Atchison Benedictines for Peace are offering an exploration of how we can connect our heads and hearts in applying the Beatitudes and the principles of Christian social justice to some of the contemporary social problems we are currently facing. Through this 5-week series, participants will gather on Zoom each Tuesday to delve more deeply into selected readings pulled from current church teachings and documents. Reading materials and questions to guide our discussions will be provided ahead of time. This group is for anyone who wishes to learn, discuss and listen to others in order to sharpen and enrich their vision of applying justice theory in their daily lives. We will begin with a short prayer and brief introduction each week, followed by a discussion and a call to action.

Please register by September 26. Once we have received your registration, we will send you an invoice for the retreat. Please know we have scholarships available; if you would like to make a request, email S. Carol Ann at sophia@mountosb.org. We strongly encourage you to add sophia@mountosb.org to your email contacts to ensure the delivery of emails regarding your retreat.

Sr. Anne Shepard, OSB, has been a professed Benedictine since 1967. Most of her ministries have included Catholic education where she served as teacher, principal, and superintendent of diocesan schools. Within the community, she has served on multiple committees and planning task forces. She served as prioress of her community from 2005-2017. She also served as administrator of Monasterio de San Benito, a small community of Benedictines in Mexico City. With a doctorate in Peace Studies from Columbia University, she is active in rallying support for DACA students. Her travels have included trips to many European countries, West Africa, all coasts of Brazil, Peru, and other countries in Central and South America.

Sr. Barbara McCracken, OSB, taught in Catholic schools for 18 years, including 10 years at Donnelly College. She has provided hospitality and peace education at Shalom Catholic Worker House in Kansas City, Kansas, and taught the Catholic position on peace and non-violence in local parishes, as well as serving as a consultant for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Peace and Justice Office. She has served as associate director of Keeler Women’s Center in Kansas City and has ministered to women in Kansas county jails. Her travels have taken her to the Holy Land, western India, and West Africa, and she has spent extended time in Rome and Paris.

Steve Bruns is an oblate of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas. Since his retirement a decade ago, he has been serving as a cook at a food kitchen and ministering to the homeless in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.