Latest Space #08
SOME NEW INITIATIVES
Since we were somewhat late with the summer issue of LATEST SPACE, you may be surprised to receive this autumn issue so soon afterwards. But we have a new member of our Sacred Space team that we want you to meet, and, as a result of the positive input that we have received from our readers, we have made some decisions that we want to share with you, hoping to receive further feedback from you as soon as possible.
A New Man in Sacred Space
My name is Leon Ó Giolláin. It is my privilege to be part of the Sacred Space team. I am pleased to offer my modest contribution as ‘spiritual advisor’ so that together we can assure you, our visitors, that the ‘new wine’ of Sacred Space will not lose its zest through neglect or watering down of its rich and reliable content.
I live and work at Manresa House, the Jesuit Centre of Spirituality in Dublin. At a time when people are extremely stressed and struggling to find that elusive balance between life and work, a centre such as ours can be of enormous benefit. The lovely location and the quiet, contemplative atmosphere of the place is, for more and more people, a source of solace and inner renewal. We would like it to be a place of welcome for all who seek time out for the spirit in a rushed world that can seek to hush or sometimes even crush God’s Spirit which is the source of life and peace. As you will learn in Latest Space, we have organized a Sacred Space Retreat Day which will take place here next February. I hope we have the pleasure of meeting each other then or at any time you may choose to pay us a visit. You can be sure of a warm welcome.
A Chapel of Remembrance
Many of our readers will remember that earlier this year, prior to the Iraq War, we introduced to Sacred Space nine days of prayer for world peace. We have kept a link to those prayers for peace over subsequent months.
One of our users suggested that we consider offering a similar possibility for visitors who wish to pray for other intentions. It might be good, it was said, to have different “chapels” that one could “enter” at the end of the daily prayer, and there pray for special intentions.
With this in mind, we intend to inaugurate on Nov. 2 (Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed), a “Chapel of Remembrance”. At the end of the usual daily prayer during the month of November, we will invite our visitors to join us in special prayers for deceased family and friends of our Sacred Space community. And each week of the month, we will offer a special Mass for these intentions. On our website, as of Monday, October 20, we will have a link button on the endpage that will invite you to submit the names (not more than five) of deceased family or friends, and your own country of residence. These will be listed in the “chapel”.
A Day of Retreat
In response to the many letters received as a result of Garry’s suggestion in the last issue of Latest Space of a retreat for users of Sacred Space, we have made plans for a Sacred Space Retreat Day to be held at the beginning of Lent next year. It will be a day of quiet prayer and meditation at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Dollymount, Dublin [Click here (www.jesuit.ie/manresa) for more information on Manresa] on Sat. February 28, 2004, beginning at 10 a.m., and finishing at 4.30 p.m. All Sacred Space users are welcome to attend. The suggested contribution for the day (including lunch) is €35. As of Monday, November 3, we will have a link button on the endpage of our website, which will offer an application form for the retreat.
Let’s Spread the Good News!
As we move toward the 8 million mark on the counter that registers the number of times people have visited Sacred Space since Lent,1999, it is consoling to know that the number of visitors to our site continues to grow with each month. During September the number was around 10,000 on weekdays, and on weekends, as usual, dropped to around 6,000.
With Advent approaching, each one of us could do something to “prepare the way of the Lord” by spreading the “good news” about Sacred Space with others. Here is something you can do:
- Check the website of your local diocese, parish, or other similar organization – do they have a link to Sacred Space?
- If not, contact them and recommend a link.
- Do any friends have homepages?
- Ask them to include a link to Sacred Space.
What better way to share the blessings you have received with others?
SOME SPECIAL FEEDBACK
Editor’s Note: Every morning I am privileged to read the letters that come in from all over the world. They reflect the experience of visitors to Sacred Space. Every few weeks I share a sampling of these reflections with our community on the FEEDBACK page to be found at the end of each day’s prayer. These are usually limited to brief comments that have been made, with samples that reflect the many countries from which the feedback comes. I updated the page on October 3. Click here to visit the FEEDBACK page. The “feedback” that is shared in LATEST SPACE tends to be more lengthy and relates specifically to a particular topic. All but one of the samples below happen to be from the USA. I trust they will be of interest to all our readers.
