In this issue, 2011.1

»Happy New Year!
»A Familiar Face Returns to El Retiro
»Retreats Coming Up

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From the Executive Director

The Spirit Gets the Spirit’s Work Done

As 2010 reaches its end, I have laid down the mantle of office as Executive Director of El Retiro. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to spend these years of service, just shy of six, in Los Altos, just as I am grateful to move now into some months of sabbatical before taking up my next ministerial mission on behalf of the Society of Jesus.

These last few years at the Jesuit Retreat Center have been a creative time, a time marked by many changes, a time filled with blessings. I am especially glad that we were able to broaden the team of partners in our Ignatian ministry of the Spiritual Exercises. El Retiro’s Pierre Favre Program, now in its fifth year, has played a pivotal role in this growth. I am continually inspired by the generosity of the Favre participants—Jesuits, diocesan clergy, women and men both lay and religious—and by their love of the Exercises and their dedication to sharing this gift that has transformed their lives.

I am indebted to all of you friends of El Retiro whose support, so varied and so valuable, has sustained this retreat ministry from the start. I am confident that your commitment to and care for El Retiro will continue to grow in the years ahead, so that the hearts of countless people will ever find here the healing and encouragement and liberation into which our God invites them.

You will remain in my prayers, with profound gratitude.

Fr.Tom Carroll, S.J.

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Christmas Lights in the Courtyard

Happy New Year!

By Fr. Duc Vu, S.J.

Every year the same wish echoes in every corner of the world regardless of hunger and sickness, violence and injustice, hatred and division. Deep down in our human psyche we believe, hope, and trust that the apparent darkness surrounding us has no power over God's justice, compassion, and love.

We have just celebrated the coming of our Savior who takes on all the ugliness and beauty of humanity to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Humanity has seen God's power, glory, and righteousness manifest in a helpless, humble, and fragile child who had to be carried away into a foreign land to find safety as Herod attempted to search and destroy him. But God's salvific plan remains unimpeded. Our New Year greetings, sincerely given and received, come from the same hopefulness and optimism in God's promise and fidelity.

What the Jesuit Retreat Center is today, and what tremendous graces it has channeled to countless people who have come to it, result from the generous hearts of our numerous benefactors, the dedicated spirit of our pastoral staff, the whole-hearted collaboration of our lay and religious partners, and the committed labor of our administrative and support staff. To each and every one of them a heart-felt thank is rendered.

We do not just mouth the well-wishing words but must strive to make the New Year a happy one indeed for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. With Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, we go forth, entering the New Year with more generosity, dedication, and faithfulness.

St. Francis Hall nestled in the hillside trees.

A Familiar Face Returns to El Retiro

As we bid a grateful farewell to Fr. Tom Carroll for his years of dedicated service, we also extend a warm welcome to Fr. Bill Rewak. We wish Fr. Tom Carroll a restful and rejuvenating sabbatical. Fr. Bill Rewak is no stranger to JRC since he preceded Fr. Tom Carroll as its Executive Director. He had served as President of Santa Clara University and Springhill College before that. Besides being a veteran administrator, Fr. Bill Rewak also teaches and writes poetry. Currently assigned to Loyola Marymount University, he generously agreed to come to steer the ship at JRC while Fr. Jim Flynn, the Superior of the Jesuit Community, and Fr. Bill Kelley, the Provincal Assistant for Pastoral Ministries, will be working on a national search for a permanent Executive Director.

In this time of transition we all rely on each other's patience, dedication, and understanding. God is never outdone in generosity. So with prayer, hope and commitment we look forward to another year of grace-filled ministry at JRC.

Rossi Chapel with reds and greens of the season.

Retreats Coming Up

Till by Turning, Turning, We Come Round Right

We will offer a non-silent recovery retreat for women on the weekend of January 7-9.

Sr. Patricia Galli, R.S.M. and Sr. Stephanie Still, P.B.V.M., will be the retreat directors. They will be assisted by Ms. Mary Peterson, and Jesuit Fathers Kevin Ballard, Joe Fice, and Jack Mitchell.

We gather at the turning point into a new year, reflecting on how we use the turning points of our lives. We will call to mind the tools the Twelve Steps give us to assist as we approach the daily twists and turns that sobriety brings.

For more information or to register for this retreat, give us a call at 650-917-4000 or register online at We Stood at the Turning Point.

An Opening into Fullness of Life

On the weekend of January 14-16, we will offer a silent retreat for women.

Fr. Duc Vu, S.J. will be the retreat director.  His retreat, titled From Dead Ends to Infinite Horizons, will explore the contrast between human stories and God's narrative and will consider biblical characters who forfeit the infinite possibilities God offers. Fr. Vu will be assisted by Sr. Esther Ling, Daughters of Charity of Canossa and Jesuit Fathers George Collins, Joe Fice, and Jerry Hudson.

For more information or to register for this retreat, give us a call at 650-917-4000 or register online at From Dead Ends to Infinite Horizons.

Tilling the Soil of Our Hearts

We will offer a silent retreat for men on the weekend of January 28-30.

Fr. Kevin Ballard, S.J. and Ms. Randi Schmidt, of the Pierre Favre program at El Retiro, will be the retreat directors. They will offer us an array of Heavenly Tools for Earthly Tasks. Fr. Ballard and Ms. Schmidt will be assisted by Mr. Edwin Waite and Jesuit Fathers Bernie Bush and Jerry Hudson.

Our callings include many tasks, and, as this retreat will remind us, God has left us practical tools we might use in addressing each of them. We will examine together the spiritual "tool kit" laid before us by the Church, which provides skills that will help each of us to deal with the challenge of living, day by day, as Christ's disciples.

For more information or to register for this retreat, give us a call at 650-917-4000 or register online at Heavenly Tools for Earthly Tasks.

Cost of Discipleship

We will offer a silent retreat for men on the weekend of February 11-13.

Fr. Jim Flynn, S.J. and Mr. Edwin Waite, of the Pierre Favre program at El Retiro, will be the retreat directors.  Fr. Flynn and Mr. Waite will be assisted by by Sr. Esther Ling, f.d.c.c. (Daughters of Charity of Canossa), and Jesuit Fathers Kevin Ballard, Joe Fice, and Duc Vu.

God is constantly offering us familiar and easy friendship and an abundance of personal love that knows no bounds. He wants nothing less than your entire heart—and offers you His. Is Jesus the center of your life?

For more information or to register for this retreat, give us a call at 650-917-4000 or register online at Cost of Discipleship.

Lord, That I May See!

On the weekend of February 18-20, we will offer a silent arts retreat for men and women, with a focus on the visual.

Fr. Mark Torres, S.J. and Mr. Fabian Debora will be the retreat directors. They will be assisted by Sr. Ingrid Honoré-Lallande, C.S.J., Ms. Susan Votaw, and Jesuit Fathers Jim Flynn, and Duc Vu.

Art points, as John the Baptist did, toward the possibilities for our lives. We will consider how the Spirit enlivens us through art and how God's grace, truth and love transform and free us through all our creative encounters.

For more information or to register for this retreat, give us a call at 650-917-4000 or register online at Lord That I May See!

El Retiro’s 2010-2011 Season

The 2010-2011 retreat season calendar 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 another retreat soon!

Donate ONLINE to The Jesuit Reteat Center of Los Altos, and please remember the Jesuit Retreat Center in your will or estate planning.