Spirituality Ministries

Nazareth Retreat Center Makes a Great Gift

2012-12-06T10:02:00.001-05:00

Nazareth Retreat Center is featured in today's Louisville Courier Journal newspaper as a terrific Christmas gift idea. The article highlights the hermitages on Nazareth's campus and suggests gift certificates to Nazareth Retreat Center as a perfect gift of relaxation for your loved ones. Check out the article here. Please contact Nazareth Retreat Center for more information, 502-348-1597 or 502-348-1513.

Healing Prayer Group at Nazareth Retreat Center in Photos

2012-09-24T09:08:00.001-04:00

Spiritual Direction Internship

2012-07-18T14:37:00.000-04:00

Download the brochure here.

Spiritual Direction Internship offered September 2012 – May 2013

THE INTERNSHIP

The Spiritual Direction Internship is ecumeni- cal in nature and designed for persons who feel called to accompany others on their life jour- ney. The focus is how to be with directees as they reflect on life and their relationship with God.

The internship is experiential in nature. Its con- tent unfolds in the context of group process and reflection, not lecture. The Internship experi- ence includes one-to-one supervision, peer group supervision, assigned readings, and practice in the art of Spiritual Direction.

It is limited to approximately eight persons. The internship begins with a two-day intensive beginning on September 17 and meets each Tuesday through May. All meetings are at Nazareth, Ky.

For more information see the brochure here.

Sixth Sunday of Lent: Palm Sunday

2012-04-01T08:45:00.000-04:00

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna
Blessed is He. Blessed is He who comes in the name of our God.
Blessed is He. Blessed is He who comes in the name of our God.

The hymn rings out and the people cry in exaltation for the One who comes in the Name of God.

What extremes of emotions pivot today’s readings. In Mark’s Gospel read following the blessing of the palm, we hear the people crying out “Hosanna.” And then during the Mass the Passion according to Mark is proclaimed. In this extended version of the Gospel, the scene begins in Bethany where Jesus is among his friends for the Feast of Passover. An unnamed woman broke an expensive alabaster jar of perfumed oil and poured it on Jesus’ head. The drama of the next three days has begun. The woman sensed the darkness beginning to unfold around Jesus. Jesus defends her saying ; “She has done a good thing for me. She has done what she could. She has anticipated anointing my body for burial.”

The rest of the Passion story we know so well, the foretelling of betrayal, the breaking of the bread and sharing of the wine, the garden of Gethsemane, the arrest, trial, torture and finally the crucifixion. During this heart-breaking time we hear Jesus warning the disciples that their faith will be shaken. We hear Jesus say ; “My soul is sorrowful even to death.” We hear the denial of Peter. And finally we are with Jesus the Christ crucified, standing with women, his Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James and Joses, and Salome. Joseph of Arimathea receives the body of Jesus and with the women, buries this sacred corpse in a tomb hewn from stone.

This drama is more than we can bear it seems. Yet what else can we do but remember,
lest we forget. We remember the fidelity of Jesus the Christ to His God, to God’s message of love given to Jesus for us all. We remember the fear of the disciples and their sorrow.

We remember the unwavering faithfulness of the women. We ponder, where would we be on that day. How are we faithful today to this Jesus the Christ who gave so much for us. Would Jesus say of us “She has done what she could.” We remember that we are already living the resurrected life in Jesus the Christ. So in gratitude we say “Hosanna” Christ our Light.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

2012-03-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:31; 33)

“The hour has come….Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit…..I am troubled”( John 12:23 - 24 ; 27)

With the readings from Jeremiah and John we are given deeper understandings of Jesus relationship with God. We are also invited to a deeper embracing of the relationship God offers to us. Throughout scripture we have been told of God’s covenant relationship with God’s people as first spoken to Abraham and then given to Moses in the Ten Commandments. In both of these scriptures God promises, I will be their God. In Jeremiah, that covenant relationship initiated by God is deepened. It is not a covenant governed only by external laws but rather by God’s law written within the hearts of the people. Let us ponder for a moment what this might mean for us. Here God is promising us that God’s Spirit will be given to abide within each of us, within our deepest, most intimate being, within our heart. So that if we listen, really listen, we will know God’s ways. We will never be separated from the life and way of God.

