July 1, 2012 - Saint Margaret Mary Parish

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Let’s Celebrate Summer at SMMP! Come Join Us for a FREE Outdoor Concert Who: All Parishioners, Family & Friends Invited What: Think Ravinia only FREE! Entertainment Provided by Off the Rails (Includes Contemporary Choir Members) When: Where: Saturday, July 14 – 6:00pm Grassy Area Outside of Parish Offices Other Details: Bring your own food/drinks — Grills will be available Kid’s Play Area Bring a blanket or chair to sit on Pray for sunshine — Event will move inside if it rains 6
Exercising With St. Ignatius By Al Gustafson I was a weakling when it came to this kind of exercising…give me a treadmill or the weight room any day over the exercise program St. Ignatius had laid out. This was my conclusion back in grad school when I had my first experience with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The Exercises are a 500 year old spiritual formation program created by Ignatius of Loyola, based on his own spiritual journey. The Exercises have been part of the spiritual development of every brother and priest that has ever been a member of the Society of Jesus, as well as countless lay Catholics, Protestants and even Jews, Muslims and Hindus. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are designed to get you into spiritual shape, and my first encounter with them showed me just how out of shape I was. The first “exercise” my spiritual director gave me was, at the end of each day, to review the past 24 hours and name two positive feelings and two negative feelings I had over that period of time. Well, each evening I would find a quiet place in my apartment, light a candle and proceed to review my day. Lots of things happened during each 24 hour period, but my conclusion was always the same. I didn’t have any feelings. The following week I went back to see my spiritual director and I apologized because I hadn’t had any feelings that week. He gave me one of those looks my father used to give me when he would wonder if he was really cut out to be a parent or not. My director quickly recovered though, and said, “If you ever want a real relationship with the Lord, you are going to have to learn how to pay attention.” LOOKING FOR A JOB CAN BE FRUSTRATING, DISHEARTENING, AND CAN LEAVE YOU FEELING ISOLATED. You are not alone. There are people who stand ready to help and support you on your journey. Come to our Employment Ministry meetings 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7-9pm. 1st Wednesdays: St. Margaret Mary Church Room #17, 1450 Green Trails Drive, Naperville 3rd Wednesdays: Southminster Presbyterian Church, 680 South Park Ave., Glen Ellyn July Meeting Schedule: MM = St. Margaret Mary Church SM = Southminster Presbyterian Church 7/18 MM Paul Cameron- Interviewing “Summer” Job Hunting Advice: For more information call Larry Lewis at 630-527-8643. Ignatius wants us to learn how to pay attention because God is always present in our experience. God is incarnate in each of our life stories. The Exercises help us to reflect on the experience of God in our story…so that you and I can experience more of God in our story. Starting last January, 2011, I have had the privilege of participating in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with a group of fifteen women and men here at St. Margaret Mary. Each has made a commitment to daily prayer, meeting regularly with a spiritual director and sharing their experience with one another through prayerful conversation. We have learned how to pay close attention to the story of our own lives, to witness our own personal journey not just through our own eyes, but through God’s eyes…and lo and behold, we have found Love clearly present in the very details of each of our stories. Twelve very different stories lived by very different people, and yet the encounter each of us has had with God has produced very similar graces. In these past months, we have each developed a growing awareness and confidence in the God of goodness who sustains us day by day. We have each experienced a greater acceptance of our own gifts and our own limits, and each of us has a new found openness to the unknown and a deepening desire for what is yet to come. 7 Participating in these exercises together, we have certainly been drawn into friendship with one another, but beyond that, we have been drawn, and many of us for the first time, into a friendship with the Lord. We Catholics usually don’t talk about having a personal relationship with God, we save that kind of language for our Protestant brothers and sisters. Ignatius knew that since God’s love is present in the details of our lives, each of us will encounter God in a very personal way. This is why at the beginning of the Exercises he instructs those spiritual directors giving the Exercises to trust the relationship between the Creator and the creature…even when the creature is not able to identify his own feelings. If you are interested in information about praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius here at SMMP, please contact Sr. Madelyn Gould at 369-0777 or Al Gustafson at 630-660-5398.
Page 1 and 2: St. Margaret Mary Parish July 1, 20
Page 3 and 4: Save the dates November 10 &11 This
Page 5: Parish Heartbeats: Stories of Faith
Page 9 and 10: Masses for the Week Monday—July 2

July 1, 2012 - Saint Margaret Mary Parish

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?