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Program Descriptions
SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE TRAINING PROGRAM
The Racine Dominican Retreat Program is accepting applications for its fifth Spiritual Guidance Training Program, which runs January 2009 to November 2010. An ecumenical staff leads this two-year program, based on the Christian tradition and enriched by various faith perspectives. Permeating the process and content of the program is a belief in the sacredness of all creation and of human experience as the place of God's revelation. Belief in God's unconditional love for and presence in creation is foundational.
Candidates for this program will need some theological background. Training consists of eight annual three-day sessions, and utilizes several learning styles throughout the two years. Graduates will receive a certificate of completion. Maximum enrollment is 28.
Staff: Miriam Brown, OP; Judith Chiodo; Judith Christopher; Sharon Gray, SCN; and Rita Lui, OP
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THREADS OF LIFE: A Weaving Retreat
An Individual Retreat for Creativity, Contemplation and Conversation
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle." (Job 7:16)
This retreat offers the opportunity to learn the art of loom weaving as one experiences a silent retreat and a daily meeting with a spiritual guide. The creation of a weaving will be a process in which one is invited to reflect on the fabric of her life. The participant will learn the essentials for continued weaving.
Contact: Kathleen Bohn, OP
Dates: Five day minimum, dates as requested and available.
Cost: $475 for five days, $95 each additional day.
Includes room and board, daily spiritual guidance, weaving classes and materials.
Registration form
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CENTERING PRAYER GROUP - Ongoing Thursdays (In fall this will change to Wednesdays.)
Need a midweek refresher time? Start your day praying with others. 20 minutes of silent centering prayer followed by 20 minutes of reading and brief discussion on prayer or spirituality.
Facilitators: Rev. Michael Mueller and Pat Shutts
Dates: Ongoing Thursday mornings
Time: 7:00 - 7:45 a.m.
Cost: Free-will offering
Registration form
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WOMEN FOR WOMEN - A Life-Giving Circle
Be good to yourself!
Slow down, catch your breath, connect with other women, and connect with God. At each gathering we share life: dealing with relationships, knowing who we really are, exploring life's transitions, joys and struggles. We ask questions and learn from the wisdom of each other. We take time to breathe, listen to music, pray, and reflect.
Because our times are changing so fast, it is not easy to know what we really believe anymore. This year, Joan Chittister's In Search of Belief will be a springboard for our sharing. Joan offers contemporary meaning to the sometimes too familiar words of the Apostle's Creed. Come breathe new life into your faith and relationship with God. All are welcome to attend the entire series or to come as you are able.
Facilitator: Pat Shutts
Dates: Saturdays 2008: January 12, February 9, March 8, April 19, May 3 and June 14. Gatherings will discontinue over the summer and resume in fall.
Time: 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Cost: $12.50 per session ($100 for series)
Register at least a week before the first session you attend.
Registration Form
Summer Retreats
Soul Sisters: Women Called to Connect,
Bond and Heal in a Broken World
We're happy to welcome back Edwina Gateley to Siena Center! During this retreat we will explore the feminine divine and how women have a significant role to play in bringing balance and healing to our world of war and suffering. We will take a look at the history of God as Mother and explore how women in Scripture, as well as contemporary women, can be models of hope and new life for our globe. This time with God, our souls and our sisters, will leave us forever changed!
Presenter: Edwina Gateley
Dates: Sunday - Saturday, June 29-July 5, 2008. Check in after 1:00 on Sunday. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$440 (incl. $50 n/r deposit)
Clock Hours: 6.0 Theol. B/I/A/M Registration Form
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Dominic: Reclaiming a Founder
This is a generally silent preached retreat centered on the life, character, and spirituality of Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). Besides conferences and illustrated presentations on Dominic's life, there will be opportunities for group exchange. Participants will be invited to share in the planning and leading of evening prayers, drawing inspiration from Dominic's Nine Ways of Prayer.
Presenter: Suzanne Noffke, OP
Sunday - Saturday, July 6-12, 2008. Check-in after 1:00 pm on Sunday. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$410 (incl. $50 n/r deposit) Registration Form
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Praying with the Words of God:
Sacred Writings Stuck to Your Refrigerator Door
Some words and images strike us. They become mantras, refrigerator post-its, quotes in our journals, "holy cards." They fit with our mood, put forth a dream, or make us smile. We keep them before us to make us more whole human beings -- more grateful, more compassionate, more accepting of life's challenges and alive to life's goodness. They are our prayers.
