Workshops

"The worth of knowledge is proportionate to the actions it produces: there is no better sermon than the practice of the virtues." St. Francis of Assisi (74. Legend of Perugia)

We offer workshops and resources that integrate Scripture, prayer, and Connect‑Talk® / Positive Christian Dialog (PCD) to strengthen the Domestic Church.

Overview

Portiuncula Oratory provides Jesus‑centered workshops and structured resources that can be replicated and expanded as local leaders become equipped. They embody practical tools for becoming His image, the mirror of Jesus Christ.

Answer this honestly: In your life’s design, are Jesus’s values primary?

In Bible, Love Letters From Your Father, Vol. 2, Letters of John, Romuald B. Simeone, co-founder emeritus of Portiuncula Oratory, offers an exegetical treatment of 1 John 2:3:

“The first requirement for every Christian Action Plan is to honestly establish one’s priorities so that they coincide with those of the Christ... Answer this honestly: In your life’s design, are Jesus’s values primary?

Precisely where do spiritual values rank in your life? Calibrate the place of Jesus and the world side by side, and then calibrate the relative strength each has in directing what you do. This procedure will reveal to you whether the things you most value are those which the Lord judges worth doing.”

First, which track do you fit into? Our two primary formation tracks are as follows:

Track 1: Married couples, engaged, and families

Formation supports marriage preparation, reconciliation, and flourishing across seasons of life.

Couples learn to experience prayer as shared relationship; Sacramental matrimony becomes shared encounter with Jesus, leading to ongoing conversion and growth in virtue.

Families are strengthened as living cells of the Domestic Church, capable of sustained unity and effective Christian witness.

Track 2: Priests, seminarians, discerners and religious in community

Particular attention is given to priests and religious living in community who experience relational isolation, conflict, or discouragement.

Formation focuses on fraternal communion, emotional maturity, relational safety, and positive Need fulfillment under a Franciscan rubric of servanthood and loving equality.

Participants learn practical tools to reduce reactivity in community and ministry and strengthen interpersonal connection.

#1: "Inner Healing & Relational Development through Connect-Talk® with Jesus Workshop"

This Workshop starts with Level 1, Basic:

Connect‑Talk® / Positive Christian Dialog (PCD)

Level 2: Intermediate & Level 3: Advanced, follow suit for those wishing to pursue the complete course. To properly understand the teaching, the full course is vital.

12 Core Skills & Objectives:

Eliminate negativity by unlearning the “Terrible Ten”
Create relational safety by balancing your assertive and soft sides
Understand P.A.L.L.I.D — T.R.A.P.S., an acronym for how we trigger each other and get stuck in prejudicial images
Understand and implement the attitudes of love
Learn to identify your coping modes and turn to healthier alternatives
Practice relational de‑escalation tools and become aware of how “schemas” distort perception, attribution of meaning and interpretation

Implement Inner dialog awareness skills with attitudes & method
Capture how to forgive and what reconciliation is and isn’t
Learn the simple 7-Step Process of Connect-Talk® with Jesus using the Scripture
Learn the ground rules for effective sharing
Come to understand what ongoing conversion and life in the Spirit requires with an in-depth understanding of the 7 capital sins and the development of replacement virtues
Move from role‑based relating into respectful equality of partnership versus domination and control

What makes this workshop distinctive

The school teaches, structures, and provides opportunity; participants then practice and carry it forward. These workshops are designed not as one-time events, but as the beginning of an ongoing practice meant to bear fruit in daily life and Christian community, and to be passed on to others as Christ-Connectors and dialoguers.

Why Dialogic Safety Matters

In today’s world, many people are afraid to be seen and heard—not because their fears are irrational, but because they have had many negative experiences in which they were contradicted, reacted to, given advice, commented on, negatively imaged, and then rejected.

This is why people often speak “in conclusions”: this self-defeating monolog is what disrupts connection and community.

The workshop is structured to overcome this pattern by creating an emotionally and spiritually safe Christian environment where participants can learn to listen with the heart, speak personally, and practice Positive Christian Dialog™ / Connect-Talk® in a way that fosters healing, friendship, and community.

Portiuncula Oratory is not designed as a traveling lecture program or a temporary parish event. We work organically, beginning with 40 workshop participants who then practice and carry it forward through ongoing dialogic Christian community.

