The Jesuit Spirituality Center

SATURDAY RETREAT PROGRAMS FOR 2011

All Saturday programs are scheduled for 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Please arrive by 9:00. Lunch will be provided. A Sunday Vigil Mass will be offered at 4:00. A fee of $40.00 is suggested for all programs.

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A Call to Conscious Living: Spirituality for our Busy Lives
Saturday, Jan. 29, 2010 Robin & Easton Hebert

In our culture today, families seem always to be rushing, over-stimulated and distracted, seldom rooted in the present moment. Collectively, we live our lives far from the "contemplative now." What is needed is the reestablishment of core values that will move us toward conscious living-balance, simplicity, holy leisure, centering practices and prayer.
Join spiritual directors Robin and Easton Hebert as together we work towards the goal of establishing a new rhythm for marriage and family living-one that is dedicated to the care of the soul. Included in this day of retreat for couples as well as singles will be talks, sharing, time for reflection and prayer.

Robin and Easton Hebert are spiritual directors and retreat leaders from Lafayette, LA, sharing their love of God, devotion to prayer, and passion for living a balanced lifestyle through parish and retreat ministry. Easton is an adjunct director at the Jesuit Spirituality Center in Grand Coteau and Robin serves at Our Lady of Wisdom Church and Catholic Student Center on the University of Louisiana--Lafayette campus as a spiritual director and pastoral counselor. She has co-authored two books on spirituality: When Women Pray and When Wisdom Speaks.

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"These Forty Days: Prayer in the Lenten Season"
Saturday, March 12, 2010 Fr. Dan White, S.J.

The Lenten season may well be the most popular in the Church's liturgical year. This day of prayer and reflection will explore the spiritual aspects of Lent. The season will be seen in the context of the wider liturgical calendar, especially the great feast for which Lent is a prelude, Easter. We will consider and pray over the ways these forty days lead us into a deeper understanding of the central mystery of our faith: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Fr. Dan White, S.J. is a member of the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus. He has spent most of his ordained ministry in parishes: as associate pastor in Kansas City, and as pastor of St. Martin de Porres parish in Belize, Central America. Fr. White is currently the assistant to the novice director at the novitiate of St. Stanislaus Kostka at St. Charles College, Grand Coteau.

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"A Spirituality for the Later Years"
Saturday, March 26, 2010 Fr. Gerald M. Fagin, S.J.

In the light of faith, later life emerges as a rich time of life, a time of growth in interiority and inner resourcefulness, a time to harvest gifts of our past life and to foster a new and deeper relationship with God. We need to develop a spirituality appropriate to our stage of life, a spirituality that honors who we are at this time in our lives and who we are becoming.
These presentations will invite us to reflect on the elements of a spirituliaty for our later years. We will explore the graces that shape our relationship with God and challenge us to new levels of awaremess and growth in our spiritual lives. These are meant to be the wisdom years that draw us closer to God and open us to the fulllness of God's blessings.

Rev. Gerald M. Fagin, S.J. is Associate Professor of Theology and Spirituality at the Loyola Institute for Ministry at Loyola University New Orleans. He also co-directs an internship in spiritual direction at the New Orleans Archdiocesan Spirituality Center. His most recent book is Putting on the Heart of Christ: How the Spiritual Exercises Invite Us to a Virtuous Life.

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"Yoga and Christian Contemplative Prayer"
Saturday, April 30, 2010 Andrea Vidrine

In this day retreat, participants will explore centering prayer (Christian meditation), praying with scripture, chanting in the Christian tradition, art as prayer, breath awareness, and praying with the body through yoga.

Andrea Vidrine, CYT, LCSW, author of Jesus, Yoga, & the Way of Happiness: A Christian Yoga Daily Devotional, is a psychotherapist in private practice, was a licensed massage therapist for seven years, and is a certified yoga instructor.

