Sunday
The Holy Spirit within us is the desire inside of all of us that wants to keep connecting, relating, and communing. It isn’t above us. It isn’t beyond us—it is within us. It’s as available as our breath, and that’s why the Risen Christ gives the Holy Spirit by breathing upon the disciples.
—Richard Rohr
Monday
To span the infinite gap between Divine and human, God’s agenda is to plant a little bit of God—the Holy Spirit—right inside us (Jeremiah 31:31–34; John 14:16–26). This is the meaning of the “new” covenant, which replaces our “heart of stone with a heart of flesh” as promised in Ezekiel (36:25–27).
—Richard Rohr
Tuesday
Until an objective inner witness (the Holy Spirit) emerges that looks back at us with utter honesty, we cannot speak of being awake or conscious. That is at the heart of what we mean by “waking up.” Unfortunately, people so fear a negative and judgmental critic that they never seem to access the “Compassionate Witness” promised us in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
—Richard Rohr
Wednesday
Imagine recentering on the God we know in Jesus. Imagine becoming practicing communities that follow Jesus and embody his community of love…. What it takes is disciples who together follow Jesus in his Way of Love, lean fully into the Spirit that animated him, and try to do what he did and live as he lived.
—Stephanie Spellers
Thursday
The highest expression of the spirit is the one that opens us to the Great Other, in love and trust. It establishes a dialogue with God, listens from the conscience to God’s call, and delivers us trustingly into the palm of God’s hand.
—Leonardo Boff
Friday
The Spirit gives us life and moves us to do the work of God and bear the fruits of the Spirit. We cannot see the Spirit, but we can experience the work of the Spirit. The Spirit lives in us and inspires us when we are frightened, disheartened, and confused—states in which we often find ourselves.
—Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Divine Feminine Prayer
Spiritual teacher and CAC friend Mirabai Starr guides us in a prayer to God using feminine language. We invite you to breathe intentionally for a few moments, feel your breath as it moves through your body, and receive the words of this prayer. Click here or on the image below.
Beloved One
Shekinah
Indwelling
Feminine Presence
Immanence
Embodiment
Mother-Heart
Please come flowing into every open window in our souls right now,
as we call to you.
Infuse every cell of our bodies with your fierce and tender Mother-Wisdom.
Give us the strength to speak truth to power in these fractured times.
Give us the tenderness and humility to listen deeply
to those that we are conditioned to otherize.
And remind us again and again when we forget that we belong to each other,
and we belong to you.
Amen.
Reference:
Mirabai Starr, “Divine Feminine Blessing,” Center for Action and Contemplation, March 1, 2023, YouTube video, 3:29.
Image credit: A path from one week to the next—Exercise in Grief and Lamentation credits from left to right: Jenna Keiper, Jenna Keiper, Izzy Spitz. Used with permission. Click here to enlarge image.
On retreat, the CAC staff used watercolors to connect to our collective grief. This is one of the watercolor paintings that came from that exercise.