“A GREAT BIG HUG”: Thank you so much for Sacred Space! When we get to heaven, I can’t wait to meet you and give you a great big hug because this ministry has fostered growth in my spiritual life, which has turned into a blossoming of the prayer ministry in our church (I became the ministry leader). We have computers stationed in public spots all over our county, and the general public enters their prayers on our computers, and our team prays for the prayers. Sacred Space fanned the small flame in my prayer life, and now God has used this to do an incredible work; so many people are touched by prayer because of your ministry. Thank you so much!!
Connecticut, USA
HELPED BY LATEST SPACE: I have visited this site a few times and now have it on my works computer, but never emailed you before. I am partially sighted, which is why this font is large. It is wonderful to know that there are people all over the world praying on this site. I have read the last two issues of ‘Latest Space’ and printed out the poem by the Irish lady, to show my friend Fiona, as she is also in pain and unable to go out. People from all over the world and many different faiths have been praying for her, and the doctors seem to have given up. But now she has returned to the Catholic church after lapsing, and her friends are hoping and praying to take her to Lourdes soon. Please keep her in your prayers, as it seems that only a miracle will cure her, as like the poet, she longs to go outside.
West Yorkshire, England
HELPED IN HARD TIMES: Some days life seems like an endless struggle, full of dead ends, hopeless long days. Thank God, these days are not too often. When I feel the attack on me, I always turn to this website. I have been a part of your prayers, your guidance for a few years now. I just turned 50, and got laid off from the Tech industry. God says not to worry as it is useless. So I do my best not to, but the man in me, the main supporter in me, is geared to “push” until I am again working. At 8% unemployed in the State, it might be a while before I do find that good job again. Thank you who are keeping this site alive. It truly is a comfort to many who need assistance, a comforting word, hope & support. God bless all of you who are reading this.
Wilsonville, Oregon, USA
HELPED AT WORK: Your website has really helped me over the past few months with prayer, especially at work. I only have a computer at work, seeing how I am here almost all day anyway, so for me to pray during the week, was very seldom. Until, of course, I found Sacred Space. Now, since I don’t have much time in the morning to pray before I head off to work, and with my busy evenings when I get home from work (if it’s not already 10 o’clock!) I can pray whenever I want at work. I pray in the car from time to time etc, but to be able to sit down, at work especially, and have the scriptures right there in front of me, and the time to read them and meditate is truly a blessing. God is beginning to move in my life, in part because of your wonderful website. Thank you so much for your service to the Catholic community around the world, and keep up God’s good work! Minnesota, USA
HELPED BY SCRIPTURE (1): Having grown up Catholic I have always had a strong desire for a daily bible or scripture study. Catholics are not famously known for cracking open the bible on a daily basis. I have tried it on my own but without much success. I stumbled on to your web site after coming back from an awesome pilgrimage to Rome and Vatican City…. I believe it was a God thing that led me to your site. Ever since I got back from the trip I have logged on to Sacred Space. It has been something I have so longed for.Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
HELPED BY SCRIPTURE (2): I have a very wonderful Mennonite friend who heard me speak many times about how I cannot seem to get into the Bible. When I would sit down to read, I could never seem to know where to start. Then when I would start to read, my mind would wander and I got nothing out of the passages. She mentioned to me about Sacred Space and it has turned my life around. I look forward to reading the Scriptures and of having my special time alone with Jesus. I rarely used to take the time to be just with Him. Now, in Sacred Space, you pick the passages for me and it has been a Godsend! Thank you for helping me in my walk with our Beloved Lord. Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, USA
HELPED TO PRAY ALWAYS: Thanks for being so available. I know not everyone is as fortunate as I am to have you. I try to start each day with prayer and meditation, which includes Sacred Space. Occasionally, it is later in the day when I use Sacred Space, but seldom a day goes by when I miss the reading. One of the messages that has really helped is that I have learned to “pray as I can, not as I can’t.” Also, it has been a great help in that I am starting to pray continuously throughout the day. This has really helped me, especially getting through some “rough” times. No matter what, not praying is not an option. Raynesford, Montana, USA
