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To: Priests
From: Rev. Pedro Poloche, director, Ongoing Formation of Priests
Dear brothers,
We hope you received the Save the Date for our upcoming priest retreat and wanted to share a few more details about this special event.
Retreat Dates: September 8–12
Location: Brasstown Valley Resort, Young Harris, Georgia
Retreat Facilitator: Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV
As many of you know, Fr. Gallagher is a well-respected teacher and author on Ignatian spirituality. The theme of his talks will be:
“The Discerning Priest: Ignatian Wisdom for Daily Life in the Diocesan Priesthood”
All priests experience seasons of consolation and desolation in their ministry. More than 500 years ago, St. Ignatius of Loyola developed some of the most enduring and effective teachings in the Catholic spiritual tradition for recognizing and navigating these times. His wisdom remains among the most powerful tools for overcoming discouragement and renewing our freedom to love and serve the Lord and His people with joy.
During this retreat, we will delve into these Ignatian principles and explore how they can support us in our daily lives as diocesan priests.
The retreat will include talks on these topics:
- A practical look at discernment: What does it mean to live the discerning life?
- How to recognize the action of God and of bad spirit in daily priestly life.
- The gift of spiritual consolation and how to grow through it.
- The discouragement of spiritual desolation: How to name and reject it.
- Changes we should and should not make in time of desolation.
- Vulnerabilities of discouragement in daily priestly life and how to overcome them.
- Identifying and overcoming tactics of temptation.
- Spiritual accompaniment in the discerning life.
More details, including registration information, will follow soon.
We hope you’ll plan to join us for this meaningful time of prayer, reflection, and fraternity.
