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June 12, 2019 – While some might believe that mysticism and action are opposite calls in the Christian life, a retreat offered at Weber Retreat and Conference Center connects mysticism directly with activism. Discovering Mysticism in our Call to Action is from 7:00 p.m. Monday, June 24, 2019 through 11:00 a.m. Friday, June 28, 2019.

The retreat focuses on the root of three contemporary mystics that led them to take action: Dorothy Day, a convert to Catholicism, went on to found the Catholic Worker Movement. Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan, SJ, was an anti-war activist, opposing the war in Vietnam and founding the anti-nuclear weapons and pacifist movement, Plowshares. Thea Bowman, an African-American Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, was empowered by her faith to resist oppression and racism.

Discovering Mysticism is led by three spiritual leaders. Sister Arlene Kosmatka, OP, a spiritual director, has been studying mystics since posing the question in her master’s thesis: Is everyone called to be a mystic? Patrick Henry, PhD, Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, has written and spoken widely on the Holocaust and written an article on Daniel Berrigan. C. Vanessa White is Assistant Professor of Spirituality and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union and a member of the faculty at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, where Sister Thea Bowman was a founding faculty member.

The cost – which includes meals and snacks – is $220 for commuters, $320 per person double occupancy, and $420 single occupancy. Registration is required and is available here. Registrations may also be made by contacting Weber Center at 517-266-4000 or [email protected]. Limited scholarships are available.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian. Enter the Eastern-most driveway of the complex and follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

June 18, 2018, Adrian, Michigan – A five-day retreat allows participants to explore – through the study of three remarkable mystics – the process in which we realize that God is the very reality of ourselves, others, and all things.

Retreat with the Mystics at Weber Retreat and Conference Center begins at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 8, 2018, and continues through noon Thursday, July 12, 2018, studying Thomas Merton, Etty Hillesum and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ.

• Thomas Merton: Dr. Joe Raab, Professor of Religious Studies at Siena Heights University, will explore the mysticism of this U.S. Trappist monk who wrote the spiritual classic, The Seven Storey Mountain.
  
  
• Etty Hillesum: Sister Arlene Kosmatka, OP, a spiritual director, will explore how the life of Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman who wrote An Interrupted Life and died in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in 1943, reveals the power of love in the midst of suffering.
  
  
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ: Sister Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, Director of the institute for Religion and Science at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, will discuss the work of this Jesuit priest and paleontologist, who focused on evolution, faith, and the Cosmic Christ. 
  
  

The cost of the retreat is $275 for commuters, $375 per person for double occupancy; and $475 for single occupancy. Registration is required. To register, visit www.webercenter.org and click on “programs.” Registrations may also be made by contacting Weber Center at 517-266-4000 or [email protected].

Weber Retreat and Conference Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian. Enter the Eastern-most driveway of the complex and follow the signs to Weber Center.