| Site Directory |
Personal
Retreats
Gateways to the Divine Life.
These retreats - from great spiritual leaders like Jim
Smith and Kathy Coffey - are personal retreats
for YOU. Use them as you go about your own
busy day. Let them move you with passion.
Retreats
Gateways to the Divine Life.
These retreats - from great spiritual leaders like Jim
Smith and Kathy Coffey - are personal retreats
for YOU. Use them as you go about your own
busy day. Let them move you with passion.
Open the Door of Your Heart
Practicing Christian Hospitality
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 21 pages in full color
For some of us, perhaps for you, the exercise of
hospitality—toward God, toward other people—
doesn’t always come easy. If it happens on a daily
basis for many of us, it is because we are
consciously aware of the call to open the door of
our heart and we are intentional in our desire to
do so. Find it here.
Practicing Christian Hospitality
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 21 pages in full color
For some of us, perhaps for you, the exercise of
hospitality—toward God, toward other people—
doesn’t always come easy. If it happens on a daily
basis for many of us, it is because we are
consciously aware of the call to open the door of
our heart and we are intentional in our desire to
do so. Find it here.
| Personal Retreats These retreats are meant to be used while you're on the run! You must set aside several times per day over a period of about a week, or every other day over two weeks. In that special time you set aside, these retreats will guide you to ever deeper life in Christ. |
My Eyes Are Watching God
Living the Less Distracted Life
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
If you’re reading this, you likely experience a little or a lot of distraction in your
life; feeling unfocused, pulled in too many directions, having a hard time finding
some solid ground to stand on or finding a clarity and simplicity of daily
purpose. Well, that’s what this retreat is about, helping you to find your ground
again and to stand there; to discover a simplicity of purpose and to follow it.
That ground is God. And your purpose really doesn’t take a PhD to discover,
nor a superhuman ability to keep in focus. Find it here.
Living the Less Distracted Life
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
If you’re reading this, you likely experience a little or a lot of distraction in your
life; feeling unfocused, pulled in too many directions, having a hard time finding
some solid ground to stand on or finding a clarity and simplicity of daily
purpose. Well, that’s what this retreat is about, helping you to find your ground
again and to stand there; to discover a simplicity of purpose and to follow it.
That ground is God. And your purpose really doesn’t take a PhD to discover,
nor a superhuman ability to keep in focus. Find it here.
Wake Up & Smell God!
Finding God Through the Senses
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
If you’re drawn to this retreat, you’re drawn to an incarnational faith, a faith that seeks God through those
God-given senses of smell, touch, sight, hearing and taste. The God of Jesus of Nazareth is a God of flesh
and blood and bone, a God of incarnation. How do we love God? By loving our neighbor, and all the
things of God’s creation. How do we know God? By opening ourselves to the wonders of this created
world. So prepare yourself, dear retreatant, for a feast of delight and wonder in the days ahead. Find it here.
Finding God Through the Senses
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
If you’re drawn to this retreat, you’re drawn to an incarnational faith, a faith that seeks God through those
God-given senses of smell, touch, sight, hearing and taste. The God of Jesus of Nazareth is a God of flesh
and blood and bone, a God of incarnation. How do we love God? By loving our neighbor, and all the
things of God’s creation. How do we know God? By opening ourselves to the wonders of this created
world. So prepare yourself, dear retreatant, for a feast of delight and wonder in the days ahead. Find it here.
If you’re interested in this particular in-the-life retreat, you have undoubtedly experienced living in the ‘not-yet’ of
unfulfilled dreams and desires. You’ve been caught in a gap between what is and what you wish to be or to happen.
In so many ways and for much of our lives this is where we find ourselves. Always something to be improved, always
a destination unreached, always a dream unrealized, always questions left unanswered.
This in-between living can be maddening, even paralyzing. But can it possibly be inspiring? Does God dwell in the
gaps? This retreat invites you to explore the ways you likely live in the gap. This retreat invites you to live there fully
and richly. Hold on. You’re in for a ride. Find it here.
unfulfilled dreams and desires. You’ve been caught in a gap between what is and what you wish to be or to happen.
