There is no Beloved Circle tonight
the Beloved Retreat Community
Welcome!
Welcome Retreatants of Beloved 62 - our newest community members!
This is an informational website for the Beloved Community during the time of Covid-19. We remain a community in this extended time of physical distancing in consideration of the most vulnerable brothers and sisters among us.
We have been actively engaging the Beloved Community online for over a year since March 14th, 2020! Our highlights include:
Beloved 62 Online Retreat - we did it again! We hosted folks from Texas, Washington, and even Illinois. We took that parts of the retreat that we know work and translated them to a format that worked online. As musician Jason Grey sang "Remind Me Who I Am," the community answered... Beloved.
Beloved 61 Online Retreat - we made history by hosting the first ever virtual retreat November 20-22! It was virtual in the literal sense in that we could not physically gather, but we are so proud to say that retreat - and the grace that was mediated - was very real. We are so lucky to have had the community support all weekend.
Beloved 60 Alumni Retreat - we gathered at the end of May with members of many different communities to celebrate Pentecost and our Belovedness - blessings to folks in Chicago, the suburbs, Wisconsin, and Canada who joined us. We remembered that we are Baptised and part of an amazing community.
Weekly Activities - we have hosted Beloved Virtual Circles throughout the week since the start of the pandemic as a way to stay in communion with each other. These "Circles" initially focused on the four Beloved words (Baptised, Reconciled, Fed, and Sent) but expanded to include gatherings that are more social, prayerful / meditative, and even included spirituality rooted in creativity.
Larger Community Gatherings - we still gather for our monthly Beloved Legacy events.
Again, Welcome!
It doesn't matter if you just went on this recent retreat or if you were on the first retreat some 20+ years ago. It doesn't matter if you go to Old St. Pat's or another church. It doesn't matter if you attend every event or if you have been away for a while. We are glad that you are here! Don't forget - your presence is always a gift!
Please continue to look here for information on all of our virtual events. As a reminder, make sure that you are refreshing the page to get the most current information.
Your presence is always a gift!
Beloved Legacy Recap/Gracercise Homework
Beloved Legacy- Grace Notes
Grace Note
Grace Contemplate it -- Trust it -- Risk it -- Become it
Eucharist: Presence . . . Intimacy . . . Nourishment
For those of you who made the effort to join us for our legacy on Sunday — in Hughes Hall or Really Virtually — Thank You — Thank You Thank you — as anticipated, your Presence Made All the Difference! For those of you unable to join us — you were missed. We spent the evening beginning our two month long Contemplation of the Grace . . . of the sacrament of eucharist. A few elements of our eucharistic launch:
- The eucharist like all sacraments is a verb — it is something that we enter in to — that we cooperate with — that we participate in. The eucharist is not limited to something that we passively receive once a week, once a month. once a . . .?! The eucharist is much more mysterious, demanding, gracias and GRACE FULL then the two dimensional characterization.
- At it’s essence the eucharist has something to do with: Presence — Intimacy —and Nourishment.
- We were reminded of/introduced to the bold — verging on scandalous -- declaration of St. Augustine: ‘We must feed the body of Christ to the people of God until they know that they are what they eat.”
I had the pleasure of participating in one of those more informal, relaxed, intimate liturgies recently; and’ just before the liturgy began, the person charged with loosely organizing our beautiful rag tag group asked of the entire ‘congregation’ — “Is anyone here a eucharistic minister?’ At the time I heard this question I was immersed in our planning for our Beloved Legacy eucharist contemplation and I immediately thought of St. Augustine’s proclamation: We must feed the body of Christ to the people of God until they know that they ARE what they eat.’ In light of this almost unimaginable wisdom — the answer to the question: ‘Is anyone here a eucharistic minister is?' EVERYONE here is a eucharistic minister — Having participated in a eucharistic liturgy we emerge having been remind that we leave the liturgy as living ambassadors of eucharist — having been reminded that we are to, ‘Become what we eat.’
And so at the end of any given day we are invited to ask ourselves: Have I interacted with any one in such a way that my Presence and my overture to intimacy contributed to their Nourishment — Have I Been a eucharistic minister today?!?!
As always — thank you for your companionship in our Beloved Grace contemplation!
Please find below our Gracercises — I ask you — implore you — cajole you — enjoin you — entreat you — exhort you to actually give some of these ‘the old college try.’ Do them awkwardly — Do them imperfectly — Just do them. I am convinced that practicing these gracercises will enhance the possibility that we will live more and more In Grace . . . In Holy Communion.
Gracercises --- No Time Like the Present!
Sacramental:
· Hail Mary Full of Grace - Hail ______ Full of Grace
· Where’s the Grace? . . . There’s the Grace! (Repeat over and over)
· I received the sacrament of _________ mediated by ________
· Begin to Identify sacramentals and to construct your domestic altar.
