Fr. Brendan McGuire - Prayer Retreat Series

Advent Retreat, “Atomic Habits of Prayer“ 

 Fr. Brendan says, it is possible to learn how to pray in many different forms and some of these methods will work for you and some won’t. Finding the ones that work for you can only be discovered by praying them. And that requires the forming of new habits which can be hard for incredibly busy people with full calendars. Yet we can always find time for the things we desire. 

 We desire to be people of prayer because a person of deep listening prayer is a person who is able to listen to others, to be peaceful and centered in their own hearts, to be calm in the face of chaos, to be kind and gentle especially those least deserving of it, to be loving at all times and to be present to others in their difficulties. 

He wants to help us develop the habit of listening prayer. He will share the science behind the formation of habits and how to lose old bad habits and make new ones. Then he will apply this science to the tradition in our Church of mystical prayer including meditation and other forms of contemplation.  

Advent Retreat, “Atomic Habits of Prayer“ 

 Fr. Brendan says, it is possible to learn how to pray in many different forms and some of these methods will work for you and some won’t. Finding the ones that work for you can only be discovered by praying them. And that requires the forming of new habits which can be hard for incredibly busy people with full calendars. Yet we can always find time for the things we desire. 

 We desire to be people of prayer because a person of deep listening prayer is a person who is able to listen to others, to be peaceful and centered in their own hearts, to be calm in the face of chaos, to be kind and gentle especially those least deserving of it, to be loving at all times and to be present to others in their difficulties. 

He wants to help us develop the habit of listening prayer. He will share the science behind the formation of habits and how to lose old bad habits and make new ones. Then he will apply this science to the tradition in our Church of mystical prayer including meditation and other forms of contemplation.  

Advent Retreat, “Atomic Habits of Prayer“ 

 Fr. Brendan says, it is possible to learn how to pray in many different forms and some of these methods will work for you and some won’t. Finding the ones that work for you can only be discovered by praying them. And that requires the forming of new habits which can be hard for incredibly busy people with full calendars. Yet we can always find time for the things we desire. 

 We desire to be people of prayer because a person of deep listening prayer is a person who is able to listen to others, to be peaceful and centered in their own hearts, to be calm in the face of chaos, to be kind and gentle especially those least deserving of it, to be loving at all times and to be present to others in their difficulties. 

He wants to help us develop the habit of listening prayer. He will share the science behind the formation of habits and how to lose old bad habits and make new ones. Then he will apply this science to the tradition in our Church of mystical prayer including meditation and other forms of contemplation.  

Advent Retreat, “Atomic Habits of Prayer“ 

 Fr. Brendan says, it is possible to learn how to pray in many different forms and some of these methods will work for you and some won’t. Finding the ones that work for you can only be discovered by praying them. And that requires the forming of new habits which can be hard for incredibly busy people with full calendars. Yet we can always find time for the things we desire. 

 We desire to be people of prayer because a person of deep listening prayer is a person who is able to listen to others, to be peaceful and centered in their own hearts, to be calm in the face of chaos, to be kind and gentle especially those least deserving of it, to be loving at all times and to be present to others in their difficulties. 

He wants to help us develop the habit of listening prayer. He will share the science behind the formation of habits and how to lose old bad habits and make new ones. Then he will apply this science to the tradition in our Church of mystical prayer including meditation and other forms of contemplation.  

Fr. Brendan wants to share those insights with you and invites you to come in person for the four weeks of Advent from 7pm-8pm (Tuesdays, November 29, December 6, 13 and Wednesday, December 21). It will also be available on livestream but you are encouraged to come in person if possible.

How to Live and Die Well

The core of our Christian faith is that Jesus was raised from the dead, and he promises us the resurrection when we die. If that is true, then we have eternal life now and our souls live forever. Our time here on earth is a preparation for eternity with God. That is the Easter message every year and we spend 50 days celebrating it in the Easter season.

 In this retreat, I will go deeper into our belief in the resurrection and what our faith says about eternal life. I will share my personal experience with death. I will illustrate with up-close encounters with people who have died. There is a difference between dying well and dying badly. I have seen both and we ought to do everything possible to prepare to die well because the alternative is hard to witness. To die well, we need to live well. But it has nothing to do with how much money we have or what we own or what our job is. To live well is to live a life full of faith. Come and learn how to live and die well and when the times come, help others to live and die well.

