The Spirituality of Suffering
Our spiritual development entails the reciprocal flow between our understanding of our religious convictions and how we practice them. This Friends Day of Prayer will examine some of the core religious convictions of our spirituality for the suffering and their caregivers. In the morning, we will focus our attention on having a vital sense of the presence of God by thinking about how and where God is present to us. In the afternoon, we will examine our convictions about suffering, the cross, death, judgment, and the afterlife.
All are welcome to attend the Friends Day of Prayer retreats, held monthly on the first Wednesday of the month. It is not required to attend every month, so register for one or more sessions as your schedule allows. While the presenters and topics vary, each Friends Day of Prayer typically includes pastries and informal conversation at 9:30am, a morning presentation at 10am, an optional Mass, a delicious lunch, short periods of free time to enjoy the grounds or shop in the bookstore, and an afternoon presentation. Guided by Rev. Rich Gula.
Rev. Richard M. Gula, P.S.S. is a retired Sulpician priest. As a Sulpician, Rich dedicated himself to educating seminarians, priests, and lay pastoral ministers. After nearly four decades of teaching, he then served for eleven years as the Director of Personnel for the Sulpician Fathers, Province of the US. During his years of teaching, he published widely in moral theology, medical ethics, and spirituality, including The Good Life and The Call to Holiness from Paulist Press and The Way of Goodness and Holiness from Liturgical Press. His teaching and his publications were recognized as building bridges from academic theology to the practical interests of pastoral ministers and of the people in the pews. In his retirement, he serves as hospice volunteer and grief companion for Gilchrist within the Charlestown Senior Living Community.