is the imagery of the website, but you can explore that for your yourself by clicking on the address conveniently included in the title of the book. Being built around the calendar, too, the book is very helpful for groups praying regularly together.” “Bubbaz Daily Prayer” – Another Use of Sacred Space      Every day, since May of this year, an e-mail, which begins “When we pray, we are never alone”, arrives in our inbox. The subject of the e-mail is given as “bubbaz daily prayer” and the message contains the same scripture that is given in Sacred Space for that day. It is followed usually by the points, originally referred to as “stuck points”, and now called “inspiration points”. In the beginning, an acknowledgment was given at the end to “Irish Jesuits, Dublin”. But, at the suggestion of the Sacred Space editor, it was changed to: “- from www.sacredspace.ie“      The e-mail, according to its writer, started out as “bubbaz floriduh newzletter”, which was a satirical commentary on the 2000 election in the US. The newsletter ended with a prayer. The prayer grew to be more important than the newsletter, but retained the name bubba, which is a nickname for Robert, the first name of the author, whose name is Robert Bruce Heidt. On October 14, Bubba wrote to Sacred Space: “Through a commitment to the Holy Spirit, I have promised to send the daily prayer as long as I am capable or there is no power failure, hurricanes or the like. It goes to some religious persons, like yourself, but also to family and friends and a number of non-Catholics and even one Protestant preacher who quotes occasionally from the daily prayer. He pulled out a print-out one day and showed me which one he used recently in a sermon. I am a product of Jesuit education having attended Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, but also a product of Franciscan education attending a Franciscan High School. I have a special devotion to St. Augustine because it took him so many years to “get” the message, and our lives run in parallel. I am now 71 years old. What I have always admired about the Jesuit experience is the ability to place oneself in the scriptural reading and imagine the colors, scents and noise of the persons involved in the passage. Sacred Space is very good about this experience and I use it to illustrate the scriptural reading for the day. My personal commentaries are written in green. You don’t see very much green in the daily prayer, because it is not my place to add to the thoughts already better expressed. Most people enjoy the daily prayer, but a few complain and want to be taken off the list. We pray for them.” Bubba has issued an invitation to Sacred Space visitors who would like to receive by e-mail “bubbaz daily prayer”, or who would like to propose it to a friend, that they may write to him at [email protected]. Translators’ Response on Importance of Feedback      On September 30th, a short questionnaire was sent to our translators on the importance they placed on responding to feedback. By mid-October we had received responses from eight of them, Catalan, Czech, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, Slovenian and Spanish. All eight reported that there was an opportunity for feedback in their version of Sacred Space, but only five of the eight said that there was someone, usually a Jesuit, who responded regularly to the feedback received. The Spanish respondent said they had not considered the advisability of responding to feedback, and the Portuguese said they no longer had someone who could respond regularly. The Korean translator preferred an online forum for feedback, where visitors could respond to one another. All would agree with the Editor of the English version that a valuable contribution would be made to the growth of the Sacred Space community if a suitable person could be found to respond to feedback. The Latest Statistics on Sacred Space On Nov. 30, 2004, the counter reached 11,740,000 visitors since February 1999. In November, we averaged 12,558 each weekday (Nov. 2003 = 9,904). On weekends, 8,155 on Saturdays and Sundays (Nov. 2003 = 6,408). Continuing to Spread the Word about Sacred Space      When considering Christmas gifts or New Year resolutions, here are some ways you might wish to help in the ministry of Sacred Space. Check the website of your local diocese, parish, or other similar organization – do they have a link to Sacred Space? If not, why not recommend a link? Do any of your friends have homepages? Ask them to include a link to Sacred Space. Has your local newspaper (diocesan or otherwise) ever featured an article on Sacred Space? If you think they might be interested, do not hesitate to suggest one. You may even put them in touch with us, and we will be happy to supply them with pertinent material. Have you shared your enthusiasm with others? You might consider a gift of SACRED SPACE – The Prayer Book 2005 to those who do not have access to a computer. Have you considered a financial contribution to Sacred Space so that in 2005 we may continue to respond as effectively as possible to the spiritual needs of the international community? A Christmas Poem      Once again this year Frances Berumen from Oxnard, California, sent us Christmas greetings in poetry. At the request of the Editor, she also sent us these few words about herself.      