How to Live and Die Well

The core of our Christian faith is that Jesus was raised from the dead, and he promises us the resurrection when we die. If that is true, then we have eternal life now and our souls live forever. Our time here on earth is a preparation for eternity with God. That is the Easter message every year and we spend 50 days celebrating it in the Easter season.

 In this retreat, I will go deeper into our belief in the resurrection and what our faith says about eternal life. I will share my personal experience with death. I will illustrate with up-close encounters with people who have died. There is a difference between dying well and dying badly. I have seen both and we ought to do everything possible to prepare to die well because the alternative is hard to witness. To die well, we need to live well. But it has nothing to do with how much money we have or what we own or what our job is. To live well is to live a life full of faith. Come and learn how to live and die well and when the times come, help others to live and die well.

How to Live and Die Well

The core of our Christian faith is that Jesus was raised from the dead, and he promises us the resurrection when we die. If that is true, then we have eternal life now and our souls live forever. Our time here on earth is a preparation for eternity with God. That is the Easter message every year and we spend 50 days celebrating it in the Easter season.

 In this retreat, I will go deeper into our belief in the resurrection and what our faith says about eternal life. I will share my personal experience with death. I will illustrate with up-close encounters with people who have died. There is a difference between dying well and dying badly. I have seen both and we ought to do everything possible to prepare to die well because the alternative is hard to witness. To die well, we need to live well. But it has nothing to do with how much money we have or what we own or what our job is. To live well is to live a life full of faith. Come and learn how to live and die well and when the times come, help others to live and die well.

How to Live and Die Well

The core of our Christian faith is that Jesus was raised from the dead, and he promises us the resurrection when we die. If that is true, then we have eternal life now and our souls live forever. Our time here on earth is a preparation for eternity with God. That is the Easter message every year and we spend 50 days celebrating it in the Easter season.

 In this retreat, I will go deeper into our belief in the resurrection and what our faith says about eternal life. I will share my personal experience with death. I will illustrate with up-close encounters with people who have died. There is a difference between dying well and dying badly. I have seen both and we ought to do everything possible to prepare to die well because the alternative is hard to witness. To die well, we need to live well. But it has nothing to do with how much money we have or what we own or what our job is. To live well is to live a life full of faith. Come and learn how to live and die well and when the times come, help others to live and die well.

If being a Christian disciple was a crime, is there enough evidence in our lives that would convict us?” It seems strange to ask that question, but it is the most basic place to start. Sometimes, we just move along from day to day and do not really live out faith in any real or tangible way.

 If that is a real question and our lives were on the line literally in a court room, would we get convicted. What evidence would be shown in the courtroom to show and hopefully prove that we are really an active Catholic Christian. What are some concrete tangible things that we could name? Think about it; there was a time when being a Christian was a crime and some places in the world it still is. People get martyred or killed for it — even still today.

In this series  we will start to answer those questions and see why “celebrating the Mass” is one of the most powerful ways to publicly display our faith.  However, it will not get us convicted unless we live it out loud in our daily actions. As committed disciples, we are called to live our faith in real concrete ways every day. In order to fully understand the Mass as a sacrament, we need to understand the difference between a sign, symbol, and sacrament. It seems straightforward but it is the cornerstone of our faith as Catholics to truly understand the sacrament. Come join us for the first of the series on the Living the Eucharist.

If being a Christian disciple was a crime, is there enough evidence in our lives that would convict us?” It seems strange to ask that question, but it is the most basic place to start. Sometimes, we just move along from day to day and do not really live out faith in any real or tangible way.

 If that is a real question and our lives were on the line literally in a court room, would we get convicted. What evidence would be shown in the courtroom to show and hopefully prove that we are really an active Catholic Christian. What are some concrete tangible things that we could name? Think about it; there was a time when being a Christian was a crime and some places in the world it still is. People get martyred or killed for it — even still today.

In this series  we will start to answer those questions and see why “celebrating the Mass” is one of the most powerful ways to publicly display our faith.  However, it will not get us convicted unless we live it out loud in our daily actions. As committed disciples, we are called to live our faith in real concrete ways every day. In order to fully understand the Mass as a sacrament, we need to understand the difference between a sign, symbol, and sacrament. It seems straightforward but it is the cornerstone of our faith as Catholics to truly understand the sacrament. Come join us for the first of the series on the Living the Eucharist.