Mercy Center Auburn

VIRTUAL 11TH STEP RETREAT OFFERING We miss your presence at Mercy Center! While we are beginning to hear hopeful signs that some restrictions will be lifted in the not-too-distant future, we remain unsure about when and how Mercy Center will be inviting guests to gather. As we work diligently to work out the details of reopening our beloved Mercy home to our many guests, we are creatively persevering through these months of revenue decline. During this extraordinary time, Jo...hn Bruna and Peter Kuhn have graciously offered to host a virtual presentation of our annual weekend of contemplation and practice focused on the 11th Step. The opportunity to offer this retreat sponsored by Mercy Center Auburn will help to offset the significant revenue losses until we can once again welcome the return of our many soul friends who find refuge and hospitality at the safe and sacred landscape of Mercy Auburn. The retreat will be presented online using ZOOM, so everyone can participate wherever they are, and will include talks, time for practice, small group discussion, and plenty of time in between sessions for reflection. Our retreat is open to all, whether you are in recovery or simply want to enhance the use of prayer and meditation to improve the quality of your life. If you are interested, you can learn more by going to our website: http://www.mercycenter.org/retreat-calendar. You may also contact us directly at 530-887-2019. We thank you for your continuing support of Mercy Center Auburn.

We would like to send a very special thank you to the wonderful quilting groups who use our facilities, and who have previously used their time, talent and creativity to create beautiful, artistic expressions of their love for Mercy Center with the donation of quilts that grace each of the beds in our forty guest rooms and Hermitage cottages. Most recently, during this COVID19 crisis, our quilting groups once again stepped up to share their time and talents with the Mercy fa...mily by creating masks for our onsite nurses, food service workers, cooks, housekeepers, family, friends and directly to Mercy San Juan Hospital. They say that quilters use their talents to create a mosaic of a particular time in their life or in the life of another. Every quilt they make has fabrics they love and others that quite frankly they could do without. But in the end there is a beautiful quilt. It's kind of like all of us living in this COVID19 sheltering at home scenario. Some of these days we love; others we could do without. But all of these days serve to give us a bigger life lesson. From their beautiful quilts to their artistic masks, these individuals represent the values most important during a crisis... community, friendship and hope.

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER SPIRITUALITY We are living through a difficult time. Many of us have concerns about health, finances, family and even our faith. It's difficult to imagine a Holy Week and Easter celebration without gathering within our faith communities to worship. Yet, this is the reality we are facing. The staff of Mercy Center are doing what we can, in light of the current constraints, to share this Holy Week and Easter with you. Below is a link to a special presentati...on of the Stations of the Cross. The Station photos in the presentation are from the sacred grounds of Mercy Center. We hope that this prayerful presentation might provide a sense of calm during this difficult time. We believe it is necessary to know that everything will one day return to a "new" normal. We just have to be patient and calm. We must believe that there is going to be a great gift of life on the other side. Please feel free to share with your Facebook family. STATIONS OF THE CROSS PRESENTATION http://files.mercycenter.org/April2020Way_of_the_cross.pptx

We look forward to the day when we can once again open our doors and welcome you back to the sacred space of Mercy Center. In the meantime, please stay safe and care for those around you. Brighter days are ahead!

With so much suffering and discord dominating the headlinesand even our personal liveswe may miss all the good things happening around us. Yet every day, there are wonderful opportunities to see God at work in the world and to express our gratefulness for His protection and provision. It is in times like this that we see the best in people. Please take time to pray for and thank every health-care worker and all frontline workers at pharmacies, grocery stores, take-out restaurants, gas stations, etc. These people are risking their personal health and the health of the people they love for all of us who shelter in place.

To all of our many partners in Mercyour staff, our guests, our facilitators, and our dedicated spiritual directors who continually grace the sacred space of Mercy Center, please know that we are committed to carrying out the mission of mercy guided by prayerful consideration of the needs of these unprecedented times. We are blessed to have the sacred space of Mercy Center, made possible by the inspiring mission of the Sisters of Mercy. It unites and directs us as we look fo...rward to once again opening the doors of Mercy Center to our ministry of offering hospitality to persons, ministries, and service groups whose philosophy and beliefs are in harmony with gospel values. While we await our return to what will quite possibly be a new normal, our hearts and thoughts go out to the people who have been affected by this unprecedented situation, and we give thanks to the many healthcare workers and local communities who are working on the front line to contain this coronavirus. We understand the challenge that this event represents to you, your family, friends and community. All of us find ourselves having to process our way through this uncertainty and understandable anxiety. We at Mercy Center are doing our best to keep everyone healthy and safe in our larger Mercy community. In this time of great uncertainty, we have partnered with Lemke Health to guide and support the well-being and resiliency of our community. Please visit our website at www.mercycenter.org for more information.

