Visionary Scientist and Mystic
Mary Ellen Sheehan, IHM, STD
Saturday, September 21, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit paleontologist, was born in Auvergne, France in 1881 and died in New York in 1955. In his ministry, he combined scientific rigor with a theological acumen that led him to write profoundly about, at one and the same time, a deeply mystical and deeply earthly spirituality. In this workshop, we will explore some of the central themes in his religious writings and ask how they might lead us today into an appropriation of a more deeply integrated Incarnational Spirituality.
Mary Ellen Sheehan, IHM, STD, earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and is a Professor Emerita of Theology at St. Michael’s College of the Toronto School of Theology. Currently, she offers lectures, workshops, and retreats that relate theology to a range of questions emerging in our current cultural context. She draws on the contemplative character of theology to deepen our experience and understanding of God and to explore the meaning of committed Christian discipleship in our world today.
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Eucharistic Spirituality through the Ages
Theresa Koernke, IHM, PhD
Saturday, September 28, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25
The Eucharist is the “source and summit” of Christian life and spirituality. Like a precious jewel, one cannot appreciate it by looking at it from only one angle or in only one light. One needs to examine it this way, now that, now in this light and then in another to comprehend its true beauty. In this program, participants will reflect on the development of the Eucharist and its influence on Catholic spirituality through the centuries in order to come to a fuller understanding and appreciation of the Sacrament of the Church.
Theresa Koernke, IHM, PhD has taught about the relationship between Baptism, the celebration of the Eucharist, and ordained ministry in graduate schools of theology, including the Washington Theological Union, since her graduation from the University of Notre Dame in 1983.
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Giving Ourselves to God
Julie Vieira, IHM, MA
Saturday, October 12, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25
What does it really mean to give ourselves fully and unreservedly to God? In the saints and mystics, we see this whole-hearted, whole-bodied desire and pursuit of God. Yet for us, as for them, it can be quite a challenge to truly “let go and let God” especially when we also need to provide for ourselves and others. We long for self-sufficiency yet our faith compels us to let go of even ourselves in order to be in union with God.
Teresa of Ávila famously wrote, “Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.” In this program, we will look the meaning of giving ourselves fully and unreservedly to God by exploring what Teresa meant in these words from what is known as Saint Teresa’s Bookmark Prayer (“Let nothing disturb you”/ “Nada te turbe”). We’ll also explore her other writings and life experience which provide further context and insight into these words.
In walking with Teresa, our hope is to better appreciate our own desire to give ourselves fully and unreservedly to God in the concrete reality of our own lives. Our time together will include prayer, input, discussion, and quiet reflection.
Julie Vieira, IHM, MA, (she/her) is a writer, presenter, and thinker in spirituality with particular attentiveness to living the darkness and light — the poetry and rough prose — of everyday life. She holds a Master of Arts in Theology from St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto and is a member of the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan. She serves as the director of the Margaret Brennan Institute and as a volunteer crisis counselor for LGBTQ+ youth. She also works as a consultant in the unfolding of religious life and of mission. Visit julievieira.org.
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Susan Rakoczy, IHM, PhD
Saturday, October 19, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $24
This morning of reflection will explore the insights of Doctors of the Church, Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) and Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), as well as American social activist, Dorothy Day (1897-1980) to the intertwined relationship of a deep and abiding faith and a full and unblinking commitment to social justice.
Suggested reading: Susan Rakoczy, Great Mystics and Social Justice: Walking on the Two Feet of Love. (New York: Paulist Press, 2008). Used copies are available on Amazon.
Sue Rakoczy, IHM, PhD, is a native Detroiter and a graduate of Marygrove College. Her doctorate in spirituality is from the Catholic University of America. She spent thirty-two years teaching feminist theology and spirituality in South Africa, returning to the United States in 2022.
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Exploring Ignatian Spirituality
Kathie Budesky, IHM, MA
Saturday, November 9, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25
“Ignatian spirituality is one of the most influential and pervasive spiritual outlooks of our age. There’s a story behind it. And it has many attributes.”