In the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina (meditating on the Divine Word) one prays with words from the Scriptures. In our reflection time, knowing that God speaks to us in many tongues, we will listen for God's word not only in Scripture but from the broad "lectio" of life. When words ignite in us they become a powerful connection with God.
If you have some special words or images that have spoken to you recently (sayings, poems, cards, Scriptures, quotes, cartoons) feel free to bring them along to share as examples or to pray with.
Presenter: Miriam Brown, OP
Fri-Sun, July 11-13, 2008. Check-in 6:00 pm. Retreat begins 7:30 and ends with the noon meal on Sunday.
$175 (incl. $40 n/r deposit)
Clock Hours: 4.0 Theol B/I/M Registration Form
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Contemplative Retreat for Women
Unique and rich in experience, this retreat combines daily meeting with a director, morning and evening prayer celebrated with symbol, and the opportunity for body prayer each day. Building upon the Universe Story, and sensitive to women's spirituality, this year's prayer theme will be Radiating Beauty in Our Universe Story. While this is a silent retreat, there will be designated optional times for retreatants to share with each other.
Directors: Kathleen Bohn, OP; Judy Chiodo, OSF; Judith Christopher; Paula Hirschboeck; Gail Ross; Pat Shutts; and Linda Wieser, OSF
Sunday - Saturday, July 13-19, 2008. Check-in after 1:00 pm. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$430 (incl. $50 n/r deposit) Registration Form
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Nurturing Life's Blessings
Embrace and nurture life's blessings, all of them, in a retreat tailored to your individual encounter with the Holy. This retreat includes a daily meeting with a director, time for solitude, and the opportunity to gather with others for prayer. The theme, Weaving Life into Prayer, will be the focus of the morning and evening prayers. Honor the Holy in mind, body and spirit while we move through our daily lives. While this is a silent retreat, there will be designated optional times for retreatants to share with each other.
Directors: Miriam Brown, OP; Claudia Greco; Mary Therese Johnson, OP; Diane Poplawski, OP; Clare Wagner, OP; Linda Wieser, OSF; and Jan Zeller.
Sunday - Saturday, July 20-26, 2008. Check-in after 1:00 pm. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$430 (incl. $50 n/r deposit) Registration Form
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Tapping Your Inner Well Through the Arts
Let your creativity flow freely. Spend a week in nature's quiet beauty and artistic expression and, if you wish, opportunities to speak one-on-one with a spiritual guide. You'll be able to choose the creative expression you wish to learn about, with time to go where you heart desires. Sharon, Pat and Georgene will offer sessions on heart painting, writing poetry, and playing music. Jean will bless us with her gift for classical piano. Let the creativity, the silence, the prayer, the lake, the music heal and strengthen you for the coming year. When registering, please indicate how often, if at all, you wish to meet with a spiritual guide.
Presenters: Sharon Gray, SCN; Pat Shutts; Georgene Wilson, OSF; and Jean Ackerman, OP
Sunday - Saturday, July 27 - August 2, 2008. Check-in after 1:00 pm. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$430 (incl. supplies and $50 n/r deposit) Registration Form
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A New Spirituality for a New Universe Story
This retreat will promote soul-searching for a spirituality that flows from The New Universe Story. Expand your capacity for amazement and contemplative awareness, and bring your insights to our common search as we journey with mystics, ancient and contemporary, who walked the path before us. The new Earth Story invites us all to become mystics. As de Chardin taught: "All around us, we see the DIVINE welling up and showing through." Through readings, old and new prayers and songs, Scripture, creative art experiences, meditation and sharing, this retreat will enable us to make practical the spirituality that these visionaries embraced.
Presenters: Lucy Edelbeck, OP, and Bobbi Gill
Sunday - Saturday, July 27-August 2, 2008. Check-in after 1:00 pm. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$410
Clock Hours: 6.0 Theol B/I/A/M Registration Form
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Yearning to Pray
The God-given desire to pray, planted in our hearts, is nurtured in this six-day silent retreat with conferences on contemplative living and creative approaches to prayer. Insights from Sacred Scripture and the writings of mystics, poets, and contemporary theologians will be shared as suggested material for extended times of personal prayer.
Presenter: Evelyn Jegen, rc
Sunday - Saturday, August 3-9, 2008. Check-in after 1:00 pm. Retreat begins at 3:00 and ends with the noon meal on Saturday.
$410 Registration Form
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Thank God for Evolution!
“God communicates through science. Facts are God’s native tongue.”
Is it necessary to choose between science and religion? What if they were two sides of the same coin? Could it be that our personal wellbeing and even the future of humanity hinge on their reunion? Drawing on cutting-edge astrophysics, geology, biology, anthropology, and evolutionary brain science, Rev. Dowd presents the history of the universe as an epic drama in which our generation has a crucial role to play.
“…reality consists of nested spheres – subatomic particles within atoms within molecules within cells within organisms within planets within galaxies. Each nested level exhibits divine creativity – the power to bring something new into existence that didn’t exist before.
“When I say evolution, I mean the cosmic, biological and human as one sacred story: galaxies, planets, life, human consciousness and culture. When [people] feel connected to ultimate reality, and know themselves to be a part of that, it becomes so much easier to exist with integrity, with love and compassion for the whole.
“Evolution helps us understand the challenges of life. Why do we struggle with what we struggle? Traditional religion says it’s the Fall, it’s original sin. But from an evolutionary theology perspective, original sin is a way of talking about what we call animal instincts.”
Presenter: Rev. Michael Dowd
Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Free-Will Offering
Registration Form
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The Spirituality of Power
A Day of Enrichment for Spiritual Guides
For people in the ministry of Spiritual Guidance, the topic of power is ever present. The experience of power’s use and abuse is all too often part of what seekers present. And whether we recognize it or not, how we present ourselves as Guides also comes out of our own beliefs about, and spirituality of, power. It is important that our exercise of power is life-giving. Some questions to ponder:
What happens in your body when you hear the word “power”?
How do you describe the power you exercise on a day-to-day basis?
What is your experience of God as all powerful?
Based on the assumption that power is central to spirituality, in this workshop, The Spirituality of Power, we will explore the nature of both human and divine power. Attention will be given to the different ways we exercise power as we companion others on their faith journey. We will be invited to rethink our relationships with others and with the divine in a way that is harmonious with the New Universe Story.
Saturday, September 20, 2008. Check in at 8:30 am. Program runs 9-4 pm.
$40 (incl. $10 n/r deposit and noon meal)
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Theology by the Lake 2008-2009
Instruction offered at Siena Center: Theological Study, Faith Development, and Spirituality to illumine your faith and deepen your spirit.
SCRIPTURE: September to December 2008
The Gospel according to Mark and some Biblical Wisdom Literature which will lead to a greater sensitivity to the wonders of creation. Faculty: Mary Michna, OP.
Introductory class - Basic: Tues. Sept. 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Intermediate/Maintenance/Advanced: Thurs. Sept. 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
(Attend appropriate level, even if not seeking clock hours or certification).
Six Classes, Thursdays, 6:30-8:30: Oct 2, 16, 23, Nov 6, 20, Dec 4
Integrating Retreat Day: Dec 6 or 13, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m..
THEOLOGY: January to April 2009
Mystery in Creation; Sacraments and Life; What it is to be “Catholic;” The Paschal Mystery; Gifts of the Spirit; Our Call and God’s Will. Faculty: Miriam Brown, OP.
Introductory class Basic: Tues. Jan 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Intermediate/Maintenance/Advanced: Thurs. Jan 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
(Attend appropriate level, even if not seeking clock hours or certification).
Six Classes, Thursdays 6:30-8:30: Jan 15, 29, Feb 12, 26, Mar 12, 26, (Apr 2 ‘snow day’)
Integrating Retreat Day: April 4, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Milwaukee Archdiocesan partial funding is available for catechists/teachers/ministers of youth. Get forms from DRE or school Principal. Enclose form with registration and payment.
Cost: One course: $90 with Archdiocesan form. $180 without form.
Both courses: $180 with Archdiocesan form. Without form, $360 to $300 as you are able to pay.
Eligible for diaconate funding.
Clock Hours (20 each course) if desired, awarded at end of course(s). Basic/Intermediate/Maintenance/Advanced.
Certification: full Basic, Intermediate, Advanced (need to complete both courses). Includes Methods/Psych.
Registration Form
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Advent Prayer Day Saturday, December 6, 2008
Topic TBA
Presented by Fr. Byron Haaland, SCJ
2009
"Awakening to a New Humanity"
Ecumenical Women's Retreat January 16-18, 2009
Facilitator: Paula Voelkel
Panel: Paulette Berggren, Mary Beth Danielson, and Susan Winecki
We are in the midst of a great transformative moment. There is a shift of consciousness taking place in our lifetime that is empowering, energizing and truly earth-shaking. The more aware we are of our deepest calling and our place in this movement, the more fulfilled and alive we will be. Paula Voelkel will facilitate a panel of women who are passionately involved in the great process of awakening to a New Humanity. Mary Beth Danielson, Paulette Berggren, and Susan Winecki will share their stories and their vision. Together we’ll tap the well of our greater vision and deeper power.
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From Religion Back to Faith:
Revisioning Our Story That We May Have Life
Is the world a better place because we believe?
Whom does religion serve?
Can we stop seeking once we believe what religion asks us to believe?
For many of us the "well" has run dry and we are longing for a depth encounter with the faith of our tradition. This retreat will allow for this opportunity. We will revisit our ancient stories and thoughtfully, in the context of today, question into them for their power and relevance. Our hope is to reconnect with the energy and with the dream, to revision and recommit ourselves. The retreat is structured with two one hour conferences and several dialogue and question periods in the evening.
Presenter: Barbara Fiand, SNDdeN
Friday - Sunday, February 13-15, 2009
Cost:
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Paula and Paul Voelkel
Couples' Retreat March 6-8, 2009
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Sharon Thyne
Breathing New Life March 13-15, 2009
A retreat for women survivors of sexual abuse.
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The Journey
A Wendell Berry poem, We Clasp the Hands, remarks how we “Pass in and out of life/Moving in a dance/To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it/Except in fragments.” In this weekend we’ll look at our life journey. What changes if we begin to listen for the subtle music of the dance? Or if we dare to ask ourselves, not what will I do next, but what wants to happen? Come to consider that there is a different way to be here.
Presenter: Paula D'Arcy
Friday - Sunday, April 3-5, 2009
Cost: $230
Registration Form
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Holy Week
Jesus was passionate about sharing God's love. For whom or what are we passionate?
Presenter: Paul Colloton, OP
Sunday – Thursday, April 5-9, 2009
Check-in at ____. Retreat begins at ____, ends with Thurs. noon meal.
Cost: $
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Triduum
Make your own private retreat during these most holy days of the liturgical year. Participate with the community at Siena Center in the rich liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.
Presenter: Paul Colloton, OP
Thursday - Sunday, April 9-12, 2009
Retreat begins with supper on Holy Thursday and ends with noon meal on Easter Sunday.
Cost: $
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Sharon Thyne
Title TBA April 23-26, 2009
A retreat for women survivors of sexual abuse.
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Radical Amazement
Abraham Heschel said that the only appropriate response to an encounter with the Holy is one of “radical amazement.” The discoveries of modern science over the last century are truly astounding and have completely changed the way we tell the story of creation. These findings provide new images for reflection, new metaphors for understanding. As this new telling of the Universe Story seeps into our awareness, it challenges us to expand the way we think about and respond to the life around us.
As clearly as the parables told by Jesus challenged his listeners to ask questions about who they were and what their relationships meant, so the Universe Story challenges us. Join author Judy Cannato in an exploration of the cosmos that evokes radical amazement and invites us into a contemplative awareness of the connectedness of all creation.
Reflections in this retreat are based on the book Radical Amazement, and the schedule provides time to savor each topic, daily silence, and optional opportunities for discussion.
Presenter: Judy Cannato
Sunday - Saturday, July 26-August 1, 2009
Cost: $440
Registration Form
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