THE MEMORY OF THE SACRED: Earth, Body & Soul in Celtic Wisdom Facilitator: John Philip Newell February 7-9, 2019 (accepting commuters only) Cost: $275 resident/$245 commuter... Celtic Spirituality celebrates the essential sacredness of all things. It remembers John the Beloved leaning against Jesus at the Last Supper. It was said of him in Celtic legend that he therefore heard the heartbeat of God. He became a symbol of the practice of listening, listening deep within ourselves, deep within one another, and deep within the Earth and every creature. We will explore the implications of remembering the Sacred at the heart of all life. http://files.mercycenter.org/NewellFlyer2020.pdf

YEAR-END SILENT RETREAT December 28-January 1, 2020 Facilitator: John Bruna Cost: Two Options (5-day) $275; New Year's Overnight Only ($95)... Each day is truly a precious gift that will never come again and an opportunity to improve ourselves and the world we live in. Christmas and the New Year is a time to celebrate and reflect upon rebirth, renewal, and our spiritual journey. It is a sacred time for all spiritual traditions offering us the opportunity to reconnect or deepen our direct personal experience of the sacred. Join us for our annual Year-End Retreat to make time for yourself to engage in meditation, prayer, mindfulness practices, and silent reflection. This year’s retreat will focus on creating sacred space and developing practices to increase and sustain connection with your deepest values, exploring and clarifying your purpose and personal spiritual path. http://files.mercycenter.org/YearEndBruna2019.pdf

ADVENT DAY OF PRAYER In the Depth of the Night: Awaiting New Birth Facilitator: Darcy Wharton Saturday, December 7, 2019 9:30am to 3:30pm... COST: $35 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." says Jeremiah. Take a step away from the noise and enter the holy place where your heart and God's heart are one. Discover what is ready to be birthed within your soul. How might God be calling you to greater growth and awareness? Join us for an Advent day of reflection which will include silent prayer, group discussion, and reflective music" http://files.mercycenter.org/AdventDayDarcyWharton2019.pdf

LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE: ENGAGING THE INNER LIGHT OF SELF AND OTHERS Facilitator: Fr. Tom Bonacci, C.P. November 14-17, 2019 Cost: $275 resident/$215 commuter... The darkness of violence, hatred, prejudice, and fear so surround us as to threaten the inner serenity that is natural to our souls and spirits. We are surrounded by a Universe that creates and recreates in a Cosmic dance. The rhythm of the Cosmic Order is naturally embedded in the human heart. We must listen to the heart seeking its light, peace, and beauty resisting the temptations to internalize the violence around us. During this retreat, we will study and practice what it means to live by the inner light of the heart accessing that peace which gives birth to the justice of mercy, understanding, and compassion. Joyful introspection, sharing dialogues, silence, and communal study and journal writing will inform our practice as we seek to release our inner light in the deeds of loving-kindness. More details at http://files.mercycenter.org/BonacciNovember2019Retreat.pdf

Good Friday Taize-Tenebrae Service Friday, April 19, 2019 This service of worship is taken from two Christian prayer forms: the early Christian service of Tenebrae, the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows," and Taizé Prayer of simple harmonized chant. The service incorporates silence and Sacred Scripture to enhance the expression of an invisible communion,not only with the crucified Jesus, but with the suffering amid and all around us. ... Visit our website at www.mercycenter.org for more information.

Holy Week Days of Silence April 18-21, 2019 Easter is a time of great joy and miraculous wonder as we celebrate the presence of the risen Lord in our lives. We invite you to make your own journey this year and join us during the Tridumm days for holy encounter through silence, liturgies and Good Friday evening service of light. ... We will celebrate the fullness of these most holy days with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Good Friday Taize/Tenebrae, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday morning Mass. Father John Boll will preside at Triduum/Easter Liturgies. Visit our website at www.mercycenter.org for more information.

Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat January 18-25, 2019 (Silent) www.mercycenter.org Come taste the silence of prayer with other contemplative companions and rest in the stillness, away from the busyness of daily life, and allow the mind, body, and spirit to surrender to God’s presence and action within. ... The retreat offers three tracks simultaneously. You choose the track that works best for you. The Intensive I and Intensive II tracks will include 3 sets of three 20 minute periods of Centering Prayer daily, with an in-depth look at the Spiritual Journey, using talks given by Fr. Thomas Keating. Intensive I is for those new to the Spiritual Journey series. The talks for Intensive II are a further look at the depth of the spiritual journey. The Post Intensive track (normally for those who have previously participated in one or more Intensive Retreats) will have additional time for Centering Prayer and no group educational time.