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!
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