Dear Friends,

Our Liturgy Committee has chosen The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp as the book we will read together and pray with as a community during Lent. (We have copies of the book available for those who wish to join in

the reflections, or you may already have your own copy.) The book invites you to choose your favorite cup to be your “teacher” during Lent. We invite you to bring that favorite cup of yours to Eucharist each Sunday and we will bless and “fill” them as we companion each other on our journeys of spiritual growth during this sacred season. In her book, you will see that Joyce Rupp offers a spiritual practice for each day over a six week period, which adapts wonderfully to this time of Lent. Our journeying together will be a real blessing for each of us during this season.

Joyce begins the view of the First Week with an inspiration from Henri Nouwen: “Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.” We suggest that rather than approaching Lent as a time of “deprivation” this theme invites us to approach the season with a desire to ‘fill up’ on the loving presence of our God.   Joyce responds to Nouwen’s thought with a piece of poetry that will become our second reading at today’s Eucharist:

A simple container

has spoken

in my solitude,

a teacher

and bringer of wisdom

whispering truths

of an indwelling God

in the container

of my soul

hearkening to

my hidden ability

to be filled

and to pour

from a life

of abundance

reminding me

of necessary boundaries

for nurturing

the sacred space

within me

inviting me

to sip often from

the Divine wellspring

source that slakes

my spiritual thirst

calling me

like a seed

in the soil

believe believe believe

in the power

that is present

in the life

that is possible.

     from the Cup of Our Lives by Joyce Rupp

As a community, members and guests of The Spirit of Life, find support and hope in the journey through time and body to deepen our spiritual lives. Our liturgies are not “cluttered’ with non-inclusive language and messages that discount the dignity of all people. Rather, we are radically simple in embodying the “good news” of Jesus Christ... “uncluttered” by messages caught in the moral timewarp so present in more traditional Catholic liturgies. At the Spirit of life... the call of women to ordained priesthood is affirmed...the sacredness of all loving relationships is honored and celebrated, and as Jesus did, we welcome ALL to the Table!   If you are seeking a Catholic community where you do not need to mentally/silently “insert” inclusive language into your prayer at Mass, or lament that your children are hearing non-loving messages about people whose sexual orientation is other than heterosexual, or feel that your “voice” is not heard.....we invite you to come and experience life in our community. We are an inclusive and interactive community, where everyone has a “voice.”  We are truly a people of “justice & Joy.”

As we begin this journey of 40 days together, we pray that the ‘cup of your lives’ will increasing deepen and expand to hold and cherish God’s loving presence....and that the love within will overflow into the lives of all those in your life and our world.

Lenten Blessings,

Jean & Ron