Signature Program
The Christine Center proudly introduces its signature program, Spiritual Deepening for Global Transformation.
This three-year certificate program invites you to a path of spiritual integration drawing on the basic tenet so characteristic of the Center: We are all one.
Spiritual Deepening for Global Transformation, Christine Center Three-Year Certificate Program
Growing out of more than twenty-five years of intense spiritual practice, the Christine Center is offering a new signature program for interior deepening and global transformation. Grounded in the inspiration of St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan contemplative tradition, 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.
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
Anticipating Spiritual Deepening
June 13-15 and October 17-19, 2008
The Christine Center is here day by day holding the sacred space for you to come into your own still point. Anticipating Spiritual Deepening will be scheduled two weekends this year as a specific opportunity for you to draw near to your Source of wisdom. You will have the option of individual spiritual guidance, group guidance and a program that supports your spiritual practice. Beginners and initiates welcome. Choose to participate in one or both of the weekends. Guides: Johanna, Henrita, Cecy. Tuition: Free-will offering. Lodging and meals at regular rate.
YEAR TWO:
Awakening the Spirit/Earth/Body
The wisdom of integral health and the work of cosmologists will ground us in the sacredness of all creation, and we will become ever more aware that matter “matters”! Look for the outstanding presenters who will be part of this program.
Week One: August 22-24, 2008
Spiraling Deeper: Continuing the Journey.
Guides: Sr Cecilia Corcoran
Sr Johanna Seubert
Sr Henrita Frost
This weekend is given to deepening the connection between Spirit and Matter through various forms of meditative “feasting”! Participants will have the opportunity to explore the importance of drawing wholesome sustenance from Earth for intensive spiritual work. The challenges and sweet joys of holistic living will be considered. Special attention will be given to nurturing both Body and Soul in ways that support well-being and promote harmonious practice in everyday life.
Week Two: November 7-9, 2008
The Enlightened Mind-Body for Earth’s Sake: Making the Necessary Connections
Guides: Theresa O’Connor MSN, RN, Enlightenment Coach
With Sr Cecilia Corcoran, Sr Henrita Frost and Sr Johanna Seubert
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 living skills that foster both personal and global transformation. Become freshly and more mindfully immersed in the sacred moments of your life and the lives of others. Recommit to your passions and goals for a better world.
Theresa O’Connor, Enlightenment Coach. As a spiritual seeker and teacher, executive enlightenment coach, holistic psychotherapist, and facilitator or spiritual maturity within individuals, groups and organizations, Theresa’s mission is the spiritual evolution of the species. Theresa will be directing a retreat here October 27- Nov.1, 2008 entitled Global Awareness Through Enlightenment.
To learn more about Theresa check her web site: www.oconnor-associates.net
Week Three: January 16-18, 2009
Creativity and the “Art” of Transformation: Doing What God Does Best
Guides: Sr Gabriele Uhlein
Sr Cecilia Corcoran
Sr Johanna Seubert
Sr Henrita Frost
This weekend celebrates beauty and the arts. So much of life depends on what we “make” of it. Life-Transformation is 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, understanding its vital role in the spiritual life, and celebrating the works of our hands and hearts is this weekend’s meditation practice. Participants are asked to bring a favorite 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 sacred mandala to bless and celebrate God: with, in and through our holy creativity.
Week Four: April 3-5, 2009
Soul Fire: Accessing Your Creativity with 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 compressed and tightly contained, 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 reflection questions and exercises, you will engage with practices to tap into your creative potential and develop it, and draw 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. and Canada, and in 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.
Just before our weekend, Fr. Tom will lead a five-day yoga retreat:
Prayer of Heart and Body Yoga Retreat: March 29-April 3
This retreat will help you integrate teachings from the Christian contemplative tradition into your prayer and encourage a new appreciation for the role of the body in prayer. Participants will learn the basics of Christian meditation, approximately 25 yoga postures, and several yoga posture-flows to song-prayers which they can integrate into their personal devotional life. In addition to yoga and meditation, group prayer with the scriptures (lectio divina), and personal time for quiet walks, resting, or reading will round out each day.
For more information about Fr. Tom go to www.tomryanspc.net
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An optional opportunity to reconnect:
Summertime Quest Fest Date…2009…
Guides: Sr Cecilia Corcoran
Sr Johanna Seubert
Sr Henrita Frost
Come enjoy the good company spiritual companions. This is an open unstructured time beginning with a ritual and check-in on Friday evening and concludes with a Wisdom Council on Saturday evening. Come early or stay longer as your schedule permits, to savor summer at the Christine Center.
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Fall 2008 to Spring 2009
Weekend One:
August 22-24, 2008
Weekend Two:
November 7-9, 2008
*Weekend Three:
January 16-18, 2009
Weekend Four:
April 3-5, 2009
*May be switched with electives chosen from the regular Christine Center offerings.
YEAR THREE:
Servant Leadership for Global Transformation
Interior deepening leads outward to“matter” in all of our relationships. We will offer tools and provide spiritual perspectives that make a real difference in the world.
Fall 2009 to Spring 2010
Weekend One:
August 21-23, 2009
Weekend Two:
November 6-8, 2009
*Weekend Three:
January 10-12, 2010
Weekend Four:
April 9-11, 2010
*May be switched with electives chosen from the regular Christine Center offerings
Program Directors:
Johanna Seubert, FSPA, Cecilia Corcoran, FSPA and Henrita Frost, SSND. Expert resource persons will accompany the process from time to time.
Program Fees: $1070 each year
Checks may be sent with the application or according to the following payment schedule:
First deposit: $300 due with the application form
Second deposit: $300 due August 10, 2007
Third deposit: $300 due November 2, 2007
Fourth deposit: $170 due January 18, 2008
As 2007 is the first year of a three-year intensive to be offered at the Center, candidates will be screened and accepted based on their readiness for the three-year commitment.
If you are interested in this program and are not currently registered, a new cycle of the program will begin in the fall of 2009. Registrations will be accepted beginning August 2008. For more information or to apply, contact the Christine Center christinecenter@ceas.coop