The Window Blog: Sr. Joetta’s First Message

Hello from Sr. Joetta!

Welcome!  Thank you for taking your time today to go to our updated website and read “The Window Blog”.  I will be writing to you once a month here from the Director’s desk.  This month I would like to let you know that we still have a few openings in the Spiritual Companionship Program, so you are in luck!

Don’t miss this opportunity to join us for Spiritual Companion training. Our next session meets on Feb. 17-18 at John XXIII Retreat Center. Then there are only 8 more sessions after that until June of 2013. There is more information on our updated website: www.john23rdretreat center.com.   Register by Feb. 3^rd.  I’d like to share the article below with you, too. I hope that you can join us. God bless you!

 Are you really serious about your spiritual journey?  Do others seek you out to share intimately about their spiritual life? Would you like to offer yourself as a fellow traveler to others on this walk? If you answered yes to these questions, maybe the Spiritual Companionship Program is for you!

Take a few minutes and listen to how others have responded.

“If you possibly can, seize this opportunity!” said Mary Ann Williamson, as she spoke candidly about the Spiritual Companionship Program (SCP). “It was such a blessing to be a part of a program of this depth with the other participants and our leadership team of Sr. Joetta Huelsmann, PHJC and Dr. Roger Evans. I am very grateful for the opportunity to become a better companion for the spiritual journey of those I accompany!”  Mary Ann is just one of the many people from all walks of life who have completed the Spiritual Companionship Program.

“My journey into the SCP continues its ever opening, deepening and surprising path. The greatest and deepest opening is into contemplative listening, the very core of the SCP.  To listen out of, and for the Silent Whisper, has urged me into a depth I’d not experienced before…and be a willing cohort with The Beloved, Mysterious God of us all,” shared Jerry Lapp

Loretta Peters tells us,” I was a member of the first Spiritual Companionship group.  The class was a blessing for me as I experienced it both in my impaired mental state pre-brain surgery and post brain surgery.  It has been an extraordinary part of journey back to bodily/spiritual/mental health!”

Sister Pauline Bridegroom, PHJC, sums up her experience this way, “Participation in the Spiritual Companionship Program provides the opportunity for personal spiritual growth.  The readings, guidance, group interaction, writings and prayer in the program help to strengthen one’s confidence and ability to speak God’s word to others in a variety of ways.”

John XXIII Retreat Center in Hartford City, IN and Lindenwood Retreat & Conference Center in Donaldson, IN has begun the third  SCP this past Dec .  The two Centers have collaborated to train people to respond to the growing need for spiritual companions. Roger Evans quotes Henri Nouwen to tell us that,”…spiritual companioning is listening with another to the voice of God’s Spirit within and among us so that we might respond that voice at every moment of our lives…”  Roger believes, “It is welcoming and engaging the God who cares, heals, guides, challenges, confronts, and corrects as God leads us to wholeness, holiness and true intimacy.”

If you are interested contact Sr. Joetta Huelsmann, PHJC at John XXIII Retreat Center in Hartford City, IN at 888-882-1391 (toll free) or 765-348-4008, by e-mail: sjoettah@sbcglobal.net, or US mail: 407 W. McDonald St. Hartford City, IN 47348

May you hear the whisper of God’s invitation to come be a part of this wonderful group!