Welcome
(Mike Smoolca)
Hello, my name is Mike Smoolca. My personal spiritual journey has been important to me from an early age. It has involved individuals, communities, life events, joys, difficulties and experiences of the Divine.
In 2012 I looked closely at my life and was blessed to be able to retire from a 26+ year career in Technology. I was looking to focus on something more life-giving and enriching that would have a positive impact on others.
Since leaving my former career I've dedicated myself to family and personal relationships, teaching, further developing my public speaking skills and a commitment to growing and making my spirituality a vital and integral part of who I am and what I do. Focusing on my spiritual journey has led me to deeper awareness of God's presence in all things, a more genuine expression of my own humanity and an ever-richer connection to God, myself, others and all of creation. The launching of InViaLumen.org and the organization supporting it is another step in the journey of deepening and sharing my spirituality.
My concise biography:
A few years ago Mike Smoolca retired from a nearly 30 year career in Business and Technology to focus on deepening his relationships, spirituality, teaching and service to others. Mike is a practicing Spiritual Director, a leader in the area's Christian Contemplative Community and active in several ministries in his parish, St Mary’s in Simsbury, CT.
My fuller biography:
Mike Smoolca has been commissioned as a Presenter of Centering Prayer by Contemplative Outreach Ltd., the Chapter Coordinator of Contemplative Outreach of Connecticut and a member of Contemplative Outreach of Boston's leadership team. Mike was onsite Coordinator for the Contemplative Outreach Living Flame Program held at Holy Family between 2014 - 2016 and is assisting them to realize the Christian Contemplative Experience. He is an experienced contemplative group and workshop facilitator and dedicated student of Contemplative practices.
Mike is coordinator of the North-Central CT Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society. He has been reading Merton for 10 years and applying insights he's gained to his own Spiritual Journey. Mike's been presenting Thomas Merton programs and facilitating Thomas Merton Contemplative Living workshops since 2013.
Mike is a practicing Spiritual Director and a Training Partner in the Spiritual Life Center's Internship Program. Mike is a commissioned Stephen Minister and active in several ministries in his parish, St Mary's in Simsbury, CT.
A few years ago Mike retired from a nearly 30 year career in Business and Technology to focus on deepening his relationships, spirituality, teaching and service to others. The current core of Mike's spirituality and ministries is an emphasis on being present to God in all things, in each life circumstance, and in contemplative stillness.
In 2012 I looked closely at my life and was blessed to be able to retire from a 26+ year career in Technology. I was looking to focus on something more life-giving and enriching that would have a positive impact on others.
Since leaving my former career I've dedicated myself to family and personal relationships, teaching, further developing my public speaking skills and a commitment to growing and making my spirituality a vital and integral part of who I am and what I do. Focusing on my spiritual journey has led me to deeper awareness of God's presence in all things, a more genuine expression of my own humanity and an ever-richer connection to God, myself, others and all of creation. The launching of InViaLumen.org and the organization supporting it is another step in the journey of deepening and sharing my spirituality.
My concise biography:
A few years ago Mike Smoolca retired from a nearly 30 year career in Business and Technology to focus on deepening his relationships, spirituality, teaching and service to others. Mike is a practicing Spiritual Director, a leader in the area's Christian Contemplative Community and active in several ministries in his parish, St Mary’s in Simsbury, CT.
My fuller biography:
Mike Smoolca has been commissioned as a Presenter of Centering Prayer by Contemplative Outreach Ltd., the Chapter Coordinator of Contemplative Outreach of Connecticut and a member of Contemplative Outreach of Boston's leadership team. Mike was onsite Coordinator for the Contemplative Outreach Living Flame Program held at Holy Family between 2014 - 2016 and is assisting them to realize the Christian Contemplative Experience. He is an experienced contemplative group and workshop facilitator and dedicated student of Contemplative practices.
Mike is coordinator of the North-Central CT Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society. He has been reading Merton for 10 years and applying insights he's gained to his own Spiritual Journey. Mike's been presenting Thomas Merton programs and facilitating Thomas Merton Contemplative Living workshops since 2013.
Mike is a practicing Spiritual Director and a Training Partner in the Spiritual Life Center's Internship Program. Mike is a commissioned Stephen Minister and active in several ministries in his parish, St Mary's in Simsbury, CT.
A few years ago Mike retired from a nearly 30 year career in Business and Technology to focus on deepening his relationships, spirituality, teaching and service to others. The current core of Mike's spirituality and ministries is an emphasis on being present to God in all things, in each life circumstance, and in contemplative stillness.
Influences and Practices
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The first profound influence in my spiritual life was my immigrant grandmother. Her peasant roots fostered a humble spirit which deeply connected her to God, her family, her community and to all of creation. Her living faith was an inseparable part of who she was, she relied upon it and her dependence on God to get through the many difficulties in her life. It allowed her to joyously celebrate her days with others and to pass along a deep sense of faith and spirituality to her family.
