Fifth Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)

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The Raising of Lazarus Lectionary:  34 Reading 1 -  Ezekiel 37:12-14 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 130:1-8 Reading 2 -  Romans 8:8-11 Verse - John 11:25a, 26 Gospel -  John 11:1-45 Lazarus, come out! LESSON: The Power of God Through Those Who Believe We’re a week away from the start of Holy Week. Our Lord now has his sights set on Jerusalem, and the pace is quickening. In these next two weeks, we’re living just one part of the Gospel passage from today: an encounter with the reality of suffering and death. Jesus is asking us to have faith in him. In today’s First Reading the prophet Ezekiel reminds us of the Lord’s promise to not only to bring us back to life but to bring us home. The background of this passage is the famous "Valley of Dry Bones." The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon. They weren't just sad; they were spiritually and nationally "dead." Their common saying was: "Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off." They d...
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Review: Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard

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Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard by Trevor Hudson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A practical guide to finding and living the [zoe] life that God wants for us. What we find within are the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) as they are applied by Trevor Hudson (a protestant minister) who learned them from Fr Andrew Norton (an Anglican Monk) and mapped them to every day living with the help of American philosopher Dallas Willard. Truly a fascinating mix.

The book opens with an introduction to the two “Seekers” (Ignatius and Willard) that will illustrate what we should seek and how to seek it. Each chapter ends with an example prayer and notations. For chapters with practical applications details for the reader, there is also specific “Seeking Exercises” to put the concept into practice and to develop the appropriate habits. In my opinion, it was these exercises that made this work exceptional.

For the most part, I doubt any believer who has answered the call to discipleship will find much that is new in the basic admonition to repent (although there is a brief examination of the term linking the concept to a change in direction in chapter 3), how to properly align/order our deepest desires (Chapters 4 and 6) and how to be “God’s compassionate image bearer” within a fallen world (chapters 7 and 8); however, the author’s analysis and use of personal experience resonated with me more than many of the many inspirational and devotional works that I have encountered in the recent past. In addition, chapter 5 presented a new way (for me) of looking at “The Gospel Way of Discipleship” divided into three elements: “The Way of Information”, “The Way of Inspiration” and “The Way of Interaction.”

Chapter 1:  Becoming a Seeker
Chapter 2:  Seeking the Life God Gives
Chapter 3:  Changing Direction
Chapter 4:  Discerning Our Deepest Desires
Chapter 5:  Exploring Life’s Greatest Opportunity
Chapter 6:  Dying to Live
Chapter 7:  Experiencing Resurrection Joy
Chapter 8:  Finding God in All Things

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#SeeingGod #NetGalley

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