
<p>Our goal for the Assembly was to create a very special experience that would allow all of us to celebrate the thousand years of our congregation as well as the shorter, but still significant, presence of New Camaldoli and Incarnation.</p>
<p>Perhaps even more importantly, we’ve become aware in these past few years of the need to plan in a more intentional way for our future, a future that includes not just the monks but also our oblates, friends, and retreatants--indeed, all those who find New Camaldoli and Incarnation to be important for their personal journeys.</p>
<p>Over the course of four days, the Assembly will include three keynote presentations and a number of smaller breakout sessions. Speakers and group leaders are:</p>
<ul style="font-size: 12px;">
<li>Paula Huston (author of The Holy Way, Simplifying the Soul, and A Season of Mystery)</li>
<li>Deborah Smith Douglas (author of A Praying Life and Pilgrims in the Kingdom)</li>
<li>Pico Iyer (author of The Lady and the Monk, The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Dalai Lama, and The Man Within My Head)</li>
<li>Father Mario Zanotti (our visitator from Fonte Avellana)</li>
<li>Father Peter Hughes (Prior of our monastery of San Gregorio in Rome)</li>
<li>Father Timothy Jolley (OHC, the Episcopal Order of the Holy Cross)</li>
<li>All of the monks from Incarnation, and most of the monks from New Camaldoli</li>
</ul>
<p>One of the reasons we chose Asilomar, (in addition to its beauty and contemplative spirit) was to insure that most of the monks from New Camaldoli could be present for some of this Assembly.</p>
<p>We have envisioned this as an inclusive and reflective event:</p>
<ul style="font-size: 12px;">
<li>Beginning Tuesday evening, we will be sharing our experiences of the Hermitage and Incarnation and what these places have meant for us</li>
<li>Wednesday morning’s keynote speaker, oblate Paula Huston, will inspire us with her talk "Oblates and Friends of the Hermitage as Culture Changers,” a topic about which she written extensively.</li>
<li>Wednesday afternoon, there will be a variety of discussion groups reviewing:
<ul style="font-size: 12px;">
<li>The past and present of the Camaldolese in Italy and around the world</li>
<li>The expanding presence and role of oblates</li>
<li>The ever-widening circle of retreatants and friends</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Thursday morning, Deborah Smith Douglas starts the day with a presentation entitled “Alone Together: Re-Imagining Community’. Deborah is an oblate, a longtime spiritual director, and a nationally known retreat leader.</li>
<li>Thursday afternoon there will a facilitated process led by Father Michael Fish and Alex Chong offering both group and individual time to:
<ul style="font-size: 12px;">
<li>Reflect on what we have heard</li>
<li>Come up with ideas that will help ensure the flourishing of the Camaldolese Charism</li>
<li>Focus on the deeper engagement of our wider circles of commitment</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Friday morning, Pico Iyer will energize us with his presentation “Stepping into the Silence: One Pilgrim’s Reflection”. Pico has been a good friend of the community for over 20 years and is an internationally known author and essayist who has repeatedly written about the need in our world today for places like the Hermitage.<br /><br /> His talk will be followed by a large group discussion, plus opportunities to become part of exploratory work groups focused on the process of firming up ideas developed during our meeting days and suggestions for ways we can return to our usual lives with new hope and spiritual vigor.</li>
</ul>
<p>This one-in-a-millennium gathering also includes:</p>
<ul style="font-size: 12px;">
<li>A retreat experience – including Eucharist, morning and evening prayer, time for meditation</li>
<li>A sharing experience – with personal stories of the spiritual renewal offered by the Hermitage</li>
<li>A music experience--including a concert by Father Cyprian Consiglio Wednesday evening</li>
<li>A planning experience – taking the spirit-filled ideas and creating ways to implement them</li>
</ul>
<p>Because we realize that not everyone can come, we will be videotaping the major presentations and some of the smaller breakout sessions so that those who cannot attend will still be able to share in the gathering.</p>
<p>As we say goodbye at the end of the Assembly, we will be greeting our future together. At this time in our Camaldolese history, we could not be taking a more important step together. I do hope you can find a way to join us.</p>
<p>Peace and all good things,<br /> Brother Bede Healey,<br /> Vice Prior and Treasurer,<br /> New Camaldoli Hermitage</p>