Baptismal:
· In the Shower or the Rain whisper: “Drench Me!”
· Pray each day – with respect to Baptism:
o “Please God Remind me who I am”
o “Thank you for Baptizing me – Again”
· Over the course of the day periodically caress your Beloved cross
Eucharist Exercises
· Pray MANY times a day: “Bless me oh Lord for these Thy gifts, which I am about to receive (am receiving, have just received) from thy BOUNTY thru Christ our Lord, Amen”
· Pray aspirationally: “Presence * Adoration * Mutual!”
· Pray: “I can’t Give what I don’t have. Please God Get me to the Feast”
· Whisper & actively imagine: “Body of christ; amen. Body of christ, amen.”
· Pray: “Today, may I become what I eat!”
· Whisper / Declare / Proclaim / Enter in To: Holy Communion … Holy Communion!
P.S. Save the dates! Our next Legacy is our Day of Reflection 1/29/23 and below are the subsequent 2022/23 legacy/gathering dates:
• Sunday, 1/29/23 – Beloved Afternoon of Reflection (OSP – The Great Hall) DETAILS SOON
• Sunday, 2/26/23 - Beloved Legacy – Hybrid Event (OSP - Hughes Hall)
• Sunday, 3/26/23 - Beloved Legacy – Hybrid Event (OSP - Hughes Hall)
• Sunday, 4/30/23 - Beloved Legacy – Hybrid Event (OSP - Hughes Hall)
• Sunday, 5/28/23 - Beloved Legacy – Hybrid Event (OSP - Hughes Hall)
• Sunday, 7/30/23 – Beloved Picnic (Waveland Park/Clock Tower)
Beloved Legacy Events
Beloved Legacy- Day of Reflection In Person and Via Zoom Sunday January 29th, 2023
Date: January 29, 2023
Time: Noon In-Person and VIA Zoom
Speaker: Terry Nelson-Johnson and Friends
Location: 625 W Adams. More details soon
Beloved Zoom Video Meeting (https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2838346178)
Come back for more information!
Full Calendar
We will use the Zoom Video Conferencing Platform for all events unless other details are given for a specific event. You will have to download (download instructions) the app on your phone, tablet, or laptop. All meeting times are listed in Central Time.
If you don't know the password, please contact Polly (pollym@oldstpats.org) to be included on the email contact list.
ZOOM MEETING LINK
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2838346178
DIAL-IN PHONE NUMBER
+13126266799,,2838346178#
Sunday 12/04/2022
Sunday Mass at Old St. Pat's
9:00 am
Old St. Pat's Video Livestream
Event Details
Sunday 12/04/2022
Sunday Mass at Old St. Pat's
Presider: Fr. Michael Simone
https://livestream.com/oldstpats/9am
Gather virtually for Mass with the clergy and the Music Ministry of Old St....
9:00 am
Old St. Pat's Video Livestream
Sunday 12/04/2022
Sunday Mass at Old St. Pat's
5:00 pm
Old St. Pat's Video Livestream
Event Details
Sunday 12/04/2022
Sunday Mass at Old St. Pat's
Presider: Fr. Pat McGrath
https://livestream.com/oldstpats/events/4667723
Gather virtually for Mass with the clergy and the Music Ministry of...
5:00 pm
Old St. Pat's Video Livestream
Tuesday 12/06/2022
Beloved Virtual Circle
8:45 pm
Beloved Zoom Video Meeting
Event Details
Tuesday 12/06/2022
Beloved Virtual Circle
8:45 pm
Beloved Zoom Video Meeting
Tuesday 12/13/2022
Beloved Virtual Circle
8:45 pm
Beloved Zoom Video Meeting
Event Details
Tuesday 12/13/2022
Beloved Virtual Circle
8:45 pm
Beloved Zoom Video Meeting
Event Details
More Events
Support Beloved
We invite you to pass along the gift of Beloved for others to know they are held as a Beloved Child of God by donating to the Beloved Scholarship Fund here.
Be sure to choose Beloved when asked to select a "Designation" in the drop-down box.
About Us
From Terry Nelson-Johnson:
For 20 years we gathered together to tell our stories and remember that we belong to one another. We built some spiritual muscle memory, friends, which serves us well in this time when we are asked not to hold one another. My invitation for all of us in the days and weeks ahead is to recall our BAPTISM and remember that we are precious, Beloved daughters and sons of God and that we are SENT to RECONCILE and FEED one another especially in these trying times. Can the church say? Amen!!
Contact Us
Now more than ever we want to hear from you.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Polly Mulhearn is our point of contact:
For more information about the Old St. Pats Community, please visit www.oldstpats.org
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