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SABBATICAL

The Ministry for Priestly Support offers a six-month sabbatical tailored to the unique needs of the priest but with an emphasis on the art of living, contemplative leadership, and more.

 

WHAT DOES SABBATICAL LOOK LIKE?

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Please note: the example timeline below is tailored for 2024-2025. Future years would follow a similar flow.

 

Block one: Arrival. Transition. 30-day retreat.

 

  • October 1. The priest’s sabbatical starts. From October 1 thru October 8, the priest is highly encouraged to start his sabbatical with days of rest, re-creation, and vacation. 

  • Monday, October 7. The priest arrives in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

  • October 8-13: Intentional days to rest and play so as to “relax your way into receptivity.”

  • October 14-17: Four days to slowly prepare your mind and sensitize your soul to the desires of the Lord.

  • October 18 thru November 16: The full Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola 30-day retreat.

  • November 17-22: Intentional days to slowly, gently, and relationally transition out of the retreat.

  • November 23-December 1: Thanksgiving break. The priest may return home, visit family, or enjoy time away from the island.

 

Block two: Assessment. Discernment. Integration of the 30-day retreat.

 

Establishment of weekly schedule for remainder of sabbatical:

  • Sundays: Off. A true Sabbath.

  • Mondays: “Contemplative morning” until 12 noon. Afternoon and evening alone, with focus on synthesis writing.

  • Tuesdays: “Contemplative morning” until 12 noon. Lunch and afternoon with Fr. Mark and Kristin to establish clarity for the week. Evening in community.

  • Wednesdays: “Contemplative morning” until 12 noon. Assigned reading until 3 pm. Later afternoon with Fr. Mark and Kristin for group conversation. Evening in community.

  • Thursdays: “Contemplative morning” until 12 noon. Afternoon to focus on assigned reading.

  • Fridays: Desert day.

  • Saturdays: Day off.

 

  • December 1-19: Unpack the Election from the 30-day as the key lens with which to tailor the remaining months of sabbatical. In depth self-reflection assessments also aid in the communal discernment of sabbatical goals.

 

Block three: Christmas break.

 

  • December 20 thru January 10. Christmas break. The priest may return home, visit family, or enjoy time away from the island.

 

Block four: Contemplative receptivity within the three-fold munera.

 

  • January 13-17. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

  • January 20-24. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

  • January 27-31. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

  • February 3-7. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

  • February 10-14. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

  • February 17-21. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

  • February 24-28. Tailored to the unique needs of the priest.

 

Block five: New wineskins for the new wine.

 

  • March 3-7. Assessment of vulnerabilities and needs for healthy transition.

  • March 10-14. What are the incarnational structures I need in place once I return home?

  • March 17-21. What are the incarnational structures I need in place once I return home?

  • March 24-28. Synthesis of the entire sabbatical.

  • March 29. Return home.

  

ACCOMMODATIONS.

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  • Each priest receive exclusive access to a privately owned beach house for the duration of their stay on the island.

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MEALS.

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  • Participants provide their own meals as part of (re)discovery of the art of living. Meals in community are also provided as part of the sabbatical experience of the art of living. .

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COSTS.

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  • $18,000. Sabbatical tuition of includes direction and facilitation of the 30-day retreat, over 500 hours of collective mentoring facilitating tailored on-going formation, as well as private beach house accommodations and gym membership.

 

REQUIREMENTS.

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  1. Priest participants should be ordained at least ten years. Exceptions can be made with mutual discernment.

  2. Priest participants must have prior completed participation in two eight-day silent individually directed retreats. 

  3. Priest participants must testify to daily consistency with one’s holy hour, specifically 60-minutes of Scripture-based relational prayer.

  4. Priest participants must be open to Ignatian contemplation, often known as imaginative prayer.

  5. An interview via Zoom, letters of referral, and letter from one’s bishop is required as part of the application.

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WHAT'S YOUR NEXT STEP?

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