2008 - 2009

Abraham Heschel said that the only appropriate response to an encounter with the Holy is one of “radical amazement.”  The discoveries of modern science over the last century provide us with new images for reflection, new metaphors for understanding. As this new telling of the Universe Story seeps into our awareness it challenges the way we think and respond to the life around us.  As clearly as the parables told by Jesus challenged his listeners, so the Universe Story challenges us.  Join us for an exploration of the cosmos that evokes radical amazement and invites us into a contemplative awareness of the connectedness of all creation.

A day long seminar presented by the Spiritual Ministries Network of the Sisters of St. Joseph and Associates

To register telephone:  519-432-3781 Ext. 567 

John Dyson will share his story of living with a learning disability from a place of understanding and empathy as well as a newly discovered sense of passion.  He will be joined by a panel of individuals whose goal is to assist and empower people with learning disabilities.  Together they will explore the changes that must occur to ensure inclusiveness in both our educational facilities and places of employment.

Karl Rahner is quoted as saying, “In today’s world one is either a mystic or a non believer.”  On the road of discipleship one must travel from Bethlehem to Baptism, to Bethany and hopefully to the Beatific Vision.  That journey demands courage, conviction and commitment --- in other words, these disciples have to be holy men and women, even saints and mystics.  The question today is, have we lost our way?

Most Reverend Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto

In this evening, Archbishop Collins will reflect on the mission of Jesus who came to bring us life. We too, as his disciples, must always be committed to the culture of life in every aspect of society.

"Sweet Singer"
A musical play about Charles Wesley, the sweet singer of Methodism

Sweet Singer is a musical drama which tells the story of Charles Wesley, prolific poet and man of God. It presents some of Wesley’s best loved poems, such as Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, and many more, which relate his reaction to an unjust world and his quest to answer the question:  What shall I do to make the most of a short life?  Sweet Singer deals with Wesley’s struggle against poverty, reluctant acceptance of Holy Orders, social and spiritual reform, personal transformation, courage in the face of violence, family devotion and conflict, as well as poetic genius. 

Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich, Senior Rabbi, Beth Sholom Synagogue

Judaism, like the other great confessional faiths, shares a remarkable relationship with the Word.  And in many ways Judaism was born not the result of a single, majestic revelatory moment but on the basis of the revelation of the Word of God.  Yet, while we are born from the Word, living with it poses unique and challenging elements.  Recent history has shown us that the battle to understand how we can live with the Word, and live with others is one we need an answer to.

Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB, Archbishop of Vancouver, BC

This talk will consider several major trends affecting Catholic higher education in Canada and around the world, including globalization, information technology and dominance of market forces. Catholic colleges and universities will flourish only if they reaffirm their commitment to the great tradition of learning, scholarship and service that they have developed in the course of their almost millennial history:  a love for truth, a conviction about the harmony of faith and reason, a concern for educational solidarity and a reawakening of integral Christian humanism.

"The Moral Value of Choral Music"

Using the performance practices of the Gerald Fagan Singers, Mr. Fagan would like to explore the intent of the composer in setting religious text, the creative process that takes place in transferring the text to a choral setting and the inevitable decision on the part of the individual chorister to instill their life experience to the performance.

What is lost for all of us when, as a society, we refuse to work at finding ways to include the devalued diversity that disability represents?  It takes more than mere exposure for the public to learn to recognize the person behind the disability. Dr. Cushing discusses how the gospel-inspired ideas of Jean Vanier provide an alternative lens for imagining disability that is lived out in the context of L’Arche communities. Members of the L’Arche community of London will support this discussion with song, an opening prayer and their unique presence.

Dr. Cushing is an Assistant Professor at King’s University College. She has written many journal articles on disability, caregivers and formation and recently collaborated with Jean Vanier and others in social action research to articulate distinct beliefs about humanness emerging from the L’Arche experience.

This presentation will provide information on the process of interculturation of faith.  It will focus on the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus as paradigm of interculturation of faith, relating that to the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and its impact on the Aboriginal peoples of the Americas. It will also reflect on the Gospel of John, Chapter 4, concentrating on Jesus as the practitioner, par excellence, of interculturation of faith.