Posts Tagged ‘Roman Catholic’
Eucharist prayer for a Catholic and Christian Scientist
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on July 4th, 2009
Episode 24 is a conversation with Michele Moon, a Roman Catholic, and Shirley Paulson, a Christian Scientist, about their mutual love of the Christian Eucharist prayer.
Anyone who knows anything about Roman Catholicism and Christian Science knows that we celebrate the Eucharist in entirely different ways, but Michele and I were interested in discovering its profound meaning in both of our lives.
For Michele, the celebration of the Eucharist is an awakening to the presence of “kairos,” or the meaning of life’s moments filled with God’s presence. For Shirley, the celebration (which takes place without ritual) is a pricking of the heart, reminding us of God’s healing love. Our mutual enthusiasm for this sacred prayer is that it calls us to ministry. The cross, for instance, is more than a symbolic reminder of Jesus’ crucifixion. When we think deeply about it, we’re impelled to “take up our own cross,” as Jesus asked of his disciples. We notice others in need, and we confront our own obstacles that would keep us from binding up the broken hearted and seeking healing for others.
What a rich experience it is to share our mutual love of this prayer. We’d like to multiply our exploration on this topic and hear what Eucharist means to you. Would you jot down your own thoughts or life experiences with it? We’re convinced this is a topic that provides lots of space for learning from each other. Submit your comments just below the show notes on the website, SpiritualityandChristianity.com.
References from the show
S+C | Mother’s Day without Mothers
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on May 6th, 2009
Episode 22 is a conversation with Judy Valente (see episode 9) and Shirley Paulson about how they love and honor their mothers on Mother’s Day, when they’re no longer with them.
My mother passed away just a few weeks before Mother’s Day this year, and Judy’s mother passed on suddenly a few years ago. Our different faith backgrounds — in Christian Science and Roman Catholicism — have given strength, love, and spiritual insights to the meaning of our mothers’ lives.
While it’s never a good time to say goodbye to those we love so much, we both found that our own spiritual depth has given us more profound ways of living the blessings of our mothers. Judy’s poem (read on the podcast) is a beautiful tribute to her mother’s affection for the Madonna, and I find my tribute to my mother in my every day actions.
Loving our mothers has also helped our spiritual journeys progress. We have discovered that it’s easier to understand life beyond corporeality, and that the meaning of life is greater as we transcend the limitations of our bodies.
We’d love to have you join the conversation. Please post your comments on the Spirituality and Christianity.com website. And if you haven’t subscribed to these podcasts yet, there’s an easy “Subscribe to S+C Podcast” link on the right side of the website page. Thanks!
S+C | Healing with God, Part I
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on March 15th, 2009
Episode #19 is a conversation with Barbara Zeman, a Roman Catholic, and Shirley Paulson, a Christian Science practitioner, on the subject of our healing practices.
We know it’s a topic close to the hearts of many spiritually minded people, as was evident in a recent cover story with TIME magazine, called, “How Faith Can Heal.” Barbara did a healing service with her colleagues at the hospital, and I keep a full time office devoted to healing through prayer.
Even though our traditions and practices are different, we find a common thread in our understanding of the way healing happens. God’s will is harmony, peace, wholeness, and blessing, so our prayers for healing are for the purpose of finding alignment with God. It appears that the sincere desire to be close to God inspires us to find healing for our own broken hearts, broken peace, or even broken bodies; and this is the same inspiration that impels us to extend that same kind of healing for others.
Please join the conversation and tell us your healing experiences. Click on the comments button at the end of the show notes, here on the website, “spirituality and Christianity.com.” thank you!
References from the podcast:
- Healing in the History of Christianity, Amanda Porterfield, p. 158
- Saint Blaise
- Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp.326-442
S+C | Intimately close to God
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on February 7th, 2009
Episode #17 is a conversation with John Bunce, a spiritually motivated Roman Catholic, who has experienced what he calls intimacy with God.
That kind of close encounter with God can seem both scary and profoundly satisfying, and it certainly never leaves us where it found us. 
We discussed two basic ways of finding that kind of intimacy with God. One is through love, and the other is from listening, which is of course a form of listening. We both recognize the way some people tend to balk at this type of spiritual experience, so we talk about why we don’t believe these objections are necessary. John’s experience with the writings of St. Theresa of Avila and of Thomas Merton, and my experience with the writings of Mary Baker Eddy give us rich background for the mutual exploration of our subject.
Our stories cover John’s 4-day experience at the monastery at Gethsemane, in Kentucky and one of my aha! moments that lead to physical healing. These types of experience may be relatively brief, but they are fundamentally transforming, Interestingly, we both found that our private, intimate experience with God always ends up enlarging our heart for humanity. Rather than indulging selfishness with privileges from God, we concur that intimacy with God is the foundation for more commitment to comforting and helping others.
Here are links to some of the subjects and events we talked about.
S+C | Why be a Christian dissident?
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on August 6th, 2008
Episode #13 is a conversation about the challenges of living the conscience that disagrees with the official policies of the Church you love so much.
Barbara is a Roman Catholic who has been faithful to the calling she has felt since she was a young child, to be in the priesthood. While she was young, she hoped the Church would change its policies regarding women in the priesthood, but that hasn’t happened.
I have been raised in a church (Christian Science) founded by a woman, so I have lived with the assumption of equality between men and women in the Church. And yet, I relate to Barbara’s struggle, because Mary Baker Eddy, the woman who founded my denomination, struggled with opposition to the Christian church authority on other topics that were established around the time of the first Church Councils in the fourth century.
Even though the mainstream Christian Church still opposes what Barbara and I find true in our Christian lives, we agree it’s necessary to hold our ground. We both see a need to inspire Christians to return to earlier Church practices that both liberate women and support spiritual healing. Our motives are to be closer to God and to serve others, and we have no interest in opposition for the sake of argument. Barbara is preparing to become a hospital chaplain; and I’m in the healing ministry using prayer and Bible study.
We’d love to welcome your thoughts on the subject. Have you experienced a heart-felt disagreement with the Church you love? If you have, how are you praying about it? How are you being guided to deal with it? Be sure to leave your comments here at the end of the show notes on Spirituality and Christianity.
Here are some links related to our discussion:
S+C | Is the monastic life — or prayer — selfish, or good for humanity?
Posted by: Shirley Paulson in Podcast on May 12th, 2008
Episode #9 is a conversation between Judy Valente, a devout Roman Catholic and myself, a devout Christian Scientist, on the subject of monasticism.
Judy’s experience as a contributor for PBS’s Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly and commentator for Chicago and National Public Radio, as well as her personal quest for spiritual meaning, continue to draw her simultaneously deeper into the heart of humanity and into the private chambers of her own heart. 
One of my teachers at seminary was not at all happy with my own efforts to claim the unity of doing good for humanity and taking time for prayer and contemplation. Judy and I discuss the current tension between what’s known as the “contemplative life” and the “active life.” In every day terms, that means, “Is praying and contemplating God a privilege for the wealthy that keeps them from actually doing something for those less fortunate?”
Both of us draw on our faith traditions to express the power and beauty of what Judy thinks of as monastic practices, and what I think of as prayer. And from those experiences, we’re both convinced that these quiet, private moments of communion with God do contribute to the blessings for humanity.
Tell us what you think about this conversation, here on Spirituality and Christianity.com. We think a better understanding of the monastic life — or prayer life — would benefit not only those who take up the practice, but also the whole world. Click on “Comments” below to contribute to the conversation.
Mentioned in this podcast: