You are not alone.
With uprooted plans, new worries, and so many changes, what are you longing for? Do you struggle to make time for prayer now due a change in your daily routine ? Are you seeking a deeper connection to God or searching for clarification, direction, or meaning to the suffering around us? Perhaps you tried to make a retreat in the past but didn’t have the time to get away. What if you could make a private retreat with an Ignatian-trained spiritual director to accompany you without having to leave your home? The Online Busy Person’s Retreat gives you that opportunity!
MEET WITH GOD IN THE BUSYNESS OF LIFE
Use practical tools and insights to slow down and create space to deepen your relationship with God.
TAKE YOUR PRAYER LIFE TO A NEW LEVEL
Learn prayer tools and principles to build and enrich your prayer life, whether it’s currently thriving, nonexistent, or anywhere in between.
CLARIFY YOUR CALLS
Engage with St. Ignatius’ discernment wisdom with the help of a spiritual director to clarify your next steps and discern God’s invitations for you.
Upcoming Retreats:
September 21-24
Meet with God and deepen your relationship in the busyness of life
4 DAYS OF ONE HOUR PERSONAL MEETINGS WITH AN IGNATIAN-TRAINED SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
Daily scriptures and reflections to guide you in your prayer time
Customized support accompanying you as you listen, notice and respond to God
“Motherhood was a new season I entered very suddenly. At the same time, our family was grieving the terminal diagnosis of a parent, and my sense of call was shifting under my feet. The need was urgent to make my annual silent retreat, but I thought it might be impossible. Being able to make a guided retreat in my own home and hometown was the solution I didn’t know I was praying for. Because of the impact, I’ve started making the retreat as often as it’s offered, meaning I’m able to make retreat more often than before, even in one of the fuller seasons of my life so far. Being able to tend to my soul’s needs, discern the changes in my call and ministry, and most of all hear God’s voice in the midst of great joy, deep grief, and the learning curve of new parenthood has been such gift and grace.“
Sr. Ily Ferndandez, CSJ
Spiritual Director
Sr. Ily is a spiritual director, educator, and serves as the contact person for vocations as a sister of the Congregation of St. Joseph. She became a sister during her junior year of college, after being born and raised in Havana, Cuba. She has been involved in ministry to people across all walks of life, serving as a high school teacher, campus minister, parish minister and vocations director. She is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director.
Sr. Ily finds God in all things, especially in nature, and the ocean is her greatest attraction. She loves people and discover’s God’s reflection in all of humanity. She enjoys accompanying others in their journey of faith and finds God’s spirit in those moments.
FAYE COORPENDER
Spiritual Director
Stephanie Clouatre Davis
Spiritual Director
Stephanie Clouatre Davis graduated from Loyola University New Orleans. Stephanie speaks to adults and teens around the nation at parishes, high schools, and dioceses in various venues including retreats and conferences. With humor, joy and stories, Stephanie not only fully engages her audiences, but also inspires them to challenge themselves and build a stronger relationship with God. She lives in Covington, Louisiana with her husband Michael and two girls Emma and Abby.
WENDY ENLOE
Spiritual Director
Wendy Enloe is a spiritual director and the Director of Adult Faith Formation at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, a growing parish in south Louisiana. As an instructor for the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center Spiritual Direction Internship program in New Orleans and for the Diocese of Baton Rouge Ministry and Theology Certification program Wendy shares her passion for spiritual direction, spirituality, and prayer with adults in formation. Wendy holds a Master of Religious Education from Loyola’s Institute for Ministry in New Orleans, a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center in New Orleans, and a graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Creighton University.
Melinda LeBlanc
Spiritual Director
Fr. Brent Otto, S.J.
