Contemplative Haven

Where will today find you?

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Say to the Lord, “My refuge and fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”

[Taken from Psalm 91]

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Peter, Paul and Mary: All My Trials

Prayer for All People
O Lord, we bring before You
the distress and dangers of
peoples and nations, the pleas of
the imprisoned and the captive,
the sorrows of the grief-stricken,
the needs of the refugees,
the impotence of the weak,
the weariness of the despondent, and the
weaknesses of the aging.
O Lord, stay close to all of them.

Prayer for the Hungry
Lord Jesus Christ, You urged
us to give You food in Your hunger
which is visible to us in the starving faces
of other human beings.
Let me realize that there are millions of persons - children of
the same God and our brothers and sisters - who are dying
of hunger although they do not deserve to do so.
Do no allow me to remain indifferent to their crying need,
or to soothe my conscience with the thought that I cannot
do anything about this evil. Help me to do something - no matter
how small - to alleviate their heart-rending want. Also let me
pray regularly that these poor starving people will be rewarded
for this terrible suffering they are enduring, and be relieved
of it as soon as possible.

[From:  Catholic Book of Prayers]

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Both The Visitation and The Immaculate Heart of Mary are being celebrated over at “Consecrated to Mary” today.

And if you’ve never had an experience with angelic voices, there’s no time like the present!

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I was recently contacted by a young man who has discerned a call to the priesthood, and who would like to share his story with all of you.  Neven Pesa has been accepted to the Order of Basilian Salvatorian Fathers in Massachussets, U.S.A., a semi-contemplative order of Catholics of the Eastern Rite.  Neven currently belongs to the Byzantine Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary in Brooklyn, New York. His personal story was recently featured on the site Catholic Exchange, and you can also read more about Neven’s background/calling at his personal site, A Priestly Vocation. 

In order to start his Novitiate in September 2008 he is required to be debt-free, and after a four-year course of study at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, this will be no small task.  Neven is working two jobs towards this end, but God has blessed him, and in turn ourselves, with yet another means of achieving his goal. 

Neven is a singer/songwriter who records under the name of Shekinah Hosanna; his first CD is available at CD Baby, where you can listen to samples of his tracks.  He hopes to have another CD available by this fall, on which he will have the “Hail Mary” in Hebrew as well as another Marian song.  Neven has a beautiful voice and is a gifted lyricist.  He has also set up a YouTube Channel called ShekinahHosanna in order to let people become aware of his music.  Here is one of Neven’s original songs, ”Dear God“, which he has set to scenes from the movie “Bella”.  Above all, Neven has asked for our prayers, so please consider supporting him in this way as well as by bringing his beautiful music into your lives.  His music is a gift to all of us, as will be his future priesthood.

  
[Edited to add:  Please visit my post of today at Consecrated to Mary for another beautiful song by Neven as well as a glimpse into the role Mother Mary has played in his life.] 

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A Sadness in Your Soul

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But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Matthew 6:6)

“This is, therefore, the real meaning of every real penitential commitment:  to withdraw from the current of exterior things, to silence the advancing hubbub of so many human voices, in order to return into oneself, into one’s deepest inner life; because it is in the silence of conscience that God waits for us.

When, in fact, Jesus says:  Go into your room and shut the door, he does not call to an isolation that is an end in itself.  That shutting the door corresponds to the one decisive opening of the human heart:  the opening to God.”

[Pope John Paul II:  Excerpted from a talk in Rome to students and their teachers, February 28, 1979, as reprinted in the Madonna House Newsletter of February 2008.] 

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Direct to YouTube for this video is here.

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Hush, lay down your troubled mind
The day has vanished and left us behind
And the wind, whispering soft lullabies
Will soothe, so close your weary eyes

Let your arms enfold us
Through the dark of night
With your angels hold us
Till we see the light

Sleep, angels will watch over you
And soon beautiful dreams will come true
Can you feel spirits embracing your soul
So dream while secrets of darkness unfold

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Shepherd Me, O God

[Refrain]: Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life.

1. God is my shepherd, so nothing shall I want, I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and love, I walk by the quiet waters of peace.

2. Gently you raise me and heal my weary soul, you lead me by pathways of righteousness and truth, my spirit shall sing the music of your Name.

3. Though I should wander the valley of death, I fear no evil, for you are at my side, your rod and your staff, my comfort and my hope.

4. You have set me a banquet of love in the face of hatred, crowning me with love beyond my power to hold.

5. Surely your kindness and mercy follow me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of my God forevermore.

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You Are Mine

I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still and know I am here

I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me

[Refrain]  Do not be afraid I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are Mine

I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see
The lame will all run free
And all will know My name

I am the Word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name
Embracing all your pain
Stand up now, walk and live

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