In so many ways and for much of our lives this is where we find ourselves. Always something to be improved, always
a destination unreached, always a dream unrealized, always questions left unanswered.
This in-between living can be maddening, even paralyzing. But can it possibly be inspiring? Does God dwell in the
gaps? This retreat invites you to explore the ways you likely live in the gap. This retreat invites you to live there fully
and richly. Hold on. You’re in for a ride. Find it here.
Living in the Gap
Meeting God in the Stuff of Life
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 22 pages in full color
Meeting God in the Stuff of Life
from Jim Smith
8.5 X 11" -- 22 pages in full color
Return to Me with All Your Heart
The Faith Journey of Parish Leaders
from Bill Huebsch
8.5 X 11" -- 12 pages in full color
We parish leaders must be the FIRST to deepen our
intimacy with Christ. As we invite and summon others to
this faith, our own faith is what attracts and guides them.
Because of that, this retreat is important for everyone
who works in parish ministry, whether paid or volunteer.
The Five Retreat Exercises are inspired by the Ignatian
Exercises, and include: + Sharing Faith, + Your Hunger for
God, + Your Need for Healing, + Dying in Christ, +
Contemplating Christ. Find it here.
The Faith Journey of Parish Leaders
from Bill Huebsch
8.5 X 11" -- 12 pages in full color
We parish leaders must be the FIRST to deepen our
intimacy with Christ. As we invite and summon others to
this faith, our own faith is what attracts and guides them.
Because of that, this retreat is important for everyone
who works in parish ministry, whether paid or volunteer.
The Five Retreat Exercises are inspired by the Ignatian
Exercises, and include: + Sharing Faith, + Your Hunger for
God, + Your Need for Healing, + Dying in Christ, +
Contemplating Christ. Find it here.
Deep Within Us
A Personal Retreat with the Holy Spirit
from Bill Huebsch
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
This personal retreat is a 3-session spiritual experience
modeled on the Ignatian Exercises. It can be used on a
single personal retreat day, or over the course of a week
in separate sessions. Many people use this retreat over
and over again, to help them become more conscious of
the presence of the Holy Spirit deep within us.
Find it here.
A Personal Retreat with the Holy Spirit
from Bill Huebsch
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
This personal retreat is a 3-session spiritual experience
modeled on the Ignatian Exercises. It can be used on a
single personal retreat day, or over the course of a week
in separate sessions. Many people use this retreat over
and over again, to help them become more conscious of
the presence of the Holy Spirit deep within us.
Find it here.
Imitate the Mystery
A Personal Retreat on the Priesthood
from Bill Huebsch
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
Near the dramatic end of the Rite of Ordination, the new priest receives the gifts gathered from the People of God. The bishop
hands them to the priest and says these words: "Accept from the holy people of God the gifts to be offered to him. Know what you
are doing, imitate the mystery you celebrate; model your life on the mystery of the Lord's cross."
These powerful words form the backdrop for this Retreat. It is written to celebrate and observe the Year for Priests announced by
Pope Benedict XVI. It is for Priests and for those who work and worship with them.
Find it here.
A Personal Retreat on the Priesthood
from Bill Huebsch
8.5 X 11" -- 16 pages in full color
Near the dramatic end of the Rite of Ordination, the new priest receives the gifts gathered from the People of God. The bishop
hands them to the priest and says these words: "Accept from the holy people of God the gifts to be offered to him. Know what you
are doing, imitate the mystery you celebrate; model your life on the mystery of the Lord's cross."
These powerful words form the backdrop for this Retreat. It is written to celebrate and observe the Year for Priests announced by
Pope Benedict XVI. It is for Priests and for those who work and worship with them.
Find it here.
