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SUMMER THEOLOGY INSTITUTE: “In Hope We Are Saved” July 17-19, 2008. Sorry, no rooms available, commuters only. Registration deadline for commuters taking meals: Monday, July 7--$50. Registration deadline for commuters not taking meals: Thursday, July 10. $50 non-refundable deposit required for registration.

SUMMER THEOLOGY INSTITUTE KEYNOTE ADDRESS “Fire of Hope: Encounter with Christ” with Dr. Anthony Lilles, Thursday, July 17 at 7 p.m. Free to STI attendees, $7.50 for the public. Registration and payment deadline: Thursday, July 10. Click here to register.

RETREAT: “The Fruit of Silence is Prayer: Blessed Mother Teresa’s Way to Holiness” is a weekend retreat offered August 15-17, 2008. NEW: Three openings left for this retreat!

RETREAT: “Benedictine Spirituality” with Father Adam Ryan, O.S.B., October 17-19, 2008

THE RELIGIOUS STUDIES PROGRAM: "Year of Saint Benedict" begins Saturday, September 13, 2008. Discounted earlybird registration is available now through August 15. All registration closed after August 25.

Click here to view and download a description of courses.

Click here to view and download a schedule of classes, session dates, a registration form and other details.

Descriptions of Events

RETREATS are spiritual opportunities for growth in personal holiness, where the individual enters into a quiet dialogue in prayer with God. A retreat may be as short as a day or two, but can be a week or even longer. The type of retreat, (e.g. directed retreat, private retreat, group preached retreat), determines the specific format of the experience. For more information on types of retreats, please click on the page entitled,"Spiritual Formation", or here.

WORKSHOPS address a specific issue as presented through lectures of a featured speaker or group of speakers. Most often, there is an opportunity for group discussion and individual or group activity in “break out” sessions. Most of the workshops at the Spiritual Life Center are daylong events.

SERIES offerings typically take place on a specific evening of the week. The series may be as few as two evenings, but may last as long as six sessions, depending upon the topic being studied. Unlike retreats, where the primary focus is upon spiritual formation of the individual person, a series focuses more upon the educational element of a particular topic of faith.

DAYS / EVENINGS OF REFLECTION allow the individual to spend quiet time with the Lord at the Spiritual Life Center. A retreat director leads the group through conferences, individual and communal prayer, often with the opportunity provided for the celebration of the Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

SPECIAL EVENTS are those offerings throughout the year that do not fall under any of the other categories listed above. The staff of the Spiritual Life Center seeks to provide a variety of different ways for the pilgrim to come to this holy ground: to rest, to renew your heart, to respond to the Word of God as you walk your personal spiritual journey of faith.

Announcing the 10th Annual 2008 Summer Theology Institute

“In Hope We Are Saved”
July 17-19, 2008

The world – and our life in it – is indeed a dark place without hope. But what is true hope and how do we distinguish it from the wishful thinking that leads us down blind alleys or from superficial optimism?

In his newest encyclical, our Holy Father teaches us about hope, hope for our lives, hope for justice in the world and ultimately the hope that saves us for all eternity. This year’s Summer Theology Institute – our Tenth! – will explore the question of hope with Pope Benedict XVI. Hope is the most critical need for our time.

Click here to view and download a detailed brochure for the Summer Theology Institute

We are pleased to announce our faculty for the 2008 Summer Theology Institute.

Dr. Anthony Lilles, Ph.D. is Academic Dean at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and serves as an assistant professor of moral and spiritual theology. An international expert in Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity, he provides conferences and lectures on the Carmelite tradition and the teachings of Pope Benedict. He received his doctorate from the Angelicum in Rome in 1998 and is married with three children.

Rev. Bernard Gorges, M.Div, is pastor of Holy Name Parish in Winfield, Kansas. He team-teaches the Social Justice track in the Religious Studies Program and has given numerous talks around the state on the Catholic teaching on social justice. Father started the Totus Tuus Program in the Wichita Diocese and continues to direct its progress. He received his M.Div. from the Josephinum in 1985.

Chris Stewart, M.T.S. is Chairman of the theology department at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School in Wichita. He also teaches the Doctrine (Introduction and Christology) classes in the Religious Studies Program, has offered several series at the Spiritual Life Center and is an adjunct professor of theology at Newman University. He received his Masters in Theological Studies from the Ave Maria University Institute for Pastoral Studies in 2005.

DISCOUNTED EARLYBIRD REGISTRATION AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH JUNE 20, 2008

Registration for the Summer Theology Institute ends soon. Sorry, we no longer have rooms at the Center available. If you seek overnight accommodations, we can assist you with suggestions of nearby hotels. We are continuing to take registration for commuters. Those wishing to commute and take meals must register on or before Monday July 7. Those wishing to commute but not take meals must register on or before Thursday, July 10. All registration requires a $50 non-refundable deposit on o before those deadline dates.