Spiritual Director
Brent joined the Jesuits in 2004 after a lengthy sojourn in India and a few years as a high school history teacher. New England will always be home, though he leaves a piece of his heart in every place he’s lived—Calcutta, NYC, London, Berkeley, and Atlanta. He studied theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA and was ordained a priest in 2015. His day-job presently is as a PhD student in South Asian (Indian) History at UC Berkeley. Grounded in Ignatian spirituality, Fr. Brent’s passion lies in the ministries of individual spiritual direction and giving retreats. He enjoys ministering at two parishes and a Catholic school in the Oakland diocese.
Mike Hayes
Spiritual Director
Mike Hayes is a freelance digital media producer and media minister. He’s worked with young people throughout his career as a campus ministry director and in young adult ministry. He’s a long time lay minister and is presently in formation for the Diaconate. He is also the founder of BustedHalo.com and the author of two books: Googling God (Paulist, 2007) and Loving Work (Orbis, 2014). He served as the principal editor for and co-wrote The World Youth Day Retreat Guide (USCCB, 2016) with his colleagues Becky Eldredge and Beth Knobbe. Mike has been happily married to Marion since 2002, and the couple live in the Buffalo suburbs with their chihuahua, Haze.
Sr. Lisa Buscher, RSCJ
Spiritual Director
WHAT IS A BUSY PERSON'S RETREAT?
In St. Ignatius’ 18th annotation in the Spiritual Exercises, he says, “The Spiritual Exercises must be adapted to the condition of the one who is to engage them.” The Online Busy Person’s Retreat takes this wisdom to heart. This type of retreat is modeled after Ignatian weeks of directed prayer that are offered to busy people at parishes, schools, and college campuses. The Online Busy Person’s Retreat gives the participant an opportunity to make a retreat in the middle of daily life using video chat as the medium to meet your spiritual director.
WHAT MAKES UP THE ONLINE BUSY PERSON'S RETREAT?
- Spiritual Direction: Each day includes a 45-60 minute one-on-one spiritual direction session using video conference, with one of our several spiritual directors.
- Daily Prayer Time: Each day includes 30 minutes of daily prayer using the material offered by your spiritual director during your spiritual direction session.
WHY PARTICIPANTS PICKED AN ONLINE RETREAT VS AN IN-PERSON RETREAT
- “I have time restraints that make it hard to attend a full weekend retreat.”
- “I do not have a local spiritual director available to me.”
- “As a parent, it is hard to take extended time away from my family to attend an in-person retreat. “
- “An online retreat was much easier to fit into my schedule!”
- “Caring for my sick loved one left me unable to make a retreat away from home.”
- “The convenience, timing, content, and the spiritual directors!”
Upcoming Retreats:
September 21-24
A Christmas Prayer
A Christmas Blessing Let us pray together this Christmas: May our minds be opened to further understand where we need Christ’s light in our lives. May our ears be opened to hear the words of Christ calling us to make room for Him in our lives. May our eyes be...
Advent – Seeing Through the Eyes of Joseph
There have been many times I have imagined myself as Mary in a scene from the Gospels. I have imagined almost every feeling she must have had navigating being the Mother of God. I have viscerally felt her fear, anxiety, joy, and, most of all, deep, lasting love for...
Word from Becky: Cultivating Gratitude
Dear friends, Happy early Thanksgiving to my American readers! This time of year, I often read about practices and disciplines that foster an attitude of gratitude. November’s focus on gratitude can sometimes feel cliché to me as I watch hashtags roll through social...
Word from Becky: The Work of the Fall Season
Dear friends, Happy Fall! I chuckle even mentioning the fall season living in Louisiana as our temperatures remain daily in the 80’s. While the weather does not show signs of fall, seeing fall decorations in our neighborhood along with our children’s excited...
Living and Leading in the Deep – Receiving the Promised 153 Fish
Receiving the Promised 153 Fish I remember the day so clearly when Jesus promised 153 fish would come on shore. It was early morning in April 2022, and I was sitting on a couch in an airbnb in San Diego. Our family was there for vacation over our kids’ Easter break. ...
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