Our Mission
We are a center for experiential education, rooted in the Gospels, encouraging the transformation of human consciousness through contemplation, and equipping people to be instruments of peaceful change in the world.
Loving the Two Halves of Life
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date: January 20 – 23, 2011
Conference Evaluation | Pre-Conference Workshop | Presenters | Suggested Resources
Overview
To live in this world, you must be able to do three
things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your
bones knowing your own life depends on it; and,
when the time comes to let it go, to let it go. - Mary Oliver
As a society, we have not been taught the art of loving our mortal lives every step of the way… in fact, we have largely lost the art of living. Thankfully, the wisdom of the elders is in our midst. Join Fr. Ron Rolheiser, Edwina Gateley and Fr. Richard Rohr, who will help us to clarify and embrace the two halves of life.
Consisting of plenary sessions, small group discussion, and sacred ritual to integrate the wisdom we already know but have forgotten, this conference will be especially helpful for parents, spiritual directors, educators and any one, of any age, on a spiritual path. We will:
• Clarify the tasks and the pitfalls of the first half of life
• Identify the crossover points between the first half and second half of life
• Discuss what we mean by "the further journey" of the second half of life
Called to a further journey, we will look within ourselves to see that the wisdom of the elders is not only in our midst, but is within each of us.
Conference Highlights
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Nearly 1,100 people attended this conference
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95% of attendees found the conference to be a very beneficial experience
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More than 93% of attendees considered the presenters to be exceptional and thought-provoking
What Attendees Said About this Event:
“The liturgical dance and ritual was so powerful!”
“Richard was at his best. I appreciate the evolution in his theology and how he always brings his audience along on his journey.”
“I have been listening to Richard for about 25 years. This is the best I have ever heard him. Super!”
“This was my first experience hearing Fr. Ron Rolheiser and was wonderfully pleased with his wisdom and presentation skills.”
“Edwina was absolutely marvelous! I enjoyed every minute!”
“Edwina brought the feminine touch to the conference. So very easy to listen to and a sound message.”
“It was nice to hear how these ‘young’ people are living the first phase of their lives. Chris shared so much of the events of their lives—very inspiring!”
“I’m impressed with the work Chris and Phileena are doing. Hope for the world!”
“I think you offered something for everyone.”
Conference Evaluation
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us on this brief survey.
Readings, Songs, and Rituals
Liturgy Readings
Worship Aids
Ron Rolheiser's Handout
Conference Presenters
Fr. Ron Rolheiser
Edwina Gateley
Fr. Richard Rohr
Pre-Conference Presenters
Phileena Heuertz and Chris Heuertz
Subscribe to their journal, Cry; buy their books!
Music Information
Music for the conference composed by Daniel Davis
CDs and further information available at: alphabet@cybermesa.com
Poetry Cited
"Gentle God" – I Hear a Seed Growing (p. 65) by Edwina Gateley
"Expectant" – Growing Into God (pp. 26-27) by Edwina Gateley
"Love Poems to God" – Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke
"Thirst" by Mary Oliver – Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver (p. 69)
"The Uses of Sorrow" – Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver (p. 52)
"The Guesthouse" – The Illuminated Rumi by Jelalludin Rumi
"The Book of Pilgrimage" – Rilke’s Book of Hours, Love Poems to God by Rainer Maria Rilke
"What to Remember When Waking" – River Flow, New and Selected Poems (pp. 351) by David Whyte
Acknowledgements
Center for Action and Contemplation offers our sincere gratitude to all the staff members, volunteers, presenters, and participants who made this conference possible, as well as to all of the attendees for joining with us to grow around this vital topic for our world.
Sunday Collection Organizations
Word Made Flesh
Christian Lay Organization (E.Gately)
ACT Alliance (S. American Flood Relief)
Pre-Conference Workshop
Generativity in the Two Halves of Life
Thursday, January 20, 2011
9 am - 4 pm
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet” -Frederick Buechner
What does a vital spiritual life look like at any season of life? Three presenters will share their personal stories of how God called them unexpectedly, to co-create powerful ministries of compassion and justice.
As young adults, Phileena and Chris Heuertz co-founded Word Made Flesh Ministries, serving the poorest of the poor around the world. Edwina Gateley will share how a year of solitude and contemplation in a hermitage in mid-life led her to the streets of Chicago to found a ministry for women in prostitution. They will tell you most of all, how their lives have been transformed, and their faith revitalized by those they serve.
See how your ordinary life at any age, with any skillset or even lack of experience, might be used in large and small ways for God’s higher purposes!
Presenters
Phileena Heuertz and Chris Heuertz are the leading directors of Word Made Flesh (WMF) — an international community serving Christ among the most vulnerable of the world's poor. Both have traveled through nearly 70 countries working the marginalized and oppressed, abandoned children, people affected by HIV / AIDS, sexually exploited women and children, people recovering from drug addictions, children who live on the streets, refugees and children of combat and war.
