Epiphany Life Formation Academy -- ELFA

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ELFA offers all in attendance an opportunity to meet like-minded Christians, who want to think and pray together about the moral and spiritual needs and challenges we face in the Church and in the world today.

Elfa takes you to the cutting edge of thinking and practice in the field of formative spirituality established by Adrian van Kaam and Susan Muto. ELFA makes a great impact on the personal and communal prayer life and ministry of every participant.

ELFA will challenge you to reclaim the foundations of your faith and formation tradition in dialogue with Scripture and the classics, and with insights and findings from contempoary resources in the human and social sciences. You will learn more about Christian spirituality as formational and informational, about how to implement ecclesial directives in daily life, about the centrality of virtuous living, and the call to consonance with Christ.

ELFA offers all a graced opportunity for personal and spiritual enrichment. The retreats are conducted every year in Pittsburgh, PA at the Epiphany Academy and in Indianapolis at the St. Vincent Seton Cove Spirituality Center, and in even-numbered years in Dublin, Ireland at All Hallows College.

Transformation in Christ

July 12-15, 2012

St.Vincent  Seton Cove Spirituality Center
2025 Dugan Drive
Indianapolis IN 46260
317-338-6463

Facilitators:

Rita McCloskey Payne, Carol Filkins, Janette Helm

$650 (Overnight)     $450 (Commuter)

Formation of the Christian Heart
September 12-16, 2012

Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality
820 Crane Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15216-3050

Facilitators:

Susan Muto, PhD
$450.00 (Commuter Only)

Awe-Evoking Experiences 

The fee for ELFA includes a detailed course handbook. This will be your guide for the lectures and worship services we will share. The handbook will be a treasure for you to keep and read long after ELFA ends.

In each Epiphany Life Formation Academy we will focus on five key themes pertinent to formation theology. Please join us for this enlightening and innovative program.

Please call toll free to register 1-877-324-6873

Transforamtion in Christ

Agenda

Day One Theme:     Being Transformed in Christ
Key Question:    As we allow our whole being to be transformed by the Christ-form of our baptized soul, what effects does this new-found intimacy with the Trinity have on our day-to-day life?
Spiritual Masters:    Saint Augustine and Pseudo-Dionysius on the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity

Day Two Theme:     Deepening Our Faith, Hope, and Love in, with, and through Christ
Key Question:    As our faith, hope, and love deepens in fidelity to Christ, what effects does this renewed relationship have on the way we express our call, vocation, and avocation both uniquely and communally?
Spiritual Masters:    Saint Athanasius and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux on the Mystery of Deepening Our Faith, Hope, and Love in, with, and through Jesus

Day Three Theme:     Moving Toward Consonance with Christ
Key Question:    As we move toward consonance with Christ, what effects does this harmony have on others and how can we encourage them to trust in Divine Providence and to sacramentalize the present moment?
Spiritual Masters:    Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection and Jean Pierre de Caussade on the Mystery of Holy Providence
 

Day Four Theme: Becoming Witnesses to Christ’s Peace and Joy in Our Relationships
Key Question:    As we strive to become witnesses to Christ’s peace and joy, for the sake of serving others, what effects does the expression of the communal side of our call have on the compassion, care, and concern we feel for others above and beyond the call of duty?
Spiritual Masters:    Francis of Assisi and George Fox on the Mystery of our Communal Call in Christ

Day Five Theme: Becoming “Other Christs” for the Good of All
Key Question:    As we strive to mirror the truth that Christ is the light of the world, what effects does this formation ideal have on our everyday expressions of social justice, peace, and mercy?
Spiritual Masters:  Saint Symeon, the New Theologian and Saint Catherine of Siena on the Mystery of Christ as the Light of the World

Formation of the Christian Heart

Agenda

Day One Theme: Recollection/Watchfulness (Mystery at the Center of Our Formation Field): Be Still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).
Key Question: We’ve all heard the phrase, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Why, without some stillness and recollection, is Christ-formed and Christ-filled character formation a real difficulty, if not an impossibility?
Masters: From The Philokalia, Volume I, Saint Hesychios of Jerusalem (c. 5th century) On Watchfulness and Holiness, and Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1542) on Recollection from The Interior Castle.

Day Two Theme:  Surrender to God’s Will/Willingness [Intraformation]: Not my will but yours be done (Luke 22:43).
Key Question: According to Jean Pierre de Caussade, an eighteenth-century spiritual director famous for writing the book, Abandonment to Divine Providence, “to surrender to God is to practice every virtue.” Why is such surrender an essential building block in the resplendent edifice of grace-filled character formation?
Masters:  From The Philokalia, Volume III, Saint Makarios of Egypt (c. 300-c. 390) on “Spiritual Reflection,” and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) from Story of a Soul. See also Adrian van Kaam, On Being Yourself.

Day Three Theme: Growing in Love/Being with and for Others [Interformation]: Love one another…as I have loved you (John 13:34).
Key Question: Marinus Scholtes says in his diary, Become Jesus, that “If I consider everything in love––and so, in God, the rest will go well as a matter of course.” How is the growth of love happening in your life? Do you notice any changes based on your graced efforts to love self, others, and God as Jesus did?
Masters: Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) from The Confessions, and Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) from The Dialogue.

Day Four Theme: Becoming Alter Christus/Seeing Life Through Jesus’ Eyes [Immediate Situational Formation]: Take up [your] cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).
Key Question: The goal of true discipleship is to become so like Jesus that, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me” (Galatians 2:19-20). What, in your experience, are the hallmarks of a life so Gospel-oriented that one literally becomes “Another Christ”? What, by the same token, prevents or obscures such an epiphanic transformation?
Masters: Saint Symeon the New Theologian (942-1022) from The Discourses and Johann Arndt (1555-1621) from True Christianity. See also Adrian van Kaam, On Being Yourself.

Day Five Theme: Joining All Our Actions to Jesus/Advancing His Reign on Earth [Mondial Formation]: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 28:30).
Key Question:  Why is the integration of contemplation and action always a key trait of Christian character formation? How do you practice this integration in your own life? How do you help those entrusted to your care to practice this essential “Mary and Martha” rhythm of worship and work, leisure and labor, prayer and participation?
Masters:  Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) from Sermon 18 on the Song of Songs, and Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361) from his Sermons on the Performance of Good Works. See also Susan Muto, Pathways of Spiritual Living.

Awe-Evoking Experiences

Ashwood House, Lawlors Cross, Kilcummin Killarney, County Kerry Ireland -- $650

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