Quotes for Living Your Strengths:
As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people the
permission to do the same. –Nelson Mandela
The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness
and the world’s deep hunger meet. –Frederick Buechner
I am blessed. So I can bless. So this is happiness…I am a flame to light
other flames. –Ann Voskamp
What a joyful thought to realize you are a chosen vessel for God—perfectly
suited for His use. –Joni Eareckson Tada
Begin today! No matter how feeble the light, let it shine as best it may.
The world may need just that quality of light which you have. –Henry C.
Blinn
Everyone has inside himself a piece of good news! The good news is that
you really don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what
you can accomplish and what your potential is. –Anne Frank
St. Catherine of Sienna: “God said to me, “I could well have made human
beings in such a way that they each had everything, but I preferred to give
different gifts to different people, so that they would all need each other.”
Parker Palmer's book:
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
Today I understand vocation quite differently-not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift
to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize
beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation
does not come from a voice "out there" calling me to be something that I am not. It
comes from a voice "in here" calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the
original selfhood given me at birth by God.
It is a strange gift, this birthright gift of self. Accepting it turns out to be even more
demanding than attempting to become someone else! I have sometimes responded to
that demand by ignoring the gift, or hiding it, or fleeing from it, or squandering it--and I
think I'm not alone. There is a Hasidic tale that reveals with amazing brevity, both the
universal tendency to want to be someone else and the universal importance of
becoming oneself: Rabbi Zusya, when he was an old man said, "In the coming world,
they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses?' They will ask me: 'Why were you not
Zusya?'"
From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues
may be hard to decode. But trying to interpret them is profoundly worthwhile-especially when we are in our twenties, thirties, and forties, feeling profoundly lost,
having wandered, or been dragged, far away from our birthright gifts.
Those clues are helpful in counteracting the conventional concept of vocation, which
insists that our lives must be driven by "oughts". As noble as that may sound, we do not
find our callings by conforming ourselves to some abstract moral code. We find our
callings by claiming authentic selfhood, by being who we are, by dwelling in the world as
Zusya rather than straining to be Moses. The deepest vocational question is not "What
ought I do with my life?" It is the more elemental and demanding "Who am I? What is
my nature?"
Ignatian Prayers:
Grant me, O Lord, to see everything now with new eyes,
to discern and test the spirits
that help me read the signs of the times,
to relish the things that are yours, and to communicate them to others.
Give me the clarity of understanding that you gave Ignatius.
-Pedro Arrupe
Prayer to Know God's Will
May it please the supreme and divine Goodness
to give us all abundant grace
ever to know his most holy will
and perfectly to fulfill it.
-St. Ignatius of Loyola
Suscipe
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
-St. Ignatius of Loyola
Prayer of a First Jesuit
With great devotion and new depth of feeling,
I hope and beg, O God, that it finally be given to me
to be the servant and minister of Christ the consoler,
the minister of Christ the redeemer,
the minister of Christ the healer,
the liberator, the enricher, the strengthener.
To be able through you to help many-to console, liberate and give them courage;
to bring them light not only for their spirit
but also for their bodies,
and bring as well other helps to the soul and body
of each and every one of my neighbors.
I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
-Blessed Peter Faber, S.J., from his Memoriale
God of Surprises
May the God of Surprises delight you, inviting you to accept gifts not yet imagined.
May the God of Transformation call you, opening you to continual renewal.
May the God of Justice confront you, daring you to see the world through God's eyes.
May the God of Abundance affirm you, nudging you towards deeper trust.
May the God of Embrace hold you, encircling you in the hearth of God's home.
May the God of Hopefulness bless you, encouraging you with the fruits of faith.
May the God of Welcoming invite you, drawing you nearer to the fullness of God's
expression in you.
May God Who is Present be with you, awakening you to God in all things,
all people, and all moments. May God be with you.
St. Teresa's Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you
are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite
possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us
Prayer for Professionals
I want what You want, O Lord. By asking You for guidance with complete confidence and
faith that You are helping me, nothing that I am called upon to do becomes too much or
too bothersome. Nor is there any room for worry.
I will find it easy to ask You each day to be a partner in my work to help me get things
done to weigh my actions and decisions in the light of: Is this right? Is this just? Is this
doing Your will?•
With Your help I will make decisions better and faster, knowing that You will not lead
me astray. I will have confidence that, by wanting what You want, I need not worry
about the outcome. So I will live my life, knowing that it is Your will that I accomplish.
An Examination of My Use of Time
Killing Time
How do I kill time?
Let me count the ways.
By worrying about things
over which I have no control.
Like the past.
Like the future.
By harboring resentment
and anger
over hurts
real or imagined.
By disdaining the ordinary
or, rather, what I
so mindlessly
call ordinary.
