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.