ADVENT 2021 RETREATS - various formats and lengths!

Dear all, 

Welcome to the season of Advent.

We're offering several kinds of retreats this year, some shorter and on Zoom, others longer and on a blog as we have done in years past, with more “on  your own time” opportunity.

Have a look at the retreat options below. Which theme speaks to you? What do you need most in your life right now?

If it is your custom to observe the Christian season of Advent --or if you wish to begin observing it-- what calls to you this year?

Scroll down to the end of this post if you like calendars and want a visual sense of the schedule of retreat offerings. I've made a chart for you.

There's Always Time: An Advent Twilight Retreat

Thursday, December 2, 8:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (5:00-7:30 p.m. Pacific) on Zoom (with a little break in the middle)

 Saturday, December 4, 3:00-5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (12:00-2:30 p.m. Pacific) on Zoom (with a little break in the middle)

This is the same retreat offered twice for your convenience, on two different days at different times. The retreat will offer some quiet time as well as a gateway into the themes and practices of Advent, that season of contradictions that murmurs “Slow down” and shouts “Wake up!” This retreat is a good “welcome to Advent” experience. It will even work for you if you’re muttering to yourself "I am SO not ready for Advent" or are starting your observance of Advent a little late this year. For details and registration, click here. 

Strength for the Weary: A Restorative Advent

A three-week retreat, December 3 to December 23, from Friday in the first week of Advent to Thursday in the fourth week of Advent. This retreat will take place, as our online retreats have done in the past, on a blog. (Only retreatants will have access to that blog.) You can check in with the regularly posted retreat resources privately, at any time that is convenient for you. Feeling weary and dry in this second pandemic winter? This gentle retreat will offer written meditations, visual art, links to music, and guidance in spiritual practice, including prayer. Details and registration here. Late starters welcome!

The Joyful Revolution: Mary's Magnificat in Advent

A two-week retreat, December 8-24, on a blog (accessible only to retreatants), with regular postings you can tap into privately, at any time of the day or night.

The song of Mary, also known as the Magnificat, is a song of remembrance and gratitude, but also an invitation into the future, a vision of the world turned upside down: the hungry fed, the powerful gone from their thrones, the lowly lifted up –by the power of God. We will take some time to reflect on the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and on its predecessor in the First Testament, the Song of Hannah 1 Samuel 2:1-10) and on their meanings for us today. For details and registration, click here.

 Annunciations in Advent: A Twilight Retreat

            Thursday, December 9, 7:00-9:30 p.m. Eastern (4-6:30 Pacific) on Zoom

This meditative retreat will involve a period of lectio divina (a form of the ancient method of meditative "holy reading") using selected readings from the Rev. Dr. Wilda C. Gafney’s A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church. (Note: all genders are welcome to this retreat!) It will also include some text study and some time for silence and prayer. Dr. Gafney, scholar, teacher, and priest, reconfigures Advent as a season of Annunciations (in the plural). For details and registration, click here.

What about Joseph? A Twilight Retreat

Thursday, December 16, 7:00-9:30 p.m. Eastern (4-6:30 Pacific) on Zoom

Joseph, Mary’s partner, rarely gets much consideration. He doesn't appear at all in this year's Advent Sunday lectionary (Year C), which has readings from the Gospels of Luke and John, but he's there in the Gospel of Matthew and we hear about him in Year A. He is thus among what I call “the people of Advent,” and it's not just Mary who says "yes" in the stories of Jesus's beginnings: Joseph has his own encounter with an angel. We will read from the first and second chapters of the Gospel of Matthew using lectio divina, but also explore some images of and devotions to St. Joseph. For details and registration, click here.

  Visio Divina: Images of Advent - A Twilight Retreat

Thursday, December 23, 7:00-9:30 p.m. Eastern (4-6:30 Pacific) on Zoom

 You know about lectio divina (the ancient method of “holy reading,” see above) but there is also such a thing as visio divina -- holy gazing or sacred gazing. We will view, learn about, and meditate on selected Advent images -- from images of Mary and Elizabeth to visions of the messianic era from a variety of cultural contexts. For details and registration, click here.

Here's a chart of the retreat schedule for you. Click on the calendar below twice in order to enlarge it. You can see what fits with your life and schedule.

Also, if you're thinking of taking more than one retreat, you can see what's realistic and workable for you.

 

 

LENT 2021: three online retreats

art by Thomas Merton

What, you say? A second pandemic Lent?

Can Lent be life-giving, faith-deepening, full of meaning when, for many, the entire past year has felt like Lent?

How will we live Lent in 2021?

Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in Christian churches of the Western traditions, was last week. Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Here we are.

Lent, the 40-day season preceding Easter, is the Christian church's annual long retreat.

