Lent
WALKING RETREAT
in DAILY LIFE
ABOUT THE RETREAT
This Lenten retreat blends contemplation and action through reflecting on scripture while walking. Each week focuses on an aspect of St. Ignatius' “Principle and Foundation”—a text that helps orient our lives to God's love. Each step encourages us to embrace embodied wisdom and discover God in all aspects of life.
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You can participate with others by joining the Tuesday walks. You can also walk on your own or with companions any time you want by following the daily meditations and walking prompts below.
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No matter how you choose to walk, the invitation is to reorient our lives toward God's boundless love, drawing us closer to the heart of Christ through prayer, reflection, and contributing to the greater good. In this sacred season, we learn to see the presence of God in the ordinary, allowing Divine love to guide and shape our live
11-12:15 With Guided Meditations by Deb Gregory
March 11: Ormond Beach Central Park (Gazebo near Labyrinth)
Wayfinding with Trees: Orienting Toward the Light
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March 18: Gazebo at Ormond Beach Art Museum Gardens
Pattern-Spotting: Finding God in All Things
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March 25: Ormond Beach Central Park (Gazebo near Labyrinth)
Tree Eyes: Pruning Attachments
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April 1: Fortunato Park Cupola
Windflucter Trees: Noticing Our Bend​
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April 8: Gazebo at Ormond Beach Art Museum Gardens
Forest Bathing: Created to Flourish
Tuesday Group Walks
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Daily Guide
Daily Walking Meditation Guide
Practicing
Contemplation & Action
Imaginative contemplation is a way to engage with scripture by using your imagination. By placing ourselves in God's story, we can more easily find God in our own story. Here’s how to do it:​
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Read the Passage slowly and attentively. Without analyzing it, create a mental picture of the described scene.
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Enter the Scene. Reread the passage and picture yourself in it. Use your senses—what do you see, hear, smell, and feel? Notice your emotions.
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Look for God's Presence: While you reflect on the passage, look for how God is revealed or what God wants to show you.
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Carry it Forward: Choose a word, image, or insight from your reflection to carry on your walk.
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Walk It Out: After reading scripture, take a walk following the walking prompts for each day.
Spiritual Orienteering
(adapted from the First Principle and Foundation of St. Ignatius)
God’s love overflows into all of creation and extends to me. I was created to walk with God in the light of life and I find my way by orienting my life to God’s love and cultivating life wherever I go. My essential purpose is to grow, blossom, and flourish in God’s love and to produce good fruit for the life of the world.
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Everything in life is a precious gift and useful for navigating a purposeful path. By stewarding these gifts for God's glory and the good of others, I experience freedom and flourishing. However, if attachment to any created thing disrupts the flow of God’s life in me, I lose my way as a loving person, and my purpose remains unfulfilled.
And so, I strive for a healthy detachment as much as possible along life’s path. I aim for balance—not fixing the compass of my heart on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, security or vulnerability, honor or disrespect, success or failure, power or weakness, control or relinquishment, a long life or a short life. Everything has the potential to direct my life toward the love of God and evoke a deeper expression of love within me.
At every turn, let my one desire and choice be whatever orients my life toward the love of God and flourishes the life of the world.