Upcoming Retreats
Mondays, 7-8:30pm, Dec. 21, 28; Jan. 4, 11, 18, 25
with Maria DiBello, RSM
with Cathy Maguire, RSM
Thursday, Jan. 14, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
with Jackie Newns
Saturday, Jan. 16, 9:30am-12:30pm
with Boreta Singleton
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 6:30-8:30pm
with Marie Michelle Donnelly, RSM
Saturday, Jan. 30, 10am-3 pm
with Kathleen Duffy, SSJ
All programs are offered virtually on Zoom. Scholarships are available because everyone is welcome at Cranaleith. Please email [email protected] so we can assist you.
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When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth
And by greed and pride the sky is torn-
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.
Madeleine Engle
Dear Friends,
What a perfect time for Christmas! Isolation, disappointment, illness, lost wages, injustices and even the weather weigh us down. Just so, in our darkness, God comes to live, knowing our suffering firsthand and bringing us love to uphold and transform us.
As we long for joy, God’s own longing surges across the distance between heaven and earth. We have witnessed God’s Love incarnate in our donors, volunteers, board members and committees. The suffering world entrusted to our embrace this year has revealed our deeper, more expansive belonging to one another.
We bless you with God’s tender compassion throughout this graced season. Please plan to nourish your spirit in 2021 at our programs! Meanwhile, may the joy of mercy sing in your hearts! Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
The Cranaleith Staff
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Glory to God in the Highest
And on earth,
Peace to people of good will!
Luke 2:14
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Cranaleith from Home is published every two weeks.
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Cranaleith Welcomes New Staff |
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We are pleased to introduce Elizabeth Hoffman, who joined our team as an Office Associate in November. She has a degree in Event Planning and has worked in program development and support as well as case management while serving at risk individuals and families living in poverty. In addition, she has raised Guide Dogs for the blind and Service Dogs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Elizabeth currently resides in Bensalem with her spouse. In her free time she enjoys hiking, reading, and exploring historic sites.
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Danielle Lehr Schagrin (dan-YELL LEAR SHAY-grin) is delighted to join the Cranaleith team as Director of Development and Marketing! Trained as a public historian, Danielle has spent her career in history museums, most recently as a development writer for Pennsbury Manor. She looks forward to sharing Cranaleith’s rich history and spiritual mission with others. In addition to reading and writing about history, Danielle enjoys visiting coffee shops with her husband, exploring old churches, and listening to music.
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Opportunities for Growth in 2021 |
Start the new year with hope!
Connect with God, other seekers and great ideas
at one of our online programs.
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Conversations between Generations |
Thursday, January 14, 6:30-8:30pm
Categorizing people by their generation can be useful in some ways, but it can also blind us to our common humanity. Join in a Spirit-infused evening of conversation about the “big picture” questions of life as well as pressing issues of our day.
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Sign up with a friend/family member from another generation (18+). Makes a great Christmas gift! |
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Deep River: African American Spirituality |
Saturday, January 16,
9:30am-12:30pm
Explore the richness and depth in Scripture centuries of songs, writings, poetry and commentaries on
Spirituals by African Americans.
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Deer Fence Installed!
Thank you to our Board member, Ron Selzer, for donating funds to build a deer fence around our community garden that will ensure future seasons of bountiful gardens!
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We are pleased to share the 2020-2021 Annual Appeal and the 2019-2020 Annual Report! Download your copy here to learn how your support has sustained Cranaleith’s mission through these difficult times.
As we look forward to 2021, we are blessed to announce that, thanks to a generous donor, all contributions to our annual appeal will be matched up to $25,000! With your financial support, we will continue to provide quality virtual programs and retreats to help you reflect, renew, and restore!
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Today, December 17, the Church begins the vigil week before Christmas. This time of intense prayer and waiting is marked by the O Antiphons, a series of introductions for the Magnificat, recited as part of Evening Prayer. Each antiphon focuses on a different title of Jesus: Wisdom, Adonai (Lord of Lords), Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Dawn, King of Nations and Emmanuel (God-with-Us). Read the beautiful poems of Malcolm Guite written for each antiphon or listen to the author recite them. |
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Read from Home:
James Martin, America, 12/13/20
Even before Jesus was born, then, Joseph’s tender compassion and forgiving heart were on full display. Read more
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“Winter Solstice”
by Rebecca Parker
Perhaps
for a
moment
the typewriters will
stop clicking,
the wheels stop
rolling
the computers desist
from computing,
and a hush will fall
over the city.
For an instant, in
the stillness,
the chiming of the
celestial spheres will be heard
as earth hangs
poised
in the crystalline
darkness, and then
gracefully
tilts…
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Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
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Reflect from Home
Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B
2Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 4a, 16 & Lk 1:26-38
Mary must nurture the child within; she grows in love for this unknown person as the months pass. She endures the hardships of her pregnancy and the birthing. Then she must let this new person grow beyond her. We too must accept our roles, add our labor and love and let God grow in our world.
For reflection:
- What is your favorite story of God’s support from the Bible, your family history or your own life?
- Discuss with God in prayer the future God wants you to build.
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Listen from Home
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“Ave Maria” by JS Bach/Gounod, performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott
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Resources From Home
Community Support
Explore from Home
Spiritual Direction
Psychotherapy is also available. Please contact Leslie Porreca, RSM, LCSW.
Retreats
Individual retreats available -- both online and onsite options! Call Maria DiBello, RSM, at 215-934-6206 or visit our website www.cranaleith.org/retreats to learn more.
Connect With Us Online
Get daily prayers, reflections, blog posts and images from our beautiful property via our website and social media channels.
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Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Cranaleith offers a contemplative space for all those seeking wholeness and transformation for themselves and society. We are committed to making Cranaleith accessible to all, especially to persons who are poor and those who work in solidarity with them. We invite those at the center of need and those at the center of influence to reflection, reverent dialogue and meaningful partnerships. Please help us support our work.
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Cranaleith Spiritual Center | 13475 Proctor Road | Phila., PA 19116
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