So, I left
off on the blogging for a few days – my week at the St. Therese Institute in
Bruno SK was very blessed and wonderful, but also very full indeed, and by the
latter days of the week, my energy was pretty much taken up by the life and
work there.
I normally
do a ‘this week in Madonna House’ wrap-up around the weekend, but since I
wasn’t at MH at all, I would rather talk about STI and what I experienced
there. I don’t usually highlight places I go and things I do on this blog, but
I would like to share a bit about this remarkable place.
The St.
Therese Institute for Faith and Mission has been operating since 2007, in a
former Ursuline convent in Bruno SK, about one hour west of Saskatoon. It has
two aspects, the School of Faith and Mission, and the Healing and Growth Center. I was involved with the first, and so will only mention the second. The Center runs healing retreats and prayer ministry throughout the year, and I
have heard nothing but good about it.
I was
involved with the school of faith and mission, and was wildly impressed with
it. This is a nine month program for young adults of intensive faith formation.
As of a year ago, it is a two-year program, although the majority of the
students only do the first year, and it is complete unto itself.
The young
people live in community. They have a series of courses throughout the year on
Catholic doctrine, Scripture, apologetics, spirituality. They have a vibrant
life of prayer—morning prayer and Mass, adoration and rosary, praise and
worship every day. They have personal individual spiritual and pastoral guidance
and accompaniment.
The
spirituality is very much the Little Way of St. Therese, with a healthy dose of
MH spirituality (Poustinia and People of the Towel and Water are part
of the core curriculum). Jim Anderson, the director of the school and a
long-time friend of MH, explains that St. Therese teaches us what to live;
Catherine Doherty explains how to live it. There is also a strong Ignatian
component to the formation, with significant formation on the principles of
discernment.
This was my
second year out there, offering a week-long class to the second year students
on the theology of liturgy and worship. The first six months of the program
they have longer ‘semester’ style courses; the last three months they have
intensive week-long ones. The first years, for example, had a seminar on
ecumenical dialogue and apologetics. This coming week, the first years will
have the first of two weeks on Ignatian discernment; the second years will have
adult catechetics.
It is a
wonderful place! The spirit is lively, joyful, free and fun. The students are a
very impressive group—the second years who I was with were engaged, serious,
thoughtful, and very sharp.
There are
many great things happening in the Canadian Catholic scene right now – CCO, NET
ministries, the Companions of the Cross, the Franciscans of Halifax, just to
name a few (and, ahem, Madonna House plugging away with our Nazareth life in
the midst of them all). But add to the mix St. Therese Institute—a prime
example of the New Evangelization, and a serious formator of young Catholics
seeking to be part of the New Evangelization. It can easily grow and
accommodate many more students than they currently have (about 35 this year
between the two years), and I just wanted to share with my blog readers this
fine formation program for young Catholic adults on the Canadian prairies.
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