El Retiro, Always on the Move
After more than 25 years caring for the gardens and forest
of El Retiro, Jose Amaral has retired. We will certainly
miss him and his generous and loving care for this property.
Jose’s dedication, over the years, has played a major
part in cultivating and sustaining here the beauty that
lifts our hearts to God. Daniel Ramos has just joined our
team, bringing long experience in landscaping and gardening,
and he looks forward to continuing Jose’s special
ministry.
Teresa Silveira has been on our kitchen staff for twenty
years now, and she has recently stepped into the new position
of Food Services Manager. With her assistant, Carmen Villareal,
Teresa has been inspiring new creativity among her staff.
Working with consultants Carlos and Juan Cordon of Taste
Nutrition Services, with Bill Barulich and Tyler Souther
of BiRite Foods, and with our other vendors, Teresa is
streamlining our operation and reducing our costs.
Many of our retreatants have encouraged us to choose a “Fair
Trade” coffee. We have just been able to make
the switch to Sara Lee as our coffee provider. The Sara
Lee coffees we have chosen are certified to have been produced
responsibly, with care for the environment and with just
recompense for the workers who grow and harvest the coffee.
Side benefits: the coffees are delicious, and we’ll
be saving about $3,000 a year.
Kathy Carroll and Bro. Tom Koller, S.J.,
at the Santa Clara Faith Formation Conference
Our marketing efforts take staff members on the road occasionally,
including to the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference
that gathers thousands annually in Anaheim for a celebration
of all things Catholic. The dioceses of the San Francisco
Bay Area offer their own annual Faith Formation Conference,
allowing us the opportunity to “get the word out” about
El Retiro’s ministry. Advisory Board member Loretta
Fennell, among those staffing our display table recently,
offered a special welcome to the Spanish-speaking.
El Retiro’s Pereira Hall, at dusk
Supporting our Ministries of Prayer and Service
We are grateful for the continuing contributions of a number
of foundations long loyal to El Retiro, even as many of them,
their investments not at their peak, have had to reduce their
contributions this year. We are grateful, as well, for the
occasional bequest that has come our way over the course of
the past year, helping us to meet our expenses more readily.
Individual gifts have sustained us, and we are glad to be
able to report an increase in the number of donors in recent
months. Responses to our invitation to join you in prayer
for your beloved dead during November were notably generous.
Even as the average gift was smaller than a year ago, so many
new donors joined the effort that this year’s offering
far exceeded last year’s.
We look ahead to another busy year of welcoming scores of
new and veteran retreatants to enjoy here a time of peace
and tranquility and to encounter here in prayer the goal of
all their desiring, Jesus Christ. These retreatants share
our gratitude to all whose thoughtful gifts, over the decades
and continuing even now, have built up and sustained this
service to the Church.
We have just sent out our 2009 Annual Appeal, inviting once
again your partnership in El Retiro’s long tradition
of giving the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.
We are counting on your keeping us in mind, once again. We
are counting on your investing, once again, in this graced
ministry, so that many will find here the gift that God desires
to pour into their hearts.
St. Nicholas Church is visible at the upper left and El Retiro
at the upper right in this picture of more rustic times
in Los Altos, likely in the early 1950's.
Retreats Coming Up
Working the Program
The two 12-Step retreats scheduled in December are already
sold out. (Please visit our website for
the details.) You may call the Retreat Center, 650-948-4491
if you would like to add your name to either waiting list.
Jesus Christ Is Coming to Town
On Wednesday, December 9, the Retreat Centers offers our
annual Advent Day of Prayer. Sr.
Antonia Killian,
S.M., will join Jesuit Fathers Joe
Fice and Jerry
Hudson in a contemplative day that will help us all to enter more
fully into the spirit of Advent.
The day will include three presentations, time for private
prayer, opportunity for individual confession in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation, and celebration of the Eucharist. We’ll
also enjoy El Retiro’s cuisine in a continental breakfast
and a nourishing lunch.
For more information or to register for the day of prayer,
give us a call at 650-948-4491 or register on-line at Come,
Lord Jesus.
Wake, Awake, the Night Is Flying
The four-day retreat extending from Wednesday to Sunday,
December 16-20, will allow the participants time to enter
more fully into the prayerful silence of El Retiro and
into the Advent spirit of waiting in joyful expectation.
We will together prepare our hearts for a reverent and
grateful celebration of Christmas
Each retreatant will be directed individually by one of
our team members. While there will be no presentations,
we will share in the Eucharist each day and in other devotional
services. Dr.
Ruby Buffin and Ms.
Susan Votaw will join
the members of our Pastoral
Staff in offering direction.
For more information or to register for the day of prayer,
give us a call at 650-948-4491 or register on-line at Advent
Individually-Directed Retreat.
Healthy Start
On the weekend of January 8-10, Fr.
Jerry Hudson, S.J.,
and Sr.
Ingrid Honoré-Lallande, C.S.J. (Carondelet)
will offer a silent retreat, in the Ignatian tradition,
for women.
We will reflect together on the New Year, recognizing in
this time of beginning that we are all ever beginners.
As we enter into 2010, we take this opportunity to commit
ourselves anew to our lives of discipleship.
For more information or to register for the retreat, which
is open to women only, give us a call at 650-948-4491 or
register on-line at Where Do I Begin.
Our 2009-2010 Season
The calendar for
our 2009-2010 retreat season is posted on our website,
along with information on each of our retreats and on each
person working on our retreat teams. You’re invited
to stop by the website and
browse around—and to book in another retreat soon!
(You may also download our PDF version of the 2009
~ 2010 calendar.)
Donate
ONLINE to
The Jesuit Reteat Center of Los Altos, and please remember
the Jesuit Retreat Center in your will or estate planning.
Photo credit: Shane Reed, Stained glass window |
