A day of Prayer with Susan Stabile - Jesus the Storyteller: Learning from Parables

Presented by:
Susan Stabile
 
Jesus often taught in parables, using simple stories or images based on things that would be familiar with is audience as a way to convey deep lessons about God and God’s kingdom.  Although parables often have different levels of meaning and are meant to challenge us, we often ignore the challenge they present and settle on a simple meaning.   As well, we often ignore the context of Jesus’ stories and lose the way his first followers would have heard them.
 
This day of prayer will invite us to reflect on the power of story and encourage us to deepen our appreciation of a number of Jesus’ parables, considering what they have to teach us about God, ourselves and our identity as Christian disciples.
 
Susan Stabile is an experienced spiritual director and retreat director trained in the Ignatian tradition.   Susan is an adjunct Instructor in Theology at St. Catherine’s University, where she currently serves as co-director of a Contemplative Practices Initiative funded by a Lilly grant, and teaches in the Sacred Ground program for the training of spiritual directors.  She offers retreats and other programs of spiritual formation in parishes, retreat houses and other venues around the country.  Susan previously served as Director of the University of St. Thomas’s Office for Spirituality) and is currently a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.  She is the author of numerous publications, including Growing in Love and Wisdom: Tibetan Buddhist Sources for Christian Meditation (Oxford University Press 2013).  She also authors a blog, Creo en Dios! (http://susanjoan.wordpress.com), on which she posts spiritual reflections and podcasts.