Workshop Follow-Up: LectioDialog Communities

Organic Growth through Small Christian Dialogic Community

Our model is ancient, and it seeks to overcome the challenges in applying dialog by helping persons learn in the context of a praying and sharing fellowship, a small Christian "community" that is comitted to Connect-Talk® Dialog. This is offered for those who are excited about really getting into it and doing it right. No one corrects anyone else, but everyone shares their attempts, and we all grow by learning from each other. The meetings revolve around sharing Scripture and life experiences and efforts of implementing the Lord's Word in a positive dialogic manner. This involves ongoing personal growth and formation in the spiritual life. Each "community" is led by a trained leader who holds the group to the ground rules with the authority to use their role as necessary to move the group forward to "Putting Love First", 1 Cor. 14.1

Workshop participants are therefore invited to come ready not only to receive the workshop, but also to carry it forward afterward through a Scripture-based Lectio Dialog Community, using the skills and attitudes of Connect-Talk® / Positive Christian Dialog practice with at least one other person in a pre-planned manner. For married participants, this may take the form of a marital dyad. For others, it may take the form of a small group.

As part of registration, participants will be asked to identify the intended day, time, and start date of that follow-through practice or group, or even the couples Connect-Talk® Lectio Dialog ritual that they agree to and can count on occuring.

A distinctive feature of this formation is that it is oriented toward lived continuation, not simply attendance. To help support that transition, limited consultation or mentoring support may be offered after the workshop as participants begin establishing their follow-through practice or group.

Participants should also be prepared to give a brief follow-up report on their first "community" meeting, including how the group began, how the principles and goals were introduced, and how many people attended. The fruit of the effort is measured not chiefly by numbers, but by fidelity and perseverance.

# 2: "LectioDialog Workshop"

Learning to apply Connect-Talk® Dialog to praying the Scriptures in Lectio Divina. To participate in a Lectio Dialog Community, one must make Level One Workshop on "Inner Healing & Relational Development through Connect-Talk® with Jesus Workshop".

Our goal is to provide you with catechesis and lasting dialogic connection with Jesus through Lectio Divina on the Biblical Books of John. This workshop also equips you to learn how to share it with your spouse and loved ones!

How to participate in any of our workshops

Workshops and groups will be offered selectively and with appropriate screening for fit and readiness.

To receive announcements, join the interest list or contact us. If you are an organization, a formation program, etc., please email us to discuss enrolling a group of 40.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Scripture-based Lectio Dialog?

Scripture-based Lectio Dialog is a form of Lectio Divina that is intentionally dialog based. It differs from what is commonly practiced as Lectio Divina because it includes the dialog skills and attitudes of Connect-Talk® / Positive Christian Dialog.

How is it different from commonly practiced Lectio Divina?

Lectio Divina is not ordinarily taught with the inner and outer dialog attitudes and skills that we model and practice with participants. In shared group or couples settings, there are also not usually formal ground rules for sharing. Our structure creates a distinctive environment of emotional and spiritual safety and inner healing. It draws from principles refined over decades not only in workshop settings, but also with couples on the brink and with difficult couples who heal and reconcile as a result. It also allows for “come-through” attachment and friendship to develop. Although this is not psychotherapy, some of the same principles are used to help participants learn the model.

What is Connect-Talk® / Positive Christian Dialog?

It is a way of coming to identify one’s identity, develop a best-friend, healthy, and balanced relationship with self, and then move outward toward others. Specifically, this relationship involves learning how to treat others and yourself as equal human beings, not placing them into your own mold, or yourself into theirs; extracting the negatives that are common everyday dysfunctions that create bad or sick relationships; and learning how to replace these with positives that create understanding, a clear meeting of meanings, and a connection of caring and respect for each other as equal human beings. It helps one identify one’s Needs, communicate them clearly, learn how to deal with others who do not know how to dialog, and it forms you in this through awareness and modeling found in the Scriptures and in the example of Jesus and His disciples. In the process, you also become connected and/or grow in your relationship with Jesus. It helps you become formed in His image and develops you in virtue by the very practice of it. It also opens your eyes to a whole new level of awareness, and it requires you to learn to listen with an open heart to Jesus Himself, as well as to others. It is a process, a set of attitudes, values, and virtues, and it also involves a method that prompts your practice of this ongoing, developing, and challenging formation.

Is follow-through expected after the workshop?

Yes. Admission to the workshop requires that it be arranged in advance in terms of place, time, frequency, and with at least one other participant.

Is mentoring or limited consultation available afterward?

If this package is available at the time of your workshop, yes. You are required to pay the applicable registration fee for the type of package you purchase. The options will be listed for the different packages of sessions.

Who are the workshops for?

They are for seekers of Christ who wish to grow in Him, deepen their understanding of Jesus’ Gospel message, and learn how to listen and connect more fully with Him and with others. The workshops are designed for adults age 21 and older. No particular educational background is required. Prospective participants are screened before enrollment. At present, the workshops are offered only to those who are fluent in English.

Are there workshops specifically for priests?

Yes.

What are the fees?

Currently, we plan to offer the workshops at no charge to priests, and we are dependent upon your donations to help them. If you can donate, please see our “Support Us” page.

Once our team is set to begin, we will detail the fees for each workshop offering. Thank you for your patience.

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