Category: General

Put January 30, 2016 on your calendar!

Dear Friends

Finding Peace in the Storm of God’s Love

A Weekend Retreat with Tom Booth and Friends

Jan. 10-12, 2014

Come and spend a weekend retreat with Tom Booth (composer,
musician and retreat facilitator) and his friends.
This experiential retreat will offer participants a time for reflection
and sharing about who God is, how God speaks, and how to pray to a God
who is everywhere and within, including through the storms of life that
seem to surround and sometimes engulf us. The retreat will also offer
participants an opportunity to uncover inner hopes and dreams as well as
what gives them life. It will be a spacious blend of silence, prayer, dialogue
with others as well as simple teachings about a contemplative way of life.
Tom Booth, composer, musician and retreat director, is a
member of Our Lady of the Desert Parish, Tucson. Tom has
been working in various ministries: parish ministry, national
music ministry roles, i.e. Life Teen, National Catholic Youth
Conference. He has been on several concert tours with John
Michael Talbot and others.
Check-in between 3:00-5:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, 2014. Retreat begins after dinner at
6:00 p.m. and ends after lunch on Sunday, Jan. 12. The fees for the weekend retreat are:
$135.00 for commuters; single-occupancy room is $225.00 and double-occupancy room
is $175.00 per person. The rate includes all meals. We have a limited number of rooms.

For more information, please contact RRC – phone: 520.744-3400, or toll free 866.737- 5751 or write: office@desertrenewal.org.

What a great year 2012 has been so far! In January I was graced to work with a very talented Catholic artist, Ben Walther from Houston, Texas in my studio here in Tucson. We recorded three songs together. These songs are truly anointed (I RARELY use that word!). Be on the lookout for these recordings. The band and I did a concert in Chandler, AZ that was a blast. We played for the “kids’ at St. Mary’s Bashas, in Chandler, AZ, in the morning and did a parish concert later that night. Killer!

In February and March I was blessed to present three Lenten Parish Missions in Ohio, Massachusetts and in Phoenix, Arizona. The theme I chose for these missions is HEART: HE… God first and only God, EAR… listen to the Spirit, live by prayer in the cave of the heart and ART…learn and practice the art of prayer, live out our lives in an artistic way in imitation of the Creator! I was able to squeeze in a 3-day conference with the band for the Diocese of Tucson – my home diocese. That was a blessed and wonderful time with Bishop Kicanas, Sister Lois Paha and the whole diocese.

I just returned from the LA RE Congress where 23,000 of the faithful gathered to pray, sing, learn, re-connect and EAT! OCP/Spirit and Song sponsored one of my favorite concerts in years: Steve Angrisano, Cooper Ray, Josh Blakesley and I gave an unplugged worship/story-telling/laugh-fest night to a huge crowd. What an honor to serve God and the people of God in these events!

Two nights ago the band and I (minus a couple of the guys) did a benefit concert for a ministry here in Tucson: Vine of Grace. As usual my dear friend and ministry supporter since the 1980s, Theresa Ratti, served the concerts by joyfully meeting people, selling product in support of our ministry and making sure we had warm tea. She is a co-worker in the vineyard and the band is always happy when “T” is on a gig! She takes care of us! Thanks Theresa for all the years of loving support and kindness. I will be your bellhop in heaven!

Today I gave a sandwich to a homeless man. His eyes thanked me a MILLION times over. I honestly wept in my car as I drove away. How often I do not see the hungry, the homeless, the naked and those in prison. God forgive me – and God give me the vision to do so tomorrow!

Peace and Good in the Risen One: Jesus the Lord! +++

Tom