Do you have a pet? What have you learned from it? Theologian Matthew Fox has said that his dog is his “spiritual director.” What does nature have to teach us? How is the “cry of the earth” related to the “cry of the poor”?  Can we find a mystical meaning “in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face?” (Laudato Si’, 233) During this program we will explore these and other questions that have a bearing on our spiritual life as well as on the life of the planet. 

Part workshop and part spiritual journey, the program will be interactive and will offer time for personal reflection and group sharing. We will practice conflict resolution skills and examine sources of healing and reconciliation. We will learn the secret of living joyfully in a world full of suffering.  Archbishop Tutu, the Dalai Lama.  Pope Francis and a homeless youth will challenge us to move from a mentality of indifference and exclusion to a culture of compassion and caring, seeking ways to make a difference. Poets, prophets and martyrs will accompany us on the journey.   Films, readings, and walks in nature will reveal the wisdom of all creation as we seek to live with integrity, hope and courage. 

Resource Person: Janice McLaughlin, MM, is a journalist, adult educator and promoter of peace and justice who has lived and worked on the African continent since 1970. She has a BA degree in theology and anthropology from Marquette University and a D.Phil in Religious Studies from the University of Zimbabwe. She has worked in Kenya, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and served as President of her congregation, the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, from 2009 to 2015.  She is the author of numerous articles and several books including Ostriches, Dung Beetles and Other Spiritual Masters. 

RECOMMENDED READING:  

Berry, Thomas.  The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, 1990. 

Fitzgerald, William J.  One Hundred Cranes, Praying With the Chorus of Creation.  Kansas, Forest of Peace Publishing, 1996. 

Lama, Dalai, Tutu, Desmond  and Abrams, Douglas.  The Book of Joy, Lasting Happiness in a Changing World.  New York, Penguin, Random House, 2016. 

Markey, Eileen.  Radical Faith, The Assassination of Maura Clarke.  New York, Nation Books, 2016. 

McLaughlin, Janice.  Ostriches, Dung Beetles and Other Spiritual Masters.  Maryknoll, Orbis, 2009. 

Noone, Judith M.  The Same Fate as the Poor.  Maryknoll, Orbis, 1984 (revised 1995). 

Phillips, Jan.  No Ordinary Time: The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence and Evolutionary Creativity.  2011. 

Pope Francis.  Laudato Si’: On care of Our Common Home. Maryknoll, Orbis, 2016. 

Pope Francis.  The Joy of the Gospel.  Washington, DC, USCCB, 2013. 

Tutu, Desmond.  God Has a Dream, A Vision of Hope for Our Time.  New York, Doubleday, 2004. 

Stengel, Richard.  Nelson Mandela: Portrait of an Extraordinary Man.  London, Virgin Books, 2012.