“We are all God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10), a masterpiece of mind, heart, body and spirit. According to the 20th century French Jesuit theologian and teacher, Teilhard de Chardin, we are “spiritual beings on a human journey,” not human beings on a spiritual journey. As embodied spiritual beings, the late Celtic mystic John O’Donohue notes that: “The soul is not simply within the body, hidden somewhere within its recesses. The truth is rather the converse. Your body is in the soul, and the soul suffuses you completely.” Thus, it is both my body and my soul that experience my longing for God, that is, infinite union with infinite love. This retreat will focus on raising one’s levels of awareness as to what it means to be an embodied spiritual being centered in God. Each session will bring a spiritual practice of embodiment together with reflective input to help retreatants experience the intrinsic connection of body and soul.
Check-in begins at 4pm and the retreat will begin after dinner. This is a silent retreat, guided by Fr. Phil Cover and Cindy Hilbert.
Fr. Phillip Cover is an experienced retreat leader, spiritual director, pilgrimage leader, educator, and author. He is rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition, and the teachings of the mystics. He has served in leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Catholic Educational Association and the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He is co-author of Journey with Purpose; Through Exile into the Heart of God; and The Inner Work of Lent.
Cindy Hilbert, RN, is a certified holistic nurse, a leader of retreats, spiritual director, presenter of lectures, programs and workshops focused on the integration of mind, body and spirit. Her private wholistic nursing practice includes wellness counseling, healing touch, and multiple types of energy work. Her passion is to create space for one to experience the Divine within and companion the journeyer to deepen one’s awareness as an embodied spiritual being created in the likeness of God.