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"Cultivating Happiness, A Day of Prayer for Women"
Saturday, October 1, 2010 Andrea Vidrine

Modern life provides an overload of sensory stimulation, attempting to convince us that if we buy the latest gadget or wear the newest fashion we will find happiness. This day of renewal allows us to retreat to a quiet place and reconnect with our loving Creator. We will identify obstacles to happiness, explore practices to overcome these, chant in the Christian tradition, engage in breathing practice and meditation, and do gentle stretching to increase body awareness. Time for private reflection and group discussion will be provided. Please bring comfortable clothes, and a blanket or beach towel.

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"Ignatian Imaginative Prayer"
Saturday, November 5, 2010 Fr. Tony Ostini, S.J.
Please note that this is a repeat of the programs given in 2008 and 2009.

This workshop will present the method of St. Ignatius Loyola for praying with the Gospels. The presenter will explain and illustrate this method, sometimes described as "imaginative prayer" since it uses the imagination to know Christ better by means of "felt knowledge," in addition to an intellectual knowledge. This method allows one to develop a vivid, lively, and immediate connection with Jesus through the Gospel accounts of his life.

Fr. Anthony H. Ostini, S.J., Director of the Spirituality Center, has given preached retreats and guided individually-directed retreats for more than 25 years. He taught Spirituality at Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans.

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"Discerning God's Will: The Ignatian Way of Discernment"
Saturday, November 19, 2010 Fr. Mark Thibodeaux, S.J.
Please note that this is a repeat of the program given in October, 2009.

St. Ignatius Loyola encourages us to "discern the spirits" in our prayer - to distinguish between the movements away from or toward God. By doing so, we can better discern the direction in which God is calling us. This workshop will explore St. Ignatius' "Rules for Discernment of Spirits" and will glean from these rules a useful plan for making good decisions: the all-important, once-in-a-lifetime decisions, and the everyday ones, too.

Fr. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ, holds degrees from Loyola University of New Orleans and Weston School of Theology of Cambridge, MA. He is the author of three books on prayer: Armchair Mystic: Easing Into Contemplative Prayer; God, I Have Issues: 50 Ways to Pray No Matter How You Feel; and God's Voice Within: The Ignatian Way to Discover God s Will. Currently, Fr. Thibodeaux is the novice director in Grand Coteau, for the Jesuits of the Missouri and New Orleans Provinces.

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"An Advent Journey: Experiencing God's Tremendous Love"
Saturday, December 3, 2010 Robin Hebert

Advent offers the blessed invitation for each of us to echo Mary's fiat, to surrender all that we are, as we are, to the Spirit of Love. The season bids us to say our own yes so that our lives, too, will bear Christ in the world.

Join us on this day of reflection as we open ourselves to the gift of God's tremendous love and explore the seeds of new life that God is planting in our souls. Learn to respond to God's call and to welcome Him with abandonment.

Robin Hebert is co-author of When Women Pray: Our Personal Stories of Extraordinary Grace and When Wisdom Speaks: Living Experiences with Biblical Women. She is a pastoral counselor, spiritual director and retreat leader, currently serving as a campus minister at Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic Church and Student Center on the University of Louisiana-Lafayette campus.

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ATTENTION YOUNG MEN INTERESTED IN BECOMING A
JESUIT PRIEST OR BROTHER

YOU ARE INVITED TO A DISCERNMENT RETREAT

The Jesuit Vocation Office for the New Orleans and Missouri Provinces of the Society of Jesus sponsors two Discernment Retreats each fall for those considering a vocation as a Jesuit Priest or Brother. Part of the time is spent with Jesuit novices who are studying at St. Charles College, and the remainder of the time is spent with a Jesuit director in a silent, individually directed retreat.
If you have been giving some thought to a possible vocation to the Jesuits, you are invited to take part in one of these retreats free of charge on Thursday, December 16 - Monday, December 20, 2010 or (TBA Jan., 2011 TBA). Please contact Fr. Paul Deutsch, S.J., Vocation Director, by e-mail at: pdeutsch@norprov.org