We go on this retreat, not necessarily to a different geographical place, especially this year, but to a zone of mindfulness and practice that reorients our hearts and helps us to reconnect, deeply, with God, with Jesus Christ, with the Spirit at the heart of God's life and the life of the world.

We clear some space and time --even a little bit of each-- to  to make room for the God of comfort and surprises and to remember what is deepest and truest in our lives. Lent is for the sake of Easter. It is a time of renewal. It is a sober time, but not a gloomy time. It is a time of self-examination, but not a time of cruelty. It is a time of attentiveness and a time of turning --of conversion.  Transformation is not always easy, but it is possible. Grace is present. Always.

Will you join us on one of three online retreats this Lent?

The two longer retreats, which run for all six weeks of Lent, begin this week. The shorter one, which is three weeks long, begins in the middle of next week.

THOMAS MERTON, COMPANION ON THE WAY
This six-week online retreat examines contemplation and struggle in the life, writings, and prayer of Thomas Merton, with guidance and opportunity for prayer and practice. Merton, a 20th century Trappist monk, was also a writer, poet, spiritual teacher, artist, social critic, and pioneer in interreligious and intermonastic dialogue. I have offered versions of this retreat before. For more detailed information and to register, click here.

LENT FOR LIFE: RENEWING BODY AND SPIRIT
A six-week retreat of prayer, practice, and reflection on the life-giving dimensions of this second Lent of the coronavirus pandemic. It will include a lot of  focus on the body and bodies: our own bodies, Earth's body, our neighbors' bodies, the body of Christ. For more detailed information and to register, click here.

LENT FOR LAGGARDS: (Re)DISCOVERING THE MERCY OF GOD

This one's for you who are struggling, or feeling overwhelmed, and who never quite got started on Lent on either Ash Wednesday or the First Sunday in Lent. Begins in the middle of next week, the second week of Lent. No guilt-trips, just reminders of grace abundant and of the Holy One's love for us as we amble or stumble along. For more detailed information and to register, click here.

All of the retreats have a structure and a schedule, but they are flexible enough to integrate into your daily life: you are the one who decides when and where to read and pray with the materials offered on the retreat and how to apply the invitations to practice.

All three online retreats will be operate on a hybrid model, by which I mean:

1) As in the past, all the retreats will include online resources you can tap into at any time of the day or night, on a private blog to which you will have access once you are registered for the retreat. Among the resources will be readings, meditations, images, a little music, and spiritual exercises to practice in your own time and in the context of your life.

2) Since many of us now have experience with video conversations, each retreat will also include some live online conversation in one or two specific time slots each week -- enough for you to touch base in person (with me and with your companions on the retreat) for some inspiration and support, but not so much that you will get "Zoom fatigue."

All of these online retreats call us to simplicity, mindfulness, and holiness. Like the season of Lent itself, they invite us to repentance and conversion, but also to joy. 

Peace be with you. Please join us on the journey of Lent.

LENT FOR LIFE: RENEWING BODY AND SPIRIT: an online retreat

 Lent for Life: Renewing Body and Spirit

 

 an online retreat
February 24-April 4, 2021

A six-week retreat of prayer, practice, and reflection on the life-giving dimensions of this second Lent of the coronavirus pandemic. The retreat will offer a focus on the body and bodies, with one theme per week, e.g. Earth's body, our own body, our neighbors' bodies, the body politic, the body of Christ. We will reflect on how the traditional practices of Lent can be life-giving for us and engage in ancient and new forms of these practices. And of course, we will pray.

(c) Jane Redmont 2019

The retreat

Each week of Lent for Life will feature short readings --including meditations, poems, and Scripture passages-- along with invitations to and guidance in spiritual exercises which will include simple acts of mindfulness, prayer, reflection, interaction with others, and more.

The readings and other resources will come twice a week, usually on Tuesday and Friday. Sometimes I will post bonus resources on other days.

As in our other online retreats, this one will include, but not require, opportunities for written conversation with other participants. Those conversations take place in the comments sections of the blog posts.

These posts, with the resources, guidance, support, and comment sections take place on a private blog open only to people who have registered for the retreat. Once you have registered for the retreat, you will receive instructions on getting onto the retreat blog.

An innovation for this year will be two live sessions per week (usually an hour long, sometimes a bit longer) on Zoom, with some meditative quiet time followed by an opportunity to share our responses to the readings and other resources as well as our experiences with the retreat's spiritual exercises. Participants are only required to participate in one conversation per week but I am scheduling two per week so as to accommodate people's varied schedules and locations.

As things stand now, our live sessions for the Lent for Life retreat will be Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time and Sundays at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. If one or the other of these times is problematic, we can replace it with an evening time (e.g. later on Thursday or Sunday). I will send out Zoom links on a weekly basis via e-mail; they will not be posted publicly.

How much time will this retreat take? What will I need?

You'll need a computer or tablet with an internet connection.

