Our July directed retreat consists of five whole days (6-night stay) of spiritual direction. Retreatants will meet with a spiritual director daily (or less if you desire) to reflect on God’s Presence and movement in your life as revealed in prayer, the events and relationships in your life and the response to God that is being made. The spiritual director may make suggestions (prayer forms, Scripture, reading materials, etc…) to support and deepen your awareness of and response to God. You will have this week of quiet and peace for personal reflection at our Center and around our beautiful grounds. Mass will also be offered a few times throughout your stay.
This is a silent retreat. Check-in begins at 4pm and the retreat will begin after dinner. Silence will begin at that time. If you have a preference for your spiritual director, please click on the ‘special needs’ section of your registration form below and enter their name.
Joanne Cahoon, D. Min. holds a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, master’s degree in Religion/Pastoral Ministry, graduate certificates in spiritual direction and in spirituality studies, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where her specialization was spirituality and practical theology. Along the way, Joanne has also taught in elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate school settings. She has also served as youth ministry, high school campus ministry, consultant, writer, national trainer, diocesan staff member, staff member of a graduate school, spiritual director, facilitator of retreats and professional coach. Joanne has welcomed and worked with many individuals and groups, serving them as they listen for God’s invitations in their personal and corporate lives. She finds it a privilege to be involved in spiritual and human formation; bringing deep listening, presence, creativity and a commitment to her own ongoing formation to her work.
Sister Jo-Ann Flora, a native Philadelphian, is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur and resides in the Washington DC area, where she serves as a spiritual director, meeting individuals in person and on Zoom, and is a retreat director. Originally trained by the New York Jesuits as a director of the Spiritual Exercises, she has engaged in this ministry for forty-three years in many spirituality centers, parishes and schools. She is also a certified Music Imagery (MI) facilitator and Reiki Master. She has been active with Notre Dame de Namur Associates for thirty years. She holds a Master’s degree from Georgetown University and a doctoral degree from the University of California.
Sr. Pamela Jablon, SSND, earned her certificate in Spiritual Direction from Sacred Hearth University. She has been offering spiritual direction at the School Sisters of Notre Dame Provincial House, Well for the Journey, and Notre Dame of Maryland University for many years. She is knowledgeable and experienced in principles and practices of adult education and spiritual counseling.
Ginny Novak, MA, is an experienced spiritual director and retreat leader. She’s been a director here at Bon Secours and a long-time summer retreat director at Loyola on the Potomac in Southern Maryland. A widow, mother and grandmother, her ministry also includes many years as a Spiritual Reflector for the Ignatian Volunteer Corps and as a Spiritual Advisor for the Cursillo Movement in Washington, DC.
Father Michael Schleupner was ordained in 1972 and has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore for 46 years. Most recently, he served as the pastor of Saint Margaret Parish in Bel Air, Maryland for 10 years. Father retired from that pastorate and from full-time ministry in 2016. Since then, he is ministering in various ways, including: assisting at parishes on weekends, offering spiritual direction in a parish setting and at the Caritas Counseling Center in Towson, directing retreats, and composing a weekly electronic spiritual message called Inbox Inspirations (fathermikeinbox@nullgmail.com). Father Schleupner’s Sunday homilies are also available (www.fathermikeschleupner.blogspot.com). His weekend Mass schedule is on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FatherMikeSchleupner). Father has masters degrees in Theology and in Church Administration and a Licentiate Degree in Canon Law. He has also done studies in spirituality, spiritual direction, and in secularism.