Merton Book 3, Chapter 4

I am glad to be back in the loop with everyone now that John is moving around on his own!

I finished this chapter after our discussion this morning. This really spoke to me "When the love of God is in me, God is able to love you through me and you are able to love God through me. If my soul were closed to that love, God's love for you and your love for Goad, and God's love for Himself in you and in me, would be denied the particular expressio nwhich it finds through me and through no other". It makes me realize that at times in my life when I have denied loving someone - be that person one known to me or a stanger, I have in some way diminished God's love in our world. That is pretty powerful. It is one thing to think about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and so forth - but to consider seriously that if we do not we are not only limiting Christ's work on our earth, we are actually diminishing it and diminishing experiences of God that we could be having and that were intended for us. Think about that - I have thought about it all day!

We have a lot to still discuss in this chapter! Hopefully next Friday we will be able to continue and start earlier!

A.

Haiti Slide Show

This morning, Jane shared a slide show from a past Haiti dental mission -- an upclose view of the reality of Haiti! Last Friday, we continued our discussion of the third booklet in the series (Living Your Deepest Desires), discussing session two (Contemplative Living as Continuous Inner Renewal). We have decided to continue with session two next Friday.

I will be out-of-town next Friday. My reflections on session two? The phrase that resonates: "True Christianity is growth in the life of the Spirit, a deepening of the new life, a continuous rebirth . . . a 'passover' in which we are progressivley liberated from selfishnes and not only grow in love but in some sense we 'become love' ". It confirms what we as Catholics already know: that receiving the gift of salvation is a process, not something that we lay claim to at a specific point in time. I am grateful for this process, made possible through the mercy of God.

Any other reflections on session two?

Welcome!

Welcome to the Team Zeta book blog. We first came together in the Fall of 2003 at a Christ Renews His Parish retreat. As we proceeded through formation the following Spring, we deepened our love of God, our trust in Jesus, our awareness of the Holy Spirit, our commitment to the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish family, and our connection with eachother. Since that time, we have continued to nurture and guide eachother on our faith journeys. Each Friday morning, our group of Zeta women meet at Panera to discuss books dealing with matters of faith, religion and spirituality. This blog is intended to be an extension of our weekly book discussions. We hope that those unable to attend our Panera breakfasts will join us online.