The Adult Spiritual Growth Group (ASGG) from St Mary Magdalene’s church has a collection of speakers coming in 2021/22 to interest your mind and your heart.

Catherine Ann Lombard, researcher, psychosynthesis psychotherapist, and writer will be speaking to us from Italy on Saturday, November 20th at 10am – 12 pm about Roberto Assagioli’s time in jail.  Assagioli (1888 – 1974), founder of Psychosynthesis - a psychology that includes a spiritual dimension to the human personality - was imprisoned in Regina Coeli prison in Rome in 1940, by Mussolini’s fascist regime for “praying for peace and inviting others to join him, along with other international crimes.”  Lombard will be speaking about Assagioli’s book Freedom in Jail in which he “offers a personal example of how to use difficult life events as an opportunity to develop one’s personal and spiritual psychosynthesis”.  Lombard is the editor of Freedom in Jail (published posthumously) and wrote the “Introduction” to the book. 

Molly LaCroix, LMFT, a Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist in Oregon and author of Restoring Relationship; Transforming Fear Into Love Through Connection will be speaking to us next on January 18th, 7 – 8:30.  Molly will share an overview of the IFS model and how it beautifully integrates with Christianity.  She will provide practical exercises to apply the model in your life and relationships.

               We need a way to restore relationship.  It is the thread running through all of our challenges and the single most important thing we need in order to thrive personally and as a community of faith.  We need more than exhortation; we need transformation.  We need a spiritual practice that provides a path from broken relationships to loving relationship. …

               …Restoring relationship begins within ourselves because the constraints to the loving relationships for which we were created lie within ourselves.  We were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), in the image of the God who “is love” (I John 4:8), so if we have difficulty loving one another it seems likely that something inside of us is blocking our love.  Imagine what could happen if we had a way to remove the obstacles, to release the constraints to love in all its beautiful forms!  (p. 17; italics in the original) 

Finally, on February 15, from 7 – 8:30 pm Gail McManus, Communications Counselor and Mediator from California will introduce us to Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication (NVC).  Rumi wrote; “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing, and right-doing, there is a field.  I will meet you there.”  While sharing with us a concrete set of skills, Gail will demonstrate how Nonviolent Communication can help us find the inner spaciousness of which Rumi speaks.  The skills encourage clarity of intention and purpose.  Using safe, respectful dialogue, innovative ideas and effective strategies are born.  NVC becomes a spiritual practice as we deepen self-understanding and explore what unites us, replacing division among individuals and groups.   It holds the promise of bringing healing and collaboration to families and communities, contributing to peace worldwide.

Registrations can be sent to the St Mary Magdalene Parish Office office@stmarymagdalene.ca

Please consider offering a small donation – say $10 – with your registration so that we may continue to offer such high quality speakers in the future.  Don’t let it be a barrier to your attendance; however, if it were at all possible the Adult Spiritual Growth Group of St Mary Magdalene church would be grateful.

Donations can be made by interac e-transfer to treasurer@stmarymagdalene.ca or through the Paypal Giving Fund Canada or Canada Helps, or through the parish website.