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​​In. Spirit. And. Truth.

Merry Christmas & Happy 2026!

12/15/2025

 
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Dear Friends,

As we prepare to welcome our Lord and Savior once again at Christmas, as this jubilee year draws to a close, and as we look back on 2025 with gratitude, I pray this finds you and yours well. My year has been much like yours, filled with joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries that correspond to His. My joy was a lovely seven day silent retreat; my illumination has been the life and writing of St. Elena Guerra; my sorrow was the loss of a dear friend; and my glory was rejoicing in a pilgrimage my husband and son went on. Some of you I know as acquaintances or friends and many I have walked with closely in spiritual direction, nineteenth annotation, or director supervision (thank you for allowing me to accompany you). A Mass will be offered for you and your intentions on January 1st. May 2026 be a blessed year for all.
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A truth that wove through my retreat this year was that “Jesus Christ is the integrating center” of all things (John Eldredge). Indeed, “in Him all things are held together” (Col. 1:17). Bishop Barron explained this using the wheel of fortune. Essentially, if we live on the rim of the wheel, life always feels like jeopardy: one moment we try to stay at the top, the next we try not to fall down, then we climb up from rock bottom, and only to find ourselves still striving upwards. But, if we can “remain in” Him, in the hub of that wheel where Christ is through prayer and practice of the Presence, hearts are peaceful, the vision unfolds, and we embrace the cross into resurrection (Jn. 15: 4; Jn. 10:10). “Who teaches the soul if not God?” writes St. John of the Cross. Who gives the soul rest if not God? This is the gift offered to us who open the inn of our hearts to the Lord. May we​ receive this gift gratefully, unwrap it completely, and always be childlike.

Love and prayers,

Rachel Gehring

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  • Welcome
  • About
  • Ministries
    • Spiritual Direction
    • Director Supervision
    • 19th Annotation
    • 19th Training for SDs >
      • Module 1: The Spiritual Exercises
      • Module 2: Discernment of Spirits
      • Module 3: Principle & Foundation
      • Module 4: Week 1 - Mercy
      • Module 5: Week 2 - Discipleship
      • Module 6: Week 3 - Death
      • Module 7: Week 4 - Resurrection
      • Module 8: Directing the 19th
  • Scheduling
  • Lights