S. Jean Maher, OSB (right) and S. Jeanne Ann Weber, OSB, some of the team members of the Shalom Spiritual Direction Training Program at St. Scholastica Monastery, had an opportunity to attend the Spiritual Directors International meeting at St. Paul, Minnesota April 11-14, 2013. Other Community members and past and present Shalom participants were also in attendance.
The theme of the gathering was Cultivating Compassion On The River (Mississippi). The keynote presenter was S. Joyce Rupp, OSM, who is known for her work as a writer, a “spiritual mid wife,” and an international retreat leader. She has been a spiritual director for over thirty years and is currently co-director of the Institute of Compassionate Presence. We all gathered for contemplative practice and prayer, community rituals, song, and music. There were a plethora of workshops to choose from and an opportunity to connect with at least some of the five-hundred participants from around the country and world. It was a blessed and renewing experience!