Marywood offers a variety of online and onsite programs which can add to your spiritual journey. Topics include spirituality, personal growth, Franciscanism, art, creation, church history, and much more. These programs are available to everyone at any place on their spiritual journey. Take a look at our current offerings and register today.
Upcoming Programs
Naming and Claiming Your Strengths
ONSITE Wednesday, September 14, 9:30 a.m. – noon
Registration Fee: $20
Is there anything more satisfying than doing something that you’re proud of, you’re good at, and you enjoy? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could live that way all the
time? Join us as we take some time to explore these questions! During this retreat we’ll explore the gifts and strengths we each demonstrate day-to-day. All you need to bring is yourself and your own life story.
Register by Thursday, September 8
Facilitator: Richard Bruesehoff
Thomas Merton
ONSITE Friday, September 16, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: $20
Thomas Merton, through a Trappist monastery in Gethsemane, Kentucky, brought contemplation to the western world. He was not only a contemplative, but also an ecumenically-inspired social activist who continues to share wisdom with the world through his writings. We will join in this wisdom as we explore Merton’s fascinating life.
Register by Friday, September 2
Facilitator: Grant Van Lishout
Death Café
ONSITE Wednesday, September 21, 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
ZOOM Wednesday, September 21, 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Registration Fee: Freewill
For many, to speak of death is uncomfortable, or even frowned upon. Still, we have questions, feelings and wonderings about death that we would like to talk about. Death Café is an open, respectful and confidential space to express views and beliefs or ask questions about death. There is no intention of leading participants to any particular conclusion or course of action regarding death
Register one week before the program
Facilitators: Pat Pintens and Grant Van Lishout
Couple’s Retreat: Giving and Receiving the Love You Want
ONSITE Friday, September 23, 6:00 p.m. – Saturday, September 24, 4:00 pm
Registration Fee: $135 per couple, 1 cabin is available for extra charge (first come first serve)
Here is an opportunity to come away and spend time with your partner and focus on your relationship. It’s time to get rid of the distractions of day to day living and nurture the love that brought you together. We will give you models for some deep honest conversation, then time to be alone or to spend some quality time together. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided on Saturday.
Register by Friday, September 16
Facilitator: Grant Van Lishout
Wilderness Writers and Their Contribution to Our Spiritual Reading
ONSITE Monday, September 26, 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Registration Fee: $20
The word (Spirit) of God comes to us in varied ways. Most often we think of scripture. Yet God’s word first came to us in and through nature. It seems to follow that God’s word would also come to us in the words of wilderness writers such as John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carsen and others. Bring some of your favorite wilderness writers and writings to share.
Register by Wednesday, September 21.
Facilitator: Pat Pintens
Canticle of St. Francis Retreat
ONSITE Friday, September 30, 5:00 p.m. – Sunday October 2, 11:00 am
Registration Fee: $300 private room / $175 commuters
“Be praised,” St. Francis cries out in his canticle, naming the sun, moon, stars, wind,
water, fire, earth and all living creatures as “brothers and sisters.” This retreat is a time to pray with our “brothers and sisters” and learn more about their ways and the wisdom they offer us. Beginning and ending meals provided.
Register by Thursday, September 22 $100 deposit required with registration
Facilitator: Pat Pintens
Watercolor
ON SITE
October 3-5, 2022
9:00 a.m.— 3:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: $35 / day, $90 for all three
Monday, October 3 – From Soft to Hard-Edge Watercolor Painting
Using many of the natural happenings of wet- in wet technique and working with the paper as it gradually dries from a soaking stage, we will create a floral painting. Some hard edges will be created in the painting, but the majority of the painting will have soft diffused edges and suggest and then define the flowers. Bring watercolors, brushes, floral photos and 1/2 sheet of 140#stretched watercolor paper. Limit of nine. Bring a lunch.
