Welcome to the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center’s blog! This blog will extend our retreat ministry by bringing prayers and reflections into your home ‘retreat’. Many of our presenters and staff share their homilies, favorite prayers and reflections through this medium. We encourage you to comment, pass it along to friends or simply take a moment to pray with us. We hope that this will serve as a moment during your day when you can ‘retreat with us’.
A friend of our Center responded to one of last week's blog posts with this poem by her friend, Catherine Coundjeris. Catherine wanted to share her poem with our community too. Our lives certainly changed just a few weeks ago, during the month of March. Catherine writes this poem about one of those major changes to our lives, the inability to gather in our churches and chapels for Mass. After you read it, please share if the absence of your…
In addition to serving as the Director of the Associates for the Sisters of Bon Secours, Amy Kulesa also leads some of our retreats at the Retreat & Conference Center. She oversees and often facilitates our weekly Centering Prayer sessions and this December she'll be leading a Centering Prayer weekend retreat during the Advent season. You can click here to learn more about her. Let's take a quiet moment to read this reflection by Amy. The Call to Sabbath In…
Andrea Springer offers today's post. Andrea has presented retreats many times at the Retreat & Conference Center and she will be the feature presenter for our annual Women's Wellness retreat this September. The theme this year will be 'Present with Purpose' and you can read more about the retreat and about Andrea by clicking here. As we struggle to connect with our communities during the pandemic, take a moment to read this insightful reflection. Community of the Long Haul Not…
Fr. Robert Albright has presented retreats at our Center for many years and is a great friend of our community. He offers this reflection, based on an Egyptian Maat. Here is a definition of 'maat' according to Britannica.com: "In its abstract sense, maat was the divine order established at creation and reaffirmed at the accession of each new king of Egypt. In [this] setting maat ‘order’ in place of isfet ‘disorder,’..." Let's contemplate this maat from Fr. Bob today. WISDOM…
Gordon Creamer writes today's post about Holy Week approaching. Gordon presents many retreats for us throughout the year, such as the grief, caregiver's and Dinner & Dialogue programs. He also guides annual summer weekend retreats and this year the theme will be "A Sacred Encounter with Jesus & Rumi: the Very Heart of Love". You can click here to learn more about it. Let's take a moment to breathe, to remember we're in God's presence and to reflect on this…
Today's post comes from presenter Susan Boruff. Susan often presents retreats at our Center with Kathy Anderson and they have a ministry together, Take Twelve Today. Their next retreat will be held June 17-21 and the theme is "Healing Our World One Person at a Time: Discovering How God's Love Transforms Ourselves, Our Families, Our Communities and Our World". What a poignant theme for everything that we're experiencing during this pandemic! To learn more about the retreat and these presenters,…
Fr. Michael Schleupner offers another reflection for our blog. This is focused on John 11: 1-45 for the fifth Sunday of Lent. To learn more about Fr. Michael, click here for information about his next retreat with us. Grief – faith – hope These three words capture one of the core messages of todays’ long, but very human and beautiful gospel story. Jesus restores to life a man named Lazarus. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha were very…
Ginny Novak has been offering spiritual direction during our summer directed retreats for many years. She will be with us this summer for the July 19-25 directed retreat and you can learn more about her by clicking here. Ginny writes, "I read this poem by a favorite poet of mine, and it speaks to me of the time we're in." Beannacht ("Blessing") On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to…
In addition to presenting many creative contemplative retreats at our Center, Debra Donnelly-Barton is the Executive Director of the Center for Spiritual Development and she is also a Spiritual Director. Debra introduces an audio meditation below. Thank you for sharing with our community, Debra! In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the…
Jim Devine volunteers in our Chapel to assist with Mass and communion services. We're so grateful for the gift of service that Jim and his wife, Joanna, provide to the Center! Jim offers this reflection for today... I read this a few days ago and wanted to share it with you. It was written by St. Thomas More while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It seems very appropriate for our current state of isolation “The Sadness of…