Greetings to all my brothers and sisters! Christmas is my favorite holiday because the rest of the world joins me in what I feel every day. I love waking up in the morning, thanking Him for another day and wondering what He has in mind for me. His gift in the new people I will meet. Or the blessing I’ll find in the gift of those who are part of my life already. He wants me to sprinkle His love on all of them. I love it!!!!!!!!! Poetry has been part of my life for quite a few years. I have been writing more since I got a computer back in 1996. And the closer I get to the Lord the more I get inspired. I thank God for bringing Sacred Space into my life and for the opportunity it gives me to share my poems with my extended family, because that’s what you all are to me. So with that thought may you have a wonderful Christmas, filled with all the love that you share with each other in the many ways it is celebrated all over the world. I can only imagine. Remember “the spirit of Christmas can be every day, not just once a year”. Your sister, Frances Berumen   Christmas is upon us and once again we celebrate, the birth of Jesus, which is a very important date. We gather around the table at a feast, many different from the other. Families all over the world unite, sharing gifts with one another. The sun may be shining, snow on the roof, perhaps heavy rain. And one person may be missing; many understand your pain. Yet we hold on to the faith, no matter how hard it get, we count our blessings one by one; and for those we forget. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, God will soon reveal that; just remember He is here, waiting for you, with the welcome mat. Although we don’t know each other’s names or what we look like, not a trace. When you visit, we become an extended family, all of us, here at Sacred Space. – Frances Berumen. 11/23/04 < With best wishes from the Sacred Space (www.sacredspace.ie)team Gerry, Paul, Garry, Jae-Hong, Leon & Margarita Jesuit Communication Centre, 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland For previous issues, go online and click here: Latest Space #1  Latest Space #2  Latest Space #3  Latest Space #4  Latest Space #5  Latest Space #6  Latest Space #7  Latest Space #8  Latest Space #9  Latest Space #10  Latest Space #11  Latest Space #12 <!–// To unsubscribe to this newsletter, hit Reply to this email and type REMOVE in the Subject line. Your e-mail address will be deleted from our list. If you reply to this newsletter, please make sure that you delete Latest Space #13, and that it is not included with your feedback. Thank you.//–> Latest Space #12 Greetings from all here at the home of Sacred Space. Now that summer is over and the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” is upon us, I hope that all the members of the Sacred Space community will be sufficiently relaxed to enjoy this twelfth issue of Latest Space, with some of the latest developments in Sacred Space. May the coming months continue to be filled with “mellow fruitfulness”. Sections within this issue of Latest Space: Dublin Jesuit Spirituality Centre and Sacred Space Living Space News Sacred Space in Book Form “An Oasis in a Working Day” Spreading the News Further Feedback Dublin Jesuit Spirituality Centre and Sacred Space We are deeply indebted to the community of our Jesuit Spirituality Centre in Manresa House, here in Dublin, for their cooperation in the work of Sacred Space. Fr. Leon Ó Giolláin SJ put together a very popular one-day retreat for the Sacred Space community earlier this year for those who could travel to Manresa. The retreat was made available online for those who could not. Since then, some 4,000 people from all over the world have availed themselves of the retreat online. The feedback has been very positive, and there have been many requests for more retreat opportunities. Fr Leon is planning to come up with another such retreat for the beginning of Advent, 2004. Fr. Paul Andrews, SJ, has helped us greatly with suggestions for the weekly ‘Something to think and pray about each day this week’, and with points on the scripture for each day that make the text more relevant to the daily life of the Sacred Space community. When invited to introduce himself to the community in this issue of Latest Space, he wrote: “Europe’s great cathedrals do not carry the names of their architects. The name they present to the worshipper is the holy name of God. Hallowed be Thy name – not mine. For the same reason I hesitate to offer a blurb about myself to the millions who pray in Sacred Space. However, since I have started to write reflections for the “Prayer Advices” and “Inspiration Points”, the director has asked me to say who I am: Paul Andrews, an old (nearly 78) Jesuit from Omagh in Northern Ireland, once a teacher, headmaster, psychologist, psychotherapist; always directed retreats on the side, and did some writing. For the last few years I am rector of Manresa, a retreat house beautifully placed on the north side of Dublin Bay, where I have time for fishing, some bad golf, and talking to my friends. The anonymous stone-masons of Chartres must have felt