Chris Heuertz
Chris has led the Word Made Flesh community as the International Executive Director since 1996. He and Phileena reside in Omaha, Nebraska. Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World is Chris Heuertz' first book. It shares touching stories from Chris' life and working among the most vulnerable.
Phileena Heuertz
Phileena has served WMF through child advocacy, community care and leadership development. In 2004 she founded the Community Care Center–one of the internal support offices for the international movement. She believes that union of action and contemplation is crucial to ongoing personal growth, healthy community life, and sustainable, authentic social justice efforts. Her first book, Pilgrimage of a Soul, is a provocative theological narrative, steeped in contemplative spirituality.
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Presenters
Edwina Gateley
Born in Lancaster, England, Edwina Gateley’s educational experiences have awarded her a Teacher’s Degree from her home country, a Masters in Theology from the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago and certification as an HIV Counselor in the state of Illinois. She lived for nine months in prayer and solitude in a hermitage in Illinois, spent over a year on the streets of Chicago walking with the homeless and women involved in prostitution and founded Genesis House – a house of hospitality and nurturing for women involved in prostitution. Numerous groups and individuals, including the Mayor of Chicago, the late archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, and former President of the Unites States Bill Clinton, have publicly commended Edwina’s work and ministry. Edwina has also been featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours.”
Edwina is currently writing, giving talks and leading retreats nationally and internationally. Her programs include weekends and weeklong retreats as well as Parish Mission. Topics include her own Faith Journey, Discipleship, Women in Scripture, Justice, Mission, Spirituality, Mysticism, and the Feminine Divine. Her books include In God’s Womb, God Goes to School, Christ in the Margins, Soul Sisters, Growing into God, Whispers – Conversations with Edwina Gateley, God Goes to Church, Psalms of a Laywoman, A Mystical Heart, There was no Path so I Trod One, A Warm, Moist, Salty God, and I Hear a Seed Growing.
Ron Rolheiser, OMI
A Roman Catholic priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Ronald Rolheiser is president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. For much of his priesthood, he taught theology and philosophy at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta.
Fr. Ron is a community-builder, lecturer and writer. His books are popular throughout the English-speaking world and his weekly column is carried by more than seventy newspapers worldwide. His books include Secularity and the Gospel: Being Missionary to our Children, Forgotten Among the Lilies, The Restless Heart (Winner of 1990 Winifred Sanford Award), The Holy Longing (Winner of 2000 USA Catholic Press Book award for best hardcover book in spirituality), Against an Infinite Horizon, The Shattered Lantern, Spirituality for a Restless Culture and The Loneliness Factor (Winner of 1996 USA Catholic Press Book award for best hardcover book in spirituality).
Richard Rohr Richard Rohr, OFM
An internationally known author and spiritual teacher, Richard Rohr is a Franciscan of the New Mexico province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call and the related themes he addresses include eco-spirituality, scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, and the Enneagram. He is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines.
Some of his best-known books include: Everything Belongs; Radical Grace: Daily Meditations; Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation; The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective; From Wild Men to Wise Men: Reflections on Male Spirituality; The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See; and his latest book On The Threshold Of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men.
Fr. Richard has been a featured essayist on NPR’s “This I Believe” and a guest of Dr. Mehmet Oz on the “Oprah and Friends” radio show; he also appears in the 2006 documentary, ONE, featuring spiritual teachers from around the world. Check the Mustard Seed Resource Center for all Fr. Richard's works.
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Suggested Resources
Spirituality and the Two Halves of Life
Fr. Ron Rolheiser
Growth and discipleship have two distinct parts. We leave home at an early age and spend many years trying to find our way back. How do we get back home again? That’s the spiritual task for the first half of life. But, where do we go once we’re back home?
That’s the spirituality for the second half of life. No matter which half of life you’re in, you’ll gain new insights with the renowned author.
Available in DVD format
The Two Major Tasks of the Spiritual Life
Fr. Richard Rohr
Much personal and pastoral confusion results when we do not realize that in the first half of life we have to master self control, and in the second half of life we must give up control.
Those are two very different journeys, and we need guides to pass from one to the others. This talk given at the 2004 Religious Education Congress serves as a perfect intro to the Two Halves of Life.
Available in CD, and MP3 formats from Mustard Seed.
Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Richard Rohr, OFM and Paula D’Arcy
Both Richard and Paula believe that much personal and church confusion could be helped by clearly distinguishing the tasks of the two halves of life. Much of institutional religion is concerned with the tasks of the first half of life.
The need for adults is to move on to the tasks of the second half of life, which are much closer to the concerns of Jesus, Buddha and the mystics of all religions. Prepare for both stages to affirm and challenge you, and also recognize the immense implications for raising children and young people.
Available in CD format from Mustard Seed.
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