God’s gifts are already present in the members of your church or spiritual group. But because these gifts are inside us they may be hidden from view. I can help your community unwrap its gifts in whatever format you think is best.
I can offer a single talk at a luncheon or banquet. Or I can facilitate a day or half day of recollection. Maybe you audition me at something small. Then, maybe we go on to something larger, like a weekend residential or commuter retreat. I can be present at weekend worship services and offer day and evening sessions the following week, what in Catholic parlance is called a “Parish Mission.”
- Healing of memories
- Family tree healing
- Healing from trauma
- Near-death experiences and connectedness in the spirit with loved ones who’ve passed
- Living in eternity now; the survivability of our deaths
- The Wizard of Oz as a spiritual adventure (Based on my book: “And Toto, Too”)
- The Hero’s Journey of Joseph Campbell and the circle of life
- The 12 Steps of AA for everyone
- Imagining Our Higher Power
- Enjoying the communion of saints and souls
- Everyday mysticism
- Beginning contemplative prayer and guided meditation
- Having the heart of a child at any age
- Quantum theology
I’m a native Texan and Catholic who’s at home everywhere. I’ve worked with Christians of all kinds. I have respect for those who’ve become “church alumni.” I’ve worked with Jews, Muslims and Humanists. Should you engage me to serve your group, I’d listen to your needs and, with your help, design an experience that’s content-rich, interactive and fun. I won’t bore you, ever. I promise.
View descriptions of some of the retreats I can do here.
From Over the Rainbow to “There’s No Place Like Home”: The Wizard of Oz as a Healing Journey
(Think of this as “And Toto 101,” an introduction to the basic themes of the book while watching the movie in a group.)
You could be an orphan being raised by an aunt and uncle. Or a dog under a death sentence, a brainless guy with big dreams, a man of tin with nothing inside, or a leader afraid of his shadow. On this journey everyone belongs.
Join Dominican Father Nathan Castle for a brief tour of the classic Oz story as a means of reexamining our own stories and helping each other find our way all the way home.
Values: Teambuilding, Overcoming Differences, Respectful Listening
At a Crossroads
Jesus often speaks to us in parables, winding stories about people trying to figure out what to do next. Like the people in the stories we, too, find ourselves asking, “Now which way do we go?”
Join Dominican Father Nathan Castle, for an adventure down your own Yellow Brick Road.
Values: Decision-making and Discernment, Embracing Life Changes, Following One’s Call, Openness to New Companionship
Wonderful!
(This retreat was first designed for an LGBT community.)
There’s a story inside him no one has ever asked to hear. “Where would you like to be oiled first?” Dorothy asked. “My mouth! Oil my mouth!” Only then can a story both painful and hopeful be spoken. “Did that hurt?” Dorothy asks. “No,” Tin Man replies, “it feels WONDERFUL!”
Join Father Nathan Castle for a weekend of healing and friendship. He has been a priest for almost 33 years and has a charism for healing of memories.
Values: Everyone’s Inherent Goodness, Resilience, Renewed Self-Esteem, The Power of Friendship
Over the Rainbow, Where Did You Land and What Did You Learn: A Post-Natural Disaster Retreat Based on “The Wizard of Oz”
(This retreat has been offered in Joplin, MO and Moore, OK after horrific tornadoes with terrible loss of life. It will soon be offered in Hurricane Harvey-ravaged southeast Texas. It can include a children’s track.)
Things were hard enough before the big storm. Then she was injured and everything was wrecked. She’s been through a whirlwind of emotions and so has everyone around her. How can she be so peaceful and happy now? There’s a healing path we can walk together.
Values: Optimism in Difficult Times, Gratitude for Unexpected Blessings,
New Opportunities in a Changing Landscape, New Bonds of Friendship
Toto, We’re Not In Combat Anymore: “The Wizard of Oz” Through Veterans’ Eyes
(This retreat is designed for active duty or retired service members who may have PTSD or Moral Injury. It’s most effective when offered by an existing sponsoring group, as it’s difficult to get traumatized persons to speak freely with a group of total strangers.)
She left home young.
She went to a foreign land and was caught between worlds.
She met a band of new companions and friends.
She faced an enemy.
She was exposed to a chemical weapon and was confronted with corruption in high places.
She was attacked from the air, held prisoner in a dark fortress and rescued in a special operation.
She rescued a friend under fire.
She killed twice without ever wanting to.
She did everything asked of her and was considered a hero.
Even then she had trouble getting all the way home
Finally, with only a little help, she found that what she needed was inside her all along and could say, “Oh, Toto, There’s no place like home!”
Values: Safe Space Personal Storytelling, Comraderie, Healing, Humor
Forget the Red Shoes: Getting Grounded in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
(This retreat is designed to teach Judeo-Christian ideas about the Spirit of God. It is especially useful in catechesis and Christian initiation. It can be effectively combined with a feast called “Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord.”)
Dorothy never asked for those ruby slippers to begin with. All she really wanted was the chance to go home. What do you want? And what does the Spirit of the Risen Christ want to give you?
Just as Lent leads us to Easter, Easter leads us to Pentecost. God’s doing something new in our day. You won’t need fancy shoes for the journey, but you will need courage, wisdom and profound love.
Join Father Nathan. We’ll ask the Holy Spirit to outfit us with exactly what we need to live lives full of service, joy and passion.
Values: Religious Education, Balancing Strengths and Weaknesses, Service, Personal Development
The Journey of the Restless Heart
(This retreat was designed as a three-night event for a Catholic university parish with an intellectual bent. It can be adapted for other groups who might appreciate an introduction to an integral Catholic world-view.)
Life is a spiritual adventure. Before we go we need to get oriented. We need a map. We need to meet our traveling companions. We need to plan for good health and hygiene. We need to know what to pack and what to leave behind. And that’s all before we depart.