The Summer Theology Institute Keynote Address entitled, “Fire of Hope: Encounter with Christ” with Dr. Anthony Lilles, is set for Thursday, July 17 at 7 p.m. is free to STI attendees. The public may attend at a cost of $7.50 per person. Registration and payment deadline: Thursday, July 10. Click here to register for the Keynote Address.

Dr. Anthony Lilles, Ph.D

Rev. Bernard Gorges, M.Div

Chris Stewart, M.T.S.

Presenter: Father John P. Lanzrath

Date: Friday, August 15 – Sunday, August 17, 2008

Time: Check-in Friday begins at 6:30 p.m. with the First Conference at 7:45 p.m. Retreat concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

Cost: Earlybird discount rate, on or before Friday, July 4, ; $120 per person (double occupancy) or $145 per person (single occupancy). After July 4; $138 per person (double occupancy), or $165 per person (single occupancy). Includes $50 non-refundable deposit

Registration deadline: On or before Friday, August 1, 2008

"The Fruit of Silence is Prayer:

Blessed Mother Teresa’s Way to Holiness"

Many of our guests of the Center have requested a silent weekend retreat, a time to rest in purposeful silence.

This weekend retreat is a second “encore” of ones presented in August, November and April that quickly sold out.

Using the way to holiness as taught by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Fr. John Lanzrath will lead very brief conferences, allowing the majority of the time of the weekend to silence and prayer. Fr. John served as a spiritual director for the novices of the Missionaries of Charity for two years when he lived in Rome.

The influence of example taught by Mother Teresa and her sisters provides a way to holiness for all of us.

Presenter: Father Adam Ryan, O.S.B.

Date: Friday, October 17 – Sunday, October 19, 2008

Time: Check-in Friday begins at 6:30 p.m. with the First Conference at 7:45 p.m. Retreat concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

Cost: Earlybird discount rate, on or before Tuesday, September 2, $120 per person (double occupancy) or $145 per person (single occupancy). After September 2; $138 per person (double occupancy), or $165 per person (single occupancy). Includes $50 non-refundable deposit

Registration deadline: On or before Friday, October 3, 2008

"Benedictine Spirituality"

Benedictine spirituality is aimed at seeking God. Everything in the Rule of St. Benedict, written around the year 550, draws the faithful person to this holy purpose. For 1500 years men and women of various cultures and temperaments have followed this Rule as a practical way of finding Christ in each day. Today the Rule offers to each of us Benedict’s way of living and experiencing the extraordinary grace of Christ in the very ordinary moments and activities of everyday life: work and sleep; eating and talking; praying and reading the Bible; making decisions and keeping silence; having fun with others and being alone. Benedict’s Way is a pattern of daily life that is graceful and grace-filled, full and fulfilling, human and humane: above all it is Christian. Benedict’s Way is the way of Christ lived in concrete, everyday life.

During this retreat weekend, Benedictine Father Adam Ryan returns to the Spiritual Life Center to explore the various elements of Benedictine Spirituality with those who come. He is an outstanding teacher and spiritual guide in the ways of Saint Benedict. In addition to his conferences, there will be time for the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, group and private prayer, rest and meals. Come and explore a sacramental way of living for everyone and everyday!

Fr Adam Ryan is a monk of Conception Abbey in northwest Missouri and has been a frequent presenter at the Center for laypeople, priests and Consecrated Religious. In 1978, after classical studies at the University of Illinois he entered the monastery and professed monastic vows in 1979. He has served in a variety of positions at Conception Abbey. After theological studies at Sant’Anselmo, the Benedictine university in Rome, he was ordained to the ministerial priesthood in 1990. Currently he is the choirmaster of Conception Abbey, Director of Development, as well as Professor of Biblical Greek in Conception Seminary College.

He devotes much of his time to retreat work and spiritual direction for individuals and groups who come to Conception and to spiritual work with religious communities and parishes.

Contact: The Spiritual Life Center (unless otherwise listed)

Phone: (316)744-0167

Other Offerings

Centering Prayer Mondays at 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays at 6 p.m.

Beginning Experience July 18-20, Nov. 14-16, contact Judy Demuth at (620) 430-0339.

Marriage Encounter Spanish language July 11-13, 2008, contact Victor and Paz Banuelos at (316) 946-9730 cell: (316) 708-7289 or Francisco and Patricia Trejo (316) 264-9248 or 648-6172, or Centro Pastoral Hispano (316) 269-3919, English couples on September 26-28; contact Alex and Mary Krauska at 316-721-1650.

Engaged Encounter July 11-13 & 25-27, August 22-24, September 5-7, October 24-26.

Retrouvaille July 18-20, and October 10-12, 2008, contact Tim and Betty Stolz at 796-0553.