a gentle glow as they looked up at their cathedral. I feel something like that as my notes go into Sacred Space. It is good to be part of something as worldwide as this, yet focussed outside this world.” Living Space News For the past three years Fr. Frank Doyle SJ has been offering in Living Space much appreciated reflections on the Sunday liturgical readings to help both preachers and people prepare for the Liturgy of the Word at Sunday Mass. With the completion of the liturgical cycle in November of this year, he has now committed himself to a new series beginning with the first week of Advent. While still offering Sunday reflections, he plans to preent some notes on the daily scriptural readings. “These notes”, he writes, “are not meant to be actual material for preaching. Rather they intend to give some background to the daily readings to help both the homilist and the faithful have a sense of continuity as we go through the readings each day……The purpose of the notes is to suggest a way by which all the weekday readings get a little more attention and help both Mass-goers and those who use these notes for personal reflection to have a better understanding of the whole Bible. The two-year cycle is spread over three years. In the first year, the reflections will focus on the Gospel readings. In the second and third years, they will focus on the First Readings of the two-year cycle. These readings will come sometimes from an Old Testament book and sometimes from a New Testament letter as the liturgical calendar decides…..Finally, let me emphasise that I am in no way a Scripture scholar. My only aim is to whet your appetite to have a deeper understanding of the Word of God, to go to the original sources and also to consult the many commentaries which are available. And, better still, to join or set up a group who will study the Word of God together with the help of the many guides which are available.” Sacred Space in Book Form The book form of Sacred Space has been launched. Sacred Space – The Prayer Book 2005 is an important milestone in the five-year history of the website. The book came into existence when the Australian publisher, Michelle Anderson, used the website daily for some time, and, finding it of immense value, wanted to make it available to those not able to go online. It is now her aim to make the book available in each of the eighteen countries where the website is translated. She will attend the Frankfurt Book Fair in October of this year with the main purpose of selling rights to the foreign language editions of the book in as many countries as possible. In July we received some of the new book from Australia. On the back cover we read: “Sacred Space The Prayer Book is the book of the hugely successful website www.sacredspace.ie inaugurated in 1999 by Alan McGuckian SJ and Peter Scally SJ of the Jesuit Communication Centre, Ireland….People from all over the world are praying at the site, those from many Christian denominations and those seeking a sense of spirituality in their lives. Many have sent feedback realizing that the faith that unites us is much greater that that which divides us. “The book, as with the website, guides the reader simply and gently through a few stages of preparation. Each week begins with ‘Something to think and pray about each day this week’. Then six small ‘Stages of Prayer’, leading into a short piece of scripture with points to help us think about the text and make it relevant to our daily lives. This Sacred Space in one’s day can be anywhere at any time – on a park bench, at home, the office, the beach – a time to quietly connect with God. A time to be consoled, healed, challenged and transformed.” Rights to the book were sold by the Australian publisher to Veritas in Ireland, and Ave Maria Press in the U.S. All three publishers are currently advertising their editions on their websites, and the book for the coming liturgical year is available in bookshops. A link to the sites can be found on the endpage of each day’s prayer. A new edition of the book will be published for the following year with different contents in accordance with the subsequent liturgical calendar. The Publishers believe that it will be 3-400 pages of wonderful ‘inspiration’, and that it will be well used all around the world by people from all walks of life. “An Oasis in a Busy Working Day” The counter on our English language version continues to register between 10 and 11 thousand on weekdays,, and on Saturdays and Sundays, the number drops to some 6 or 7 thousand. Many users seem to find time for a “prayer break” at their computer during their working day. Some time ago I received this letter from a regular Dublin visitor: “I work hard and many long (unpaid) hours. I find Sacred Space great to help me when I’m a bit stressed out. Now, last Monday was a bad morning, and I felt like I was being hit with one thing after another which was going horribly wrong. In desperation, I went to click on to Sacred Space to take me away from the chaos for ten minutes and to help me de-stress. The next thing didn’t a message pop up that the site had been blocked as a ‘non-business’ site? I couldn’t believe it! My oasis gone from me! I trotted off to the Ladies and sitting on