There are times when I shudder at the world around me, shaken by the fear, the mistrust, the deadly and dysfunctional conflict, and I wonder where God is as chaos happens. My recent diagnosis of malignant breast cancer has reminded me that this chaos happens within me as well, unexpectedly turning my world upside down and forcing me to confront my own sense of control over life events and my future. Peter Senge reminds us that cell division without attention and care for surrounding cells threatens life within the whole organism and we call it cancer. Surely as we look at our earth, we can see the same irresponsible pattern of human behavior. What does it mean to feel God’s presence in the midst of these threats to life, both internally and externally? What new life can be alive in us in the midst of this chaos?
Edwina Gateley, poet, author, theologian, artist, writer, lay minister, modern day mystic, prophet and a single Mom, has words of comfort for us about personal and global transformation. The Church Times has said of Edwina that she is “An essential voice…a modern Dorothy Day”. The language she speaks is the language of the Heart assisting us to become aware of our experience of God in our daily lives. Through her writings and workshops, she helps us identify the God who is already here, as she says, “Waiting to be found, soaked in my reality.” She calls us to “the transformative experience of real faith” at those heart breaking points in life when we “know that God is with us and that new life is possible even in the midst of despair.”
The Spiritual Ministries Network of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada and Associates, London Site, is pleased to present and welcome you to a day of slowing down, paying attention and encountering what is Real. Together we will discover who we are and who God is for us and with us. Please join us on this journey as we each find again what brings life to us and to our world.
In God’s Womb: A Journey with Yourself and God is a contemplative retreat with poetry, music, visuals, reflection and contemporary prayer
Saturday, May 30th, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Retreat program begins at 9:30 a.m.)
Box Lunch at Noon
REGISTRATION FEE: $60.00
Bessie Labatt Hall, King’s University College, Western University Campus
266 Epworth Avenue London, ON N6A 2M3
For more information: Mary Shamley, Spiritual Ministries Network
Click HERE for a brochure in PDF
TEL: 519-432-3781 ext. 567 / E-mail: mshamley@csjcanada.org
Another opportunity to be engaged with EDWINA GATELEY:
Beginning May 18th and concluding June 5th, Monasteries of the Heart, a web site, as described and created by Joan Chittister, that, “brings the Rule of Benedict, the person, and the community together to do again in our own time what is needed to revive our spiritual energy, our recognition of common values, and a sense of vibrant and effective human community” will be offering an on-line e-retreat with Edwina:
Tracing Your Spiritual Autobiography: A Retreat with Edwina Gateley.