School of Prophets
God’s Invitation — For Our times. Becoming Prophets
“to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands.”
Pope Francis
“The spirit of the lord is upon me Because he has anointed me and sent me. to bring good news to the poor, to release the captives, to restore sight to the blind, to unburden the oppressed, to declare a Jubilee of the lord’s favour.”
Luke 4:17-19
Our Vision
The School for Prophets aims to hear and heed God’s voice from within the tumult of this time. Practicing the prayer, study, and silent receptivity exemplified by the prophets, school-participants will examine the world as God sees it, and discern ways to speak God’s truth, for both what is needed and possible.
What does a Prophet do?
‣ Sees what is needed, what is possible, and what is Good
‣ Witnesses to God in words and example
‣ Empathizes with suffering humanity
‣ Works for peace and justice
‣ Empowers the powerless
‣ Includes the marginalized
‣ Speaks for God to the people, and for the people to God.
Abraham Joshua Heschel “The Prophets”
Learning Outcomes
Situating the prophetic task within the threefold Baptismal commission and appreciating its scriptural foundations.
Gain a methodology for prophetic enquiry and application based on the Beatitudes from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (5: 1-16).
Familiarity with the history and developments of Catholic Social Teaching to engage the prophetic dimension of its core principles.
Identify persons in the scriptures or in Church tradition who can serve as spiritual mentors for one’s own prophetic calling.
Interpret and respond to the signs of the times using the keys of contemplation, discernment and proposal.
Collaboration and innovation within a prayerful supporting community for one another’s prophetic mission and growth in the virtues for prophecy.
Skills and processes for voicing prophetic questions or insights in a dialogue that sets the human horizon for prophetic inspiration — and agitation.
Key Features
- Inspired by Scripture and the Living Tradition: The curriculum draws on the experience of biblical prophets and saints from the Carmelite tradition. The Carmelite values indispensable to the prophetic commission – solitude, silence, community prayer, contemplation, collaborative work, presence, listening, discernment, welcoming, and integration – are at the heart of the programme.
- Applying Prayerful Enquiry: The programme encourages a prayerful engagement with current social reality, fostering critical thinking from a spiritual perspective that addresses causes, and not simply effects.
- A Participative Model: The residential weekend gatherings and frequent on-line sessions allow for building relationships and confidence in a community growing and learning together how to witness the movements of the Holy Spirit at this time.
- Catholic, Ecumenical and Inter-disciplinary: Prophets operate at the boundaries between the religious and the social. This requires gathering input from a wide spectrum of sources, contemplating and processing these within the rich guidance of scripture and tradition, and making God’s presence and desires alive in the world.
- Communal Emphasis: Learning and growing together in our prophetic calling and encouraging one another in the demands that prophetic truth-telling engenders.
- Led by a Religious and Lay Team: Programme facilitators bring their insights and lived experience as lay and religious members of the Church to enrich the conversation with course participants.
- Creativity—Inspired and Inspiring: Prophets not only tell truths that in God’s name must be spoken. They also conjure the latent potential for healing, wholeness, and holiness that reside in each human person created in the image of God.
Dates & Details
| Sassion | Dates | Venue | Curriculum |
| Introduction | Nov-7 | On-line | The Prophetic Vocation - Then & Now |
| 1 | Nov 11-13 | Residential | Introduction to Biblical Prophets |
| 2 | Nov 28 | On-line | Encountering Jesus As Prophet |
| 3 | Dec 12 | On-line | Prophetic Qualities, Attitudes and Challenges |
| 4 | Dec 26 | On-line | The Beatitudes as Prophetic Template |
| 5 | Jan 13-15 | Residential | Prophetic Prayers: Heeding Silence |
| 6 | Jan 23 | On-line | Reading the "Signes of the Times" |
| 7 | Feb 6 | On-line | Discerning Prophetic Gifts |
| 8 | Feb 20 | On-line | Forming a Prophetic Community |
| 9 | March 10-12 | Residential | Finding One's Prophetic Voice |
| 10 | Apr 3 | On-line | Catholic Social Teaching, Applied |
| 11 | Apr 17 | On-line | The ethical art of Prophetic Questions |
| 12 | May 1 | On-line | Receiving & Serving the Holy Spirit |
| 13 | May 15 | On-line | Prophetic Contributions the Church & Beyond |
| 14 | May 26-28 | Residential | Commissioning |
Course Structure and flow
The programme requires one ninety-minute on-line session every two weeks, along with four essential residential gatherings.
On-line programme will begin on November 7th, 2022.
- Each ninety-minute on-line gathering will involve 30 minutes of prayer, 30 minutes of instruction or guided reflection, and 30 minutes for questions and dialogue.
Residential programmes are scheduled for:
- November 11-13
- January 13-15
- March 10-12
- May 26-28
- Participants will be invited to reflect with lessons learned about our current reality, to practice heeding the Holy Spirit in prophetic interpretation.
- Commissioning will occur on May 28th – Pentecost Sunday 2023.
- Prophetic lessons and insights from the programme will be complied by participants (in a creative manner to be determined by them) to begin together the process of dissemination and dialogue.
Course requirements
School-participants are required to:
- Be committed to deepening their spiritual life
- Be supported by a spiritual accompanier
- Have a heartfelt desire to learn from scripture and the Christian tradition
- Make the time commitment to attend all sessions of the programme. (We also understand that life does sometimes get in the way)
- Keep a journal which is not for others to see but to help their own growth and reflection
- Work in small groups where they will be share and discuss of various topics
Time Commitment:
- 1 hour prayerful reflection and engagement with resource materials every week
- 1.5 hours on-line session every two weeks
- 4 residential weekends
Cost:
- The programme has been subsidized by generous donors. We offer the following tiered fee structure from which people may select what feels appropriate for them. We’re doing this because we recognise that what is affordable for some can be a financial stretch for others.
- Supported Fees: £1400 – Reflects a partial bursary toward the cost of the course.
- Supported Fees is £900 – Reflects a substantial bursary toward the cost of the course and is intended for those with minor financial need.
- For further support towards the cost of the programme please send an email to Fr Alex Ezechukwu OCD: fralex@carmelite.org.uk
Our Team
John Dalla Costa is an author, theologian, and ethicist. For over a decade, John taught ethics at the Schulich School for Business at York University (Toronto). Currently, he is a member of an interdisciplinary team at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), working to give dimension to the new economy Pope Francis has envisioned in his social teachings.
Alexander Ezechukwu, OCD is a Carmelite priest and serves as the prior of the Carmelite community at Boars Hill, Oxford. Fr Alex is a trained spiritual director with many years of pastoral experience in guidance in the spiritual life. He holds a Licence in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome.
Kelvin Ekhoegbe, OCD is a Carmelite priest and is involved in the retreat work at the priory. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Theology from The Dominican Institute, Ibadan and Institut Catholique de Toulouse (Catholic University of Toulouse), respectively.