In John’s Gospel we hear Jesus listening, really listening to the unfolding of events that will eventually lead to his crucifixion. Jesus listens to the movements of the people, to the questions, to the wonderings, even to the acclamations. And yet he knows that this “Grain of Wheat” must fall in order to bear fruit. He senses that if he is to remain true to his own teachings, to his own relationship with God the Creator, then he will suffer. How poignant it is when he says, “I am troubled. Yet what should I say.” Listening to his heart, listening to the voice of God which resounds within him, listening to the “thunder” of his soul, he trusts in that covenant relationship he has with God the Creator who is within his heart. Such fidelity to one’s own knowing of God’s way is not easy. Yet it is the only way to new life.

We are invited this week to spend some quiet time with Jesus’ words “I am troubled. Yet what can I say?” What must that time have been like for him? Where in our lives do we find ourselves faced with embracing fidelity to our covenant with God, in conflict perhaps with our culture, with our society, with our neighbors and colleagues, family and friends?

Can we remain faithful to our covenant relationship with God, as given to us through Jesus the Christ? What does that yes ask of us today?

Fourth Sunday of Lent

2012-03-20T08:41:00.000-04:00

“God so loved the world as to give the Only Begotten One, that whoever believes may not die, but have eternal life….People who live by the truth come out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what they do is done in God.” (John 3:16 & 21)

This week we reflect upon the text from the Gospel according to John. We find words that remind us of why we celebrate the Christ, stopping for a moment within Lent to remember that Jesus came so that we might come into the Light, the Light of God’s love, the Light of God’s continued covenant, the Light which brings us out of the darkness of fear, into the Light of trust and love.

I find it interesting this year that this Fourth Sunday of Lent falls right between the liturgical feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph. What models they are for us, both men of faith. Certainly both experienced darkness within their lives. As we are told, Patrick was captured and enslaved as a young boy. The fears of that time, the darkness he must have experienced at that time we can only imagine. As well with Joseph, the fear and uncertainty he surely experienced as described in the Gospel of Matthew (1:18 – 25) was a darkness. Yet both of these men, hearing God’s word within them were led to the Light and became for us mentors of faith, faith in God’s unconditional love, even when all seems dark.

“God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love God has for us…brought us to life with Christ.” (Eph:2:4-5)

So this week may we remember, as did Joseph and Patrick, that in the midst of our darkness, by faith we know that we have been given the Light of God in Christ Jesus. Neither fear nor darkness can keep us from the Light of God’s Love.

This week, let us stop to notice the beams of light which are inviting us to life and love in Christ Jesus……notice in nature, notice in the faces of those you love, notice in the quiet moments. As the Exultet will proclaim on Holy Saturday…” The Light of Christ surrounds us.”

What are you doing for another to make the world a better place?

2012-03-20T08:36:00.002-04:00

Universal Call to Holiness and Service College Retreat

Reflections for Single Young Adult Women and Men in their College Years

Click here for more information about this special online retreat

The next question we propose is:

What are you doing for another to make the world a better place?

Please respond below in the comments section.

Third Sunday of Lent

2012-03-14T11:28:00.001-04:00

The readings for this week are so rich in their instruction for us. The First Reading from the Book of Exodus gives us the instructions which we have come to name the Ten Commandments. We all know these Commandments probably from the time of our childhood. I wonder however, how many of us remember that the Commandments begin with God’s proclamation, God’s promise to us: “I, the Lord, am your God….” With this statement God reinforces the covenant that God has made with the people, a covenant of care and fidelity, and in return we are asked to live a certain way, a way of justice, a way of fidelity to not only God but also to one another. Herein is the core of God’s instruction to us. In the covenant that God offers us there is also a clear call to our oneness, to our covenant with one another.

Our Gospel is the well-known story of Jesus “Cleansing the Temple.” This story is found in all four of the canonical Gospels, however at different places. In John we read this passage near the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. The three Synoptic Gospels place this event near the end of his public ministry, closer to the Passion. In the Synoptic Gospels Jesus says that the money changers have made God’s Temple a den of thieves. It has been noted that the den of thieves is where the thieves abide, where they live with one another.