By concern over whats in it for me,
rather than whats in me
for it.
By failing to appreciate what is
because of might-have-beens,
should-have-beens,
could-have-beens.
These are some of the ways
I kill time.
Jesus didn’t kill time.
He gave life to it.
His own.
Leo Rock SJ
Other Prayer Sources
http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/prayers-by-st-ignatius-and-others/
Link to book Hearts on Fire with prayers by Jesuits during the Spiritual Exercises.
See a preview here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=QJUmXKDvuVUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&
q&f=false
WELCOME EMAIL
2 Weeks before first meeting
Dear Participant in the Living Your Strengths Small Group,
You are about to begin a journey that could change your life. You will soon discover
your five top talent themes given to you by God. You will find out just how uniquely He
made you, and hopefully discover how these talents can affect your life and your faith.
Like most anything in life, you get back what you are willing to give. Our LYS Small
Group meets for six consecutive weeks starting Sunday, April 19th, and will last no
longer than 60 minutes each time. It is very important that you be able to attend all
sessions. If you already know of schedule conflicts, please consider joining a future
group.
Pre-work:
The pre-work for our LYS Small Group is as follows:
 Pick up your books at the St. Peter Parish Office between 9am – 4pm [DATES].
The participation fee which includes books with test code is $20.00 (checks made out to
St. Peter Catholic Church, LYS on memo line) and can be picked up in the church office.
1.
Living your Strengths, Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your
Community (Catholic Addition), by Winseman, Clifton and Liesveld
2.
The Participant’s Guidebook to The Living your Strengths Journey
Read the Preface, Foreword and Introduction in the Living your Strengths book
(approximately 15-20 minutes), and take the on-line Clifton StrengthsFinder™ with your
code found in the back page of the book. The on-line assessment is timed and takes
from 30 to 40 minutes.
After you have taken the online assessment, please email your top 5 talent themes to
Joan Guthrie at jguthrie@stpeterscatholic.org by Thursday, April 16th so that we can
prepare necessary materials for our group.
Also, please read pages 1 through 15 in the Participants Guidebook prior to the
Orientation Session. Future sessions Prework is less complicated (approximately 10
minutes per day) and will be reviewed at subsequent sessions. We hope you enjoy the
journaling time!
May God bless you and our group on your Strengths journey!
Michelle and Joan
Facilitators Living Your Strengths Journey
Alternate first letter:
I am excited to welcome you to the Living Your Strengths small group starting in
January!
We will be meeting Tuesdays at 7:00 starting January 6th. We will meet for 6 weeks and
finish just before Lent. Rebecca and I will be your facilitators and will provide light
snacks and drinks for our meeting. We will meet at Rebecca's house: address.
The cost for us to run the program and gather materials is $20 per person. You can take
your check to St. Peters Office during office hours and pick up your book, Living your
Strengths, Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community, and
Participant Guidebook at that time. Please call ahead of time. The phone number is
(704) 332-2901 and the hours are Mon-Fri 8:30-3:00. If you cannot make it during office
hours, you can mail your check and we can arrange to get the materials to you.
After you receive your book, find the code in the back and take the on-line Clifton
StrengthsFinder™ test. The on-line assessment is timed and takes from 30 to 40
minutes. Once you find your top 5 talent themes, please email them in the order they
were given to you to Joan at jguthrie@stpeterscatholic.org.
We are also asking that you read the preface, foreward, and introduction in the book
and pages 1-15 in the Participant Guide (journal) to be prepared. (It is a quick
read.) Attached is a schedule of the pre-work for the upcoming sessions.
Please feel free to email or call Rebecca or I with any questions or concerns.
Midweek email for Week 3
I am amazed, Lord God of the universe,
that you attend to me and, more, cherish me.
Create in me the faithfulness that moves you,
and I will trust you and yearn for you all my days. - Joseph Tetlow, SJ
Good afternoon NAME,
Here is a tool for doing your Holding Up the Mirror Exercise. I hope this experience is
giving you some helpful insights!
Name of LYS Journey participant
Strengths/Talents Talent Description
People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can
organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this
ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources
Arranger
can be arranged for maximum productivity.
Strategic
People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create
alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they
can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Achiever
People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a
great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction
from being busy and productive.
Activator
People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can
make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are
often impatient.
Positivity
People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have
an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get
others excited about what they are going to do.
Monday evening we’ll turn and talk with a partner about our insights from the Mirror
exercise.
We will look at which talents take “center stage” in your relationship with God.
When you think about your spiritual growth, which of your talents come to
mind?
Then, let’s try to answer why we need our greatest talents to fulfill our
calling. We are called to meet a need, why and how will I use these talents to
meet it?
Peace,