Joyce Rupp to Visit Geelong

Acclaimed religious author and Servite sister, Sr Joyce Rupp, will visit the Geelong Deanery on Tuesday 7 September to offer a day of spiritual inspiration and renewal.

The day retreat, to be held at St Bernard’s Parish Hall, Belmont, commencing at 10 am, will be based Sr Joyce’s latest book, Your Sorrow Is My Sorrow (see book review that follows), which had compassion as its principal focus.

Compassion, the central message of Jesus and the key quality of his mother, Mary, Woman of Sorrows, is an essential element of many other religious traditions. A deeper and clearer understanding of compassion can teach and inspire us to accompany the hurting ones in our own lives and in our world with loving kindness. Compassion also teaches us how to give ourselves understanding and kindness when we are in the midst of pain and struggle.

Sr Joyce will offer a perspective on compassion from Christianity tradition, as well as from other varied spiritual and literary sources and her own life experiences. She will also offer suggestions on how to live and pray in a compassionate manner.

A separate evening session by Sr Joyce, entitled ‘All of My Life is My Teacher (Finding greater meaning in life)’, is being offered at the Maguire Room, Sacred Heart College, Newtown, from 7 to 9 pm.

Each part of life has something to teach us if we are open, aware and ready to learn. The poet Rumi writes: ‘Wherever you place your foot there rests a blessing.’ When we are spiritually aware and present to the deepest part of ourselves, we see the world with different eyes. The painful experiences of our lives take on a different meaning when we begin to see them as our teachers.

Sr Joyce gathers many things of the earth and life and reflects upon them with imagery, poetry, song and story. She will help participants discover how they can make connections with the ordinary pieces of their lives and find deeper meaning there. She will offer an opportunity to brush off the cobwebs of our spiritual inattention, find greater meaning and hope through life’s difficulties and revitalise our enthusiasm for life.

Both sessions will include conferences, reflection times, dialogue and ritual.

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