53 Mill St, Westfield, MA 01085, USA
February 12 - 14, 2027
About this Retreat
Douglas Hertler, also known as Doug Lory, is an actor, playwright, retreat leader, and NYC tour guide. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA, the two professional actor’s unions in the U.S., and his career has included roles in television, film, and theater. He is also an actor/educator at Fordham University School of Law where he works with student attorneys in both client interview simulations as well as trial law examinations, exploring the intangible components of interpersonal and group communication. As a NYC tour guide Doug has connected with tens of thousands of travelers for over 20 years, sharing the exciting, inspiring, and sometimes tragic history of a city which counts the ethnic and religious diversity of the world as its citizenry. He holds a BA in Speech/Communication/Theater from Monmouth University. He is a member of the International Thomas Merton Society and the American Teilhard Association. He lives in Queens, NY with his incredible wife Alex.
Details of this retreat
What if doubt is not the opposite of faith, but the very path that leads us deeper into it? In his book What is God?, the philosopher Jacob Needleman writes, "it is impossible not to love a man or woman in the moment they are struggling for truth." Thomas Merton struggled for truth throughout his life, demonstrating the extraordinary power of faith to question, doubt, wrestle and question again. This weekend let us struggle together for truth as Douglas Hertler presents his one-man, autobiographical play Merton and Me, A Living Trinity.
Merton and Me - A Living Trinity is an intimate act of storytelling, a spiritual journey which explores the struggles of youth, the complexities of faith, and the universal search for meaning and identity in an increasingly chaotic and divided world. Written and performed by Douglas Hertler, aka Doug Lory, and Inspired by his life changing encounter with the writings of Thomas Merton, most notably Merton's classic No Man Is an Island, the audience is challenged to reflect on two of the most humbling and elusive of all questions, “Who am I?, and “What am I supposed to do with my life?”
With Thomas Merton as our spiritual guide, Doug will explore the struggles of youth, the complexities of faith, and the universal search for meaning in a world suffocated by division and illusions of certainty.
With time for silence, journaling, and group sharing each of our sacred stories is invited into blessed community where we can taste and see the shackles that bind us as our Lenten journey brings us closer to what Merton referred to as, "the center of our being, a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God."
Friday
3:00p Check-In Begins
3:00-6:00p Arrivals
6:00p Dinner (Genesis Welcome)
7:15p Opening Session (Let's keep this untitled, I want to see where the Spirit leads me here!)
Saturday
8:00a Breakfast
9:00a Centering
9:30a Merton & Me, A Living Trinity Performance
11:00a Silence
12:00p Lunch w/conversation
1:15p - 2:30p Afternoon Session 1 - Prayer, Sharing, Discussion
2:30p - 2:45p Break
3:00p - 4:00p Afternoon Session 2
4:00p - 5pm Free Time
5:00p Vigil Mass (optional)
6:00p Dinner
7:15p - 8:30p Contemplative Dialogue/Q&A
Sunday
8:00a Breakfast
9:00a Room Check-Out
9:15a Centering
9:45a - 10:45a Closing Session
11:00a Departure
Top Rated
Verified
Spirituality
Last Chance