THE TRANSFORMATION OF DAILY LIFE
How do we grow spiritually? Do we have to go to seminary, or become a monk or a hermit? Or can daily life be transformed so that our everyday lives, with all their ordinary events and relationships, become our monastery, our school, and our seminary? The events of our daily lives, and the relationships that we have, can become the primary material out of which we grow spiritually -- if we learn how to stay awake and pay attention to life as it unfolds.
What are the blockages that keep us from growing? Why are some things in our inner life so hard to change? Can we change? Why is prayer so difficult? Why is it so hard to be quiet and still? How do we better connect our inner spiritual life to our daily life?
God is not waiting around for our peak moments in order to bring us holiness. The Spirit of God is dependent neither on our timetable nor our game plan. Each day is transformative for those who can recognize the Spirit's promptings while the "stuff" of life goes on around us. How do we prepare ourselves to respond to the divine initiative of the moment? And what is to be our part in the process?
Topics discussed on this retreat include understanding spirituality in daily life, opening ourselves to transformation, everyday prayer, undertaking discernment and action, and creating a holistic-contemplative spiritual program.
ABOUT BERNIE TICKERHOOF
Fr. Bernie Tickerhoof, TOR is a friar of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. He is the Director of Franciscan Pathways, a ministry of spirituality and reconciliation sponsored by his religious community.
Through these ministries he offers retreats and spiritual programs in retreat centers, parishes, and religious congregations. These are tailored to the particular needs of the specific groups and organizations. He has developed a variety of programs on holistic spirituality, faith and conversion, the enneagram, and dream work.
Bernie received his Master of Divinity (MDiv) from St. Francis Seminary, formerly in Loretto, PA, in 1978, and a Master of Theology (ThM) in the Institute for Spirituality and Worship through the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, CA in 1979. He received a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2001. He also pursued graduate studies at the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University and at the Catholic University of America.
Bernie was ordained in 1978, and has been involved in spiritual ministry and retreat work since 1979. He has traveled widely throughout the country in a ministry of preaching, spiritual conferences, and retreats. He served on the formation team for his religious community as Vocation Director from 1993 to 1996, and has done extensive work in Franciscan Spirituality through the Franciscan Federation of the U.S. and as a spiritual assistant for the Secular Franciscan Order at the local, provincial, and regional levels. Other interests include spiritual direction, storytelling and liturgical expression.
Bernie is the author of Conversion and the Enneagram: Transformation Of the Self In Christ, and Paradox: The Spiritual Path to Transformation.
RETREAT REGISTRATION
Cost of the retreat is $75, and includes lodging for two nights, and 6 meals. Please contact Bob Sabath for more information, or to reserve your space. Some limited scholarships are available.
Plan to arrive between 4-6 pm Friday evening, August 20. We will have a meal at 7:00, followed by an evening session. We will conclude with lunch on Sunday.
Join us for stimulating discussion with Bernie, delicious home cooked meals, time to walk and hike and be alone, daily worship, and energizing conversations with other retreat participants.
| Rolling Ridge | web: www.rollingridge.net |
| Study Retreat Community | phone: 304.724.6653 |
| Bob Sabath | e-mail: bsabath@sojo.net |
| RR 4 Box 314 | |
| Harpers Ferry, WV 25425 | |
