2010 WEEKEND PROGRAMS

Weekend Programs begin with 6:00pm Supper on the first day and end with lunch on the last day.
PLEASE arrive at the Center between 4:00 and 5:30 on the afternoon the program begins.
All programs require pre-registration and a non-refundable $50 registration fee.

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#1. Discernment Retreat for Young Men Considering Becoming a Jesuit Priest or Brother
Saturday, January 2-Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Come see if the Lord is calling you to religious life. Meet young Jesuits preparing for priesthood. Get to know other young men interested in the same questions about religious life that you may have. We will pray, laugh, and play as we get to know each other and search God’s will for you.

Contact Fr. Paul Deutsch, S.J., Vocation Director, by e-mail at pdeutsch@norprov.org or
Cell # 1-504-782-6863
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(Closed: Retreats for Seminarians)
(January 10-17)

(Closed: High School Retreat)
(January 28-31)

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# 2. Zen Practices for Christian Living
Thursday, February 11– Sunday, February 14, 2010
Fee: $ 235.00 (commuters $175.00)

Zen practices integrating Christian life, prayer and liturgy. Come develop a deeper contemplative prayer life. Zazen or sitting meditation is the practice of stilling the mind through whole hearted attentiveness to the breath. Together with stillness of the body, this frees the mind from its ordinary activities of thinking, daydreaming and speculating. This is a silent retreat and is open to persons of all faiths. It includes instruction, talks and one-on-one interviews.

Presenter: Fr. Robert Kennedy, S.J. teaches Catholic Theology and Buddhism at St. Peter’s College, Jersey City. He is a practicing psychotherapist and the author of Zen Gifts to Christians and Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit (Continuum).

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# 3. Entering Into Lent—A Day of Prayer
Saturday, February 20, 2010, 9:00 am—4:00 pm.
Fee: $ 40.00 (Includes Lunch)

The Staff of the Jesuit Spirituality Center will present a day of reflection to help participants enter into the observance of Lent and the Paschal Mystery. There will also be the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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(Closed: Reflection Group)
(March 5-7)
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# 4. Introduction to the Christian Use of Yoga
Friday, March 19—Sunday, March, March 21, 2010
Fee: $200.00

This retreat will help inspire a deeper awareness of Christ within, and stimulate the explosive expression of Spirit in all aspects of life. We will study core yoga philosophy as it relates to the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament letters, engage in meditation and breathing practice to calm the mind, chant in the Christian tradition as a devotional practice, and practice gentle yoga postures to increase body awareness. One vigorous hatha yoga class will be offered for experienced students. Guided questions for private reflection, and opportunities for group discussions will be offered.

Presenter: 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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# 5. Louisiana Spiritual Directors, Inc. continuing education seminar
Monday, March 22 - Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Brother Don Bisson, FMS, the presenter, is a spiritual director, and a trainer and supervisor of directors. He is widely respected as a commentator and workshop leader on the interrelationship of spirituality and psychology. A Marist Brother based in New York, he has graduate degrees in liturgy, spirituality, and transpersonal psychology. His D.Min. was earned at the Pacific School of Religion in the area of Spiritual Direction and Jungian Psychology.
For information, fees, and registration contact Rose Marie Clarke at rclarke@bayou.com or
at 318-687-4096.

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# 6. OA Retreat
Friday, April 9—Sunday, April 11, 2010

Contact Jan at 225-273-4462 for information and fees.
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# 7. When Women Pray: Living in a Spirit of Gentleness
Thursday, April 22—Sunday, April 25, 2010
Fee: $220.00 (commuters $160.00)

Women embody the innate quality of gentleness that our world so desperately needs. But enmeshed in the frenzy of our culture and our own perfectionism, we often overlook Love’s gentle call—the invitation to wholeness, authenticity and the tenderness of the feminine.
As we walk into this delicate mystery we harvest blessings for the healing of our world—for in gentleness is peace; in gentleness is strength; in gentleness is wisdom.
Come refresh your soul and gather tools that will enable you to express the tender openness of heart that can bring healing to all of your relationships—those with self, others, the earth, and God.
This is a silent retreat.