HELPED BY THE ADVICE: I’ve been visiting here for quite a while, off and on. The fact that it is “off and on” – not always continuously – is not a reflection on the site, which is wonderful, but a reflection of my needing to pray in different ways from time to time. But one of the things I find most helpful. … and it always seems to appear just when I need this…are the tips and encouragement about prayer. The advice and encouragement is really very helpful. I also really like to read the questions and ideas about the reading, after I’ve gone with my own ideas….. maybe you could think about expanding that sometime. It is a wonderful site. Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
HELPED BY OUR RESPONSE: I was so surprised this a.m. to receive a note from you. With 7,000,000 visitors that someone would take the time to write to any one person is amazing in this modern world. And also a nod to the ways in which technology can help people. I did go visit your newsletter as you suggested……what a wonderful mission you are on. I am a 39-year-old American novelist and mother of three……Catholicism was the faith of my grandmother, who was the one “port in a storm” in an otherwise very difficult childhood. I have her crucifix on the wall of my bedroom…… and I have always prayed and spent many long hours in contemplation of God, both in churches and cathedrals, and in long nights of unrest. As a novelist, extraordinary things have happened to me……magazine interviews and Hollywood producers wanting rights to my books, things most writers only dream of and wish for…… many blessings. My children, though, are my ultimate blessing. But as in life for all people, with great joys sometimes comes very great suffering. I have an incurable immune disorder….. I won’t likely die of it, but it does seem bent on making me suffer a great deal of pain. And because of it, and numerous other things, some days are a terrific struggle both physically and with the mysteries of faith. I say all this, because the “yin and yang,” if you will, the highs and deep lows of life mean, for me, an unrest, and I am still amazed at the “still, small voice” I have found at your site. You are doing such an amazing service, in ways, I am sure, some can’t imagine……it can reach the right person at the right time in the way God intends…….Again, words are really (and this from a novelist!) inadequate to explain to you how your site and its prayers reached me at the precise moment I needed to be reminded that Christ is with me. Boca Raton, Florida, USA
MOVED TO PRAY: In deepest appreciation for Sacred Space, I offer a prayer I have written. Blessings to all. There is Love in the Joining!
Abwoon… (which means Power of the Universe)
As we awaken, we know you.
As we hear the birds so freely sing, we know you.
As tender leaves flutter and dew joins in a glistening union
with the petals of a rose, we know you.
We know your perfect love and devotion.
We know you would not allow even one precious lamb to be lost,
one heart to be broken, one spirit to be crushed.
As we experience the Silence, we know you.
We inhale the knowledge that God Is and when we exhale we know Peace, Balance, Openness, Truth, Courage, Purity, Compassion, Integrity, Power, Gratitude, and the greatest of all these…LOVE.
We feel you every moment of every day.
We know your light goes before us perfecting all that concerns us.
We know no limitations.
All corners have been turned. All hopes fulfilled. All prayers answered.
We do not wait for a sign, we let go and we know God Is, and all is well. Ahmen.
San Diego, California, USA
THE ‘NEW’ CATHOLIC IRELAND
Many of you will be familiar with our sister site, Catholic Ireland. It is host to the Talk To God prayer-for-kids site, to many top-notch prayer features, and to a wealth of articles about devotions, spirituality, and much more.
Take another look at it now, as it has just had a makeover. There is a whole new “look-and-feel”, which we think its visitors will appreciate a lot. All the old features are still there, but there is room now for an ever-growing archive of good reading material and prayer guides, and the navigation makes it easier to find what you are looking for.
The Catholic Ireland team welcomes comments of all kinds, so feel free to drop them a line from their ‘Contact Us’ page. Click here for Catholic Ireland (www.catholicireland.net).
With best wishes from the Sacred Space team – Garry, Gerry, Leon & Jae-hong
Jesuit Communication Centre, 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland