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PLEASE NOTE THE CORRECTION OF THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE OCT 12-14 RETREAT AND THE OCT 27 QUIET DAY. Our apologies for any confusion.

We have many amazing weekend retreats, quiet Saturdays and special opportunities coming up!  

Click on any of the poster images below to download the poster

to share with your church, family and friends!

A quick glance at the calendar shows that the end of summer is fast approaching. For some people Labour Day weekend is the traditional end of summer, others grimly hang on until the autumnal equinox which this year will fall on September 22 ^nd.

Either way, the end of summer and beginning of autumn serves as a time of transition. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about liminal spaces, those in-between places we all experience as we journey through our lives.

 

In chapter 7 of the Gospel of Luke we read the story of Jesus raising a young man from the dead. The young man is described as his mother’s only son and the woman is a widow. Jesus meets the widow and the funeral procession at the town gates. The gates are physically a place of transition but I would argue they also function as an emotional place of transition for the widow.

She is leaving town to bury her only son and Jesus meets her in that space. The Gospel says that Jesus has compassion on her and tells her not to cry. Does Jesus look ahead to his own mother at the foot of the cross? Jesus, in raising the young man from the dead and in lovingly returning him to his mother, completely upends the widow’s expectations and utterly transforms her life.

 

I enjoy reading, or hearing about, how Jesus upends people’s lives. Somewhat hypocritically, I don’t like having my own life upended so much. I especially don’t like times of transition or liminal spaces where I can feel the uncertain ground beneath my feet. I like sharp edges and clearly defined boundaries. I like to know where I am going and how I am going to get there. I like answers, not questions. In her poem ‘... That Passeth All Understanding’ Denise Levertov asks a series of questions about those liminal spaces.

 

“Was there

some moment

dividing

song from no song?

 

When does dewfall begin?

 

When does night

fold its arms over our hearts

to cherish them?

 

When is daybreak?”

 

These questions beautifully illustrate the impossibility of sharp edges and neatly drawn lines. And, If I’m honest with myself, I acknowledge that it is in those liminal spaces where God meets me. I think those places of transition are places where we are most open and vulnerable. Those places where we have to admit that we don’t have solid ground underfoot, and that we don’t know which way to go, are the very places where God has room to work in our lives.

 

If you would like some help negotiating those in-between places in your own life consider one of our Food for the Soul events. Starting again this September we have many different events including one last Quiet Garden Day (until next summer!), a scarf dying workshop, several silent directed retreats and others including Transforming Grief and Spirituality for Activists.

 

~~ Sister Wendy Grace

Compassionate Chair Yoga

 

Alternate Tuesdays

Join us in a practice of compassion for your body, mind and spirit. Wear loose comfortable clothing suitable for the Yoga practice.

Recommended donation for each session: $38 ($20 for Yoga practice, and $18 for dinner: the portion for the Yoga practice will go as an unreceipted donation to the Sisterhood.) Payable by personal cheque or cash only.

 

Led by Barb Rosen , a certified Kripalu (Compassionate) Yoga Teacher

Weekend Retreat     

Transforming Grief

September 28 - 30 

Registration must be RECEIVED by September 21

Grief is transformative; of that, there is no doubt. Yet, because of the suffering that attends the grief experience, we shrink from its embrace.

In so doing, we miss much of what the Body of Christ has to offer us by way of guidance, sustenance and companionship in our suffering.

As grief itself is transformational, we seek the guidance of the Spirit in transforming our experience of grief.

Our time together will carry a gentle, sacramental character. Guided by a unique perspective on the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, we will enfold our life experience with Scripture, the wisdom of the saints, particularly St. John of the Cross, silence and song.

We pray that our time together will secure for us not only a methodology for future practice but a refreshing and grounding experience of Grace.

Led by The Rev. Max Woolaver , parish priest at St. Andrew’s, Grimsby

Click here for more details.

Silent Directed Retreat

Tuesday - Thursday

October 2 - 4 

Registration must be RECEIVED by September 25

Our God of love so desires to meet with you in the quiet of your heart. Carve out time to come aside and be still, to let your soul settle into the quiet of the Convent and Guest House, to be intimately present to yourself and to God.

A trained spiritual guide will meet with you twice during the silence and solitude of your retreat to help you listen for the movement of God in your prayer and life journey.

Your spiritual guide can introduce you to ways of prayer and suggest scriptural or other prayer content, and you are welcome to bring your contemplative crafts and journal.

Click here for more details.

(Not so!) Quiet Saturday  

Mosaic of C o l o u r s

Saturday October 6

(please note change of date)

Registration must be RECEIVED by September 30

Discover your creativity and enjoy the challenge, fun and fellowship of making colour-dyed silk scarves as Christmas gifts for yourself or others.

Led by Sr. Jessica Kennedy, SSJD ,

Click here for more details.

Weekend Retreat

A Hearts Journey:

A Sacred Journey

October 12 - 14 

Registration must be RECEIVED by October 5

Our hearts have a way of “knowing” that is beyond reason and logic, beyond all visible reality. Our hearts have a way of “hearing” even the softest whisper and beyond it the depths of silence.

Through creative reflection and ritual, scripture story and imagery, music and song, Monica and Hilary will draw participants into a renewed appreciation of a spirituality of the heart.

We will explore the mystery of the Universe Story as the mystery of our own story

Led by Hilary Musgrave and Monica Brown.

Click here for more details.

Quiet Saturday  

Spirituality for Activists

Saturday October 27

Registration must be RECEIVED by October 20

Many Christians are activists by nature – seeking ways to make a difference through involvement in service, politics, social justice, and community life.

We can be tempted to be disappointed and discouraged when things don’t get better, or to assume that we are responsible.

Take time on this Quiet Day to still your heart, to ask the Spirit for the strength to persist, to take on the mind of Christ, and to find your true centre in God.

Led by the Rev. Maylanne Maybee , a deacon who recently retired as Principal of the Centre for Christian Studies in Winnipeg.

Before that, she worked in the areas of peace, justice, and ecology for the office of General Synod, served in inner city communities and parishes in Toronto, and coordinated a cross-Canada network of faith-based practitioners of social ministry.



Click here for more details.

Listening for the Heartbeat of God

Lecture by John Philip Newell

Friday, November 2 at 7pm

Lecture followed by reception and book signing.

One of the most cherished images in the Celtic world is the memory of John the Beloved leaning against Jesus at the Last Supper.

It was said of him that he heard the heartbeat of God, and has become a symbol of the practice of deep listening for the beat of the Sacred within ourselves, one another, and the earth.

This stream of Christian wisdom from the earliest centuries is flowing again. It moves us to be aware of the Sacred at the heart of every moment and calls us back into true relationship with the earth, one another, and ourselves.



Click here for more details.