Christine A. Gerety, Ph.D., Director of Spiritual Care & Engagement:  | (310) 566-1531

Welcome to the Spirituality Center at St. Monica Catholic Community! We are glad you are here with us. The Center opened in August of 2021 through the vision and leadership of the late Fr Dave Ayotte. The Center exists to provide opportunities for individuals to deepen their relationship with Christ through a variety of experiences based on Catholic spirituality.

       Discover New Ways to Deepen Your Relationship with Christ

        Important Dates:

                           ♦  Monthly Spiritual Direction: Currently Accepting Applications

                           ♦ Spiritual Chats: Available upon request, please email

                           ♦ Spiritual Exercises in Everday Life (SEEL): 2026-27 Applications OPEN!!

                           ♦ Giving The Exercises (GTE) 2026: Application Period has concluded. Back in 2028!                                                                                      

Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life [SEEL] Program - Applications Open!

The Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life retreat is a powerful opportunity to grow in your relationship with Christ using one of the most noted spiritual formation programs in the history of the Catholic Church. It's an 9-month experience of deepening your prayer life, being accompanied by a spiritual guide and connecting with others.

To learn more about SEEL or apply, click HERE

Applications are due by Friday, July 31 

Healing Your Soul

Healing Your Soul Spring 2026 Series:

Mind, Body & Soul

Are you seeking something new for yourself?

As we move through Spring, Healing Your Soul continues with the series, Mind, Body & Soul—an invitation to tend to the whole person. This series offers a space to explore how emotional well-being, psychological insight, and spiritual growth belong together. Healing Your Soul is where your psychology and spirituality meet, integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS) psychology with contemplative spirituality in a way that is practical, grounded, and deeply human.

This series may be especially meaningful if you are:

• Desiring greater wholeness in mind, body, and spirit
• Curious about the connection between emotional health and spiritual life
• Seeking healing, self-understanding, or interior freedom
• Interested in psychology presented through a faith-informed lens
• Looking for a welcoming community—no prior experience required

Each gathering includes teaching, guided meditation, and time for personal reflection. All are welcome as we begin the New Year with intention and hope.

Monthly Gatherings | Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Spirituality Center Chapel
June 10

This month, we turn to the next practice from Somatic Internal Family Systems—Mindful Movement. We often seek God through words, thoughts, and prayer. Yet Scripture reminds us that we are not souls who happen to have bodies—we are embodied beings, created by God and called to encounter Him with our whole selves. Mindful movement invites us to move beyond simply noticing the body toward engaging it as an active participant in healing and transformation.

When we experience stress, emotional wounds, or protective patterns, the natural flow of energy within us can become restricted.

Through gentle, intentional movement, we can begin to restore that flow, creating greater freedom, vitality, and connection within ourselves. Integrating insights from IFS with contemplative Christian spirituality, this gathering will explore how movement can help us become more present to God, more compassionate toward ourselves, and more open to the healing work of grace in mind, body, and spirit.

What to Expect

Our evening will include:

• A brief presentation on mindful movement
• Guided experiential exercises
• Time for reflection and optional sharing 

As always, the focus is practical, grounded, and accessible—no prior experience needed.

Register HERE

 Questions? Contact Christine at  or 310-566-1531  

What People Are Saying About Healing Your Soul

I have been attending Dr. DiPaolo’s ‘Healing Your Soul’ for the past year and love the sessions. Each time, I come away with a renewed sense of grace that provides me with a set of tools for my day-to-day. Whether there is a specific theme or a reading, I enjoy the connection and fellowship Dr. DiPaolo facilitates.
Keith T.

Dr. DiPaolo creates a space of love, clarity and community. This environment is a safe space for every part of us to be seen and heard. Healing happens in the quiet moments of prayer, reflection, and meditation. It’s in this space that the soul can illuminate and remind us of who we truly are. Your saddened parts feel held, and God does the healing.

Healing Your Soul is exactly that – Healing Your Soul. It may not happen all at once, but if you are willing, open and consistent, no matter what stage of life you’re in, God will hold your hand as you peel back the different layers of yourself. Megan D.

