Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Online retreats: (1) Thomas Merton in Lent (2) Lent through the lens of food & fasting

This year we are offering TWO online Lenten retreats, so you can take your pick. Our rates are also lower than last year's.

(1) We are once again offering Thomas Merton, Companion on the Way, an online retreat examining contemplation and struggle in the life, writings, and prayer of Thomas Merton, with guidance and opportunity for prayer and practice.

We will journey through the Christian season of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, with writings by Thomas Merton (Fr. Louis), Trappist monk, poet, spiritual teacher, hermit, and social critic.

For detailed information on Thomas Merton, Companion on the Way, click here.

(2) We are also offering Desert Journey and Daily Bread, an online retreat to help us deepen Lenten prayer, practice, and reflection in the areas of food and fasting.

Our purpose is not to make a fetish out of either food or fasting; they are part of a larger life of faith and practice, of the full life of the body, and of the Lenten journey. Fasting and food are a lens through which we can live the season of Lent, which itself is a path to attune us more closely to God, to God's world, to ourselves, and to our neighbors --and to prepare to celebrate the Resurrection.

For detailed information on Desert Journey and Daily Bread, click here.
Also note that Jane Redmont is offering a live-and-in-person day-long retreat just before the beginning of Lent in North Andover, MA (north of Boston), on "New Lenten Perspectives on Food and Fasting." See here.


Both retreats call us to simplicity, mindfulness, and holiness. Like the season of Lenten itself, they invite us to repentance and conversion, but also to joy. 

You can make your online retreat your own, adapting it to your daily and weekly life and rhythms and to your temperament. You will also have company as you go through the retreat. The retreat offers support and resources gently and steadily. This is not the spiritual Olympics! Lent is not a competition, but rather an invitation.

No comments: