MONTHLY SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

9 Wednesdays    3:30 – 4:45 PM

If you need or desire a retreat but simply cannot get away, please give yourself the gift of this retreat that invites you to pray with Scripture each day using the format of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. We will meet monthly for sharing and input on the next month’s prayer.  This is a wonderful way to experience the Spiritual Exercises.    Love Offering

MEETING CHRIST IN PRAYER
8-WEEK EXPERIENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

8 Wednesdays  7:00 – 8:30 PM

September 15, 22, 29
October 6, 13, 20, 27
November 3

This is another wonderful way to experience the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. You will be invited to pray about 30 minutes each day. If your relationship with God is pleading for attention and if you feel called by God to be more attentive and prayerful, please treat yourself to this 8-week retreat.

You will:

• Learn to pray more deeply
• Grow in friendship with God
• Come to know Jesus more intimately
• Savor the Word of God as a primary means of recognizing the presence and action of God

Love offering.

MERTON SERIES: SOUL SEARCHING

4 Thursdays    7:00 – 8:30 PM

September 16 & 30
October 14 & 28

Merton speaks to the soul like no other. He gently leads us toward spiritual transformation and a more contemplative and peace-filled life. Merton reminds us: “Your life is shaped by the ends you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.” We will study Merton in these four sessions and let his pursuit of his true self in God foster our own search. Topics include:

Entering the School of Your Experience

Traveling Your Road to Joy

Writing Yourself into the Book of Life

You will receive a book each evening to lead you through your two weeks of prayer between sessions. Come to as many as you can, but please come to the first one if possible. Please register early. Donation: $50 for the series, including books, or $20 each session.

ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE

4  Thursdays    4:00 – 5:00 PM

Spend the next few months being saturated with the words of Fr. Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J. who insists, in his classic, Abandonment to Divine Providence, that abandoning ourselves to God and God’s will for us changes anxiety into peace and fear into confidence. He teaches us how to give ourselves over to God and actually live in consolation and trust. Donation $50 (includes book)

STUDY OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

9  Thursdays    1:00 – 2:15 PM

We continue our study of St. John of the Cross this year using The Science of the Cross by Edith Stein, OCD.  St. Edith Stein is remarkable in her treatment of the works of St. John of the Cross.  We will follow with Lectio Divina and Contemplative Prayer from 2:30 – 3:30 for those who can stay. Donation: $150.

TASTE AND SEE

12 Thursdays    8:45 – 9:45 AM

September 16 to December 9

Invite God into your relationship with food! This weekly gathering will help us eat healthfully, enjoy food as God desires and enjoy God even more than food! Are you willing? Pray for the grace and act as though you have it. We will also read  Addiction and Grace by Gerald May and Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh.  Donation: $100 for the series or $10 single session.

FRIDAY MORNING RETREAT
LISTEN TO THE MASTERS

Francis of Assisi, Evelyn Underhill,
The Cloud of Unknowing and Mother Teresa

4 Fridays    9:30 AM  –  Noon

We all need consolation. These readings provide just what we need for strength and encouragement on the journey. We will spend one morning each month together, and the rest of the month praying over the content of these treasures, allowing their words to saturate us with wisdom and peace. These retreat mornings provide time for private prayer and direct our prayer and reading for the month.  Donation: $150 (includes 4 books)

TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST
A THOMAS KEATING SERIES

9 Fridays    1:00 – 2:15 PM

September 17 & 24
October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
November 12 & 19

This series condenses the accumulated wisdom of Father Thomas Keating’s many years of teaching and practice into nine essential topics. Each of our nine sessions will include 20 minutes of Contemplative Prayer and viewing and discussing one of the nine 20-minute DVD’s of Thomas Keating. This program invites all who feel called to a deeper, quieter prayer, to more centeredness, joy and interior peace. Come to as many as you can. Donation: $100 for the series or $15 each session.

SPIRITUAL READING GROUP

9 Fridays    6:30 – 8:30 PM

Good spiritual reading is a must for spiritual growth. Companions on the journey help with the practice of this spiritual exercise. This will be fun as well as fruitful. Can you devote one Friday night a month to this pursuit? This year we will feast on a variety of spiritual gems:

Becoming Who You Are……… James Martin, SJ
Mystical Hope………………….. Cynthia Bourgeault 
The Gift of Peace…… Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Faith in the Darkness……………. Mother Teresa

Donation: $150

LIVING CONTEMPLATIVELY

9 Saturdays    9:30 AM – 3:30 PM

This program calls out to those who desire to live more contemplatively in the world, to grow in union with God and others, and to become more aware, intentional and free.  God liberates us and heals us through the practice of contemplative prayer.  It’s worth a day a month and an hour a day.  We will focus on three works of Thomas Merton and use his Bridges to Contemplative Living series as our guide throughout the year. Bring a bag lunch. Tuition: $325.

CLASSICS ON CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

10 Tuesdays     6:30 – 8:30 PM

We will be instructed in contemplative prayer by the best teachers.  We will begin with the classic, The Cloud of Unknowing and follow that with The Contemplative Heart, by James Finley. The evening includes Lectio Divina and two 20-minute sessions of contemplative prayer.  We will also view some 20 minute DVD’s of Thomas Keating as time permits.     Donation: $150 (includes both books).

NOTHING BUT PRAYER

4  Tuesdays    6:30 – 7:30 PM

We will gather for one hour of prayer, nothing but prayer. We will have two 20-minute periods of Centering Prayer with Lectio Divina between them. Come and pray!  Love Offering.

FALLING INTO THE ARMS OF GOD
STUDY OF ST. TERESA OF AVILA

3  Wednesdays    9:00 – 10:30 AM

This 3-part program is for those who would like to read St. Teresa’s Interior Castle but find it challenging. Megan Don, in Falling into the Arms of God, has simplified the task without diminishing this spiritual classic. If your prayer life needs a lift and you feel God’s invitation to go deeper, please come. It is worth the effort to understand how God takes you through the seven dwelling places of your soul.  Donation: $50 (includes book)

LANDSCAPES OF THE SOUL:
A SPIRITUALITY OF PLACE

6  Mondays   9:30 AM  – Noon

A new awareness of place is developing in those who are serious about their spiritual lives. This new awareness seeks to pay attention to how the ordinary places, the places where we live our everyday lives, shapes and forms our spiritual consciousness. Come to be with others who are experiencing this new awareness and to deepen this activity of God in you. These sessions will provide time for private prayer and will enrich our prayer and discussion. Donation: $175 includes book. Presenter: Sister Sheila Holly, SSJ