As we reflect upon these words in light of the previous reading, it is striking that both passages speak not only of how we praise our God, but also how we live with one another. Have we made God’s Temple, be it the Church, our neighborhood, our State, our community, a den of thieves? Do we in fact treat one another with justice and caring? Do we honor the covenant relationship God has established with us? Do we honor the covenant relationship God has called us to have with one another? Or, have we isolated ourselves from the care of the broader community?

This we week we are invited to consider our lives and relationships carefully. How do we live out the covenant relationship God has established with us, including our relationship with one another? Are there areas in our lives that need cleansing?

Am I willing to consider spring house cleaning a spiritual practice which invites me to cleanse my own temple, my own life, so that God’s Temple of Creation may reflect God’s covenant with us all?

Sister Sharon

What are you doing with your time and talents?

2012-03-12T08:53:00.003-04:00

Universal Call to Holiness and Service College Retreat

Reflections for Single Young Adult Women and Men in their College Years

Click here for more information about this special online retreat

The next question we propose is:

What are you doing with your time and talents?

Please respond below in the comments section.

What are you doing these days to keep yourself on track and healthy?

2012-03-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

Universal Call to Holiness and Service College Retreat

Reflections for Single Young Adult Women and Men in their College Years

Click here for more information about this special online retreat

The first question we propose is:

What are you doing these days to keep yourself on track and healthy?

Please respond below in the comments section.

What Are You Doing?

2012-03-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Universal Call to Holiness and Service College Retreat

Reflections for Single Young Adult Women and Men in their College Years

An invitation for shared reflection in an online community
from Nazareth Retreat Center in Nazareth, Ky.

As your semester is coming to a close and summer is lingering in the background, you may find yourself wondering about just “what are you doing with your life.” And yet, the papers are pending and the exams are looming — who has time to wonder!

We are inviting you to take a few minutes out of your hectic schedule to reflect with us and your peers around what are you desiring in life, now and in the future. Does your relationship with God have a role to play in your decision making, in your life choices? What gifts do you have to give to society and how might you find ways to make a difference in this very complex world in which we live?

You are invited to participate in a three part online community in which we will share our thoughts and experiences around “What Are You Doing?” You may join this online community at any time during parts one and/or two. Part three is limited to those who have participated at some time in part 1 and/or part 2. You may discontinue your participation at any time.

Here is how it works …

Part 1 — March 5 – April 22: consists of reflection and your input on diverse areas of “What Are you Doing?” For eight weeks, questions to aid in your reflection will be posted on a designated web site. You will have the opportunity to respond/reflect and receive the responses/reflections of your peers.

Part 2 — April 30: consists of a one time “ God’s Hangout Conversation” via the web. This opportunity will give us a chance for a face-to-face conversation around some of the issues, reflections and wonderings that have surfaced from the group over the past eight weeks.

Part 3 — May 23 – 27: (requires some previous participation in parts 1 and/or 2) consists of a 5 day retreat at Nazareth Retreat Center, Nazareth, Kentucky for this online community. This retreat will provide a time for you to meet some members of your online community, continue your reflections with input and shared ideas, as well as an on campus service opportunity.

Should you wish to join us, simply leave a comment below and join our mailing list here.

Good luck on your final weeks of this academic year, and blessings.

Nazareth Retreat Center Staff

Second Sunday of Lent

2012-03-03T07:12:00.000-05:00

This Sunday’s reading (Mark 9:2-10) is one of my favorites … the Transfiguration. Just imagine the wonder of those moments on the mountain top for Peter, James and John as they received a glimpse of the fullness of the person of Jesus the Christ. Yet somehow Peter knew to respond, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here.” To savor those moments of transfiguration in our own lives, to be open to those mountain top experiences when the Divinity is known as ever so immanent is simply gift. As rare as such clear revelation was for the disciples, so too for us, such clarity may seem just beyond our grasp. However, if we are attentive, if we are open, such moments of God’s revelation are actually very near at hand. Perhaps these moments of revelation are not as dramatic as the one presented in today’s Gospel, but they are there for us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Once there was a “bag lady” who would come to the church I was attending at the time. She would come every day, clearly a homeless person. She ate her orange every day in church before Mass started. One day she sat next to me and ate her orange. When it was time for the “kiss of peace” I hesitantly turned to her. She took my hands in her sticky orange hands. Never have I been so blessed as by her countenance, aglow with God’s love. I will never forget experiencing that moment of transfiguration, in a most unexpected way. She never appeared again in that church after her day of gifting me with her revelation of God.

