The Star of the North seeks to accommodate you on your spiritual journey with self-guided video retreats. In the Moment: Self-Guided Retreats are intended for people who for a variety of reasons need to retreat at home, on the road, or simply seek time alone with God in a deserted place. This on-demand, self-guided retreat style allows you to participate at your leisure and on a day that calls you for deepening spiritual life.
Culture and language play an important role in accessing our faith life. For this reason, we are offering In the Moment retreats in three languages: English, French and Spanish. We have gathered together a host of varied and interesting facilitators and themes. This year we will offer a total of nine videos in each language, available as quarterly subscriptions (3 videos) or as a yearly subscription (all 9 videos) at a considerable discount. Each month, from October 2022 through to June 2023, we will release a video with your subscription in your preferred language.
The approximate duration of each video is 45 minutes and can be listened to in one sitting. Participants can choose to pause their video throughout in order to enter into a personal time of prayer or reflection, before returning to conclude their retreat.
English: Quarter 1 (Oct/Nov/Dec 2022))
$75.00
English: Quarter 2 (Jan/Feb/Mar 2023)
$75.00
English: Quarter 3 (Apr/May/Jun 2023)
$75.00
English: Yearly (9 videos)
$200.00
To Believe in the Resurrection
A self-guided retreat with Sr. Mariángel Marco Teja
The resurrection is the key that changes everything and defines our faith. The Jesus who lived as he lived and died on a cross is risen. His life was spent in simplicity, and ended in apparent failure. But God is capable of rescuing life from death. Our destiny is abundant life, and God’s desire is that it begins already here. Moreover, the resurrection has a cosmic scope. Is it possible to begin to live as resurrected already in this world?
Mariángel Marco Teja was born in Spain. She is a nun of the Ursulines of Jesus. Her life has been nourished by long years of living in marginalized neighborhoods and being fully involved in the commitment to human rights (immigration, prisons, marginalization, mental illness...) and nature. In Ecuador she was part of REPAM (Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network). In Canada she worked as program coordinator for Star of the North Retreat House. She currently serves on the general council of her congregation.
Lay Spirituality in Commitment
A self-guided retreat with Joe Gunn
Christian life is by essence missionary and, as Evangelium Gaudium 182 says, "the evangelizing task implies and demands an integral promotion of every human being". Vatican II recognized the unique and specific mission of the laity, and synodality, which is at the core of the Church’s identity, evidences the call to walk together in a relationship of equality. Today, a formed and committed laity must share leadership and mission in the synodal Church dreamed of by Francis. The struggle against the structural causes that provoke impoverishment and destroy nature is at the core of living the Gospel.
Joe Gunn serves as Executive Director at Centre Oblat - A Voice for Justice in Ottawa. An accomplished speaker and activist on social and environmental concerns, Joe has been especially active in promoting leadership among faith-based organizations in Canada and NGOs in Latin America. www.omilacombe.ca/centre-oblat-voice-justice/
Embracing Life’s Change as Blessing
A self-guided retreat with Debbie Doornbos
The changes we experience in life often bring us to the threshold of something new. Waiting for this newness will move us into an in-between place of not knowing—a liminal space. While this can seem daunting it can also be a graceful opportunity as we discover that God, who is love, is walking hand in hand with us through it all. We can then embrace life’s changes with courage and strength knowing we are not alone, and trusting that they come, in one way or another, with a blessing.
Debbie Doornbos is the Canadian director of the Sacred Art of Living Centre. A graduate of Newman Theological College, and previously the Program Director at Providence Renewal Centre, Debbie is a trained and experienced retreat leader, facilitator and spiritual director with a special interest in journeying with people especially through life’s major transitions.