The document provides information on spirituality for family life ministers. It defines spirituality as a conscious relationship with God through practices that foster Christian discipleship. It emphasizes that spirituality involves being in community and realizing one's identity as a beloved child of God through baptism. It also discusses developing a personal rule of life through contemplative practices and devotions to guide one's spiritual growth in a balanced way. The document provides resources for family life ministers to cultivate their spirituality.

1. Spirituality of the Family Life Minister

2. Opening Prayer
God of love and mercy, you call us to be your
people, you gift us with your abundant grace.
Make us a holy people, radiating the fullness of
your love. Form us into a community, a people
who care, expressing your compassion. Remind
us day after day of our baptismal call to serve,
with joy and courage. Teach us how to grow in
wisdom and grace and joy in your presence.
Through Jesus and in your Spirit, we make this
prayer.
U.S. Bishops’ 1995 “Called and Gifted for the
Third Millennium”)

3. The Term “Spirituality”
In Christian terms, the word
“spirituality” can be traced to the
letters of St. Paul where he uses the
Greek term pneuma.
Spirituality implies an ability to
commit oneself to a set of
consciously chosen practices that
foster Christian discipleship.

4. Being in Relationship
 Philip Sheldrake defines Christian
spirituality this way: “..spirituality is
the whole of human life viewed in
terms of a conscious relationship
with God, in Jesus Christ, through
the indwelling of the Spirit, and
within the community of believers.”

5. Another Definition
…an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a
disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia,
a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all-
embracing ache that lies at the center of human
experience and that is the ultimate force that drives
everything else. This disease is universal. Desire
gives no exceptions…Spirituality is, ultimately, what
we do with that desire. (Ronald Rolheiser)

6. No Single Path to Perfection
 The Christian spiritual life may be about
“living Jesus,” but there is no one way to
do that. There is no generic holiness, no
single path to perfection, no cookie-cutter
model of the Christ-life. Instead, each
person must discover, with the air of the
Scriptures, tradition, the witness of holy
ones, and the guidance of others, what it
means to “live Jesus” in the concrete
specificity of his or her location, moment
in history, talents, responsibilities, and
sense of call.

7. “Be The Best Version of
Yourself”
Matthew Kelly

8. Centrality of Our Baptism
 Beloved sons and daughters of God
 Marked by God
 Died to self and put on Christ

9. Realize Who We Are and Whose We Are
 “You are precious in my sight.” (Is. 43:4)
 “I have carved you on the palm of my
hand.” (Is. 49:16)
 “I have called you by name, you are
mine.” (Is. 43: 1)
 “You formed my inmost being; you knit
me in my mother’s womb.” (Ps 139:13)

10. Our Three Vocations
Vocation of a Christian (all share)
Vocation in life (married, single,
priesthood, Religious Life)
Within that is how I live our that
particular vocation – no one can be
a family life minister exactly like
you.

11.  “When someone loves you, the way
they say your name is different.
You know that your name is safe in
their mouth.”

12. Common Life – Mystical Body
 Our Catholic spirituality involves a
deep sense of a common life
expressed in our relationship to the
Mystical Body, our common prayer,
the rhythm of the liturgical cycle,
and in our communion with the
cloud of witnesses.
 But our unity is never uniformity.

13. No One Way of Living the Spiritual Life
If we look at it in terms of vocation,
there is not one Christian vocation,
no one way of being married, no
one way of being a religious,
minister, priest, no one way of
living the single life. Nor is there
one way of acting for the common
good.

14. Who’s Making Your Sandwich?

15. Personal Rule – Helps From
St. Francis de Sales
Statement of Life
Motto
Personal Mission Statement
What one needs for a happy
and balanced life.

16. Value
 Creates solid structure
 Provides routine to fall back on
 Protects one’s inner space. Response
to being loved by God.
 St. Benedict “Ora et Labora…Vacare
Deo” (work and pray, Empty oneself
for God)
 Gentleness with ourselves and others
 Communal nature of the process
 Intentional opening to perceive God’s
presence and activity toward a life
patterned on Christ.

17. Elements of a Rule of Life
1. Seeking God is the focal point:
Prayer, worship, nurturing one’s spirit
2. Work: care of our body, physical
exercise
3. Study: intellectual development
4. Service to others, hospitality
 Focus equally on God’s call to you
your own needs and the needs of
the world.

18. How to Design a Rule of Life
1. How can you fit these values into your
life in a balanced way including joy,
play, fun.
2. Listen to your heart’s desire. Be
conscious of what you do and why you
do it.
3. Be concrete, specific and consistent.
Take baby steps that have some
challenge to them. Recognize you are
human and try again.

19. Helps in Keeping Your Rule
1. Be realistic in getting your goals.
2. Do all for the glory of God, your
own salvation and the salvation of
others.
3. Ask for God’s help.
4. Gather with like-minded friends to
support one another.
5. Look to spiritual practices that
have stood the test of time e.g. St.
Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of
Avila,etc.

20. 4 - 1’s
 1 hour a day of prayer
 1 day off a week
 1 retreat a month
 1 yearly retreat
Design your own version of this.

21. Practices – Personal Daily
Pattern of Prayer
 Frequent Attendance at Mass
 Celebration of the Sacraments
 Spiritual Direction
 Reading the Bible daily
 Spiritual Reading
 Looking for God’s hand in your life
 Listening to others and mentoring
others as they look at God
 Living in the Present Moment

22. Prayer Practices
 Vocal prayer
 Lectio Divina
 Imaginative Meditation
 Consciousness Examen
 Contemplative Prayer
 Music and Prayer
 Writing and Prayer
 Study and Prayer
 Nature and Prayer

23. Consciousness Examen
 Pray For Light
 Review the Day in Thanksgiving
 Review the Feelings That Surfaced
in the Replay of the Day
 Choose One of Those Feelings
(Positive or Negative) and Pray
From It
 Look Toward Tomorrow.

24. Lectio
 Lectio: Reading and Listening
 Meditatio: Reflecting on the Word
 Oratio: The Word Touches the
Heart
 Contemplatio: Entering the Silence
“Too Deep For Words”

25. Devotional Practices
 Rosary
 Stations
 Holy Hour
 First Friday/First Saturday
 Use of Sacramentals

26. Celebrate the Sabbath
 What can we do to re-instate this
practice?

27. Prayer of Pedro Arrupe, S.J.
"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than
FALLING IN LOVE
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings, how you spend your
weekends,
what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

28. Resources
 Durand, Dave. Time Management for Catholics. Manchester:
Sophia Institute Press, 2002.
 Wright, Wendy PhD. The Essential Spirituality Handbook. Liguori:
Liguori Press, 2009.
 Murphy, Monsignor Charles M. Belonging to God: A Personal
Training Guide for the Deeper Catholic Spiritual Life, New York:
Crossroads, 2004.

29. What Concrete Idea/s Will You
Take From This Webinar?
Thank you for allowing me to share
this time with you.
Sister Rose Marie Adams, I.H.M.
sr.rose@raldioc.org