Program

Program of Events for Journey of Encounter

(in development- all times and activities to be confirmed)

This is an in-person event only.

While the gathering will be conducted predominantly in English, we will do our best to accommodate French-speaking conversation circles. These will be available dependent upon the number of those who register and indicate this preference. 

Sunday June 15

Afternoon

Arrival/Check in 
Get settled 

Dinner 

Evening  

Welcome ceremonies
Retreat begins with Greg Kennedy 
Evening Prayer

Monday June 16

Morning

Morning prayer/Meditation 
Breakfast 
Retreat Continues
Coffee break
Input/Stories
First of Circle Conversations
Lunch

Afternoon

Input/Stories
Second of Circle Conversations 
Pre-prandial encounters
Dinner

Evening

Social/ Cultural Event-local group(s) brought in TBD
Or Free evening
Evening prayer 

Tuesday June 17

Morning

Morning prayer/Meditation
Breakfast 
Input/Stories
Third of Circle Conversations
Coffee break
Third of Circle Conversations-continue 
Lunch

Afternoon

Input/Stories
Fourth of Circle Conversations 

Participants will be free to have dinner on their own. There are restaurants in the area and dinner in the cafeteria will be available as well. This will give people time to gather in smaller, less formal groups, with fellow participants, perhaps by parish or diocese, to continue the synodal conversations. Old friends may wish to catch up too.

Evening

Formal Presentation /Guest Speaker(s)
Evening prayer 

Wednesday June 18

Morning

Morning prayer/Meditation
Breakfast 
Plenary Gathering / Wrap up 
Eucharistic Liturgy

Afternoon

Check out
Depart 
CLC Debrief 

About the Retreat Experience

“What is needed is the ability to cultivate an interior space which can give a Christian meaning to commitment and activity … The Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer….”
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), paragraph 262

As with the Synod in Rome, our gathering will begin with a retreat experience.

The retreat will be led by Greg Kennedy

Greg is the executive director of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario, and the author of Reupholstered Psalms (Vols 1–3) and Amazing Friendships Between Animals and Saints. Greg Kennedy has worked as a spiritual director, retreat facilitator and instructor of spiritual direction at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario since 2017. He also currently serves as its Executive Director. Greg believes he has two ears for listening: one to the Spirit, the other to the Earth. Both Earth and Spirit are, for him, essential elements of community. Synodality gives him hope because it aspires to community-building that is both rooted and free.

Our hope for the retreat is to cultivate an interior space that opens our hearts to deep listening in the days ahead. By setting aside our own thoughts and perceptions, we seek to honour each person’s story, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us on the journey of a synodal church.