Join us for a morning of exploration. We will begin with the story behind this distinctive Christian spirituality with an emphasis on developing an understanding of Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises and how they can impact one’s world view and one’s everyday life. There will be time to put into practice elements of Ignatian spirituality, a way of living that insists that God is present in our world and active in our lives. You can plan on a morning of input, time for prayer and reflection, and lively discussion.
Kathie Budesky, IHM, MA, the director of Visitation Spirituality Center, has many years of experience in secondary education, both in the religious studies classroom and in the principal’s office. A graduate of the Institute in Creation-Centered Spirituality at Mundelein College, she was a staff associate in the Ignatian Program in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Ministry at Guelph, Ontario.
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The Mystical Way in Everyday Life
Annemarie S. Kidder, PhD, IHM Associate
Saturday, November 16, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25
The Jesuit priest and theologian Karl Rahner (1904-84) is famous for saying that the Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic or else will be no more. As church attendance in the West continues to decline sharply and parishes are closing, one wonders who will remain as an active and vital member of the church. And what type of faith will these Christian believers practice? Rahner says that it will be the mystics, those who have learned to see God in all things and allow God in Christ to permeate everyday life. This program will provide a brief overview of Rahner's work and his influence on the Second Vatican Council (1963-65). It will highlight the way in which Rahner's theology and mysticism was shaped by the Jesuit order's founder, Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). And it will outline the concrete steps that Rahner suggests to us so as to become mystics in turn.
Annemarie S. Kidder, PhD, is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served churches in Michigan and Ohio. A former seminary professor, she is the author and editor of ten books on historical theology, spirituality, and biblical studies. Some of her more recent works are Making Confession, Hearing Confession (Liturgical Press), Karl Rahner’s The Mystical Way in Everyday Life (Orbis Books), and Karl Rahner's Ignatius of Loyola Speaks (St. Augustine Press).
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Wisdom from Two Biblical Women
Janet Schaeffler, OP, MA
Saturday, December 14, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25
Our lives are filled with various occasions of waiting (large and small); Advent calls us to reflect on this mystery of expectation. Mary and Elizabeth - faith-filled disciples, bold prophets, and experienced in waiting - are witnesses and guides for us amid today’s questions, uncertainties, and challenges.
During this morning of exploration, listening, prayer, reflection, and conversation, we will explore life-giving actions that will renew our everyday lives of waiting in wonder, thriving through struggles, and dwelling in compassion.
Janet Schaeffler, OP, is a facilitator of days of reflection, retreats, and workshops. An author and college educator, she teaches online classes for the University of Dayton and Boston College. The former director of adult faith formation for the Archdiocese of Detroit, she continues this ministry in a wide variety of pastoral settings.
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Francis J. Daly, SJ, M.Div.
& Kathie Budesky, IHM, MA
Tuesday, December 31, 10:00am-4:00pm
Suggested Offering: $50 (includes lunch)
New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to STOP, to reflect, and to LOOK back in gratitude on the old year that is setting and to LISTEN to the invitation of the Spirit for the New Year that is dawning. Join us for a day that includes input, time for personal prayer and reflection, conversation, an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and a lunch catered by Panera Bread. The day will end with the celebration of the liturgy for the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. (Registration Deadline is Friday, December 20, 2024.)
Francis J. Daly, SJ, is a staff member and the former executive director of Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills, MI. He was master of novices for the Detroit and Chicago Provinces of the Society of Jesus and Tertian Director for Jesuits from four continents.
Kathie Budesky, IHM, the director of Visitation North Spirituality Center, has many years of experience in secondary education, both in the religious studies classroom and the principal’s office. She was a staff associate in the Ignatian Program in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Ministry at Guelph, Ontario.
Program Brochure/Registration Form
Visitation North Spirituality Center
7227 Lahser Road
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
248-433-0950
visitationnorth@ihmsisters.org