There is a song called “Land of the Living” by Janet Sullivan. The words of this song can help us to be attentive to those everyday moments of transfiguration in our lives.

Some may be weak and some may be strong,

but each of us is blessed in the land of the living

Don’t look to the sky when the reign of our God is here.

Let none of us fear, we do this together.

Let nothing confound in us the Gospel of peace.

For this week, notice those moments of transfiguration in your life when God is revealed in God’s wonder and compassionate love, “here and now in this land, the land of the living.”

First Sunday of Lent

2012-02-27T09:38:00.001-05:00

Your ways O God make known to me…guide me in your truth….Remember that your compassion O God and your love are from of old. (Taken from Psalm 25)

We have begun our journey through lent this first full week of Lent being reminded of God’s faithfulness and God’s compassion, that compassion and love given from the beginning of time….from of old. There is a song entitled “Ancient Love.” The verse tells us

“Long before the night was born from darkness….

Long before the name of God was spoken….

There was a love. This ancient love was born.”

(Carolyn McDade)

We are invited this week to open ourselves up to that Ancient Love who longs to be known by us, who longs to guide us in truth, if we but trust. Look around you, Spring is coming to us somewhat early this year of 2012. The daffodils are already in bloom. The sunsets have been exquisite many nights. Can you come to know that these are expressions of God’s love and compassion?

And what of truth? What truth does God want to reveal to you? Can you stop to listen to the quiet whisperings in our heart? Can you stop to listen to the truthful call to perhaps a change in your life, whether large or small?

These are God’s ways, reaching out to all of us, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or financial/societal status. In God we are all one, being held in the compassion and love of our Creator God. This is the Gospel of Jesus the Christ whom we are following this Lent.

Take some moments this week to pray, guide me, teach me out of your Ancient Love and Compassion so that I may more fully walk in your way of truth.

While on your journey this week, pray a simple mantra:

“Guide me” or

“Teach me” or

“Remember me O Ancient One.”

Sister Sharon Gray

Ash Wednesday

2012-02-22T12:29:00.000-05:00

In an acceptable time

I heard you,

On the day of salvation

I helped you.

Behold now is the acceptable time

Behold now is the day of salvation

2 Corinthians 6:1 – 2: Reading for Ash Wednesday

As we begin this season of Lent set in the year 2012 we hear that this is an acceptable time. But the question is, “what does salvation mean for you today this February of 2012?” Take time these few days to be with yourself, to notice what inner longing is inviting you to a new way of life…for that is the meaning of lent….spring….new life. What is blocking that new life for you? What life giving choices are being offered to you? How do you desire to respond.

On a more global level I am haunted by the words of the Ash Wednesday blessings “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Indeed we are made of dust. We are made of the cosmic dust, the star dust from the first moments of creation. We are all made of that same scared star dust. Yet we have such division on our planet earth, violence against one another, in our neighbors, across our planet and to our planet earth. And yet we hear the words “Behold now is the acceptable time.” How can we in our own small way embrace this acceptable time? How can we proclaim that we are all one, all made of that same star dust. What are we, each individually and communally called to do, to be so that the acceptable time of salvation may blossom forth this new life of peace and hope.

Lent invites us to pray, to reflect and to act … for behold now is the acceptable time.

More from Nazareth Retreat Center

Dear Friends of Nazareth Retreat Center

2011-09-01T09:08:00.000-04:00

View this in a separate browser window for more options.

Here are some of our upcoming retreat offerings for the next year.Please contact us if you'd like more information or to create your own personal retreat experience.