the porcelain throne, I sobbed silently into a fistful of coarse loo paper. Next day, with energy levels a bit better, I decided that I wasn’t taking the loss of Sacred Space without a fight. So, ready to do battle, I rang and e-mailed our IT people and (with certain trepidation at the fact that I was coming out to work colleagues as a ‘Person Who Prays To God’… gulp!) I made the case that this site was used by me for business purposes in the form of stress management. I got the loveliest reception from my IT people! The site was unblocked that evening! That means that the 6,000 people working in my organisation now have access to Sacred Space because I opened my mouth.” Spreading the News As reported in a previous issue of Latest Space, Sacred Space celebrated five years since it was launched on Ash Wednesday of this year. At Pentecost, our counter recorded our ten millionth visitor, and as I write this, we are approaching the 11 million mark. The good news is being spread by our users to other potential visitors. One article, written for the magazine of an Anglican group of churches, was sent to us by its author in Chester, England. It bore the headline, WONDERFUL WEBSITE NO. 1 – Sacred Space, and read: “So there you are: you’re ready for a break at your PC; you’d really appreciate just ten minutes thinking about something else, and you really don’t want to spend another thirty quid at Amazon, so what do you do? You look over your shoulder to make sure the boss isn’t watching, and you type in an address: www.jesuit.ie/prayer. Yes, that’s right – Jesuit! “Now don’t panic! You won’t get a Cardinal on your doorstep the following morning selling indulgences, or receive threatening phone messages from the Archbishop of Canterbury! It’s OK; this is ecumenical. In fact, Sacred Space’s feedback page is proof of how beautifully ecumenical it is; people e-mail in from all over the world and from every Christian persuasion, testifying as to how much the site has helped them. “So what do you get? You get an attractively packaged, easy-to-follow, clearly explained session of guided prayer that has been put together according to the recommendations of an interesting chap from sixteenth-century Spain called Ignatius, who, far from being a member of the Spanish Inquisition, was actually one of its victims. The Jesuits are his official fan club. This website has been put together by his Irish aficionados in Dublin, who have translated it into umpteen (that’s a precise estimate!) languages, and provide links to other similar websites. I won’t say any more about it other than to recommend that you check it out. And the editor of the parish bulletin in a Catholic Church in Dublin, Ireland, sent us this article which she had written for the parish newsletter on the church website: “Have you ever watched those TV documentaries about the Sahara Desert, the ones that follow nomads and hapless Englishmen wilting in the midday sun? Remember how the desert seemed to stretch forever? Endless sun, sand and nothing else for miles on end. And do you remember how water, or the lack of it, became a matter of life and death? Couldn’t you just feel that parched dryness rising in your throat, too? The unquenchable thirst of the camels, the nomads and the poor Englishman, (although considering how much the BBC was probably paying him, your pity would have been short-lived). Thirst cannot be ignored. It demands, it screams to be satisfied…..now! If the Englishman is lucky, his oasis will appear over the next sand-dune and his thirst will be slaked at last. “But what about your thirst and my thirst? Where do we go in the deserts of our own lives to find the water that will satisfy our deepest longings, the ‘living water’ that Jesus promised was ours for the asking? Where do we find an oasis of rest and peace in this modern desert known as ‘cyberspace’? One such oasis is just a click away. It’s a website called www.sacredspace.ie. “Produced by the Jesuit Communication Centre, Leeson Street, Dublin, this website invites you to create a ‘Sacred Space‘ in your life each day by spending 10 minutes “here and now, as you sit at your computer, with the help of on-screen guidance and scripture chosen specially each day.” “The prayer session moves through six stages, from initial preparation of body and mind, through the Presence of God, Freedom, Consciousness, The Word, Conversation and Conclusion. If you’re new to prayer, or online prayer for that matter, there’s a helpful Prayer Guide to explain and lead you through each stage. “Sacred Space is offered in English, and more languages than anyone could possibly know. Recently, it celebrated its ten millionth visitor since first launching this ‘technology at the service of the Gospel’ initiative in Lent, 1999. Take a look at its Feedback Page where visitors from the four corners of the globe post their comments on how the site has helped them and enriched their lives. So, the next time you feel a dryness rising in your throat, just park your camel and click into one local oasis: www.sacred space.ie” Further Feedback: Some further feedback to give you a taste of our Feedback Page; this came from New York City: “The fruits of Sacred Space – God’s Word clearly heard in silence, eloquent