Dr. Michael DiPaolo and the Healing Your Soul program have helped me to grow emotionally and spiritually and gain a better understanding of the many parts of me. These gatherings have provided a space to develop tools to manage difficult and sometimes challenging life circumstances and have led to the healing of some difficult relationships. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have had to connect with this program and the small

group format, and I look forward to continuing to grow in knowledge of my core self (Imago Dei).
Lynn K.

Video: After the Wildfires: Finding Healing & Relief Together

After the Wildfires: Finding Healing & Relief Together

Click the Livestream Archive below:

In the wake of the wildfires, many of us are carrying grief, stress, and uncertainty. Whether you’ve been directly affected or are feeling the weight of our community’s loss, you are not alone. We hope this video will provide you with support and renewal.  Our team of parish experts shared insights on coping with stress, fostering resilience, and embracing faith in the healing process. Through prayer, brief presentations, guided exercises, and heartfelt conversations, we offered ways to find comfort, strength, and hope.

Facilitated by:

Michael DiPaolo, Ph.D.

Christine Gerety, Ph.D.

John Osborne, M.Div.

Michael DiPaolo is a clinical psychologist & certified Imago Relationship Therapist in private practice in West Los Angeles.  Dr DiPaolo integrates psychology and spirituality into his work with individuals and couples.  He has been active in many ministries as a St. Monica member for over 25 years, including  counseling over 1,500 couples in marriage preparation.  Dr. DiPaolo is a frequent speaker, workshop presenter and retreat leader at parish and archdiocesan gatherings.  Dr. DiPaolo has been married to his wife Jennie for over 25 years. They have 3 wonderful children, along with a hyperactive dog. He can be found online at www.DrMichaelD.com.

Christine Gerety is the Director of Spiritual Care & Engagement at St. Monica Catholic Community.  At St. Monica, she enjoys collaborating with parishioners of all ages in pastoral care, spiritual direction and parish engagement ministries and programs. Her activities include facilitating Bereavement Groups, training Bereavement Ministers, working with Stephen Ministers, conducting retreats and leading the parish’s Spirituality Center.

John Osborne has been teaching meditation and breath work to faith-based groups for the last 45 years and was formerly a Trappist monk at Saint Joseph’s Abbey. He is a graduate of Hamilton College and Yale Divinity School. 

Levanté with Fr. Michael Fish, OSB, Cam.

Levanté 4 Is Now Available!!

St. Monica is so excited to offer our community opportunity to find out more about Fr. Michael Fish's Levanté Retreats! Fr. Michael, a retreat master and beloved speaker at St. Monica, has created an innovative video retreat series that can be done at home, inspired by his most recent pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. 

Winter 2026

Online HERE

• More about Levanté

   

  Levanté focuses on how simple everyday events hold valuable lessons for living life in the “now.” Retreatants will learn how viewing each day as a separate, distinct experience can reveal simple, easily overlooked opportunities for us to live more fully in the present and in the presence of the Divine. And Michael's remarkable gift of storytelling and metaphor to show us how these experiences can hold the key to opening our hearts!

   

  Currently there are three Levanté Retreats. Both are stand-alone retreats that include five unique sections, each focusing on a different "day." You can do the Levanté Retreats in any order (e.g., you can do Levanté 2 before Levanté 1, or Levanté 3 before Levanté 1). 

   

  To register for a Levanté Retreat or to get more information,

• visit the Levanté website 
  
  

  From the Levanté website:

   

  Fr.Michael Fish, OSB. CAM, is a Camaldolese monk who has created over a dozen popular retreats and has decades of experience as a retreat master and spiritual guide. Michael’s popular retreats are unique, engaging inspirational experiences. He has a gift forintuiting the complexities and distractions that impinge on our ability to call on our own spirituality for comfort and contemplation. Michael has an engaging personality, freely displaying his own vulnerabilities and foibles. His past retreats have explored such topics as Contemplative ways of being, Finding our inner monk,Thomas Merton – Hermit Pilgrim, preparing for Holy Week and Celtic spiritually.

