2024 Retreats
Facilitators: Kathy Fleming and Victor Klimoski
Saturday, May 18, 2024 starting at 8:30 am and ending at 5:00 pm.
This day of reflection celebrates the mysterious ways the gifts of creation influence our inner lives. Expressing that gratitude has captivated writers and artists for centuries. Drawing on their newly published anthology of poems, essays, and art, Victor Klimoski and Kathy Fleming guide participants in using word and image to describe what they experience on a walk in the forest or as they watch the sun rise over a sleeping world or contemplate birds gathering at the backyard feeder. Creativity blossoms in simple acts of seeing with hearts opened wide.
Facilitator: Sheryl Lyndes Stowman, M. Div
Starting Friday, May 31st 7:00 and ending Saturday, June 1st at 3:00 pm
We can come toward our own souls with a curious adventurousness, much like we would if we were traveling in a new country or solving a mystery. What’s here? What haven’t I noticed before? How am I feeling my heart’s desire or sensing my gut instincts as I travel here. What don’t I understand yet?
In this retreat, we will take the time for a deeper exploration of your soul, in order to come into contact with what is present and unfolding. The methods we will use invite attunement to your inner experience, as you understand more about what blocks or expresses your soul’s aliveness. You may bring a question or challenge, or just a willingness to enter into the adventure of discovery. We call upon the loving Presence of our Source to support us and guide us, in ways that illuminate and open us to the possibilities we are ready for.
Facilitator: Lisa Mer
3 Sundays – July 14, 21, 28 starting at 2:00 pm and ending at 4:00 pm each day.
You are invited to dip into a safe and creative circle in which we’ll explore themes vital to meaning making in our lives. Over the course of three sessions you’ll experience the impact of the poem-making process as a roadmap to enhance and foster insights and wellness.
Poetry and poem-making are compelling and effective tools in the journey toward wholeness. It’s a language below the surface to view the world through a broader lens. Poetic Medicine is based on 20 years of groundbreaking work, from The Institute for Poetic Medicine and Poetry as a Tool for Wellness, integrating poetry and poem-making into mental health and wellness programs.
Sessions will include reflections on quotes/poems, writing prompts, and time to write and share what is speaking to you.
Spiritual Direction
It takes a bit of courage to reach out about spiritual direction because our journeys are personal and full of uncertainty. Members of the Benedictine Center’s spiritual direction team respect that just as much as we trust that the Holy Spirit is at work. Sometimes the most helpful next step is to have a personal conversation about your unique questions.aff
Call 651.777.7251 and speak privately about your situation.
Email the Benedictine Center to consider whether meeting one-on-one or in a group might be a good fit for you.
Request a free initial consultation, scheduled at your convenience.
From there the staff will prayerfully consider which person or group might be a good support to you. If you like, we’ll then have someone be in touch with you to set up a free initial consultation. That will be a time to explore your questions about and discuss expectations for the process. You might choose to continue meeting with this person, take some time to keep reflecting on the possibility, or get a recommendation about someone else who might help you deepen your relationship with God.
However your journey is unfolding, we wish you blessings.