wisdom expressed by the multitude of pilgrims, peace transcending the ordinary, love crossing denominations, Inquisition wounds healed, and unity permeating a wide spectrum of nations, – are awe-inspiring. I just found it very touching to read of centuries-old hurts being healed because of Sacred Space. This is what I have been dreaming of: Christians letting go of their differences to embrace each other. “This is great pioneering work in any language. I take my hat off to St. Ignatius of Loyola and you, his Irish descendants in faith, for this awesome gift to humankind. Only God can cause such an unprecedented phenomenon. And these fruits grow in silence without fanfare. This is more astonishing than the 10-million count! Like the Savior’s birth in rural Nazareth, Sacred Space came from a rather humble place, Dublin, away from Silicon Valley, or other great computer capitals of the world. I don’t know much about Dublin, as most Jews probably knew little about Nazareth. God fertilized an acorn of an idea and has made it grow into a great oak tree of faith, love and hope. My eyes have seen God’s glory, thanks greatly to Sacred Space. The least I can do is spread the Good News.” And, finally, these words from faraway Canberra, Australia: “Thanks from the heart for your wonderful site – I think I’ve been using it for about three years now and, while dealing with severe family problems, it has helped me enormously to know that I am part of something much bigger and that a loving God is attentive to my struggles and also to those others all around the world who are worshipping together at this on-line cathedral. I probably haven’t expressed this well but anyway I want to add my thanks for a priceless gift that has brought me peace and hope during difficult times.” For more feedback, click here. May Sacred Space bring peace and hope to all during difficult times. – Fr. Gerry Bourke SJ, Editor of Latest Space Jesuit Communication Centre, 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland For previous issues, go online and click here: Latest Space #1  Latest Space #2  Latest Space #3  Latest Space #4  Latest Space #5  Latest Space #6  Latest Space #7  Latest Space #8  Latest Space #9  Latest Space #10  Latest Space #11 <!–// To unsubscribe to this newsletter, hit Reply to this email and type REMOVE in the Subject line. Your e-mail address will be deleted from our list. If you reply to this newsletter, please make sure that a copy of Latest Space #12 is not sent back to us with your reply.//–> Latest Space #11 May the fullness of the Holy Spirit be with you all. We send this greeting for the feast of Pentecost to the friends of Sacred Space all over the world! How quickly the time passes! The last issue of Latest Space, which recalled and commemorated the first five years of Sacred Space, should have reached most of you before the beginning of Lent. Now, as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, we have further reason to celebrate. As you may have noticed, the “visitor counter” of the site is moving toward the 10 million mark! It is, indeed, an occasion to celebrate and give thanks to God. Ten million people, moved by the Holy Spirit, will have visited Sacred Space. In the feedback received from all over the world during the past five years, so many have expressed their gratitude for the peace and enlightenment they have found in Sacred Space. In their prayer, they have been helped by the Holy Spirit to meet the daily challenges of life. The 10 million mark is already being noted in the mail that comes in daily. Here is one from a regular contributor from New York City: “Soon Sacred Space will have reached a milestone: 10 million visitors! Pretty mind-boggling for an erstwhile unknown site! But you have satisfied the hungers and thirsts of aching hearts who cannot find solace in the false glitter and passing fancy of materialism. Jesuit mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said that we are spiritual beings with human experience, and St Augustine says our hearts are restless until we rest in the Almighty One. Sacred Space has been for me a great light of God through my darkest nights, urging me to move on with that ‘last ounce of courage’ (Man of La Mancha) until the daybreak of Easter which never fails to pass for me. And Easter life is so sweet, nurturing me to peak strength to be ready for the next Good Friday…. until that final sunrise when there will be no more sunset…no more tears nor death, nor mourning, wailing or pain (Revelations 21). “What a great blessing you all are in Sacred Space. One of the things I’ve learned from praying at Sacred Space is to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. The sharings and reflections I have been sending you are a result of this, as you no doubt know. But let it be said that I am really like a pencil of God, whom Mother Teresa stated we all are. It feels really good knowing that the Lord has used this tiny pencil to sketch His grandeur. Praise and thank God greatly!!!” On this occasion Frances Berumen, another ‘regular’ from Oxnard, California, sent us this poetic tribute, entitled Sacred Space Is Growing, written on May 17, 2004. How time flies when one is busy doing what God calls one to