Mercy and Gratitude: A mini-retreat with Dorothy Day

Mercy and Gratitude: A mini-retreat with Dorothy Day

April 2, Saturday
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
In-person and live stream

Register by March 31.

Presented by Lisa Wagner-Carollo.

This mini-retreat focuses on Dorothy Day’s embodiment of the works of mercy and the gratitude with which she lived.

Dorothy Day (1897-1980), a Catholic laywoman, co-founded the Catholic Worker movement in 1933 and spent 47 years caring for the poor and leading the church to a more active participation in social justice.

“We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.”
― Dorothy Day

Day’s aim was to live out the Works of Mercy and the daily practice of gratitude. We will use her writings to explore — and shed light on — our own spiritual journeys. The retreat will combine prayer, reflections from Lisa, personal contemplation, and group sharing.

Does God have a set way of prayer, a way that He expects each of us to follow? I doubt it. I believe some people — lots of people — pray through the witness of their lives, through the work they do, the friendships they have, the love they offer people and receive from people. Since when are words the only acceptable form of prayer?”

― Dorothy Day

This mini-retreat will include a simple lunch and time to walk the Renewal Center’s grounds and Reconciliation Labyrinth. Suggested donation: $10.

Here is a pdf copy of a flyer of the event that you can download and share with friends and family.

Lisa Wagner-Carollo is the founder and artistic director of the Still Point Theatre Collective and an experienced spiritual director. As the co-author and actor in the acclaimed one-women play “Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day,” as well as living at St. Catherine’s Catholic Worker in Chicago, Lisa has spent three decades immersed in Dorothy Day’s biography and writings. She draws on that experience to present this one-day, mini-retreat.

Download the retreat schedule and handout package here.