Living with Christ, Water Journeys, and Enneagrams

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Whoops.

In Canada January the 7th was the Memorial of St. Andre Bessette. My family has a devotion to this great saint, and so I smuggled in a Living with Christ daily missal booklet from the church in order to have St. Andre’s updated Collect prayer on hand for praying the Divine Office.

 Whoops. I should have just ripped out the page with the prayer. 
What did bringing a Living with Christ booklet into my home give me? Let’s take a look…
-         An opening address by Gilles Mongreau, SJ. He vaguely discusses light, while condemning those who “try to cling to old ways of thinking, even going so far as to try to violently enforce the return of a ‘golden age.’” I’m not sure who exactly this is referring to. Those violent traditional Catholics? Or Muslims?
-         Prayers of the Faithful, including decrying “the abuse and misuse of the world’s resources,” asking for a “deep and mutual respect for all faith traditions among all leaders and teachers,” and my favourite, a prayer “for us, God’s priestly people gathered here, called to bless the Lord.”
-         Sunday theological reflections by inspired members of the laity. They plead with us to consider the migrants among us, acknowledge that God says yes to us, and remind us that Jesus “is the only member of the human race that does not need forgiveness” - precise Mariology be damned.
-         Inclusive language. You know, St. Paul’s “sons of men” is so offensive.

Perhaps the best of all: the retreats! 

-         On January the 11th in Coburg, ON, you can attend a “Sacred Water” session. “Water is Life. Water is Sacred. Protect the Sacred.” From there you will be presented with “some steps forward on our water journey.” How’s your water journey going?
-         Jan. 17-18 in St. Albert, AB, has a retreat focusing on “the ecumenical virtue of hospitality,” in case you’re interested.
-         Jan. 22 is a doozy. In Windsor, ON, there is a full day workshop on “Introduction to the Enneagram.” Yes, this was condemned by the Vatican back in 2003, but not to worry, the program assures us that the “Enneagram is a tool that helps us to awaken to our sacred self.”
-         Windsor also presents the gnostic health-and-wealth inspired “Prayer of Jabez” workshop on Jan. 28.
-         The next day you can skip back to Coburg for their “Gift of the Christian Celtic Spirit” retreat. For just $40 you will gain “understandings of thresholds, dreams, the unseen world, soul friendship, seasonal cycles, journeying of the Spirit and God’s encircling love.”
-         And finally, Feb. 1 has an “Eco-Contemplative Winter Retreat” in St. Albert. Don’t miss Jodi Lammiman and Amy Spark “use ecological metaphor to uncover what is stirring in your inner world through group dialogue and guided solitude time.”

There is all this and much more in the January 2020 edition of Living with Christ. 

I actually don’t want this trash in my home. So what is it doing in our churches?



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