The Gate of Heaven Is Everywhere:
Contemplative Living for Everyday People
Five Retreats from Jim Smith
1. Contemplation: Not Just for Monks Anymore! Ah, contemplative living. So lofty, so
unrealistic, so strange, so “not for me”. Stop. Right. There. If we want to live fully in this day and age we
cannot afford not to live contemplatively. We journey in a world of events and realities that pull us down and
pull us apart, that lure us far from the divine image in which we were made. If we have any desire to live again
in the divine image, we cannot live without a contemplative spirit. Find this retreat here.
2. Be Still & Still Moving! Can any of us experience silence or solitude in these lives we lead? And
what difference does it make if we can, and do, build in silence? In this session, you’ll spend some time
reflecting on interior silence—that inner space, uncluttered, clean, and ready to receive God’s whispers. What
good artist doesn’t work with a clean canvas? Or a director who doesn’t begin with an empty stage? Or a writer
with a blank page? Such emptiness can be pretty discomforting, even terrifying, but if one stays with it, honors
it, then beautiful things happen. Find this retreat here.
3. Pay Attention! Pay it Forward! The whole world is God’s stage. We just get to show up, to pay
attention, and to let God transform us. Practicing the presence of God is an opportunity given at any time and
any place. What a gift this is. In this session, and in all our lives, may we show up for the gift!
Find this retreat here.
4. Mindfulness of God. If you are human, you will fail constantly in the challenge to live fully in the
present, to pay attention to the grace of God offered in all moments. You will fail to respond to that grace.
Now, do something you have perhaps never done: Think of your failures as opportunities. Every time you let
your anger or mistake or impatience or selfishness or anxiety or...get the best of you, you have the chance to
recall the moment, and to be mindful of God in this new moment. Remember, all you have is NOW.
Find this retreat here.
5. Wake Up to Awe & Gratitude.
My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant praise. Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp;
I will wake the dawn. I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will chant your praise among the nations, for your kindness towers to the heavens, and your
faithfulness to the skies. Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
That your loved ones may escape, help us by your right hand, and answer us. -- Psalm 108
Find this retreat here.
Contemplative Living for Everyday People
Five Retreats from Jim Smith
1. Contemplation: Not Just for Monks Anymore! Ah, contemplative living. So lofty, so
unrealistic, so strange, so “not for me”. Stop. Right. There. If we want to live fully in this day and age we
cannot afford not to live contemplatively. We journey in a world of events and realities that pull us down and
pull us apart, that lure us far from the divine image in which we were made. If we have any desire to live again
in the divine image, we cannot live without a contemplative spirit. Find this retreat here.
2. Be Still & Still Moving! Can any of us experience silence or solitude in these lives we lead? And
what difference does it make if we can, and do, build in silence? In this session, you’ll spend some time
reflecting on interior silence—that inner space, uncluttered, clean, and ready to receive God’s whispers. What
good artist doesn’t work with a clean canvas? Or a director who doesn’t begin with an empty stage? Or a writer
with a blank page? Such emptiness can be pretty discomforting, even terrifying, but if one stays with it, honors
it, then beautiful things happen. Find this retreat here.
3. Pay Attention! Pay it Forward! The whole world is God’s stage. We just get to show up, to pay
attention, and to let God transform us. Practicing the presence of God is an opportunity given at any time and
any place. What a gift this is. In this session, and in all our lives, may we show up for the gift!
Find this retreat here.
4. Mindfulness of God. If you are human, you will fail constantly in the challenge to live fully in the
present, to pay attention to the grace of God offered in all moments. You will fail to respond to that grace.
Now, do something you have perhaps never done: Think of your failures as opportunities. Every time you let
your anger or mistake or impatience or selfishness or anxiety or...get the best of you, you have the chance to
recall the moment, and to be mindful of God in this new moment. Remember, all you have is NOW.
Find this retreat here.
5. Wake Up to Awe & Gratitude.
My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant praise. Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp;
I will wake the dawn. I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will chant your praise among the nations, for your kindness towers to the heavens, and your
faithfulness to the skies. Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
That your loved ones may escape, help us by your right hand, and answer us. -- Psalm 108
Find this retreat here.