do. The number of people that follow is amazing, and exciting, too. To be part of God’s plan all over the world is, indeed, amazing. People having a place to go to with whatever they are facing. A haven where millions take time to pray. A place where one can go to, on any given day. There is no need for names, nor envelopes to be addressing, and many stop here, also, to give thanks for their blessings. Some visit in the morning, others before they go to bed. Ten million visitors, one can only imagine what lies ahead. It’s not surprising; what God puts together does indeed last. Yet who would have guessed that Sacred Space would grow this fast? I end my greeting with a few numbers that I thought might be of interest to our readers. During the five weeks between Sunday, April 18, and Saturday, May 22, I noted the average number of daily visitors for each day. Here are the averages for each day of the week: Monday: 11,470; Tuesday: 11,290; Wednesday: 11,075; Thursday: 11,480; Friday: 11,475: Saturday: 5,890; Sunday: 6,830. The average for the five weekdays was 11,360 and for the days of the weekend, 6,360. I’ll leave the conclusions to be drawn from these “stats” to our readers! – Gerry Bourke, S.J., Editor of Latest Space Sections within this issue of Latest Space: On the Power of Prayer in Sacred Space The Latest About Sacred Space in Book Form The Latest About Our Translations Sacred Space in California “Go, Therefore… and I Am With You Always” FROM A VISITOR IN DUBLIN, IRELAND, ON THE POWER OF PRAYER IN SACRED SPACE There is always within me a call to be quiet, and Sacred Space is my daily call to prayer. Prayer is a whisper in my head, my mental conversation with Our Lord. When mental illness left me lost in the mire, I heard God knocking softly on my door, praying to be let into my life. Wherever I may be, I find my way to a computer and silent reverence surrounds me. Prayer for me is more listening than speaking. As if I have to tell God what is happening with me! As if He wasn’t there with me at that moment, feeling my feelings, thinking my thoughts! God shows me every day the power of prayer. The Spirit is carried on the breeze through my hair; it is the pillow under my head. We are so loved as children of God. And I say to you, if you find yourself troubled by the worries of this life, this world, or by pain inside or outside, Jesus is waiting by your side and He wants to help you through that mire. He loves you with both a profound and an everyday love. He wants you to experience the spiritual deep aspect of life, but He also wants you to have that brilliant job, that wonderful relationship, those loving friendships and your home. He is not ‘out there’; He is within you, beside you, carrying you through the dark days; quietly guiding you to the Light. I love the beautiful simple way the prayers are written on your website each day. In clearing away the needless, His message sounds out so clear and beautiful, with the perfect Scripture to leave the Word nestled in our hearts. Whether it be morning or night when I find Sacred Space, the Word and your poetic prayers are carried with me as I walk through my day, or as I lay down my head to sleep. Be assured, the work you do enhances my life and brings me closer to Christ. I thank you with all that I have in me. Amen. THE LATEST ABOUT SACRED SPACE IN BOOK FORM Michelle Anderson Publishing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, have sent out the following “blurb”: “The launch of the book Sacred Space – The Prayer Book 2005 is an important event for Australian readers. The book came into existence when the publisher found the website SacredSpace.ie set up by the Jesuit Communication Centre in Ireland. Having used the website daily for some time and finding it of immense value, she wanted to make it available to those not online. Fr. Alan MacGuckian, SJ, the creator of the website, made it possible for a contract to be drawn up between the publisher, and the Jesuit Communication Centre in Dublin, Ireland. It is now the publisher’s aim to make a book available in each of the sixteen countries where the website is translated. Rights to the book have been sold to Ave Maria Press in the US and to Veritas Publications in Ireland. A new edition of the book will be published each year.” Ave Maria Press are currently printing their edition which will be distributed in the U.S. The book will go into bookshops in August/ September of this year. The Australian publishers are printing their edition in Singapore, along with the Irish edition for Veritas in Dublin. Michelle Anderson will be attending the Frankfurt Book Fair in October of this year with the main purpose of selling rights to foreign language editions of the book in as many countries as possible. If any non-English publishers are interested, it would be good to contact Michelle directly at [email protected] The book will retail in Australia at $24.95 (Australian dollars) and will come out with different contents for each year. It will have the same image on the cover each year, except in a different colour to give readers immediate ‘recognition’. The Publishers feel it will be 380 pages of wonderful ‘inspiration’ and that it will become well-used all around the world by