Spirits on Fire!
A Year-Long Formation Program for
Lay Leaders in the CSSJ Mission and Tradition
Lay Leaders in the CSSJ Mission and Tradition
“Our charism… sends us into the world as continuous acts of love, a love that is active and inclusive, patient and enduring, fearless and tender, forgiving and giving, steady and steadfast. It forms bridges, makes connections easier and facilitates life for others, enabling them also to stir up love in our world.” Sister Marcia Allen, CSJ Concordia, KS
Contact:
Module 4: Zeal
Additional Resources For Reflection
Additional Resources For Reflection
• Scripture: John 17: 21ff
Luke 10: 25-37 (Good Samaritan)
Mt. 25: 31-46 (Last Judgment)
Luke 10: 25-37 (Good Samaritan)
Mt. 25: 31-46 (Last Judgment)
• Maxims of Perfection XI, 1: “As for your zeal, it will always be proportionate to the
love for God in your heart; see that it springs from a great love and it will be great.”
• Maxims of Perfection IV, 5: “Take care that God alone be the end and the beginning
of all your undertakings . . .”
love for God in your heart; see that it springs from a great love and it will be great.”
• Maxims of Perfection IV, 5: “Take care that God alone be the end and the beginning
of all your undertakings . . .”
THE SEED CRACKED OPEN
It used to be
That when I would wake in the morning
I could with confidence say,
“What am ‘I’ going to do?”
That was before the seed
Cracked open.
Now I am certain:
There are two of us housed
In this body,
Doing the shopping together in the market and
Tickling each other
While fixing the evening’s food.
Now when I awake
All the internal instruments play the same music:
“God, what love-mischief can ‘We’ do for the world today?
--by the poet Hafiz
It used to be
That when I would wake in the morning
I could with confidence say,
“What am ‘I’ going to do?”
That was before the seed
Cracked open.
Now I am certain:
There are two of us housed
In this body,
Doing the shopping together in the market and
Tickling each other
While fixing the evening’s food.
Now when I awake
All the internal instruments play the same music:
“God, what love-mischief can ‘We’ do for the world today?
--by the poet Hafiz
• Songs:
“Because We Love God” by Kathy Sherman, CSJ
Click Here
Because We Love God (lyrics)
Why do you feed the hungry, why do you comfort those in sorrow?
What is the source of your passion, your joy? Why are you calm in a storm?
Why do you hunger for justice, why do you give your heart away?
To the weary, the poor, the unloved, the unfree? Why do you do what you do?
Refrain:
Because we love God, because we love God and all that belongs to God.
Because we love God, we are who we are and we do what we do.
Because we love God
Why do you forgive those who hurt you? Why do you call the stranger, friend?
What is the hope that you cling to in the darkness? Why is your dreaming so bold?
Why are you friends with the outcast? Why does your table welcome all?
Yes, and why does your fire never burn out? Why do you do what you do? Refrain
Why do you bless the children? Why are you concerned about the future?
Why do you protect the earth and all her creatures? Why is your vision so wide?
Why do you love without boundaries? Why do you sing a song for all?
And why do you dare to believe that all are one? Why do you do what you do? Refrain
“Break My Heart, O God”
Servant Song
Click Here
“Because We Love God” by Kathy Sherman, CSJ
Click Here
Because We Love God (lyrics)
Why do you feed the hungry, why do you comfort those in sorrow?
What is the source of your passion, your joy? Why are you calm in a storm?
Why do you hunger for justice, why do you give your heart away?
To the weary, the poor, the unloved, the unfree? Why do you do what you do?
Refrain:
Because we love God, because we love God and all that belongs to God.
Because we love God, we are who we are and we do what we do.
Because we love God
Why do you forgive those who hurt you? Why do you call the stranger, friend?
What is the hope that you cling to in the darkness? Why is your dreaming so bold?
Why are you friends with the outcast? Why does your table welcome all?
Yes, and why does your fire never burn out? Why do you do what you do? Refrain
Why do you bless the children? Why are you concerned about the future?
Why do you protect the earth and all her creatures? Why is your vision so wide?
Why do you love without boundaries? Why do you sing a song for all?
And why do you dare to believe that all are one? Why do you do what you do? Refrain
“Break My Heart, O God”
Servant Song
Click Here
• Poetry:
Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is than falling in love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination
will affect everything.
It will decide
What will get you out of bed in the morning,
What you will do with you evenings,
How you spend your weekends,
what you read,
who you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love,
Stay in Love,
And it will decide E V E R Y T H I N G.
--Pedro Arrupe, SJ
Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is than falling in love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination
will affect everything.
It will decide
What will get you out of bed in the morning,
What you will do with you evenings,
How you spend your weekends,
what you read,
who you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love,
Stay in Love,
And it will decide E V E R Y T H I N G.
--Pedro Arrupe, SJ
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent
enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of
saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an
opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master
builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
----Bishop Ken Untener
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent
enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of
saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an
opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master
builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
----Bishop Ken Untener