Cranaleith’s new Education & Conference Center (above left) is scheduled to open immediately after Labor Day!  Since we’re actively planning special inaugural-year programs and events — and already booking groups for meetings well into 2013 — we wanted to make sure that all of our Friends and nonprofit Colleagues had the opportunity to book our new space before the calendar gets too full!  We’ll be able to comfortably host groups up to 60 for meetings and meals in the universally accessible two-story building, and we have flexible space to accommodate smaller groups, multiple groups or breakout groups.

Click here for our new brochure about the Education & Conference Center!

Feel free to print a copy of the brochure for yourself and/or forward it to anyone you think might be interested in booking a meeting or attending a program here!  

For more information about Cranaleith — the people, the programs and the place — please continue to explore our website.  Or call us at 215-934-6206 to discuss how we can host and/or help customize or facilitate your group’s meeting!

Between Heaven and Mirth by James Martin, S.J.

Join either circle:

Monday evenings June 11, 18 & 25 from 7-8:30 PM
or
Tuesday mornings June 12, 19 & 26 from 10-11:30 AM

Cost: Donation

Moderator: Sr. Maria DiBello, RSM

Jesus’ prayer for all of us is “that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full!”  In Between Heaven and Mirth, author James Martin, SJ, assures us that God wants us to experience joy, to cultivate a sense of holy humor, and to laugh at life’s absurdities — not to mention our own humanity. He uses scriptural passages, the lives of the saints, the spiritual teachings of other traditions, and his own personal reflections to show us why joy is the inevitable result of faith.

Father Martin illustrates how joy, humor and laughter help us to live more spiritual lives, understand ourselves and others better, and more fully appreciate God’s presence among us. His practical “how to” advice helps us use humor to show our faith, embrace our humanity, put things into perspective, open our minds, speak truth, demonstrate courage, challenge power, learn hospitality, foster effective human relations, deepen our relationship with God, and… enjoy ourselves!

Inviting God to lighten our hearts, we can enjoy a little heaven on earth.

Get the book and read it before we meet! It is published by Harper/Collins, and can be purchased or downloaded through Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your preferred source for reading material.

About the author: James Martin, S.J., grew up in Plymouth Valley, Pa. His journey took him from the corporate world to the Jesuit community, to the refugee camps of Africa and to New York City, where he is culture editor of America magazine. He is the author of many books and is a frequent commentator in the media.

• The power of roles, boundaries and authority in system psychodynamics
• The complexities of decisions, conflict resolution and shared commitments

• Methods and formats for strategic planning in Boards, communities, and large and small groups that take their leading from the Spirit
• The rational, emotional, political and spiritual impacts of change

Saturday, June 9, 2012 10 AM – 3 PM
Cost:  $35 (includes lunch)
Presenter:  Brother Joseph Schmidt, FSC

Thérèse of Lisieux, the saint of the “little way” and the most recent Doctor of the Church, offers us a model of how to live a life of nonviolent love.

Although Thérèse was a nun living apart from the world of violence, she experienced the beginnings of violence within her own heart and she experienced the feelings of being in the presence of violence.  In praying over her own experience she learned to deal with the violence within herself, the violence of others and the violence of the spirituality of her time.

She learned the qualities of heart, the psychological indicators, that she needed to remain on the path of love, and these indicators became the markers for her little way.  Her life and teachings contain a treasure of insight into the way of living in peace and love with oneself and others.

Thérèse calls those of us busy with many things to attend to our motivation, to resist the inner and outer violence of our life, and to embrace the singular focus of nonviolent love in our relationships and work.

This retreat will explore Thérèse’s experiences that helped her discover the psychological indicators that alerted her to the path of love and that can also teach us the little way of nonviolent love.

Register by phone (215-934-6206) or email (cranaleith@comcast.net).

A Work & Spirit Series Offering

An exclusive overnight workshop for women over 50 contemplating or experiencing personal and/or professional transition.

