Associate Retreats and Gatherings
The SSJ Associates in Mission Spring Retreat 2026- Spiritual Wellness… Finding Prayer Where Love Leads Us, at the SSJ Center for Spirituality in Ocean Grove NJ was held the weekend of May 1st to 3rd. Together, we stepped away from the busyness of daily life to reflect, pray, listen, and reconnect with God’s presence in our hearts and in one another. Through shared stories, quiet moments of reflection, and joyful fellowship, we were reminded that prayer can be found in unexpected places.
Inspired by the spirit and our mission of unioning Love, we explored how spiritual wellness calls us to care for our whole selves…mind, body, and spirit, so that we can live from that place. As Associates, we are continually invited to deepen our relationship with God and to recognize that prayer often meets us in the everyday, ordinary moments of our lives.
We are grateful for the opportunity to come together to renew our spirits and strengthen the bonds of community that unite us in mission. May we continue “finding prayer where love leads us” in all who we encounter, carrying forward the charism of union and inclusive love wherever we go.
Gatherings
Spring 2024
Celebrating the Past and Planting Seeds for the Future
Saturday, April 6, 2024
9:30AM-3:30PM
Over 50 Associates in Mission gathered at the SSJ Motherhouse Auditorium to celebrate all the ways that the 2019 Associate in Mission Direction Statement has been realized over the past five years and to look ahead to the next five years as we journey through our 2024 Associate Consultation process. Our day was filled with prayer, reflection, input, sharing, building relationships, and enjoying our time together.
Links to presentations and videos used during the gathering:
Opening Prayer and Sharing
Celebrating the Past Presentation
Associate Consultation Report Video
Guided Reflection
Associate Remarks by Lou Monticchio
Looking Ahead Presentation
Spring 2022
A Future Full of Hope
April 2, 2022
Facilitator: Julia Brannan Rauch, Associate in Mission
Two and a half years ago, we gathered to create a direction statement that reflected our call and our hope for the coming five years. The resulting Associate Consultation 2019 Direction Statement calls us to transform the world in our times and to respond with courage and compassion. Rooted in our mission of unioning love, we gather together again to celebrate the varied ways we have answered that call in the past two and a half years. Moving together, let us explore and embrace the next two and a half years through a lens of hope.
Prayer and Sharing Outline
Spring Assembly Communal Reflection
Spring Assembly Presentation
Retreats
The Associate in Mission Office hosts a Fall Retreat each year in September, typically on the 4th weekend of the month. This retreat provides an opportunity for associates to come together for a time of reflection and sharing with one another while deepening their commitment to the vocational call to be an SSJ Associate in Mission.
Fall 2023
Co-Creating God’s Dream for Me
How do we actively participate in bringing God’s dream for us to life? God’s longing for Union with us is active within every breath! Come for a weekend of collective wisdom and self-discovery.
Facilitator: Bonnie Kozemchak, SSJ Associate in Mission
Friday, September 22-Sunday, September 24
Sisters of Saint Joseph Center for Spirituality, Ocean Grove, NJ
Fall 2022
Am I Becoming the One God Dreamed Me to Be?
Embracing the Mission as Charism Carriers
September 24, 2022
Presenter: Carol Zinn SSJ
Prayer and Outline
Retreat Handout
Retreat Presentation PDF version
Retreat Presentation PPT version
Session 1: You will seek/find me when you seek me with all your heart
Session 2: Have only one desire…
Piper Pixar Short Film Video
Fall 2021
SSJ Associates in Mission: Renew, Re-energize, Recommit
September 25-26, 2021
Presenter: Rita Woehlcke SSJ
As the vocation of Associates in Mission evolves, as the future of the mission is ever more critically needed in our divided world, we take time together to listen deeply to how God wants to transform the world through us. Together we embrace that call.
Preparation Material
Session 1 (33 min): Renew, Re-energize, Recommit
This session breaks open the meaning of renewing, re-energizing, and recommitting to the associate call of living the mission and charism of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. At the end of the presentation, associates are invited to take some personal reflection time before moving ahead to the next session.
Session 2 (39 min): Associate in Mission Witness Talks and Homework
In this session, 6 of our Associates in Mission were asked to share the state of their heart through personal reflections on one of the commitment statements. Listen to hear how they embrace with enthusiasm the mission of unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God. After the associate witness talks, S. Rita outlines the process for creating individual associate identity statements. Associates are encouraged to keep a copy of their “I Am” statement on a small card so it can serve as a reminder of your commitment and to be used to share with your larger Christian Growth Group.
Session 3 (10 min): Associate in Mission Recommitment
Using the Associate in Mission Commitment Statement, associates are invited to recommit to this experience of living the mission in ways as varied as the ordinary circumstances of the lives they live.