My faith tradition is Roman Catholic and I continue to explore, practice and deepen my Catholic/Christian faith today. I have always felt drawn to contemplative spirituality and my recent adult faith formation has been most influenced by some wonderful contemporary contemplative Christian spiritual writers and teachers including:
In addition to daily prayer and reading scripture, the contemplative practices I have incorporated into my life include Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, Welcoming Prayer, The Jesus Prayer, Loving Kindness Meditation and the Ignatian Examen. |
(Spiritual Influences)
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The Christian Call To Awakening and Transformation
One of the most exciting aspects of my Christian faith is the call it makes for personal awakening and social transformation. I see this realized in the lives of the saints and Christian social leaders like Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr, Desmond Tutu among others.
From a Christian faith rooted in the Divine Trinity; God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit , we have the invitation to participate in the fully self-giving relationship of love between these Divine persons which we realize through our everyday relationships with God and others. As Christians,our individual spiritual journey is a call to discipleship which is to experience Christ in ourselves and to encounter Christ in others. The deeds and teachings of Jesus' life, death and resurrection provide the inspiration and human model for personal awakening and social transformation that we are called to make. When we have a genuine intent to live a life of faith, hope and love following Jesus' example we begin the experience of personal awakening to our true nature carried out by God's grace and the actions of the Holy Spirit by which we become aware of Christ in ourselves. Our personal awakening opens us naturally to participating in social transformation as we co-create, with the Divine, the in-breaking Kingdom of God announced by Jesus' life.
From a Christian faith rooted in the Divine Trinity; God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit , we have the invitation to participate in the fully self-giving relationship of love between these Divine persons which we realize through our everyday relationships with God and others. As Christians,our individual spiritual journey is a call to discipleship which is to experience Christ in ourselves and to encounter Christ in others. The deeds and teachings of Jesus' life, death and resurrection provide the inspiration and human model for personal awakening and social transformation that we are called to make. When we have a genuine intent to live a life of faith, hope and love following Jesus' example we begin the experience of personal awakening to our true nature carried out by God's grace and the actions of the Holy Spirit by which we become aware of Christ in ourselves. Our personal awakening opens us naturally to participating in social transformation as we co-create, with the Divine, the in-breaking Kingdom of God announced by Jesus' life.
True Self and The Human Condition
Realizing Christ in ourselves is a life awakened to True Self, the unique humanity at our core that is in union with the Divine dwelling within each of us. Our True Self connects each person to God and to the sacredness in all of creation. Acts of the True Self are the pure and effortless self-giving flow of love and goodness between the Divine in me and in another.
My humanness (well described as the Human Condition) distracts me from awareness of my True Self and makes me susceptible to actions that separate me from God and from others (this is my understanding of sin). Working through the Human Condition is the personal transformation of the spiritual journey. God's grace strengthens and helps me to humbly acknowledge, gently hold, eventually accept and finally let go of aspects of my humanness that stand in the way of my True Self. During this process, I become aware of the impact my humanness has on others and gain compassion for myself and others who, like me, are subject to the Human Condition..
My humanness (well described as the Human Condition) distracts me from awareness of my True Self and makes me susceptible to actions that separate me from God and from others (this is my understanding of sin). Working through the Human Condition is the personal transformation of the spiritual journey. God's grace strengthens and helps me to humbly acknowledge, gently hold, eventually accept and finally let go of aspects of my humanness that stand in the way of my True Self. During this process, I become aware of the impact my humanness has on others and gain compassion for myself and others who, like me, are subject to the Human Condition..
Nature
I agree with St. Thomas Aquinas and many others who have observed that "God has written two books of his revelation, the Bible and Nature." I find a deep connection to nature and creation and have had some of my most intense experiences of Divine wholeness and connectedness in natural settings. Taking time to be in nature grounds my spiritual life and reminds me of what's real in a world in which I am surrounded and depend so much on things that have been created by humans.
Other Faith Traditions
Though I am fully committed to my Catholic/Christian faith, I'm excited to learn about the beliefs and practices of other faith traditions.I believe that different peoples have experienced the revelation of God in different ways, in different social contexts and at different times throughout human history. I believe that each person's True Self longs to know God and that the Divine touches, cares for and inspires the good in all people regardless of their faith tradition. As Pope Francis writes in The Joy of the Gospel: "254 (People), by God's gracious initiative, when they are faithful to their own consciences, can live "justified by the grace of God"..."
Becoming aware of other ways to honor and enhance my relationship with God that align with my own traditions' teachings and beliefs and to my experiences deepens my spirituality. By understanding and respecting other faith traditions, I am also doing my part to increase the respect, loving relationship, genuine dialogue and understanding between all of God's people.
Becoming aware of other ways to honor and enhance my relationship with God that align with my own traditions' teachings and beliefs and to my experiences deepens my spirituality. By understanding and respecting other faith traditions, I am also doing my part to increase the respect, loving relationship, genuine dialogue and understanding between all of God's people.
Additional Resources
I invite you to explore additional information on the following pages::
You may find other ways in which In Via Lumen, LLC can help you or your group on the Assistance and Contact Page. Additional information and services will be made available as I continue to develop and further travel my spiritual journey.
- Current Events
- Local Contemplative Prayer Groups
- Thomas Merton Resources
- Contemplative Dialogue
- Commentary
- Resources
You may find other ways in which In Via Lumen, LLC can help you or your group on the Assistance and Contact Page. Additional information and services will be made available as I continue to develop and further travel my spiritual journey.