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New Registration and Reservation Policy

To provide our guests with a well-prepared event and to ensure the best possible use of our resources, we are now asking that full payment be made for Spiritual Life Center offerings on or before the registration deadline date for each offering. Your reservation is not confirmed until full payment has been made. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation in supporting this policy, it is greatly appreciated.

SERIES: “Hearing the Voice of God in Daily Life,” with Father Kent Hemberger, Thursdays, Oct. 16, 23 & 30.

RETREAT: “Benedictine Spirituality” with Father Adam Ryan, O.S.B., October 17-19, 2008

SPECIAL WORKSHOP: “Be Good and Listen to Your Angel” with Marcelline Arnold, Saturday, October 18, 2008, 9 a.m. to noon.

RETREAT: “An Encounter With Jesus: The Way of Intimacy Through Prayer,” with Father Kent Hemberger, Friday, November 14 through Sunday, November 16, 2008.

ADVENT DAY OF PRAYER: “The Joy of Advent” with Father Mike Simone, Saturday, December 6, 2008.

RETREAT: “The Fruit of Silence is Prayer: Blessed Mother Teresa’s Way to Holiness” is a silent weekend retreat offered January 30 -- February 1, 2009.

RETREAT: “Palm Sunday Weekend Retreat,” with Bishop Michael O. Jackels, April 3-5, 2009.

Descriptions of Events

RETREATS are spiritual opportunities for growth in personal holiness, where the individual enters into a quiet dialogue in prayer with God. A retreat may be as short as a day or two, but can be a week or even longer. The type of retreat, (e.g. directed retreat, private retreat, group preached retreat), determines the specific format of the experience. For more information on types of retreats, please click on the page entitled,"Spiritual Formation", or here.

WORKSHOPS address a specific issue as presented through lectures of a featured speaker or group of speakers. Most often, there is an opportunity for group discussion and individual or group activity in “break out” sessions. Most of the workshops at the Spiritual Life Center are daylong events.

SERIES offerings typically take place on a specific evening of the week. The series may be as few as two evenings, but may last as long as six sessions, depending upon the topic being studied. Unlike retreats, where the primary focus is upon spiritual formation of the individual person, a series focuses more upon the educational element of a particular topic of faith.

DAYS / EVENINGS OF REFLECTION allow the individual to spend quiet time with the Lord at the Spiritual Life Center. A retreat director leads the group through conferences, individual and communal prayer, often with the opportunity provided for the celebration of the Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

SPECIAL EVENTS are those offerings throughout the year that do not fall under any of the other categories listed above. The staff of the Spiritual Life Center seeks to provide a variety of different ways for the pilgrim to come to this holy ground: to rest, to renew your heart, to respond to the Word of God as you walk your personal spiritual journey of faith.

Presenter: Father Kent Hemberger

Date: Thursdays, October 16, 23 & 30, 2008

Time: Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m. Conference from 7-8:30 p.m.

Cost: $25 for the series

Registration deadline: On or before Thursday, October 9, 2008

"Hearing the Voice of God in Daily Life"

“How can I know God’s will for my life?” is a question that is often asked and even more often pondered. This series will offer practical tools to help participants become aware of how God is acting in their life right now, how to discern what movements within are from God, and how this awareness and discernment can be a guide for their life. This series is based on the spiritual wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola who sought to find God in all things. St. Ignatius developed some practical tools to help us focus our attention on the action of God in our lives and to discern what is from God and what is not from God. These tools for awareness and discernment can be helpful for both the beginner in the spiritual life and the mature believer.

Presenter: Father Adam Ryan, O.S.B.

Date: Friday, October 17 – Sunday, October 19, 2008

Time: Check-in Friday begins at 6:30 p.m. with the First Conference at 7:45 p.m. Retreat concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

Cost: Earlybird discount rate, on or before Tuesday, September 2, $120 per person (double occupancy) or $145 per person (single occupancy). After September 2; $138 per person (double occupancy), or $165 per person (single occupancy). Includes $50 non-refundable deposit

Registration deadline: On or before Friday, October 3, 2008

"Benedictine Spirituality"

Benedictine spirituality is aimed at seeking God. Everything in the Rule of St. Benedict, written around the year 550, draws the faithful person to this holy purpose. For 1500 years men and women of various cultures and temperaments have followed this Rule as a practical way of finding Christ in each day. Today the Rule offers to each of us Benedict’s way of living and experiencing the extraordinary grace of Christ in the very ordinary moments and activities of everyday life: work and sleep; eating and talking; praying and reading the Bible; making decisions and keeping silence; having fun with others and being alone. Benedict’s Way is a pattern of daily life that is graceful and grace-filled, full and fulfilling, human and humane: above all it is Christian. Benedict’s Way is the way of Christ lived in concrete, everyday life.

