Discovering God’s love for us with Julian of Norwich
Many of the insights given to Julian of Norwich seemed at odds with the teaching of the church in her day. Sheila Upjohn explores the reasons the writing of this 14th Century English mystic was neglected for so long and why her message of God’s unchanging and unconditional love is so relevant today.

Sheila Upjohn

Learn to “write” an Icon

Interested in Byzantine Iconography? Anna teaches beginners through to advanced participants on:
How to prime, sketch, gild and paint an icon.
The traditional technique of gesso and egg tempera.
Use of powder pigments, their content and formulation.
Colour combinations and composition problem solving.
Practical hints and new materials to make your work easy.

Anna Prifti

How do we reconcile our belief in a good and loving God with suffering and especially innocent suffering?
Contemporary thinkers and media personalities like Peter Singer and Stephen Fry see natural disasters, animal and human suffering as proving, that God is either a bungler or evil. We’ll try to answer their questions, and the deeper questions posed by human cruelty and modern terrorism by drawing on the life experiences of people who have transformed their suffering by their belief in God’s goodness and love, including Viktor Frankl and Etty Hillesum, Jews in the cauldron of the Holocaust and Catholics like Blessed Chiara Badano and Sir James McMillan, in the more harrowing personal sufferings that come our way. Central to our attempt to find an answer to the “mystery of suffering” will be wisdom gleaned from the Scriptures and especially from the Book of Job and the Passion of Jesus.

Fr. Brendan Purcell

The entering into the second half of life raises questions of loss, failure, meaning and purpose. John of the Cross uses the image of ‘nights’ to describe the unfolding journey.

The second half of life is a time when a reassessment takes place of our day-to-day life and spiritual life. Indeed, it is when our spiritual life often reclaimed, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. John of the Cross uses the image of ‘Nights’ to explore and explain how we are impelled to confront our own humanity in the context of ageing, failure and loss. John pre-empts modern psychologists in presenting us with a roadmap of what we can expect on this journey. He shows that what we view as failure and loss are the means used by God for our receiving the gift of grace and transformation of the soul by God.

Geoff Stumbles & Fr. Greg Homeming, OCD

The Holy Spirit is given us to teach us how to pray when we can’t. We are called to be open to the Spirit in prayer and life.

In this retreat we will learn the practicalities of praying in a contemplative way: how to still the mind and open our hearts to God. We will come to let go our anxieties so that God’s Spirit can transform our lives.

Fr. Greg Burke, OCD

Jesus sweeps us of our feet at “the Sea” (1, 16), carries us in his wake through Galilee (9, 30) and Judea (10, 1), in Jerusalem (11, 1) he loves us by his Passion (14, 22) and promises us glory in the Resurrection (16, 6).
Today we will have a foretaste of the power or the first Gospel which the Church will present to us in its Sundays and great feasts of the approaching year: “the Good News of Jesus Christ” (1, 1) according to Mark.

Fr. Gerard Moran, OCD

Living Contemplatively
Presenter: Br Graham Neist, SM
The day will explore ways of acting which will help people to live their life more contemplatively.

“Be still and know that I am God”. How can this famous scripture apply to us at the beginning of 2018. As we rush off to begin a new year, take a day out to reflect on the importance of living contemplatively amidst the haste and speed of 21st century life.

Artists retreat
Presenters: John Charadia and Guest Tutors
Transformation @ Mt Carmel Retreat Centre

In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr, “By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures”.
Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.

Participants will explore in clay, painting and drawing, or photography and digital forms the high impact human efforts to transform the world.

Holy Week and Easter Retreat
Presenters: Carmelite Team
We invite you to accompany the Carmelite Community as we enter the Most Holy Triduum of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

The Easter “Triduum, which extends from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday until the Evening Prayer of Easter Sunday, is the kernel of the Church’s Liturgical Year. We could apply to it what is said of the Eucharist in the Document on the Liturgy of Vatican II: “it is the source and summit” of the Church’s year; everything leads up to it and everything flows out from it. Each year the Carmelite Community at Mount Carmel invites retreatants to join them during these holy days. Included in this time will be a talk to prepare for the liturgy of the day, participation in the Prayer of the Church (The Divine Office), an atmosphere of silence and reflection, and an opportunity of celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Participants are invited to involve themselves actively in the Liturgy, for example in proclaiming the Word and being part of the choir.

Living in the light of the Resurrection: A retreat in the spirit of Taizé
Facilitated by the Friends of Taize
Experiencing God in our joys and sorrows.

“Right at the depth of the human condition, lies the longing for a presence, the silent desire for a communion. Let us never forget that this simple desire for God is already the beginning of faith.” Br Roger of Taizé
Using the songs and prayer of Taizé, this weekend will draw us more deeply into the mystery of a God who truly loves us, and walks alongside each us in our joys as well as our sorrows.