National Jesuit News » Retreat Centers

Jesuit Writes About Life as a Spiritual Director

NJN Editor — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:00:12 +0000

Jesuit Father John Murray says that when people ask him what it’s like to be a spiritual director, his answer is always the same. “Spiritual director is to be more a companion on the journey, than a person who has the answers to another’s concerns,” he writes in a reflection.

Fr. Murray writes that his life at Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, Mass., where he is director, is a “wild mixture of listening, companioning and managing a good size inn!”

“With our staff of Jesuits and guest directors, we listen and focus and shine some light into darkened hearts,” writes Murray.

He finds managing a retreat house is both a great challenge and a great joy.

“As I reflect on my years as a Jesuit; high school work, then principal, then socius and now as a retreat director, I marvel at how Jesus has become my true love and friend,” he writes.

Jesuit Says Retreat is a Way to Experience God’s Presence

NJN Editor — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:00:38 +0000

Going on a retreat is a way people can experience the presence of God, according to Jesuit Father Charles Moutenot, director of spiritual programs at Loyola Jesuit House of Retreats in Morristown, N.J.

“I see people come through those doors very, very tired. There’s a lot of noise in our world. They work very hard. They’re busy…I see them leave on Sunday rested,” Fr. Moutenot said. “Not simply rested as if they went to a spa and slept for a weekend. But really rested in the Lord.

“The second thing I see in people is that they are rejuvenated. They feel ready to go back to their jobs, their families, their churches and their ministries with a renewed vigor,” he said.

In the video below, Moutenot joins retreatants in explaining how a weekend retreat is an excellent way to come home to God.

Jesuit Says Retreat is a Way to Experience God's Presence

NJN Editor — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:00:38 +0000

“The second thing I see in people is that they are rejuvenated. They feel ready to go back to their jobs, their families, their churches and their ministries with a renewed vigor,” he said.

In the video below, Moutenot joins retreatants in explaining how a weekend retreat is an excellent way to come home to God.

Online Retreat Marks 30 Years of Jesuit Refugee Service

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:36:16 +0000

On Tuesday, Jesuit Father Michael Evans, executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, announced a special online retreat coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Jesuit Refugee Service’s founding on November 14th. In a press release highlighting the upcoming anniversary, JRS/USA is featuring the online retreat to reinforce the connection of Ignatian Spirituality with the plight of refugees and forced migrants.

“Each day of this online retreat will offer the opportunity to reflect prayerfully on the situation of refugees via the lens of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. By linking the Spiritual Exercises to the plight of refugees and vulnerable migrants, we believe that the retreat will provide an easy way for people to fuse spirituality and social justice into their daily life. During the next four weeks we invite you — day by day — into an experience of “prayerful storytelling” as we share with you the grace-filled stories of God’s powerful love for all of us.

As you progress through this retreat, God will direct you and touch your soul with love and challenge in a truly personal way. We trust that the graces of this retreat will renew us and transform us into the heart of Jesus, deepening our commitment to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people.”

For more information about the retreat, or for a direct link so you may participate in the online retreat, please visit: http://www.jrsusa.org/Retreat

Young Jesuits Hit the Road to Offer Mini Retreats in the Midwest

NJN Editor — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:52:05 +0000

The Apostleship of Prayer is offering a series of mini-retreats for young adults given across the Midwest by a team of six young Jesuits. The project is called “Hearts on Fire” and the focus of the retreats is to help young adults live their Christian faith in daily life. The Jesuits have adapted some elements of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in what they hope is a catchy, inspiring way.

The two days include Eucharistic adoration, confessions, talks, discussion groups, contemplation and even musical entertainment. They have completed two retreats already, in Milwaukee and Iowa City and July 9-10 they will be in Columbus, Ohio; July 16-17, in Chicago; and July 23-24, in Des Moines.

The six Jesuits leading the retreats are Father Chris Collins, Boston College; Father Phil Hurley, Apostleship of Prayer, Milwaukee; Mister Michael Rossmann, Loyola University, Chicago; Mister Joe Simmons, Loyola University, Chicago; Mister Michael Magree, St. Joseph’s Prep., Philadelphia; Mister Michael Wegenka, Fordham University/Oxford University.

For more information or to register for a retreat, visit the Apostleship of Prayer’s website. You can also learn more by watching the video trailer below.