During this retreat weekend, Benedictine Father Adam Ryan returns to the Spiritual Life Center to explore the various elements of Benedictine Spirituality with those who come. He is an outstanding teacher and spiritual guide in the ways of Saint Benedict. In addition to his conferences, there will be time for the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, group and private prayer, rest and meals. Come and explore a sacramental way of living for everyone and everyday!

Fr Adam Ryan is a monk of Conception Abbey in northwest Missouri and has been a frequent presenter at the Center for laypeople, priests and Consecrated Religious. In 1978, after classical studies at the University of Illinois he entered the monastery and professed monastic vows in 1979. He has served in a variety of positions at Conception Abbey. After theological studies at Sant’Anselmo, the Benedictine university in Rome, he was ordained to the ministerial priesthood in 1990. Currently he is the choirmaster of Conception Abbey, Director of Development, as well as Professor of Biblical Greek in Conception Seminary College.

He devotes much of his time to retreat work and spiritual direction for individuals and groups who come to Conception and to spiritual work with religious communities and parishes.

Presenter: Marcelline Arnold

Date: Saturday, October 18, 2008

Time: Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. First Conference at 9 a.m., the workshop day concludes at noon, follwed by lunch.

Cost: $37, includes lunch

Registration deadline: On or before Saturday, October 11

"Be Good and Listen to Your Angel"

Our presenter for this special workshop, Marcelline Arnold, says:

“I’m not an expert on angels. There are no ‘experts’ except for the angels themselves. However there is some information on them in the Bible, and from the Fathers and Doctors (of which St Thomas Aquinas is chief) of the Church and other saints. There is much we can know about them, and it enriches our lives to know these wonderful beings.”

There is certainly a great deal of interest in angels, but also a great deal of misunderstanding and myths floating around. Angels aren’t “pets” or cutesy nymphs. We don’t control them or “tap into angel power.” This workshop with Marcelline is about getting to know the truth of angels, and getting to know them. This is even more fascinating and fulfilling than all the myths and Gnostic short cuts. God gives these spiritual beings to us, to help us in our journey and it is so sad to miss out on this special sign of God’s love for us. Our need for angels is not to be dismissed lightly. The Church Fathers thought they were important enough to include in the Nicene Creed: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things seen and unseen.”

The name of the workshop--“Be Good and Listen to Your Angel”—comes from Marcelline’s many years as a mother of three sons. “When they went out for the evening. I figured I was raising the odds that they would respond to angelic nudges and make better decisions if they were at least aware, on some faint level, that their angels were always with the,” explains Marcelline. “I began to use the phrase as my closing when I’d write letters to my sons, or other friends and it finally it became my permanent email signature. It seems appropriate for a gathering in which I hope to introduce people to ‘angelology’, and perhaps, to their own angel.” Come join us!

Recommended book list. Order yourself or contact the Center and we can order a copy for you.

Angels and Demons by Peter Kreeft;
The Angels by Father Paschal Parente

These books are also very good, but may appeal to a narrower audience:

The Angels and Their Mission by Jena Danielou, S.J.
Saint Michael and the Angels, a compilation (It is written as a 30-day meditation, but theologically sound.
My Way of Life by Farrell and Healy (a marvelous, readable companion to The Summa. Therefore only one section is about the angels, but it is a wonderful book.

Presenter: Father Kent Hemberger

Date: Friday, November 14 - Sunday, November 16, 2008.