2011
Sept. 9-11 Emotional Sobriety and the Joy of Living, with Elaine Loecher: For those in a twelve-step program, $200

Oct. 10-13 Contemplative Time Apart: Individually planned 3 day silent retreat, $65/day

Nov. 9-12 Artist Retreat: Painting, story telling, music. Explore the gifts of the arts within you, no experience necessary, $300

Dec. 16-18 Advent Retreat: Explore the words of scripture as heard during the Advent season, $200

2012
March 5-9 Lenten Retreat on the Gospel of Mark, $400

April 3-8 Sacred Time: Holy Week and the Triduum, $350

April 13-15 Paula D'Arcy Retreat: Healing our world from the inside out. A deeper look at the way we are living our lives, $200

June 1-3 Women of Nazareth, Part 2: Exploring the lives of SCNs as part of the SCN bicentennial celebration, $170

June 11-15 "Our Hearts are Restless" A silent retreat with daily group prayer and individual direction, $460

Aug. 19-24 Scripture retreat with Carol Perry, S.U. $400

Call us for more infomation, (502)348-1513

now accepting online payment

Nazareth Retreat Center travels to Alabama to aid tornado victims

2011-08-03T12:39:00.000-04:00

The Blessings of Alabama
During the week of July 24, 2011, Sharon Gray, SCN and Colleen Ambrose traveled to mid and northern Alabama on behalf of Nazareth Retreat Center. Pastor Deborah Halter of the ELCA Disaster Relief Program had invited them down to Alabama to be present to the victims of the tornado disasters last April.
This “ministry of presence” was intended to be a listening/healing presence to not only the actual victims but primarily to the pastors and caregivers who have been walking with their people over these past three months.
This experience was very moving as individuals told their stories of where they were when the tornado hit, how they had survived and their gratitude for just being alive. As the pastors, mayors and other caregivers spoke of those early days it was clear that they sensed a strong community, but one in great need. They spoke of helping one another across religious, political and geographical lines. Food from freezers no longer working was salvaged by having big barbecues in the streets where all were fed and housing was established through neighbors sharing, FEMA trailers and whatever else could be found.
Yet this is three months later and the trauma of the event is now settling in. Life has changed.
As the pastors and mayors told of their struggles to continue to feed the hungry, reestablish basic services, the strain in their eyes was evident. The news cameras are now gone but the struggle isn’t. They said it helped to know that someone still wanted to hear their stories, someone was willing to come down and pray with them and attend to them. Time and again these leaders would speak of their people but when asked about themselves silence and tears held back so fiercely was the response.
And the children….ever resilient but nonetheless fearful.“Camp Noah”, a day camp for children of disasters, run by the ELCA Church provided a process for the children to tell their stories in song and art. The trauma of this time was evident yet always with the promise of better times ahead. Here again the team leaders and pastors took time to share with Sharon and Colleen their stories, their needs, their gratitude.
What a blessing it was to simply lend a caring heart and a listening ear to these courageous people of Alabama. Spiritual Direction comes in many forms. This time for Colleen and Sharon this sacred ground of spiritual companioning was found in the tornado torn lands and hearts of the people of Huntsville and Cullman, Harvest and Birmingham. Yes the material needs are there and some of that was attended to during this time by Nazareth Retreat Center staff, but equally important the power of “telling one’s story” as a powerful healing tool for all of us was lived out in very real life terms.
We are truly all one. One in our joys, one in our sorrows, one in our longings and one in our gratitude for one another, for life.

Summer and Beyond...

2011-07-21T11:02:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends of Nazareth Retreat Center,

Here we are in the middle of July and I wonder where the summer has gone. Many persons have suffered greatly these days from tornadoes and flooding, earthquakes and wildfires. Now we are suffering in many parts of the U.S. from severe heat. As I walk the beautiful grounds of Nazareth, I hold in my heart the lands and people who are suffering from this imbalance of nature and wonder, what are we doing? Ecology, care for the earth is no longer a project for a few. It is now an urgency for all of us. I take time each day to see what can I do? Surely attention to government action is imperative. Let our elected officials know of our concerns. But what else? There are so many little ways in our daily lives that we can care for the earth. Can we make once less trip in the car? Can we drive cars that are environmentally friendly? Am I recycling, using less, lightening my footprint on Mother Earth? I think each of us is called to heighten our awareness and decide to take action in our own way to "care for the earth."