At a minimum, you will need to log onto the retreat blog to read, gaze, and/or listen twice a week for 20 minutes or so each time. (Three times a week and 30 minutes is even better, but work with your own schedule and daily life.)

You will also need to attend one of the two online one-hour sessions per week. (You are welcome to attend both if you wish.)

You will need to commit to integrating the insights and practices of the retreat into your daily life, but how, when, and how much is completely up to you. This kind of retreat is suited for both morning persons and p.m. persons! You can adapt reflection, prayer, and practice to your personal and work schedule. I'll be there for support and information if you need a consultation.

Please write me with any questions or concerns.

Registration and cost

Registration and payment take place via PayPal secure link, which takes credit and debit cards in addition to PayPal. You do not have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.  

--The drop-down menu below shows the payment scale.

 --Some discounts are available for those in financial hardship. Talk to me.
--At the other end of the spectrum, the benefactor rate helps offset costs and makes discounted rates and scholarship aid possible.

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

RETREAT FEES

Regular fee $165.00 USD Benefactor $265.00 USD Discount $105.00 USD Hardship $75.00 USD

 

 

 I look forward to hearing from  you and to spending time with  you in this holy season.

Jane

We are also offering two other Lenten retreats this year, one lasting all of Lent, like this one, and one shorter one. Click on their names for more information:

Thomas Merton, Companion on the Way
Lent for Laggards: (re-)Discovering the Mercy of God

THOMAS MERTON, COMPANION ON THE WAY: an online retreat, Lent 2021

THOMAS MERTON, Companion on the Way

an online retreat 

February 23-April 3, 2021

Thomas Merton in the 1960s 

photo by John Lyons

The retreat

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 the first Tuesday in Lent to Holy Saturday,* with writings by Thomas Merton (Fr. Louis), Trappist monk, poet, spiritual teacher, hermit, and social critic.

* There will be an option to continue and conclude April 5-10, for those who have church ministry responsibilities through Easter Sunday (and need rest on  Easter Monday!) and who may prefer to engage in the final retreat meditations during Easter Week rather than during  Holy Week.

Each week of Thomas Merton, Companion on the Way will feature short passages from Merton's writings on themes of prayer, war and peace, solitude, nature, community, suffering, and new life. 

The readings (they will be brief: this is a retreat, not a course) will come twice a week, usually on Monday and Thursday. Sometimes I will post bonus resources on other days.

Along with the writings by Merton will be suggestions for reflection, meditation, journal-keeping (verbal or visual), and prayer which participants can use and adapt to their daily life and to their own spiritual practice.

As in our other online retreats, this one will include, but not require, opportunities for written conversation with other participants. Those conversations take place in the comments sections of the blogposts. These posts with the resources and comment sections take place on a private blog open only to people who have registered for the retreat. Once you have registered for the retreat, you will receive instructions on getting onto the retreat blog.

An innovation for this year will be two live sessions per week (usually an hour long, sometimes a bit longer) on Zoom, with some meditative quiet time followed by an opportunity to share our responses to the readings and other resources as well as our experiences with the retreat's spiritual exercises. Participants are only required to participate in one conversation per week but I am scheduling two per week so as to accommodate people's varied schedules and locations. As things stand now, our live sessions of the Merton retreat will be Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time and Fridays at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. If one or the other of these times is problematic, we can replace it with an evening time (e.g. 9 or 10 p.m Eastern on Wednesdays).

How much time will this retreat take? What will I need?

You'll need a computer or tablet with an internet connection.

At a minimum, you will need to log onto the retreat blog to read, gaze, and/or listen twice a week for 20 minutes or so each time. (Three times a week and 30 minutes is even better, but work with your own schedule and daily life.)

You will also need to attend one of the two online one-hour sessions per week. (You are welcome to attend both if you wish.)

You will need to commit to integrating the insights and practices of the retreat into your daily life, but how, when, and how much is completely up to you. This kind of retreat is suited for both morning persons and p.m. persons! You can adapt reflection, prayer, and practice to your personal and work schedule. I'll be there for support and information if you need a consultation.

Please write me with any questions or concerns.

Registration and cost

Registration and payment take place via PayPal secure link, which takes credit and debit cards in addition to PayPal. You do not have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.  

--The drop-down menu below shows the payment scale.

--Some discounts are available for those in financial hardship. Talk to me.
--At the other end of the spectrum, the benefactor rate helps offset costs and makes discounted rates and scholarship aid possible.

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

retreat fees

Regular fee $165.00 USD Benefactor $265.00 USD Discount $105.00 USD Hardship $75.00 USD

 

 

I look forward to hearing from you and to spending time with  you in this holy season.

Jane

We are also offering two other Lenten retreats this year, one lasting all of Lent, like this one, and one shorter one. Click on their names for more information:

Lent for Life: Renewing Body and Spirit
Lent for Laggards: (re)Discovering the Mercy of God