Signature Program
The Christine Center proudly introduces the second series of its signature program:
Spiritual Deepening for Global Transformation.
Growing out of almost thirty years of intense spiritual practice, the Christine Center is offering a new signature program for interior deepening and global transformation. This three-year certificate program invites you to a path of spiritual integration drawing on the beautiful and simple reality of the unity of all creation. Informed by Franciscan Spirituality and many other important spiritual traditions, the Signature Program confirms the fact that is so fundamental to the contemplative spirit of the Christine Center: We are all one.
The Program:
Grounded in the inspiration of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, as well as other inspirational spiritual role models, participants will have an opportunity to explore together their individual spiritual unfolding. The program is designed to foster the Christine Center's mission of spiritual deepening for global transformation based on the fundamental unity of all things.
It offers a unique opportunity to cultivate a deep inner life. Spiritual Deepening for Global Transformation, will school the soul in qualities that make for peace. In this three-year certificate program participants will deepen their capacity for contemplative living: awake, attentive, compassionate and active in the world. Each year's program will be designed to continue to awaken in a particular way, the potential each of us has for spiritual deepening and global transformation.
Year One: The Art of Contemplative LivingThe Art of Contemplative Living is the focus for Year One. Grounded in the Franciscan tradition and their own in-depth experience and training in spiritual guidance, the Center staff will gently accompany participants on an inward journey of transformation that is rooted in personal prayer, contemplative dialogue and spiritual practice. All weekends begin with dinner on Friday night, followed by the opening session. They continue through to Sunday’s brunch and concluding session.
Year Two: Awakening the Spiritual/Earth/Body
The wisdom of holistic health and the work of cosmologists will ground us in the sacredness of all creation, as we become ever more aware that matter “matters.”
Year Three: Servant Leadership for Global Transformation
Interior deepening leads outward to “matter” in our relationships. We will offer tools and provide spiritual perspectives that make a real difference in the world.
Year Two Schedule
Weekend One: August 6-8, 2010
Spiraling Deeper: Continuing the Journey
Guides: Theresa O'Connor, MSN, RN, CS, and Core Team (Cecilia Corcoran, Henrita Frost and Johanna Seubert)
This weekend is given to deepening the connection between Spirit and Matter. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the importance of engaging the whole person -- physical, emotional and spiritual -- from one's deepest center. This intensive spiritual work will be facilitated by Theresa O'Connor, a forerunner in the fields of transpersonal and energy psychology as well as mind/body vibrational medicine and supported by the sisters of the Core Team.
Weekend Two: November 5-7, 2010
Creativity and the "Art" of Transformation:
Doing what God does best
Guides: Sr. Gabriele Uhlein and Core Team
This weekend celebrates beauty and creativity. So much of life depends on what we "make" of it. Using transformative images and sacred sound, we will explore the spiritual capacity to make something beautiful as soul work. The transformative deepening of our life constitutes a prized art form that mirrors no less than the goodness of God at work in the world.
Special attention will be given to the capacity for creative "making" as an important spiritual skill. Appreciating beauty and sound, understanding their role in our spiritual lives, and celebrating the works of our hands and voices is this weekend's meditative practice. Participants are asked to bring a favorite print, picture or piece of art that represents their personal quest and/or their life at this time (suggested size: no bigger than a bread box). We will fashion together a communal mandala and blend our voices in sacred sound to bless and celebrate God with, in, and through our holy creativity.
Gabriele Uhlein, OSF, Ph.D. is an evocative presenter and facilitator. Internationally known for her refreshingly practical spiritual perspectives, she offers learning opportunities grounded in the experience and wisdom of the Christian mystics as well as contemporary spiritual thought both east and west. Her classes range from contemplative meditation sessions to an in-depth exploration of on-going spiritual and communal transformation. Her sessions are most often conversational, and offer an engaging blend of words, images and practice.
Weekend Three: January 14-16, 2011The Enlightened Mind/Body for Earth's Sake:
Making the Necessary Connections
Guides: Marge Zulaski, OSF and the Core Team
Welcome to an exploration of the sacred connections of mind and body so needed for the ongoing spiritual evolution of our species. Learn to recharge energies that connect personal practice to global awareness. This weekend will emphasize working with your dreams as a means to foster drawing upon energy from the center within for both personal and global transformation. Become freshly and more mindfully aware of how images from your dreams provide energy for your life and your choices. Simple yoga movements will be taught for energy flow and for unblocking stagnant energy in the body.
More information on Marge Zulaski, OSF. As a spiritual seeker and teacher, Jungian analyst and yoga practitioner, she comes as a facilitator of spiritual maturity within individuals, groups and organizations. Marge's mission is fostering a person's fullness for being an alive and authentic human being in relationship to the wholeness of all people and of the Earth.
Weekend Four: April 29 to May 1, 2011
Soul Fire: Accessing Your Creativity
Guide: Fr. Tom Ryan
There is a fire in the human soul, and with the passing of our years, the heat builds. And heat is energy, creative energy, that, when not allowed expression, begins to whistle like a tea kettle on the stove. It may manifest in a sense that we have brought to our present work all that we can, and it is time for a new challenge; or in a vague but pervasive feeling of discontent with our life; or in a growing desire to step out and allow a recurring fantasy to become a reality. In reflective questions and exercises, you will engage with practices to tap into your creative potential and develop it, drawing inspiration from creativity's spiritual gifts.
Fr. Thomas Ryan, CSP, directs the Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations in Washington, DC. As an expression of his ministry to promote Christian unity and Inter-religious understanding, he leads retreats throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He has authored a dozen books, among them: Prayer of Heart and Body: Meditation and Yoga as Christian Spiritual Practice; Reclaiming the Body in Christian Spirituality; Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom; Inter-Religious Prayer: A Christian Guide; and Soul Fire.
Program Directors:
Johanna Seubert, FSPA, Cecilia Corcoran, FSPA, and Henrita Frost, SSND
Expert resource persons will accompany the process from time to time.
Sister Cecilia has a Ph.D. in Women’s Religious Studies and has particular skill in integrating outward experience with inward deepening.
Sister Johanna has a Ph.D. in music. She has directed numerous spiritual growth programs both at the Christine Center and for her own religious community. Her specialty area is mystical spirituality which she integrates into her practice and study. She is a member of the Ridhwan Spiritual School in California.
Sister Henrita is a School Sister of Notre Dame from Wilton, CT. She has served her congregation nationally in the areas of health care, aging and leadership and internationally, at their Generalate in Rome Italy, as a resource person in Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation.
Interested?
Program Fee: $1200 for each year
Checks may be sent with the application or according to the following payment schedule:
First deposit for Year Two: $300 due by August 1, 2010. Fee may be paid anytime prior. Thereafter payments of $300 on August 6, November 5, and January 14.
For more information, or to apply, contact the Christine Center christinecenter@ceas.coop or call 715-267-7507.
“It is a great opportunity to discover that relationships are important to my spiritual life. I’m hoping to see myself and others differently.”
“Finally, I will be able to bring my whole self to the work of transformation and growth!”
“I have always wanted to stretch my soul, to think more deeply about the divine. I want to see the holy in the everyday, and God in every activity.”
“What a rich opportunity to be with others who want to grow, become centered, and to learn how to make a difference in the world …. I am so happy the Christine Center is offering this program!"