So my question is, are you stopping to smell the roses? Are you aware of the sacred earth which gives us these roses? Do you care enough to take action? Are you willing to stop for just a moment and reflect on this call to care?

Here at the Nazareth Retreat Center we have many people coming to join us for a contemplative time apart. It is so wonderful for us to welcome individuals from diverse walks of life, diverse ethnic and religioius backgrounds and from various parts of the country. This reality speaks of the inner need and longing within all of us to be in touch with our deeper sense of self and our awareness of our relationship with one another and with all of creation. We are part of the web of God's creative act of love, God's continuing unfolding act of love through creation. We at Nazareth reverence that web of creation and desire to nurture this sacred web particularly thorugh sharing our lives and prayers with those who come to this sacred ground of Nazareth.
We invite you to come to Nazareth.....to stop and smell the roses.

We are preparing our calendar of retreats for the coming year 2011 - 2012 and will be posting this soon on our web page. During the coming year the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth will be celebrating 200 years of our foundation in 1812. To help celebrate that legacy of service we will offer some retreats that are specifically around some of the women and events of the SCNs. We welcome all of our friends to these retreats. In addition we are welcoming back in September Elene Loecher who will offer a weekend based on twelve step spirituality. Paula D'Arcy will join us once again in April. It is always a special time to have this internationally known author and presenter share her insights and depth of spirituality with us. These are just some of the highlights for this coming year. As always we welcome individuals for private and directed retreats throughout the year.

It is our delgiht to offer you our hospitality here at Nazareth Retreat Center and to walk with you as you accept God's invitaiton to be, be more fully in the web of life.

Come and smell the roses.

Sharon Gray, SCN
Director
Nazareth Retreat Center

The Nazareth Retreat Center invites you to attend one of their remaining summer offerings

2011-06-16T14:44:00.000-04:00

June 20-26 – “Do Not Be Anxious About Tomorrow,” a directed retreat for those women and men who are seeking “I know not what.” It will be a contemplative time, apart from the demands of the day may lead you to a space in which you can invite in and embrace this longing for “I know not what.”
July 11-15 - “I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills,” a guided prayer retreat. This retreat invites us to move beyond the routine of our prayer life and mindfully enter into the sacred time of intentionally being with…the Divine.
August 14-19 - “A Scripture Based Retreat: the Questions of Jesus.” This retreat, led by Carol Perry, SU, will consist of two group sessions a day including input and sharing.

For more information, visit www.nazarethretreatcenterky.org or call (502) 348-1513. Nazareth Retreat Center is on Facebook. If you have a Facebook account, be sure to “like” us. For your convenience, Nazareth Retreat Center now accepts online payments.

Nazareth Campus at the Nazareth Retreat Center

2011-05-16T14:13:00.000-04:00

The beauty of the Nazareth Campus invites you to come.

Spiritual Direction Internship

2011-05-04T08:40:00.000-04:00

September 2011 – May 2012

Nazareth Retreat Center … ministries for the human journey

Nazareth Retreat Center stands in the long tradition of the ministries of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Housed on the Nazareth Campus near Bardstown, Kentucky, Nazareth Retreat Center offer opportunities for spiritual reflection in a holisitic approach which reverences the human spirit and all of creation.

With this new ministry we hope to be in touch with the diverse needs and longings of the people of God in these challenging times. Through offerings of a space apart, days of reflection, weekend, week long and private retreats, spiritual direction and other offerings in a holistic, ecumenical approach, Nazareth Retreat Center invites others to enter into a contemplative time, a way of being in which the fullness of life, which God desires for all of us , may be opened and affirmed.

In addition, we offer opportunities for alternative body therapies such as massage and energy work , as well as cultural opportunities to nurture the spirit. The beauty of the Nazareth Campus invites to come.

