Spirituality Matters was created to provide companionship for our spiritual journeys. Wherever you are on that journey, whatever experience you are coming from, we hope to help you along the path to closer relationship with God. Our goal is to provide more peace, fulfillment, productivity and compassion in our everyday lives
Spirituality Matters was
founded by seven friends who, between them, have decades
of experience in developing and leading retreats, providing spiritual direction
and cultivating environments for spiritual development. They and the rest of the
team leaders have their own stories and their own personal experience which they
choose to share with others who are seeking. It is within that shared experience
and fellowship that spiritual growth blossoms. It is that experience that
Spirituality Matters offers.
Our
stories are as varied and different as those of the people who come to visit us
on a weekend retreat, day of reflection or evening of prayer. The team leaders
who facilitate our programs come from backgrounds of faith, and lack of faith;
prayer, and difficulty with prayer; relationship to God, and isolation from God.
Some have always had God in their lives, and others have struggled to find a God
of their understanding that they could relate to at all.
Some have dramatic
experiences of conversion, others a consistent belief, and still others a
gradual change and growth in their relationship to a power that they alternately
seek to understand, relate to, deny, confront and love. In other words, we are
just like you – human. We question, we challenge, we surrender our will and we
take it back. But, through it all, we have found some answers, some growth and at
least some of the peace and happiness that we believe God wants for all of us.
Our experience, and our willingness to share it with others, have made all the
difference. We’ve learned that being open, honest and willing is the key to
being in relationship with God, to living that fervently sought-after but little
understood “spiritual life”. And we believe that being surrounded by a community
of truth, love and prayer is the answer. You will find that community at
Spirituality Matters.
Spirituality
Matters dedicates itself to fostering spiritual Development and growth for all
who desire to be in Closer relationship with the God of their understanding.
Drawn from basic spiritual principles which have persisted through the ages, we
strive to shine the light of spiritual living, and to reveal God’s heart in the
experiences of every day life. Walk with us as, together, we come to new
awareness of God’s love, and open our hearts, minds and lives.
What Is Spirituality And How Do I Get It?
Spirituality. We seem to desire it, even when we are not sure exactly what it
is. We yearn for it, even when we can't call it by name. We feel something is
missing in our lives, but we're not sure what. We want to get closer to God, but
we're not sure how.
Spirituality is a very individual experience, and can be lived out in a host of
different ways. But at its core, it is actually quite straightforward. To live a
spiritual life is to live in acknowledgment of, and in relationship with, a God
of your understanding – a power which, no matter how one may define it, is
somehow greater than you or I, in all our human imperfection.
Living a spiritual life involves the awareness and acceptance of some basic
principles which have permeated spiritual traditions across cultures and
throughout time. It begins with a recognition of a divine power, faith in which
gives us permission to embrace these principles – honesty, personal
responsibility, humility, forgiveness and service to others. Through spiritual
practices, we learn how to rely on God to give us release from the most human of
our failings, and to transcend the fears that those failings stir within us. The
fruits of these practices – self-awareness, tolerance, serenity and harmony
within ourselves, with God and with the people around us – are the goals of
spiritual growth.
We do not come to understand or embrace these principles overnight. But through
our own experience, and the shared experience of others on their own journeys,
we learn to recognize how God is working in our lives, and how we can work with
God to achieve our spiritual goals.
At Spirituality Matters, we offer you a safe place to enter into that
relationship with God, explore its mysteries, and share in the fruits of a life
lived in the gentle and comforting embrace of a power greater than ourselves, a
love beyond all understanding.
What is
Spiritual Direction and Is It For Me ?
Spiritual growth can be fostered in many ways. The day, evening and weekend
programs of Spirituality Matters might be just a beginning. Of course, staying
in touch with our community can provide an ongoing environment for further
development.
But our experience tells us that when a person who is seeking is introduced to
the principles of spiritual living, and gets a taste of what it can mean to
follow this path, the desire to go deeper is likely to be sparked. When it is,
spiritual direction may be just the thing to help take the next steps forward on
your spiritual journey.