There’s a revolution going on in our experience of the adult life cycle.  As we live longer and healthier lives, we are aware of the potential to re-imagine our lives, to remap the terrain and seize our elder years as an opportunity for second adulthood, embodied with wisdom, meaning and grace.  In this workshop, we begin the process of discovering what matters most to us now – who we want to be and how we want to spend our later years.   We will explore what is passionate and authentic in each of us and support each other in awakening new dreams and actions that will help to move us to the next, rich phase of our lives.

Women’s Overnight: June 7-8, 2012 (Thursday 5 PM to Friday 5 PM)

Cost:  $200 (half of which goes to support retreat days for persons impoverished by circumstance).  Scholarship assistance available.

Facilitators

Carole Cohn, M.Ed., Consultant in Strategic Planning, Leadership and Team Development & Transition Management

Jean Hurd, Ph.D., Consultant in Personal, Leadership & Organizational Development

Limited to 8 participants. Fee covers program, materials, three meals and a private bedroom in our 120-year-old Victorian homestead in the Somerton section of Northeast Philadelphia.

Register by phone (215.934.6206) or email (cranaleith@comcast.net).

All Work & Spirit facilitators donate their time.

“RE-IMAGINING OUR LIVES”
An exclusive overnight workshop for men over 50 contemplating or experiencing personal and/or professional transition.

There’s a revolution going on in our experience of the adult life cycle.  As we live longer and healthier lives, we are aware of the potential to re-imagine our lives, to remap the terrain and seize our elder years as an opportunity for second adulthood, embodied with wisdom, meaning and grace.  In this workshop, we begin the process of discovering what matters most to us now – who we want to be and how we want to spend our later years.  We will explore what is passionate and authentic in each of us, and awaken new dreams and actions that will help to move us to the next, rich phase of our lives.

Men’s Overnight: May 22-23, 2012
Tuesday 5 PM to Wednesday 5 PM

Cost: $200 (Half of which goes to support retreat days for persons impoverished by circumstance).   Scholarship assistance available.

Facilitators
Bob Schoonmaker, M.Th., M.Ed. & Ross H. Weaver, PharmD, MBA

Limited to 8 participants. Fee covers program, materials, three meals and a private bedroom in our 120-year-old Victorian homestead in the Somerton section of Northeast Philadelphia.

Register by phone (215.934.6206) or email (cranaleith@comcast.net).

All Work & Spirit facilitators donate their time.

Dear Friends,

As we get closer to the anticipated September opening of Cranaleith’s new Education & Conference Center (on the left in the above rendering), we are planning some new landscaping to augment our “Sanctuary of Trees.”

Imagine being in our future Chapel (on the right) and looking out across our pond to a majestic row of 43 Thuja Green Giant trees (fast-growing evergreens) lining the far bank.   In fact, if you were taking the photo above, you’d be standing among them!

We’d like to offer our friends the first opportunity to sponsor one of the Thujas as a memorial or tribute to a loved one.   For a donation of $200 we will reserve your tree, design a personalized memorial plaque and schedule a date for a dedication ceremony.

If you’re interested, just send an email with your name, address and phone number to cranaleith@comcast.net.  We’ll respond with a confirmation and information about how you can make your donation and options for wording your plaque.

As always, we offer our thanks for your continued interest and support as Cranaleith grows…

In the summer of 2000 the drought was such that only a trickle reached the pond.  Groups actually walked around on the pond’s floor!  For years we have consulted with the Philadelphia Water Department and others to see how we might re-access these streams, to no avail.

But the grace at work in our ministry was mirrored on the site this summer when our Conference Center construction workers discovered a hidden freshwater stream bubbling up in the field where they were installing an extensive rainwater-management system.  Pipes were laid to bring the underground spring to the surface.  The flow is 2 gallons/minute or 20,160 gallons/week, which adds significantly to the fresh water feeding the pond and the nearby Poquessing Creek.

Metaphorically, this “second stream” represents what visitors can uncover at Cranaleith, whether they are recovering from life’s traumas, renewing their spirit for life or work, or reflecting on what matters deeply in their lives.  It is our belief that hope and nourishment and new life often lie right below the surface, waiting to be discovered by those with the courage and patience to search.