For all of the information about this Spiritual Direction Internship please download the PDF linked here.

For further information contact Sharon Gray SCN at 502-348-1597 or e-mail at sgray@scnky.org.

Do You Notice a Contradiction In Life?

2011-04-21T10:11:00.000-04:00

Spring at Nazareth

Do you notice a contradiction in life these days? Around here at Nazareth we are graced with the beauty of nature. The trees are so full of blossoms and the birds are singing. Delight is brought to our hearts. Yet at the same time we pray daily for the many areas of true brokenness that also surrounds us. The many war torn areas on our sacred earth. I wonder, what do the trees look like in Lybia, in Afghanistan. I've read that the palm tree is indigenous to Lybia and that the stone pine tree is abundant in areas of Afghanistan. But I wonder, can the children there play safely under these trees? Can someone like myself sit under one of these trees and delight in its beauty? Surely this longing within humanity to pause and delight in nature is common to us all.

So the contradiction? How long will nature, the earth and our own nature be held between beauty and disaster? We know that globally the forests of our planet are in danger and therefore we too are in danger for these forests give us life. How long will nature be held in the contradiction of life and disaster?

Trees of Libya

As we take in the wonder of nature and delight in its beauty, let us hold in prayer the fragility of all people and all nature. As so many of us struggle for freedom and the just reverencing of all humanity regardless of ethnicity, race, religion or gender, let us find hope in the constancy of the earth and her fruit to regenerate year after year, if we but care and not despair.

As nature blossoms forth here at Nazareth and as in seeming contradiction, we hold so much suffering in our hearts and prayers we can find hope in knowing that deep within our being we are all one.

Nazareth Retreat Center offerings Easter Greetings to all. May these days be joyous times of knowing God's unconditional love for us all.

We are excited about our upcoming events and invite you to consider joining us for some of these events.

Trees of Afghanistan

As part of our effort to promote a healthy lifestyle, we are following up our successful Tai Chi class with a series of 6 Yoga Classes for Beginners,starting April 18. Jennifer Hurst, an experienced instructor from the Bardstown area will lead us in these classes.

We are also taking applications for our next Internship in Spiritual Direction which will begin in September. If you are interested please see our web site or contact me at the Retreat Center.

We have a number of varied retreat opportunities slated for the summer months which are listed below. We are looking forward to the concert and workshop to be given by internationally known composer and performer of sacred music, David Haas

Your presence here at Nazareth is always such a blessing to us. In addition we need your participation in this important ministry to keep it a vibrant resource for the community at large. So please consider coming out to spend some time apart with us.

Again, Easter blessings to you and yours.

Sharon

Spring Yoga Sessions for Beginners

2011-03-30T09:15:00.000-04:00

Nazareth Retreat Center & Pink Elephant Yoga

present:

Spring Yoga Sessions for Beginners

Instructor: Jennifer Hurst

O’Connell Hall on Nazareth Campus

Six Sessions
Thursdays
April 28 through June 2
4 p.m. – 5p.m.
$75

Contact:
Carol McKean, SCN
(502) 348-1513
cmckean@scnky.org

Save the Date! Summer Retreats

2011-03-09T13:16:00.000-05:00

Summer is fast approaching. For many it is a time for a change of pace … an opportunity for some reflective time. Are you noticing an inner invitation to set some time for your own retreat? Nazareth Retreat Center is offering opportunities which invite you to that time apart.

June 20 – 26:
Do Not Be Anxious About Tomorrow
A Directed Retreat for Those Women and Men
Who Are Seeking “I Know Not What.”

July 11 – 17:
“I Lift Up My Eyes To The Hills:
A Guided Prayer Retreat.”

July 22 – 29:
“My Vows to My God I Will Pay in the
Midst of All God’s People
A Directed Retreat for Women Religious.”

August 1 – 5:
“God Let Me Know Your Ways:
A Discernment Retreat for Those in Transition.”