Spiritual direction is an active conversation between two people that centers on
the directee’s relationship with God. You and your director will discuss
spiritual and personal matters on a regular basis, allowing you to become more
attuned to God’s presence in your life. You are invited to look at the events of
your life through a different prism, by asking the question “where is God” in
this particular moment, decision or feeling. In direction, you are provided with
an opportunity to stop and look at the desire of your heart and mind, and enter
into a new and more intimate experience of God.
By exploring the three primary relationships in your lives -- relationship with
yourself, with other people, and with God – the director will help you to
recognize how and where God is present in your life, and then assist you in
responding to that presence, by hearing and trusting the God within you.
Spiritual direction can be valuable to anyone who desires a deeper relationship
with God. God is present in all of our lives, but sometimes we need help to see
that. Spiritual direction provides that help.
The Spirituality Matters team includes a number of Certified Spiritual Directors
who would be happy to speak with you further about whether spiritual direction
is right for you, or to help you find a spiritual director who fits your needs.
A Spirituality
Matters retreat weekend, day of reflection or evening of prayer may take place
at any one of a number of locations throughout the area. We are welcomed at
several different retreat houses, and although we are not affiliated with any
religious organization, are kindly offered space at local churches to present
some of our programs. Sometimes, the great outdoors is the only environment we
need.
Listed below are just some of the many different places where a Spirituality
Matters event may be scheduled. Please note that retreat houses vary in the
facilities, amenities and services they provide. Therefore, any given weekend or
event may be priced differently, depending on where it is being held.
Sts. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center at the Immaculate Conception Center
Douglaston, NY. Conveniently located in Queens just minutes from the Nassau
County border, the facilities at Douglaston are perfectly suited for our
weekends, allowing our retreatants ample privacy, comfortable meeting spaces,
and truly some of the best food you will ever have on a retreat weekend
anywhere!
The Sts. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center at Douglaston offers its retreat
center for a wide variety of spiritual pursuits. The Spirituality Matters team
has a special affection for Douglaston, because this is where we all met as the
paths of our respective spiritual journeys converged at the Cursillo weekends
also offered here Directions to Sts. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center
St. Ignatius Retreat House, Manhasset, New York, This beautiful mansion located
on 33 acres of rolling lawns, shrubs and flowers, a tea garden and reflecting
pool provide a tranquil and bucolic atmosphere to help foster the spiritual
journey.
Run by the Jesuit community, St. Ignatius opens itself to people of all faiths
and cultures who are seeking deeper relationship with God. A labyrinth, peaceful
paths, and the chance to sit and reflect beneath an incredible American Weeping
Birch – God’s own work of art – are just some of the highlights of a St.
Ignatius experience. Directions to St. Ignatius Retreat House
Our Lady of Grace Retreat Conference Center, Manhasset, New York, When a weekend
or event calls for a smaller, more intimate setting, we head for Our Lady of
Grace Retreat Center in Manhasset. This charming estate offers a relaxed and
peaceful atmosphere that encourages spiritual renewal.
The accommodations, reminiscent of a lovely bed and breakfast, create an
atmosphere of ease and beauty, and the meeting spaces are inviting and cheerful.
The owners provide a truly personal touch when welcoming us to their home.
Directions to Our Lady of Grace
Cormaria Retreat House, Sag Harbor, New York, Cormaria Retreat House in Sag
Harbor offers the beauty and tranquility of Long Island’s East End to enhance
the retreat experience. Its 18 acres, fronting on Sag Harbor, are offered in
hospitality to people of all faiths for spiritual and human growth.
Here is how our hosts at Cormaria describe their mission: “Aware that the Spirit
is present when ‘people come away and rest a while,’ [we strive] to create an
atmosphere where the Spirit flourishes for the life and dignity of all.” We
believe they have succeeded, making Cormaria a perfect environment for a
Spirituality Matters weekend. Directions to Cormaria Retreat House
Sts. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center at the Immaculate Conception Center
Douglaston, NY. St. Ignatius Retreat House, Manhasset, New York, Our Lady of
Grace Retreat Conference Center, Manhasset, New York, Our Lady of Grace Retreat
Conference Center, Manhasset, New York, Cormaria Retreat House, Sag Harbor, New
York