 

 

Christine A. Gerety, Ph.D., Director of Spiritual Care & Engagement:  | (310) 566-1531

Welcome to the Spirituality Center at St. Monica Catholic Community! We are glad you are here with us. The Center opened in August of 2021 through the vision and leadership of the late Fr Dave Ayotte. The Center exists to provide opportunities for individuals to deepen their relationship with Christ through a variety of experiences based on Catholic spirituality.

 

       Discover New Ways to Deepen Your Relationship with Christ

 

            

               

 

        Important Dates:

                           ♦  Monthly Spiritual Direction: Currently Accepting Applications

                           ♦ Spiritual Chats: Available upon request, please email

                           ♦ Spiritual Exercises in Everday Life (SEEL): 2026-27 Applications OPEN!!

                           ♦ Giving The Exercises (GTE) 2026: Application Period has concluded. Back in 2028!                                                                                      

Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life [SEEL] Program - Applications Open!

The Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life retreat is a powerful opportunity to grow in your relationship with Christ using one of the most noted spiritual formation programs in the history of the Catholic Church. It's an 9-month experience of deepening your prayer life, being accompanied by a spiritual guide and connecting with others.

 

To learn more about SEEL or apply, click HERE

Applications are due by Friday, July 31 

 

 

Healing Your Soul

  

 

Healing Your Soul Spring 2026 Series:

Mind, Body & Soul

 

Are you seeking something new for yourself?

 

As we move through Spring, Healing Your Soul continues with the series, Mind, Body & Soul—an invitation to tend to the whole person. This series offers a space to explore how emotional well-being, psychological insight, and spiritual growth belong together. Healing Your Soul is where your psychology and spirituality meet, integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS) psychology with contemplative spirituality in a way that is practical, grounded, and deeply human.

This series may be especially meaningful if you are:

• Desiring greater wholeness in mind, body, and spirit
• Curious about the connection between emotional health and spiritual life
• Seeking healing, self-understanding, or interior freedom
• Interested in psychology presented through a faith-informed lens
• Looking for a welcoming community—no prior experience required

Each gathering includes teaching, guided meditation, and time for personal reflection. All are welcome as we begin the New Year with intention and hope.

 

 

Monthly Gatherings | Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Spirituality Center Chapel
June 10

This month, we turn to the next practice from Somatic Internal Family Systems—Mindful Movement. We often seek God through words, thoughts, and prayer. Yet Scripture reminds us that we are not souls who happen to have bodies—we are embodied beings, created by God and called to encounter Him with our whole selves. Mindful movement invites us to move beyond simply noticing the body toward engaging it as an active participant in healing and transformation.

When we experience stress, emotional wounds, or protective patterns, the natural flow of energy within us can become restricted.

 

Through gentle, intentional movement, we can begin to restore that flow, creating greater freedom, vitality, and connection within ourselves. Integrating insights from IFS with contemplative Christian spirituality, this gathering will explore how movement can help us become more present to God, more compassionate toward ourselves, and more open to the healing work of grace in mind, body, and spirit.

 

 

What to Expect

Our evening will include:

• A brief presentation on mindful movement
• Guided experiential exercises
• Time for reflection and optional sharing 

As always, the focus is practical, grounded, and accessible—no prior experience needed.

 

Register HERE

 

 Questions? Contact Christine at  or 310-566-1531  

 

 

What People Are Saying About Healing Your Soul

 

I have been attending Dr. DiPaolo’s ‘Healing Your Soul’ for the past year and love the sessions. Each time, I come away with a renewed sense of grace that provides me with a set of tools for my day-to-day. Whether there is a specific theme or a reading, I enjoy the connection and fellowship Dr. DiPaolo facilitates.
Keith T.

 

Dr. DiPaolo creates a space of love, clarity and community. This environment is a safe space for every part of us to be seen and heard. Healing happens in the quiet moments of prayer, reflection, and meditation. It’s in this space that the soul can illuminate and remind us of who we truly are. Your saddened parts feel held, and God does the healing.

Healing Your Soul is exactly that – Healing Your Soul. It may not happen all at once, but if you are willing, open and consistent, no matter what stage of life you’re in, God will hold your hand as you peel back the different layers of yourself. Megan D.

