The Gospel of John

Annemarie S. Kidder, PhD, IHM Associate
Saturday, October 18, 9:30am-12:30p
Suggested Offering: $25

 

The Gospel of John is the most complex of the Gospels.  Written a few decades after the synoptic Gospels, it presents Jesus as the glorified Christ, the one who has come from above and will return there again.  In doing so, John draws on various literary tools, such as metaphor and imagery, intimate prayers that Jesus has with the Father, and long discourses in which Jesus reflects on his role on earth and in heaven.  The Gospel author offers us also three additional epistles that shed light on early developments in the Johannine community and the early church.  The hope is that this retreat will help us encounter the risen Christ of faith in a personally relevant and meaningful way.

 

Annmarie Kidder, PHD

Annemarie S. Kidder, PhD, is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served churches in Michigan and Ohio.  A former seminary professor, she is the author and editor of ten books on historical theology, spirituality, and biblical studies.  Some of her more recent works are Making Confession, Hearing Confession (Liturgical Press), Karl Rahner’s The Mystical Way in Everyday Life (Orbis Books), and Karl Rahner's Ignatius of Loyola Speaks (St. Augustine Press).

 

 

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Reflections on Elizabeth Johnson’s Theology of Creation

Elizabeth JohnsonSusan Rakoczy, IHM, PhD
Saturday, October 25, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25

 

Renowned feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson first called attention to the feminine reality of God in her book She Who Is.  As her theology further developed, she probed the intersection of women, creation and the natural world. This presentation will explore how her theology helps us to realize more deeply Pope Francis’s stress in Laudato Si’ that “everything is connected”.

 

 

Sue Rakoczy, IHM, PhDSue Rakoczy, IHM, PhD, is a native Detroiter and a graduate of Marygrove College. Her doctorate in spirituality is from the Catholic University of America. She spent thirty-two years teaching feminist theology and spirituality in South Africa, returning to the United States in 2022. She is the author of Great Mystics and Social Justice: Walking on the Two Feet of Love (Paulist Press) and Common Journey Different Paths: Spiritual Direction in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Orbis Press).

 

 

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Maya AngelouI’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

                    --Maya Angelou

 

Joni Scott, BA
Saturday, November 8, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25

 

Dr. Maya Angelou passed in 2014, and a decade later, we continue to celebrate this accomplished woman who wore so many hats: civil rights activist, poet and playwright, director, composer, memoirist and storyteller, singer and dancer, professor, as well as mother and grandmother. She has been honored on a United States Quarter and a US Forever Stamp. In addition, she has been the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, three Grammies, and more than fifty honorary degrees. Her son, Guy Johnson, has noted: “My mother’s principal message was one of inclusion, that despite our ethnic, religious, and cultural differences, we are more alike than unlike. She believed that we are all images of God, no matter how we look or what name we use to call upon the Divine and Sacred Being.” All this, and more, will be explored as we look at this immensely powerful phenomenal woman.

 

 

Joni ScottJoni Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Marygrove College, and is a wife, mother, grandmother, storyteller, retreat director and a trained spiritual director. She is the former director of Religious Education at St. Charles Borromeo in Detroit.

 

 

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Mosaic of Last Summer

Theresa Koernke, IHM, PhD
Saturday, November 15, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25

 

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself any questions about your experience of celebrating the Eucharist: How many times have I made the sign of the Cross? Why? What is the Eucharistic Prayer? How did it come to be? Why do I say, “praise be to You, Lord Jesus Christ?” and what does it mean? What did St. Augustine mean when he said, “Say AMEN to who you are”? Take advantage of this opportunity to ask these questions and more.

 

The Eucharist is, after all, the “source and summit” of Christian life and spirituality. Like a precious jewel, one cannot appreciate it by looking at it from only one angle or in only one light. One needs to examine it this way, now that, now in this light and then in another to comprehend its true beauty.

 

 

Theresa Koernke, IHMTheresa Koernke, IHM, PhD has taught about the relationship between Baptism, the celebration of the Eucharist, and ordained ministry in graduate schools of theology, including the Washington Theological Union, since her graduation from the University of Notre Dame in 1983.

 

 

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Advent candles

Kathie Budesky, IHM
Saturday, December 13, 9:30am-12:30pm
Suggested Offering: $25

 

The season of Advent is an opportune time to reflect on the promises of Christ’s coming—past, present, and future and to rediscover what it means to wait with HOPE, live in PEACE, celebrate with JOY, and LOVE with the heart of Christ. Consider this program an invitation to see Advent through the lens of transformation, where personal faith and communal longing meet the living story of God-With-Us. The morning will include input, time for personal prayer and reflection, as well as lively conversation.

 

Kathie Budesky, IHM, MA 

Kathie Budesky, IHM, MA, the director of Visitation Spirituality Center, has many years of experience in secondary education, both in the religious studies classroom and in the principal’s office.  A graduate of the Institute in Creation-Centered Spirituality at Mundelein College, she was a staff associate in the Ignatian Program in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Ministry at Guelph, Ontario.

 

 

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For all that has been, Thank you 

Francis J. Daly, SJ, M.Div. 
& Kathie Budesky, IHM, MA
Wednesday, December 31, 10:00am-4:00pm
Suggested Offering: $50 (includes lunch)

 

New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to stop, to reflect, and to look back in gratitude on the old year that is setting and to listen to the invitation of the Spirit for the New Year that is dawning. Join us for a day that includes input, time for personal prayer and reflection, conversation, an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and a lunch catered by Panera Bread. The day will end with the celebration of the liturgy for the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. (Registration Deadline is Friday, December 19, 2025.)

 

Francis J Daly, SJKathie Budesky, IHM, MAFrancis J. Daly, SJ, is a staff member and the former executive director of Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills, MI. He was the Master of Novices for the Detroit and Chicago Provinces of the Society of Jesus and the Tertian Director for Jesuits from four continents.

 

Kathie Budesky, IHM, the director of Visitation North Spirituality Center, has many years of experience in secondary education, both in the religious studies classroom and the principal’s office. She was a staff associate in the Ignatian Program in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Ministry at Guelph, Ontario.

 

 

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