people from all walks of life. THE LATEST ABOUT OUR TRANSLATIONS The New Chinese Version Cindy Tseng from the Ignatian Spirituality Center, Taiwan, writes: “Our website has moved to a new address (www.jesuit.org/sacred-space) and the appearance of the pages will give visitors a fresh view…. We keep promoting Sacred Space, and we will register this website at our local search agent to make it well known. In the near future, we will have a feedback page in the Chinese Sacred Space, and we would be very happy to share the feedback with other Sacred Space readers on the internet…” A Hungarian Translation Fr. Janos Lukacs, SJ, Novice Director of the Jesuit Hungarian Province, wrote in mid-May: “Some young Sacred Heart Sisters have volunteered to do the Hungarian translation work of Sacred Space. I’ll see them next week to discuss details. However, I have not yet found the right person who could upload things and take care of the technical side. So I am afraid I have to ask for some more patience. In these coming weeks I am going to have a little more time. So I really hope to make some progress.” SACRED SPACE IN CALIFORNIA! Following on the invitation to “a priest from Sacred Space” to participate in a series of sermons on prayer on Wednesday evenings during the season of Lent, Fr. Gerry travelled to California on Palm Sunday, and preached on Sacred Space as a help to prayer in daily life on Wednesday, April 7th, in the Edmund Rice Chapel of Palma High School, Salinas. The response of the congregation – parents, past pupils, senior students and local people – could not have been better. The evening concluded with the “missioning” by “the priest from Sacred Space” of 48 Palma High School students, who were to spend their Easter “break” building three houses in Tecate, Mexico. It was inspiring to see the zeal of these teenage boys ready to do something positive for someone else. The latest news received, as we go to press, is that they have built the houses and successfully completed their mission. “GO, THEREFORE…AND I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS” After Pentecost, the disciples must have often recalled these words of Jesus, quoted at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel, as they felt the power of the Spirit blessing their human efforts to spread the good news throughout the world. The Spirit is still with us as we continue that work today. One way to do that work is by spreading “the good news” about Sacred Space. Once more we suggest some ideas. Send a message to those on your mailing list something like this one, which was sent to us recently by a visitor from Penfield, New York, USA, who had done so: “A good friend pointed me to a web site called Sacred Space (at www.sacredspace.ie ). I go to it every day. It guides me through a 5-10 minute prayer session, in six steps (e.g. ‘Coming into the Presence of God’ and preparatory exercises) and centres on a short scripture passage chosen for the day (a little different every day). The Irish Jesuits produced it five years ago to help computer users to get into a habit of daily prayer. Since then, they’ve had almost 10 million visitors. Have you seen it? I hope it works for you.” Does a friend have a homepage? How about suggesting a link to Sacred Space? Would your local newspaper (diocesan or otherwise) be interested in an article on Sacred Space? Why not suggest one? If you put them in touch with us, we will cooperate as best we can. Download and print a poster or some cards from the LINK on the end page of Sacred Space, and then spread them around. If you have an idea for a Sacred Space poster, do send us a copy. As the Lord sent out his disciples to the whole world, and assured them that He would be with them till the end of time, so too the Holy Spirit will be with you, as you share the “good news” with as many people as you can. All of the Sacred Space team join with me in in sending you Pentecost greetings. And with our best wishes we attach this painting of the first Pentecost, entitled Spiritum Sanctum, by Giselle Bauche. Jesuit Communication Centre, 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland For previous issues, go online and click here: Latest Space #1  Latest Space #2  Latest Space #3  Latest Space #4  Latest Space #5  Latest Space #6  Latest Space #7  Latest Space #8  Latest Space #9  Latest Space #10 To unsubscribe to this newsletter, hit Reply to this email and type REMOVE in the Subject line. Your e-mail address will be deleted from our list. If you reply to this newsletter, please make sure that a copy of Latest Space #11 is not sent back to us with your reply. Dailyprayer Prayer for today Feedback Read the comments of other users of the site and, perhaps, leave your own Living Space Longer reflections on the daily scripture readings are presented for Sundays, weekdays and many saints are presented daily. Sacred Space Books The daily prayer is made available in a number of printed editions of which Advent and Lent editions are also available.   Sacred Space - www.sacredspace.ie Home :: Pray online :: Feedback :: Living Space :: Chapels :: Novenas :: Questions? :: About Sacred Space :: Contact us :: Privacy Policy the prayer site run by the Irish Jesuits ©1999 Sacred Space