Name: Weekend Ignatian Retreat: A Wider Belonging
Start: 2027-01-15
End: 2027-01-17
Location: Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center

An Ignatian Retreat on Hope, Community & Seeing God in One Another

At a time when our world can feel increasingly fragmented, A Wider Belonging invites us into the quiet to reflect on what it means to belong to one another. Rooted in Ignatian spirituality and drawing inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the Beloved Community, this two-night silent retreat offers space to consider how we see God, how we understand ourselves, and how those understandings shape the way we see others.

Through guided reflections, prayer, and sacred silence, we will explore what becomes possible when we learn to recognize the presence of God more fully—within ourselves, within others, and within a world that can make it easy to focus on what separates us. How might seeing with greater clarity change the way we move through our families, communities, workplaces, and everyday encounters? And where might God be inviting us toward a wider sense of belonging, grounded in hope, dignity, compassion, and love?

Offered on the weekend preceding the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, this retreat makes room for quiet reflection on Dr. King’s enduring spiritual vision of a Beloved Community without asking us to ignore the divisions and wounds of our time. Instead, we enter the silence with our own questions and experiences, attentive to what God may be revealing within us. Come as you are and give yourself a weekend to listen, reflect, and perhaps begin to see God, yourself, and your place within our shared human family with new eyes.

*The guided retreats at Ignatius House combine elements of both guided prayer experiences and individual one-on-one spiritual conversations with a spiritual director as well as opportunities for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

**This is a silent retreat. Guests will be supported in keeping a sacred silence throughout the weekend, including at meals.

About Maria Cressler, MTS, and Paula Whatley Matabane

Maria G. Cressler, MTS, is the Executive Director of Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center and has served in this role since September 2009. She received a B.A. in Sociology from Georgia State University and a Master of Theological Studies and Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Spring Hill College. Her heart for Ignatian Spirituality has broadened the ministries of Ignatius House during her tenure to include programs from Spring Hill College, Hispanic retreats, teen and young adult retreats, an expansion of the Ignatian Spirituality Project serving the homeless, and efforts to help people of all lifestyles know they are children of God. Maria believes deeply that none are excluded from God’s love, in the benefit of interfaith dialogue, and in activities that encourage mutual understanding. Prior to Ignatius House, she served in pastoral and parish roles to lead programs such as prison ministry, Emmaus, Cursillo, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), and JustFaith. These experiences continue to shape her deep desire to help others encounter God. Maria and her husband, John, minister together at married-couples retreats as well as at interfaith events.

Paula Whatley Matabane, M.Div. is a spiritual director and ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). She is minister of prayer and visitation, and coordinator of church archives at Turner Monumental AME in Atlanta. She researched and wrote an expansive history of that church. Paula’s experiences in ministry include teaching and preaching, evangelism in East and South Africa, practicing contemplative prayer, working with homeless women, seeking racial reconciliation and social justice, producing films on the Black presence in the Bible.

Paula is professor emerita of the Howard University School of Communications, and director of publications for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. One of her great loves is researching family history and genealogy, which has led to genuine friendships with descendants of former enslavers of her ancestors. Paula holds an M.Div. degree from the Howard University School of Divinity and the Certificate of Spiritual Direction from Springhill College. An Atlanta native, she has one daughter, Mashadi, who is an educator and writer. Paula enjoys biking, hiking, swimming, fishing, gardening, reading, cooking, travel, family reunions, southern history and culture. She loves cats and getting to really know people outside her usual circles. Her favorite scripture is Romans 11:29 – The gifts and call of God are irrevocable.