Time: Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m. with the first Conference at 7:45 p.m. Retreat concludes Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Cost: Earlybird discount rate, on or before Friday, October 6, ; $120 per person (double occupancy) or $145 per person (single occupancy). After October 6; $138 per person (double occupancy), or $165 per person (single occupancy). Includes $50 non-refundable deposit

Registration deadline: On or before Friday, October 31, 2008

"An Encounter with Jesus: The Way of Intimacy Through Prayer"

We read in Scripture of the woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus (John 4:5-42), an encounter that changed her life and those around her. This weekend retreat will lead one to a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus through talks and guided personal prayer. The focus of the weekend will be to come to know Jesus by encountering him in the prayer of Gospel Contemplation, which comes to us through St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is through these encounters with Jesus that we are led to a deeper intimacy with Jesus Christ that provides the foundation of our Christian lives of love and service. This retreat will allow ample time for personal prayer and be held in an atmosphere of silence.

Presenter: Father Michael Simone

Date: Saturday, December 6, 2008

Time: Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. First Conference at 9 a.m., the day concludes at 2:30 p.m.

Cost: $40, includes lunch

Registration deadline: On or before Saturday, November 29

"The Joy of Advent"

Modern culture seeks “Christmas joy” in material goods heavily advertised on television and inserts in the Sunday newspaper. During this Advent Day of Prayer, Father Mike Simone invites the faithful to seek an authentic path to Christmas joy by exploring the writings of two great Doctors of the Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Catherine of Sienna. Come to rediscover and connect with true Christmas Joy that we can live each day in a practical way—a truth that begins with the fact that Jesus Christ entered human history to reveal to us what it means to be fully human.

The Center welcomes Father Simone, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Wichita, as he leads this special day of prayer and reflection that will include three conferences, Mass, opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, lunch and time for rest.

Presenter: Father John P. Lanzrath

Date: Friday, January 30-Sunday, February 1, 2009.

Time: Check-in Friday begins at 6:30 p.m. with the first Conference at 7:45 p.m. Retreat concludes Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Cost: Earlybird discount rate, on or before Friday, December 19, ; $120 per person (double occupancy) or $145 per person (single occupancy). After December 19, 2008; $138 per person (double occupancy), or $165 per person (single occupancy). Includes $50 non-refundable deposit

Registration deadline: On or before Friday, January 16, 2009

"The Fruit of Silence is Prayer: Blessed Mother Teresa's Way to Holiness"

Many of our guests of the Center have requested a silent weekend retreat, a time to rest in purposeful silence. This weekend retreat with father John P. Lanzrath is one of the most popular offerings we have made available in recent years. Using the way to holiness as taught by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Fr. John Lanzrath will lead very brief conferences, allowing the majority of the time of the weekend to silence and prayer. Fr. John served as a spiritual director for the novices of the Missionaries of Charity for two years when he lived in Rome and shares many of his personal experiences throughout the weekend. An optional event is the showing of a film and documentary on the life and times of Mother Teresa. Come spend a weekend to learn more about the influence of example taught by Mother Teresa and her sisters that provides a way to holiness for all of us.

Presenter: Bishop Michael O. Jackels

Date: Friday, April 3 - Sunday, April 5, 2009

Time: Check-in Friday begins at 6:30 p.m. with the first Conference at 7:45 p.m. Retreat concludes Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Cost: Earlybird discount rate, on or before Monday, February 23, 2009,; $120 per person (double occupancy) or $145 per person (single occupancy). After February 23, 2009; $138 per person (double occupancy), or $165 per person (single occupancy). Includes $50 non-refundable deposit

Registration deadline: On or before Friday, March 20, 2009

"Palm Sunday Weekend Retreat"

We are once again pleased and honored that The Most. Rev. Michael O. Jackels, Bishop of Wichita, will serve as retreat master for the annual Palm Sunday Weekend Retreat. Bishop Jackels is an energetic, gifted preacher who brings grace-filled insights as we approach and prepare for the apex of the liturgical year—Holy Week, the Sacred Triduum and Easter.

In addition to a series of conferences with Bishop Jackels there will be time for the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Stations of the Cross outdoors (weather permitting) group prayer, individual prayer and rest.

Contact: The Spiritual Life Center (unless otherwise listed)

Phone: (316)744-0167

Other Offerings

Centering Prayer Mondays at 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays at 6 p.m.

Beginning Experience Nov. 14-16, contact Judy Demuth at (620) 430-0339.

Marriage Encounter English couples on September 26-28; contact Alex and Mary Krauska at 316-721-1650.

Engaged Encounter September 5-7, October 24-26.

Retrouvaille October 10-12, 2008, contact Tim and Betty Stolz at 796-0553.