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News from ISI Folks:
Sr. Marian Durkin (ISI ’05) wants all to know that she will be relocating to Lakewood, Ohio, a suburb where
she spent many years in another lifetime. As of August 31st, she will be living in the
Belle Cliff apartments at Belle and Clifton. Lots of downsizing necessary! She writes, "I am looking forward to working my first busy student retreat at Oberlin. Lots happening in my life. The only thing constant for me these days is change.
Greetings to all my 2005 classmates!!"
Melinda Smith (ISI ’07) recently read A Monk in the Inner City - The ABC's of a Spiritual Journey written by Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB. It is a quick read, journal entries, written by a nun who lives and works in inner city Erie, PA. She has a very strong history of working toward social justice and is a poet and story teller. Many of the short vignettes are touching or compelling or challenging or all three at once. It could give directors or certain directees food for thought and/or prayer. Melinda would be curious to hear what others in the ISI community think of it.
Sr. Marian Durkin announces that the 10th Anniversary Retreat Weekend for Gay & Lesbian Catholics and Parents of Gays and Lesbians will be held at the Jesuit Retreat House in Parma, on September 25 to 27. The cost is $150. Please register by September 20th. For further information, contact Sr. Marian at smd@srsofcharity.org
As part of her practicum, Pam Chaney is planning and 8-week retreat at St. Paul's Epsicopal Church in Cleveland Heights. The topic is "To Know and Be Known: Finding God in Ourselves and in Others, and in Our Community," the retreat will be held on Monday evenings from 7 to 8 pm, beginning October 5. The cost is FREE! For further information, contact Pam at downhillers@roadrunner.com or (216) 287-2675 for details.
Joan reports that the retreat schedule at Eastern Point Retreat House, Gloucester, MA for 2009-10 has been published on their website. Now, is the time to apply for a retreat for next summer. They fill up fast! To visit the website click here
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Message from the Director:
Joan M. Nuth, PhD
The picture at the top was taken on my recent trip to Halifax. Botanically speaking, it is a Pink Lady's-slipper or Pink Moccasin-flower (Cypripedium acaule; family: Orchidaceae). Habitat: acid woods, sphagnum fens. Height: 6-15 inches. Flower size: 3” long. This wildflower is now an endangered species, and many states have laws that forbid picking it or digging it up. I saw one once before, in the woods on the grounds of the Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester. I have a particular affection for this flower, I suppose because it is so rare and precious yet so hidden from view most of the time. It does not make a splash, but it praises God just by being itself.
I have linked this flower in my mind with a line I read recently from Thomas Merton: “The little . . . flowers that nobody notices on the edge of that road are saints looking up into the face of God, . . . canonized by their beauty” (New Seeds of Contemplation).
The pink Lady’s slipper can teach us a lesson. All we need to do before God, really, is be who we are. We are loved by God just like that. We do a lot of useless striving to be something more perfect that we are, and we despair of ever getting it “right.” The beautiful things in nature can teach us to be more gentle with ourselves, and to learn to love ourselves as God loves us.
I link the following quote from Richard Rohr with this idea: “It seems that God keeps looking at what is good, what is God in me, and of course always finds it entirely loveable. God fixes his gaze intently where I refuse and where I fear to look, on my shared, divine nature as his daughter or son (1 John 3:2). And one day my gaze matches God’s gaze (frankly, that is what we mean by prayer). At those times I will find God loveable and myself loveable at the same time. Why? Because it is the same gaze, but they have become symbiotic and look out at life together” (Things Hidden:Scripture as Spiritualit, p.50).