Tuesday, October 4 – Palette Knife Painting
Keeping strong colors in watercolors can be a challenge. In this class we will learn one way of creating bold and vibrant watercolor paintings. Using a palette knife as well as a brush we will creatively work on distribution of color with watercolor media, practice some techniques, and then apply them to a painting. You will learn to use a palette knife in two ways: to add or subtract. Bring paints, palette knife, brushes, heavy watercolor paper or stretched watercolor paper and photos of large, light valued flowers. Limit of nine, bring a lunch
Wednesday, October 5 – Adding Body Color to Watercolor: Back Lighting Woods Scene
This workshop will use a combination of both transparent watercolor and opaque gouache in a watercolor painting. By adding only white gouache (provided) to transparent watercolors, a paint having more body and opacity can be created and provide a way that might enhance your ideas and expression. Bring watercolor paints and supplies, a stretched sheet of watercolor paper, and landscape photos of forest trees with lighting from the back. Limit of nine. Bring a lunch.
Register by September 28
Facilitator: Sr. Karen Kappell, FSPA
Mindfulness Meditation with Kathy Carlson
ONSITE
Registration Fee: $20
Feeling anxious or depressed? You aren’t alone. Psychologists report that anxiety and depression are afflicting more Americans, particularly since the pandemic upended life as we knew it. One science-backed way to ease anxiety, depression, anger, and fear is to meditate. Mindfulness meditation changes the brain and thus our outlook on life. In our time together, we’ll learn to breathe effectively and to sit in silence while not paying attention to the voices in our heads. We’ll also practice lovingkindness meditation (or Metta), which produces compassion for others and ourselves.
Kathy Carlson is Professor Emerita of English and Lecturer in Physical Education at Franklin College in Indiana. She has taught mindfulness meditation formally at the college since 2013.
Register by Monday, September 26
Being Shaped and Softened by Suffering
ZOOM Tuesday, October 11, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Registration Fee: $20
Suffering is a part of life that can affect/shape us in many ways. Often we see suffering as negative. But suffering can also affect/shape us in positive ways: our compassion for others’ suffering deepened; our understanding of the meaning(s) of life broadened; our hearts and minds softened. How might we approach suffering’s lessons so as to be shaped and to be softened in positive ways?
Register by Wednesday, October 5
Facilitator: Pat Pintens
Prayer Practice: Centering Prayer
ONSITE Wednesday, October 12, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: Freewill Donation
The prayer of becoming silent is centering prayer. Thomas Keating says, “Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation. In order to hear that language, we must learn to be still and rest in God. One of the signs is an inclination for solitude and silence; to be alone with God, even though we do not find any satisfaction in it.” We will talk about the history and techniques of centering prayer and then we will use the rest of the hour to sit still in a time of prayerful silence.
Register by Wednesday, September 28
Facilitator: Grant Van Lishout
Prayer Practice: Examen
ONSITE Thursday, October 13, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: Freewill Donation
The prayer of looking back on your day is the prayer of Examen. St. Ignatius says, “The Value of the Examen is to purify your soul…When I take time to silently observe myself, my actions, and the world, it is valuable to determine whether inspiration is the source of my thoughts or if something external is drawing me.” We will look into the history of this Ignatian prayer, discuss some techniques, and then Examen our day in silence in the presence of others. We will be together approximately one hour.
Register by Wednesday, September 28
Facilitator: Grant Van Lishout
Prayer Practice: Lectio Divina
ONSITE Friday, October 14, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: Freewill Donation
You don’t want to just read through scripture, you want to take time and allow it to sink into your being. The practice of the Divine reading allows you to contemplate and savor each word that emerges from a page of scripture. Lectio is a repetitious reading that allows you to sit with scripture and go deeper each time you hear it. It gives time for the Spirit to speak to your soul. We will look at some various techniques of Lectio Divina and then spend the rest of the hour doing Lectio Divina together.
Register by Wednesday, September 28
Facilitator: Grant Van Lishout
The Path of Resilience
ONSITE Tuesday, October 25, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Registration Fee: $20
Resile, resilience, resiliency, resilient, resiliently—All come from the Latin resilire meaning to withdraw, to jump back, recoil. Resilire means doing so to return to a prior position. ‘To return to a prior position’, be it physical, mental, social or spiritual may not always be the best path forward. Perhaps resilience, the ability to adjust to misfortune or change, is a better path forward. What might that look like in our lives, especially our spiritual lives?
Register by Wednesday, October 19
Facilitator: Pat Pintens