Agenda: Workshop Presentations – Saturday October 3, 2015
Registration begins 8:30am / Workshop begins: 9:00am
Lunch provided at mid-day / Workshop ends: 4:00pm
ALL DAY: Morning Workshop 1A & Afternoon Workshop 1B
INTRODUCTION TO CENTERING PRAYER
Learn the method of Centering Prayer and how to deepen the practice.
This is an all-day program, so please enter 1A & 1B on the registration form.
Morning Workshop 2A &/or Afternoon Workshop 2B
SILENT SATURDAY
In the quiet and beauty of the church and surrounding grounds, enjoy a day of silence, readings, and reflection using prayer, meditative walking, and journaling.
Circle 2A on the registration form for the morning session and/or 2B for the afternoon session. Directed by Deb Marqui
Morning Workshop 3A (note: session is now filled)
LISTENING AND SPEAKING FROM A CONTEMPLATIVE HEART
Practicing contemplative prayer invites a transformation of who you are and how you want to be in the world. This workshop will offer ways of listening and speaking to the Divine within, to one’s self, to those whom we encounter; and to the wider realities that shape the social, cultural, political and historical world of which we are a part that flow out of a transformed consciousness. Circle 3A on the registration form. Presented by Nancy Sylvester, IHM
Morning Workshop 4A
THE ART OF PAUSING: LESSONS FROM MERTON AND OTHER MONASTICS
Are you seeking to be “an everyday contemplative?” Award-winning author, journalist and poet Judith Valente describes herself as a recovering workaholic and over-achiever. This session is for those of us who constantly feel overworked and overwhelmed. We’ll explore how to counter the daily distractions and demands that remove us from ourselves by adopting a few simple practices leading to greater mindfulness and balance. Circle 4A on the registration form. Presented by Judith Valente
Afternoon Workshop 3B
ARCHETYPES IN THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
The spiritual journey is an evolutionary process toward union with God. The journey can be charted with the use of spiritual archetypes that transcend culture and faith tradition. Our consent to the work of transformation in Centering Prayer invites us not only to a deeper spiritual journey but embraces and reflects the deeper archetypes of the spiritual life. Circle 3B on the registration form. Presented by Rev. Dr. Shawn Kafader
Afternoon Workshop 4B
TEILHARD AND COSMOLOGY
How we see matter, matters. In this session we will explore the cosmology of Teilhard de Chardin and experience what our sacred role, as the Body of Christ, is in the evolution of our universe by discovering our spiritual practice as the catalyst of Divine Creativity. We will explore how we become co-creators with Christ by healing the past rift between matter and spirit, re-invigorating our present incarnational potential, and finally, by serving the future generations of humanity by imparting consciousness to technology and all creative endeavors. Circle 4B on the registration form. Presented by Alan Krema
Presenter Information
SILENT SATURDAY
Deborah Marqui is founder of Healing Gardens in St. Charles, IL. Deborah has been studying spirituality and psychology since the early 1970’s. She earned a BS degree in education and then received a master’s degree from the University of Illinois, Jane Addams School of Social Work. Her field of concentration was child and family therapy and currently, Deborah works as a psychotherapist in a private practice.
Cancer free from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since 1996 and in remission from breast cancer since 2002, Deborah felt called to offer a peaceful retreat setting helping people to connect with God through nature. Her creative spirit manifests itself in her beautiful perennial gardens and wooded paths. Soon after her diagnosis Deborah immersed herself in the study of integrating body, mind and spirit into wholeness including introductory training in the Science of Intuition and Energy Medicine taught by Carolyn Myss, Ph.D. and Norman Shealy, MD, Ph.D. This training and her studies have provided her with a deepened spiritual perspective on the emotional, physical and spiritual energy of illness and how to stay healthy and healed.
Deb and husband, Buzz, enjoy the tranquility of their property, Stone Hill Farm and in 2005 decided to open their beautiful healing gardens monthly as a meditative sanctuary for those with life-challenging illnesses or anyone interested in the path to wellness. Groups are welcome to schedule and reserve special days to visit the gardens. Deborah also leads day retreats, hosts Silent Saturday Mornings, and is a commissioned presenter of Centering Prayer.
LISTENING AND SPEAKING FROM A CONTEMPLATIVE HEART
Nancy Sylvester, IHM founded the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue in 2002 in response to her experiences working for justice and right relationships in church and in society. She serves as President of the Institute and as Executive Director, designing, planning, and implementing, the Institute’s various programs. Nancy brings to this project her commitment to dialogue and collaborative work style and her belief that the impasse being experienced currently in the work of transformation of church and society requires a contemplative response.
Nancy is an author and known speaker having addressed diocesan conferences, university institutes, assemblies of women religious and major national and international conferences. She was Executive Director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, and was President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).
Nancy is one of the persons featured in the documentary, Band of Sisters. She wrote for and co-edited Crucible for Change: Engaging Impasse through Communal Contemplation and Dialogue and currently writes for the Global Sisters Report, a series “Contemplate This.” She has served as advisor on the United States Bishops’ International Policy Committee. She has served on the National Board of Mary’s Pence; the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, where she was a founding member; the National Board of the Africa Faith and Justice Network; the National Governing Board of Common Cause and on the Board of Trustees of Marygrove College, Detroit, MI. Nancy can be reached at iccdinstitute@aol.com and the web site is www.iccdinstitute.org
THE ART OF PAUSING: LESSONS FROM THOMAS MERTON AND MONASTERIES
Judith Valente is senior correspondent at WGLT Radio, an NPR affiliate in central Illinois, and also an on air correspondent for the national news show Religion & Ethics Newsweekly on PBS-TV. She is a former staff writer for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
Her most recent books are “Atchison Blue: A Search for Silence, A Spiritual Home and A Living Faith,” a memoir of her regular visits to a Benedictine monastery in Atchison, KS, chosen as one of the top three spirituality books of 2014, and The Art of Pausing: Meditations for the Overworked and Overwhelmed. She leads frequent workshops and retreats for busy professionals seeking to live a more contemplative life.
ARCHETYPES IN THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
The Rev. Dr. Shawn Kafader, LCPC is an ordained minister and licensed clinical counselor. Having practiced Centering Prayer for over 25 years, Shawn brings together a rich array of gifts and experiences to his workshop and retreat ministry. Shawn is a commissioned Contemplative Outreach workshop leader and has served CO locally and nationally. Shawn serves on the Chaplain Staff of Friendship Village of Schaumburg, Schaumburg, IL.
TEILHARD AND COSMOLOGY
Alan Krema is facilitator of Pathways spiritual resource at St. Mikes Old Town, Chicago. Alan is a member of the Contemplative Outreach Chicago chapter circle of service and has been a centering prayer facilitator since 2001.
Register On-site Saturday Morning
Registration online and by mail is now closed. You can still register at the event at 8:30 Saturday morning October 3 (cash or check only). Hope to see you there!
Cost: $60 (includes lunch)
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.