Maintaining Contemplative Calm in a Chaotic World

Maintaining A Contemplative Calm in Our Chaotic World with Judith Valente

The day's news is enough to throw anyone into deep despair, but as people of faith we are called to remember that God is everywhere in every situation and that we are called to what Dorothy Day termed "the duty of delight." But how do we keep seeking the light in dark times? How do we hold onto hope, extend mercy and live peaceably no matter the chaos swirling around us?

Drawing from different faith traditions and from the timeless Rule of St. Benedict, this retreat will explore practical, spiritual strategies for maintaining a contemplative calm in our wounded, divided and fragile world.

Judith Valente is the author of several spirituality books including "The Art of Pausing: Meditations for the Overworked and Overwhelmed, "How To Live: What The Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning and Community;" and "Atchison Blue: A Search for Silence, A Spiritual Home and a Living Faith," the memoir of her regular stays with the Benedictine sisters of Atchison, KS.

Judith worked for many years as a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal in both Chicago and London and as an on air correspondent for the national PBS-TV program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. She was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism and has won many broadcast awards including two Edward R. Murrow Awards for investigative journalism.

Judith is also the author of two poetry collections and co-editor of the poetry anthology "Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul."

She guides frequent retreats for busy professionals seeking to slow down, find more balance and live more contemplative lives. Toward that end, she leads the annual "Benedictine Footprints" contemplative, cultural, culinary pilgrimage/retreat to Abruzzo, Italy which offers visits to many as yet little-known Benedictine sites as well a taste of small-town Italian life.

She is an oblate (lay associate) of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, KS, was co-chair of the 2021 Being Benedictine in the 21st Century conference and served on the planning committee of the 2023 World Oblate Congress in Rome.

Judith lives in central Illinois with her husband Charles Reynard, a retired Circuit Court judge and fellow poet.

RETREAT MEETING SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY

Friday Evening, 7:15 pm Session 1

SATURDAY

Saturday Morning, 9:30 am Session 2

Saturday Afternoon, 3:00 pm Session 3

Saturday Evening, 7:15pm Session 4

SUNDAY

Sunday Morning, 9:30 am Wrap up