 

Dr. Michael DiPaolo and the Healing Your Soul program have helped me to grow emotionally and spiritually and gain a better understanding of the many parts of me. These gatherings have provided a space to develop tools to manage difficult and sometimes challenging life circumstances and have led to the healing of some difficult relationships. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have had to connect with this program and the small

group format, and I look forward to continuing to grow in knowledge of my core self (Imago Dei).
Lynn K.

 

 

Video: After the Wildfires: Finding Healing & Relief Together

After the Wildfires: Finding Healing & Relief Together

 

Click the Livestream Archive below:

In the wake of the wildfires, many of us are carrying grief, stress, and uncertainty. Whether you’ve been directly affected or are feeling the weight of our community’s loss, you are not alone. We hope this video will provide you with support and renewal.  Our team of parish experts shared insights on coping with stress, fostering resilience, and embracing faith in the healing process. Through prayer, brief presentations, guided exercises, and heartfelt conversations, we offered ways to find comfort, strength, and hope.

 

Facilitated by:

Michael DiPaolo, Ph.D.

Christine Gerety, Ph.D.

John Osborne, M.Div.

 

Michael DiPaolo is a clinical psychologist & certified Imago Relationship Therapist in private practice in West Los Angeles.  Dr DiPaolo integrates psychology and spirituality into his work with individuals and couples.  He has been active in many ministries as a St. Monica member for over 25 years, including  counseling over 1,500 couples in marriage preparation.  Dr. DiPaolo is a frequent speaker, workshop presenter and retreat leader at parish and archdiocesan gatherings.  Dr. DiPaolo has been married to his wife Jennie for over 25 years. They have 3 wonderful children, along with a hyperactive dog. He can be found online at www.DrMichaelD.com.

 

Christine Gerety is the Director of Spiritual Care & Engagement at St. Monica Catholic Community.  At St. Monica, she enjoys collaborating with parishioners of all ages in pastoral care, spiritual direction and parish engagement ministries and programs. Her activities include facilitating Bereavement Groups, training Bereavement Ministers, working with Stephen Ministers, conducting retreats and leading the parish’s Spirituality Center.

 

John Osborne has been teaching meditation and breath work to faith-based groups for the last 45 years and was formerly a Trappist monk at Saint Joseph’s Abbey. He is a graduate of Hamilton College and Yale Divinity School. 

 

 

Levanté with Fr. Michael Fish, OSB, Cam.

Levanté 4 Is Now Available!!

St. Monica is so excited to offer our community opportunity to find out more about Fr. Michael Fish's Levanté Retreats! Fr. Michael, a retreat master and beloved speaker at St. Monica, has created an innovative video retreat series that can be done at home, inspired by his most recent pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. 

 

Winter 2026

Online HERE

• More about Levanté

   

  Levanté focuses on how simple everyday events hold valuable lessons for living life in the “now.” Retreatants will learn how viewing each day as a separate, distinct experience can reveal simple, easily overlooked opportunities for us to live more fully in the present and in the presence of the Divine. And Michael's remarkable gift of storytelling and metaphor to show us how these experiences can hold the key to opening our hearts!

   

  Currently there are three Levanté Retreats. Both are stand-alone retreats that include five unique sections, each focusing on a different "day." You can do the Levanté Retreats in any order (e.g., you can do Levanté 2 before Levanté 1, or Levanté 3 before Levanté 1). 

   

  To register for a Levanté Retreat or to get more information,

• visit the Levanté website 
  
  

  From the Levanté website:

   

  Fr.Michael Fish, OSB. CAM, is a Camaldolese monk who has created over a dozen popular retreats and has decades of experience as a retreat master and spiritual guide. Michael’s popular retreats are unique, engaging inspirational experiences. He has a gift forintuiting the complexities and distractions that impinge on our ability to call on our own spirituality for comfort and contemplation. Michael has an engaging personality, freely displaying his own vulnerabilities and foibles. His past retreats have explored such topics as Contemplative ways of being, Finding our inner monk,Thomas Merton – Hermit Pilgrim, preparing for Holy Week and Celtic spiritually.

 

Programs & Resources

• Spiritual Chats
• Retreats
• Ignatian Resources
• Speakers

Click Here to Support the Work of the Spirituality Center.