Center for Action and Contemplation

Edwina Gateley

Born in Lancaster, England, Edwina Gateley’s educational experiences have awarded her a Teacher’s Degree from her home country, a Masters in Theology from the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago and certification as an HIV Counselor in the state of Illinois. She lived for nine months in prayer and solitude in a hermitage in Illinois, spent over a year on the streets of Chicago walking with the homeless and women involved in prostitution and founded Genesis House – a house of hospitality and nurturing for women involved in prostitution. Numerous groups and individuals, including the Mayor of Chicago, the late archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, and former President of the Unites States Bill Clinton, have publicly commended Edwina’s work and ministry.  Edwina has also been featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours.”

Edwina is currently writing, giving talks and leading retreats nationally and internationally.  Her programs include weekends and weeklong retreats as well as Parish Mission.  Topics include her own Faith Journey, Discipleship, Women in Scripture, Justice, Mission, Spirituality, Mysticism, and the Feminine Divine. Her books include In God’s Womb, God Goes to School, Christ in the Margins, Soul Sisters, Growing into God, Whispers – Conversations with Edwina Gateley, God Goes to Church, Psalms of a Laywoman, A Mystical Heart, There was no Path so I Trod One, A Warm, Moist, Salty God, and I Hear a Seed Growing.

Ron Rolheiser, OMI

A Roman Catholic priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Ronald Rolheiser is president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.  For much of his priesthood, he taught theology and philosophy at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta.

Fr. Ron is a community-builder, lecturer and writer. His books are popular throughout the English-speaking world and his weekly column is carried by more than seventy newspapers worldwide. His books include Secularity and the Gospel: Being Missionary to our Children, Forgotten Among the Lilies,  The Restless Heart (Winner of 1990 Winifred Sanford Award), The Holy Longing (Winner of 2000 USA Catholic Press Book award for best hardcover book in spirituality), Against an Infinite Horizon, The Shattered Lantern, Spirituality for a Restless Culture and The Loneliness Factor (Winner of 1996 USA Catholic Press Book award for best hardcover book in spirituality).

Richard Rohr, ofm

An internationally known author and spiritual teacher, Richard Rohr is a Franciscan of the New Mexico province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call and the related themes he addresses include eco-spirituality, scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, and the Enneagram. He is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines.

Some of his best-known books include: Everything Belongs; Radical Grace: Daily Meditations; Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation; The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective; From Wild Men to Wise Men: Reflections on Male Spirituality; The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See; and his latest book On The Threshold Of Transformation:  Daily Meditations for Men.

Fr. Richard has been a featured essayist on NPR’s “This I Believe” and a guest of Dr. Mehmet Oz on the “Oprah and Friends” radio show; he also appears in the 2006 documentary, ONE, featuring spiritual teachers from around the world. Check the Mustard Seed Resource Center for all Fr. Richard's works.