An individually directed retreat focuses on the way God is active in the individual’s life, and each retreat follows a uniquely personal path. Retreatants meet with a spiritual director once a day to reflect on God’s presence and movement in their life as revealed in prayer, the events and relationships in their 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 the retreatant’s awareness of and response to God. Aside from the introductory session and daily spiritual direction meetings, retreatants are on their own to experience a week of quiet, peace, and personal reflection in the Retreat Center and around our beautiful grounds. Mass will be available throughout the week.
This is a silent retreat. Check-in begins at 4pm, and the retreat will begin with an orientation session at 5pm. Silence will begin after dinner. The retreat ends after lunch on Saturday.
Please indicate your preference for a spiritual director in the “Special Needs” part of the online registration form.
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 taught in elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate school settings. She has also served as youth minister, high school campus minister, 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.
Amy Sorensen Kulesa, M.Div., MSW is a spiritual director, retreat leader and certified Introspective Breathwork™ facilitator. She earned a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University. She is a graduate of Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality, Bon Secours Spiritual Direction Institute, and One Breath Institute. Immersed in both the Bon Secours and Franciscan charisms, Amy enjoys facilitating retreats in which participants have the opportunity to discern the narrative of their own lives within the larger story of God’s abundant healing, grace, and mercy.
Sr. Jo-Ann Flora, a native Philadelphian, is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur and resides in the Washington, DC area. She serves as a spiritual director, meeting individuals in person and virtually, and a retreat director. Originally trained by the Jesuits as a director of the Spiritual Exercises, she has engaged in retreat ministry since 1980 in many spirituality centers, parishes, and schools. She is also a certified Music Imagery (MI) facilitator and Focusing facilitator. She served as Coordinator of Notre Dame de Namur Associates in the mid-Atlantic region for fifteen years. She holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University and a doctoral degree from the University of California.
Sr. Jean Marie Holup, SS.C.M., a Sister of Saints Cyril and Methodius, has previously ministered as the Director of St. Cyril Spiritual Center in Danville, PA for the past 20 years. Before that time Jean was on staff at Bon Secours Spiritual Center in Marriottsville, MD from 1996 -1999. She is the proud recipient of a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1995 from Creighton University, Omaha, NE, and did her practicum at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, PA. Jean has the privilege of being a spiritual director involved in retreat work on the East Coast, in several Mid-Western States, and in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has been giving retreats at Mercy Center in CT, and Gonzaga Eastern Point Jesuit retreat house in Gloucester, MA. An experienced spiritual director, she has witnessed the profound insights discovered through the working of the Holy Spirit during each person’s spiritual journey. Jean is currently the Director of Formation for her Congregation. She enjoys singing, dream work, creating sacred life patterns with collage, and taking walks in nature.
Fr. Michael Schleupner, JCL was ordained in 1972 and has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore for fifty-three years. For the past eight years, he has devoted himself to a ministry of spirituality. This includes spiritual direction, some retreats or retreat days, sacramental assistance at a parish, and a weekly electronic spirituality column called Inbox Inspirations which one can receive at no cost (fathermikeinbox@gmail.com). Fr. Michael’s Sunday homilies are also available at www.fathermikeschleupner.blogspot.com. His weekend Mass schedule is on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FatherMikeSchleupner). Fr. Michael offers spiritual direction at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Parkton, at the Caritas Counseling Center in Lutherville, and at the Saint Luke Institute in Silver Spring. He is a graduate of the Bon Secours Spiritual Direction Institute. In recent years, he has also done studies in spirituality and secularism.