I want to remind you that there are three opportunities for reunion coming up soon. They are listed in more detail below. The first is our annual Feast of St. Ignatius Prayer and Potluck, celebrated on the Tuesday closest to the feast of St. Ignatius, which this year falls on July 28. The second is the opportunity to meet at the ISI retreat opening the new academic year. The three current classes will all be there, but all alumni are invited to come to the retreat house to attend the Saturday evening wine and cheese party (8/29), and/or the Eucharistic liturgy on Sunday morning (8-30). The third event is the Certification Ceremony for the Class of 2009 on Sunday, August 30 at 2:30 with a reception to follow. Howard Gray, SJ has agreed to be the speaker for the certification ceremony. If you are missing your ISI classmates, or are hankering for a chance to meet and hobnob with people from the ISI classes, these events are for you! Come to as many as you can: the more the merrier. Bring your significant other, if you wish, or a friend, especially someone who might be a future ISI candidate!
Save the date for our first workshop coming in the fall. It will be on October 16 from 9 am to 12 noon. We have been invited by Paula Britton, Ph.D to attend an event she is sponsoring which will feature Dr. Robert J. Wicks, Psy.D, author of Riding the Dragon. More info is below. In addition, the ISI is planning a workshop in the spring on The Spiritual Exercises and Twelve Step Programs, featuring Peter Fennessey, SJ. The date for this has not yet been determined, so stay tuned! |
ISI UPCOMING EVENTS |
 Feast of St. Ignatius Prayer & Potluck
When: July 28
Where: Dolan Reading Room
Time: 7-9 pm
RSVP to Barbara Ivec, ISI Secretary by July 24th.
Please let her know what you will bring.
You are invited to come whether or not you attend the reading group. Bring your significant other, and /or a friend.
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ISI Opening Retreat
Join us for our annual Saturday Evening Wine and Cheese Social.
When: Saturday, August 29, 7:30 to ?? pm.
Where: Jesuit Retreat House Dining Room
And/or Join us for Sunday morning Eucharist commissioning those to be certified.
When: Sunday, August 30, 10 am
Where: Jesuit Retreat House Chapel
If you wish to stay overnight Saturday and stay for breakfast and/or lunch on Sunday, please click here to contact Barbara Leggott at the JRH.
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Certification Ceremony honoring the Class of 2009
When: Sunday, August 30, 2:30 pm
Where: Donahue Auditorium, Dolan Science Center, JCU
Speaker: Howard Gray, SJ
A reception will follow immediately in the Dolan Atrium. In order that we may plan adequately for seating and food, please let Barbara Ivec know by August 14 whether or not you will come and how many will be in your party. We encourage you to bring a friend if you wish and/or your significant other.
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Riding the Dragon: Strengthening Your Inner Life in Challenging Times
When: Friday, October 16, 9 am to 12 noon
Where: JCU in Dolan Auditorium
Speaker: Robert J. Wicks, Psy.D, Professor at Loyola University Maryland
Fee: There is a fee for this workshop (TBA)
This workshop focuses on how to maintain perspective and inner strength in challenging times. Dr Wicks, an expert on the prevention of secondary stress (the pressures experienced in reaching out to others), will offer insights into how we can remain resilient and, in turn, extend our warmth to others without losing our own sense of peace. Topics will include “unlearning,” maintaining perspective, ordinariness, chronic and acute secondary stress, self-care, balance and courage in life, depth self-awareness, inner darkness, and improving mindfulness. Practical, illustrative, lively, this rich presentation will provide essential information on professional resilience and personal well-being. Three of Dr. Wicks’ many books will be offered for sale at the workshop: Riding the Dragon, Bounce: Living the Resilient Life, and The Resilient Clinician.
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~Other Upcoming Events of Interest~ |
"Sacred Universe" Institute
"Does everything happen for a reason or do some things just happen?"
Rev. Joseph Bracken, SJ
~Theologian ~
"The dance of the fertile universe: Did God do it?"
Rev. George Coyne, SJ
~Astronomer~
Where: 1515 West Ogden Avenue, LaGrange Park, IL
When: Friday, October 2 - Saturday, October 3, 2009
Cost: $50 for entire Institute. $30 per day.
To Register: Click here
Questions or for more information, please contact Bridget at (708) 482-5039
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