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How do you view the aging process? Is it tinged with anxiety and regret? Or do you see it as an adventure, a time to find meaning, and a ripening? Or, is it a little of both?

Is the vocation of peacemaker reserved for a chosen few or is it your call too? The late Trappist monk Thomas Merton believed peacemaking and nonviolence were Gospel imperatives. In this four-week eCourse, best-selling author and peace activist John Dear explores how the writings and mentoring of Merton profoundly influenced the peace landscape of the institutional church and continues to shape it still. More importantly it forces all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus to grapple with the demanding invitation of the Sermon on the Mount.

Lectio Divina, reflective sacred reading, has deep roots in Benedictine spirituality. In this eRetreat you will be invited to use a number of God’s texts—scripture, poetry and yoga—as ways to engage in a lifelong conversation with God. Two sisters and one oblate of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie—Anne McCarthy, Mary Lou Kownacki and Joanne Cahill—will serve as your guides. For this online retreat, you will discover how the wonders of the sacred text, poetry and the physical experience of yoga can stretch the soul.

Have you wondered what Jesus meant when he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” or “Blessed are the meek”? Have you ever asked yourself if these Beatitudes are merely spiritual ideals or teachings that can ground and center your life choices?

How much time do you devote to your inner life?

The truth is that enriching your inner life can change your outlook on just about everything. And, fortunately, there are many spiritual giants whose own journeys to wholeness can guide you as you search for fullness and meaning. Where did figures like Dorothy Day or Saints Hildegard of Bingen, Gertrude or Scholastica, for example, find the inspiration for their lives and work? How did they connect with the divine? What difference can their witness make in your life?

“How shall I live?” Isn’t that the question each of us presses to our heart as we move through our days? It’s the same question that Benedict of Nursia addressed 1,500 years ago.

In the early centuries, seekers desiring a deeper spiritual life went and sought direction from seasoned monks saying, “Amma (mother) or Abba (father), give me a word." The same word might be offered over and over, year after year, until finally its meaning revealed itself to the seeker. This Lent, go into the "desert spaces" of your own life with Give Me A Word, drawing on Sister Joan Chittister’s 2015 book In God’s Holy Light. Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers, who grappled with the same struggles you do and whose truths and insights have stood the test of time.

Is keeping a spiritual journal—a kind of heart-to-heart conversation with other seekers, poets, mystics, and saints—a practice you’d like to explore? If so, then consider becoming a Monastery Scribe. This eCourse includes poems, a reflective passages, an art pieces, a musical pieces, or a prayers along with writing prompts for you to play with. Selections are chosen from a variety of sources and sacred traditions. What can you expect from this eCourse? At least one surprise about yourself—what you believe, what you care about, what is your heart’s desire.

The best defense against the rampant sexism in our culture is the support, friendship, and sisterhood that women can offer each other. “Friendship is the sacrament of possibility,” writes Joan Chittister. What might become possible for this world—sickened for generations by violence and cruelty toward women— if we develop true, holy friendships?

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of threats to peace in our world today?
Tempted to curl up in a ball and hide until it’s all straightened out?
Find yourself spewing indiscriminate anger instead of using focused anger at injustice?
Or wondering if a refresher course in nonviolence would be helpful right about now?

Is it difficult for you to feel peace or wonder in the midst of your daily life? Is it hard to find beauty and meaning when the dishes are piled in the sink, or when your neighbors can be heard through the walls? We often think of the sacred as something far-off and mystical, to be found in a cathedral or on a mountaintop, rather than something that even mundane moments may be infused with. Yet Joan Chittister writes that, “Benedictine spirituality… is a life of concentration on life's ordinary dimensions, an attempt to do ordinary things extraordinarily well."

The themes of forgiveness and reconciliation are central to all religions. But how do you integrate these ideals into your personal life? How do you forgive a person who betrayed you? What if you can’t get over the hurt and just move on…even if everyone around you is telling you to do so? In a series of six brief videos Sister Joan explores the difficult, but fundamental summons to forgiveness that can both soften our own hearts and transform the world community.

The workplace is where many of us spend the bulk of our waking hours. How can we apply Benedictine values and practices to the competitive, often cut-throat marketplace? In four audio Judith Valente, award winning author and poet, and a Benedictine Oblate, will reflect on how The Rule of St. Benedict offers timeless wisdom for working people. Valente takes you into the newsrooms where she's worked, the companies she's reported on and introduces you to the working people she's met who live out their spiritual values at work.

The essential challenge of both the gospel of Jesus and monasticism is to move from fear and violence to freedom and love. How do we structure our lives and our communities to reflect nonviolent love? This course explore answers to those questions through reflections on The Rule of Benedict, the ancient prophets and the gospel of Jesus, contemporary models of nonviolence, and the teachings of both ancient and contemporary monastics. The course includes videos and readings by Sister Anne, discussion questions, and a simple ritual suggestion. 

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If an organization lasts 1,500 years, as Benedictine monasticism has, you must surmise that the founder knew something about leadership. In this course, Empower Yourself; Empower Others: Six stories of Benedict to unleash the leader in you, Joan Chittister outlines the basic principles of leadership, and, using stories from the life of Benedict, explores if or how he applied these principles and how you can do the same. The course includes six videos by Sister Joan, guided readings, and reflection questions.

Does the 1500-year-old Rule of Benedict of Nursia have anything to say to the modern world? You bet it does. In this course, Joan Chittister offers 37 brief videos on aspects of monastic spirituality that can guide you into a new way of seeing and living. Sister Joan offers practical and inspiring commentary on the Rule that, if adopted, can transform both the individual and our modern world just like it did centuries ago.