For more details call us at 502-348-1513

For further information contact us at the following:

Sharon Gray, SCN

502-348-1597 - sgray@scnky.org

Carol McKean, SCN

502-348-1513 - cmckean@scnky.org

P.O. Box 7

Nazareth, Ky. 40048

How Can I Keep From Singing

2011-02-21T10:17:00.000-05:00

A Concert of Inspirational Music

Featuring Joe Simmons

with David Jeske, Pianist

Friday March 25, 2011 at 7:00PM
St. Vincent Church
Nazareth, Kentucky
Tickets $10.00 (reservations requested)
Info: 502-348-1513 or 502-345-1597
cmckean@scnky.org or sgray@scnky.org

Joe Simmons will be presenting a workshop for cantors at Nazareth Retreat Center from March 25 – 27.

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Joe Simmons, Psalmist for the 2008 Papal Mass in Yankee Stadium, serves as Principal Cantor at the Church of St. John the Baptist in New York City and as Associate Music Director for THE SUNDAY MASS, a national telecast of the Passionist Community. A nationally recognized music minister and speaker, Joe travels throughout North America presenting concerts of inspirational music and workshops for Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian cantors and lectors at conventions and institutes, and in dioceses, parishes, and campus ministry programs. He combines training and experience in music, liturgy, and life coaching to inspire vocal ministers to prepare more attentively, proclaim more expressively, and lead more effectively.

Simmons is the author of THE WORK OF THE CANTOR: PROCLAIMER OF THE WORD, LEADER OF PRAYER (WLP) and co-author with James Hansen and Melanie Coddington of CANTOR BASICS, 2ND EDITION (OCP). He is also a former vocal performance faculty member at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. An active performer and recording artist, Joe’s CDs, SUDDEN WAVES and SINGING OUT, on the Oculus Music label, are widely used in healing ministries. He was also a vocalist and producer on the 8-CD set, PSALMS AND RITUAL MUSIC, released by World Library Publications, selections of which are featured on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Web site.

Joe Simmons' English/Spanish music videos from the critically acclaimed series, NUESTRA FAMILIA/OUR FAMILY, were seen frequently on the Odyssey Network and Univision. His work has been profiled on ABC News Now, CNN, the Catholic Channel of Sirrius Satellite Radio, Relevant Radio, and "THE LUTHERAN."

Specialties

Cantor and Lector Training and Formation
Bringing text to life
Chanting with Meaning
Vocal Coaching for Liturgy
Coaching for Singers
Organizational Coaching for Music Ministers

Transitions: Coping with Change

2011-01-04T09:20:00.000-05:00

Presented by: Elene Loecher

Jan. 21–23, 2011

Nazareth Retreat Center

One of the basic truths in life is that everything changes. We might experience change as pleasant, hurtful or difficult. Change takes many forms: declining health, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, aging, divorce. Even positive changes carry anxiety about the unknown: starting a new job or retirement. As a society, we are witnessing more loss and change — at an accelerated pace — than we have seen in six decades.

In the midst of planned and unplanned change, how do we take care of ourselves?
How can we learn to accept change in healthy ways? How do we guard against using “quick fixes” — alcohol, drugs, too many prescription meeds — to mute the pain?

We will explore the difference between change and transition. Change is a situational shift. Transition is the process of letting go of the way things used to be and then accepting the way they subsequently become.

Take this opportunity to explore the changes and transitions in your life.

This retreat is open to people in any twelve step program (AA, Al-Anon, Adult Children of Alcoholics, etc.) as well as anyone who wants some help in navigating changes and transitions in their life.

The retreat begins at 7:00 pm on the 21st and ends with the noon meal on the 23rd.

Elene has worked for 24 years at Hazelden Foundation,* serving as Spriitual Care and Program Coordinator for the Dan Anderson Renewal Center. In her work, she has also led days of Renewal on behalf of Hazelden for groups in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C. and other cities throughout the United States. Elene specializes in meditation and mindfulness, grief and loss, transitions, and 12-Step recovery.

*Hazelden, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1949, helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction. Hazelden offers a comprehensive approach to addiction that addresses the full range of patient, family, and professional needs, including treatment and continuing care for youth and adults.

For further information contact us at the following:

Nazareth Retreat Center

P.O. Box 7

Nazareth, Ky. 40048

(502) 348–1513