Where shall we go? This universe of ours has always been a mystery to everyone who has ever lived in it. In every time and place, people have tried to describe it; we call that creating a cosmology. So what’s ours? What’s yours? Wherever we go, that’ll be our starting point.
With whom shall we go? There are the obvious people around who you can see as plain as the nose on your face. But we also believe in “all that is seen and unseen.” What divine, human and angelic companions would you choose? And who will come with you whether you choose them or not?
What shall we bring? Only the necessities. What instructions did Jesus give his disciples about setting out on their mission? What were they to bring or not bring? What might be provided along the way?
Values: Spiritual Adult Education, Self-Assessment, Life-Planning, Jesus as Universal Spiritual Guide
To Oz and Back: Dorothy and Toto’s Near Death Experience
When head-injured Dorothy regains consciousness Uncle Henry reports, ”We kinda thought there for a minute she was gonna leave us.” Dorothy tries to describe her journey: “I was gone for days and days…some of it wasn’t very nice, but most of it was beautiful.” Auntie Em chalks it up to a silly dream; Dorothy can’t make herself understood or believed.
NDErs (Near Death Experiencers), their companions and those interested in this well-attested phenomena are invited to process the stories of those who have taken these extraordinary journeys. The classic film “The Wizard of OZ” will provide the background and the inspiration to appreciating the stories of the NDErs in our midst. What can we all learn when we listen with our hearts?
Values: Respect, Humility, Wonder, Joy
12 Steps Down the Yellow Brick Road
Courage, Acknowledged Powerlessness, Resolve, Flawed-but-Loving Companions and the Help of a Higher Power…all of these mark the journey of Alcoholics Anonymous and the other healing processes that have sprung from it. All are essential ingredients of the story of Dorothy, Toto and their companions in Oz.
This retreat is for those on the path of recovery, for those who love them, or for those unfamiliar but attracted to the track record of the 12 Steps. It will include an examination of how one conceives of one’s higher power. Is that power more like Toto or the not-so-wonderful Wizard of Oz?
Values: The Examined Life, Renewed Imagination, Support, Joyful Hope
The Hero’s Journey: From Kansas to Oz and Back
(This retreat has been popular with the truly agnostic and questioning whether or not they take part in the life of a spiritual community.)
Joseph Cambell’s life’s work as a cultural anthropologist and mythologist was summarized in his “monomyth,” the great circular story beneath many of the world’s creation stories and epic tales of meaning and purpose.
This retreat will combine those insights with the circular story of Dorothy and Toto. Retreatants will examine their whole life story, some of its completed parts which have come full-circle, and consider where they might be on an incomplete portion of their saga. Our origins and what we believe may be our destinies will be considered.
Values: Openness, Intellectual Curiosity, Meaning, Mystery
The Hero’s Journey, AA and Oz
Imagine a mashup of the previous two retreats: two overlapping sequential systems arranged as though on a clockface. You have Joseph Campbell’s epic story cycle, The 12 Steps and your own life.
Together we’ll consider where we’ve been, and those chapters of our lives already completed. What lessons can we bring forward that will help in the future?
Values: Healing, Direction, Self-Knowledge, Hope
Tin Man: An Oz Retreat for Men
(This retreat was originally designed for a Catholic intergenerational men’s group.)
The classic song lyric says it well: “Oz never did give nuthin’ to the Tin Man that he didn’t didn’t already have.” The wisdom and knowledge we need to move from rusted solid to rock solid is within us.
“Where would you like to be oiled first?” Dorothy asked him.
“My mouth, my mouth,” he mumbles as strongly as he can.
We’ll use the Oz story to help us examine our own familiy and individual stories and to move from rusted to ready for action.
Values: Gentleness needed to be Gentlemen, Truth-telling, Renewal, Leadership
Paying Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain: Focusing Our Images of God
The Wonderful Wizard turns out to be a humbug.
Earlier, when the Scarecrow needed help from a Higher Power, he screamed at the sky: “HELP!” We can do better than that if we spend some time together considering what it we really believe about God. In The 12 Steps, acknowledging weakness and calling upon one’s Higher Power is critical to healing and a life lived freely.
Catholic Christianity, and its Jewish roots give us plenty to ponder. Jesus asked his followers repeatedly, “Who do they say that I am?” Then he made the question more direct: “Who do you say that I am?”
Maybe the Higher Power will turn out to be Toto-like, present to us all along.
Values: Inquiry, Humility, Listening, Confidence
The Wizard of Oz for the Recovering Catholic
(This could be adapted for other Christian churches.)
Early on your journey others set you on this course. You followed as you were told. Then when you really needed help you heard lines like ”Oz? Why no one has EVER seen the great Oz!” “The Wizard says, ‘GO AWAY!” “SILENCE, whippersnapper!”
But there really are people of mind and heart and great courage in this great faith tradition. Female wisdom belongs. So do animals. And maybe you can again.
Values: Courage, Resilience, Acceptance, Homecoming
“And Toto, Too”For Family Reunions and Anniversaries
(This was designed for a 50th Wedding Anniversary Vow Renewal.)
Some moments call us to look back at life’s joys, sorrows and challenges overcome. The power of love moving through time blesses everyone in its path. A multigenerational event calls for a theme accessible to children of all ages. Dorothy, Toto and friends fit the bill. An Oz retreat invites storytelling and the sharing of lessons learned. The motley cast of characters that make up our families can’t be any weirder than a scarecrow, tin man, cowardly lion, a lost girl and her little dog, too.
Laughter and tears, song and celebration (and possibly ceremony), all wrapped in Oz will make for an event no one will forget, It’s easy to decorate for, too.
Values: Family, Inclusion, Gratitude, Speaking Our Love