Presenters:
Lyn Holley Doucet is a spiritual director, pastoral counselor, and retreat presenter. Lyn has authored several books including: Healing Troubled Hearts, A Healing Walk with St. Ignatius: a collection of Everyday Miracles, and Water from Stones: An Inner Journey, and co-authored with Robin Hebert, When Wisdom Speaks and When Women Pray.

Robin Hebert shares authorship with Lyn Doucet of When Women Pray and When Wisdom Speaks. She is a spiritual director and retreat presenter, specializing in marital and women's spirituality. Robin serves as a campus minister at Our Lady of Wisdom Student Center on the University of Louisiana-Lafayette campus, offering her skills in spiritual direction and pastoral counseling.
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# 8. Gay and Lesbian Catholics: Gifted and Called for a Purpose in God's Design
Friday, May 21—Sunday, May 23, 2010
Fee: $220.00 (commuters $160.00)

Each person, including lesbian and gay persons, are truly gifted and truly
called in God's wondrous design. The opportunity this retreat will provide is to break through the obstacles we experience and discover and affirm those gifts and our call to be sources of healing, hope, and community for others. The retreat will include reflection shared by the retreat leaders, opportunity for private time, small group sharing, healing prayer together, and Sunday Eucharist.

The retreat leaders are Father Jim Schexnayder, priest of the diocese of
Oakland, California, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, and resource
director for the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministries and
Sister Carol Mayes, director of the Dominican Spirituality Center in
Houston, Texas.

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# 9 . Workshop on Spirituality for the Second Half of Life
Thursday, June 3—Sunday, June 6, 2010
Fee: $220.00 (commuters $160.00)

This workshop offers a prayerful reflection on the graces and challenges of the "Second Half of Life." Based on Scripture and incorporating Psychology and one’s life experiences, the workshop focuses on life acceptance and simplification that foster compassion, gratitude, and deepening prayer.

Sr. Noel Toomey, O.P. is Director of the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center of New Orleans. She has given numerous retreats in Grand Coteau, in New Orleans, and other places. She is a spiritual director and has facilitated many people as interns in spiritual direction.

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# 10 . “Wasting Time Creatively”— A Retreat in the Spiritual Tradition of Anthony de Mello
Thursday, June 17—Sunday, June 20, 2010
Fee: $220.00 (commuters $160.00)

“My life will not bear fruit,” wrote de Mello in one of his early publications, Wellsprings, “unless I learn the art of lying fallow . . . the art of wasting time creatively.” The Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, agreed. In a conference on “Prayer and Time,” he insisted: “We must learn to waste time conscientiously. That’s what we have to do when it comes to prayer. We have to give it time. Nothing that anyone says about prayer will be that important. The great thing is prayer. Prayer itself. If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying.” We shall spend this weekend pondering over some of the insights on prayer and spirituality left us by the Indian Jesuit, Anthony de Mello in his classic works, like Sadhana, Song of the Bird, and Wellsprings. We shall use his exercises in awareness, breathing, imaginative contemplations and simple devotion in order to still our minds and center our hearts; in other words, in order to “waste time creatively.”

Fr. Joseph A. Currie, S.J. is the Director of Campus Ministry at Fordham University, the Bronx, New York. Currie spent over twenty years in India, first as a student and then as a teacher and administrator, pastor, retreat director and counselor. He knew de Mello and worked with him on a number of occasions.

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# 11. Cultivating Happiness: A Day of Renewal for Women
Saturday, August 21, 2010, 9:00 am—4:00 pm.
Fee: $ 40.00 (Includes Lunch)

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.

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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# 12. Workshop on Life Transitions: Making sense of life’s changes – exploring life’s transitions.
Friday, September 10—Sunday, September 12, 2010
Fee: $175.00 (commuters $110.00)

Life’s changes cannot be avoided. Even though we have experienced change all our lives, most of us handle life’s changes in disruptive and painful ways. From birth to grave we move from one stage of life to another without realizing how the change has affected us. We change careers, marriages, jobs, cities, religions more often than ever before; we experience death in the family, loss of a job, forced retirement; we meet different people every day. Each change brings with it new fears, anxieties, expectations, and further confusion. How can we better handle these difficult, painful experiences? What new insights can we learn about ourselves from these transitions?

This workshop will help both in identifying and in coping with such critical changes in life. It will take you step by step through the general and most common steps of a transition process, offering skills, suggestions and advice for negotiating each of the levels and perilous passages in any life transition. It will look at our endings, the time in between (neutral zone), and the new beginning. It will allow you in an atmosphere of prayer and silent reflection to re-connect with the self that you thought you knew but that somehow seems to be lost.
“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you cope with (change) in it is what makes the difference.” Virginia Satir.
This Friday evening to Sunday noon workshop might just be what you need to experience before you take that next big plunge into a new unknown.

Fr. Hernando Ramirez, S.J. joined the staff of retreat directors in August, 2008. Fr. Ramirez was born in Colombia, S.A., in 1944, and joined the in 1964. After studies in the U. S. and Canada he was ordained in 1975. Since then Fr. Ramirez has taught in several Jesuit schools in Honduras and in St. Louis, MO. Then he served as a hospital chaplain for 10 years. Since 2001 he has been in retreat ministry full-time in Dallas and in Atlanta.

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# 13. Waking Up to This Day
Thursday, September 23—Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010
Fee: $250.00 (commuters $180.00)

This retreat will be about waking up to the day that is right before us, and the practices that help us experience a deeper intimacy with ourselves, with others and with all that is. Our guideposts will be nine keys that summons us to live in the present moment and learn to accept life as it unfolds.
This will be a silent retreat.

Paula D'Arcy is a retreat director, speaker and author of eight books, including Gift of the Red Bird, Red Fire, A New Set of Eyes, Seeking With All My Heart and Sacred Threshold.. Her Red Bird Foundation ministers to those in need throughout the world, has a special focus within prisons, and addresses needs of women.

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# 14. Waking Up to This Day
Thursday, October 7—Sunday, October 10, 2010
Fee: $250.00 (commuters $180.00)

# 15. Early Christian Iconography: An Icon Writing Workshop/Retreat
Monday, November 8—Monday, Nov. 15, 2010
Fee: $895 Deposit: $100

Icons have long played a central role in the worship of the Eastern Church. Western Christians are rediscovering the transcendent beauty of these sacred images of the early Church. In this intensive six-day painting workshop, students will learn both the practical and theoretical aspects of the iconographic tradition: the multi-step process of writing (painting) an icon, the theological basis of each step, and the iconic symbolism of the work. In an atmosphere of prayerful silence, each participant will complete an icon in egg tempera, using the same natural materials and ancient techniques that have been used by iconographers throughout the centuries. Previous painting experience is helpful but is not necessary.

An Instructor from Prosopon School of Iconology. World-renowned master iconographer Valdislav Andreyev and his two sons founded the Prosopon School of Iconology in upstate New York to promote the study of the Byzantine-Russian tradition of icon writing. The School has a branch in Russia. Instructors from the Prosopon School conduct icon workshops throughout the U. S. and Canada.

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# 16. Staying Sober with the 12-Steps: an AA Weekend
Wednesday, December 1—Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010
Fee: $280.00 (commuters $210.00)

The 12 Steps help us live a better life. This is a weekend for women and men in recovery. Addicts, alcoholics, and family and friends are welcome. We will go through the 12 Steps and focus on the practical tools of recovery from this tragic illness. There will be time for quiet, for reflection, for conversation, and for meetings—for some refreshment and renewal.

Fr. Tom Weston, S.J., a counselor and retreat director, is a specialist in giving 12-Step and AA retreats. He is known nationwide for the wise and practical insights he shares with retreatants.

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# 17. Discernment Retreat for Young Men Considering Becoming a Jesuit Priest or Brother
Thursday, December 16—Monday, December 20, 2010

Come see if the Lord is calling you to religious life. Meet young Jesuits preparing for priesthood. Get to know other young men interested in the same questions about religious life that you may have. We will pray, laugh, and play as we get to know each other and search God’s will for you.

Contact Fr. Paul Deutsch, S.J., Vocation Director, by e-mail at pdeutsch@norprov.org or Cell # 1-504-782-6863.

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The Spirituality Center will be closed from December 21, 2010 until January 2, 2011.