San Alfonso Retreat House on the Jersey Shore
By Father Jim Wallace, C.Ss.R., Father Kevin O’Neil, C.Ss.R., and Father John McGowan, C.Ss.R. |
2015 marks the 90th year that we Redemptorists have been in retreat ministry at San Alfonso.
Our principal ministry here is preaching themed retreats, a new one for each year.
In 2013 we spoke of Living in Faith; in 2014 of Living in Hope. This year’s theme is Living in God’s Love. Retreatants are offered several conferences: Receiving the Gift of God’s Love, Sharing the Gift of God’s Love, Forgiving: An Invitation to Love, and a session of Love Stories, allowing for small-group sharing that witnesses to how God’s love has directly or indirectly touched the participants’ lives.
Retreats also include daily celebration of the Eucharist, morning prayer, evening prayer, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the opportunity to celebrate the sacraments of the anointing of the sick and reconciliation, and optional devotional exercises (the rosary and Stations of the Cross).
There are 16 such thematic retreats for women, six for men, and one for married couples in August. These retreats are given by our preaching team, which includes Redemptorists Father John McGowan, Father Kevin O’Neil, and Father James Wallace, and Sister Gerrie Muller, SSJ. We welcome Sister Gerrie to our staff. She takes over from Sister JoAnn Jones who left us at the end of 2015.
Also assisting in this ministry are Father John Connor, Father Dennis Foley, and Brother Bernie Colleran. When available, Father Bill Gaffney and Father Jim Gilmour also assist with confessions as do generous visiting confreres. We are especially happy to be adding Father John Collins to our team later this year.
Other weekend retreats include two charismatic retreats conducted by Father John Connor, C.Ss.R., and Matt Talbot retreats for women, men, and married couples, conducted by Father Gerry Chylko, C.Ss.R., and Sister Brunilda Ramos, MPF. Serenity retreats are provided for anyone whose life has been affected by addiction.
We also offer five week-long retreats for religious sisters during the summer, in addition to a shorter retreat for them and, as of this year, open to other women, during Holy Week.
This August one of these retreats will be preached by Father Gary Lauenstein, C.Ss.R., of the Denver Province and former novice master at the North American novitiate. His theme is Wisdom and Witness. Priests have three opportunities (June, September, and October) to make a three-day retreat with us during the year. A special retreat focusing on Our Mother of Perpetual Help will be offered for Redemptorists from May 4–8 by Brother Dan Korn, C.Ss.R., of the Denver Province.
The summer of 2015 brings new offerings to San Alfonso: a weekend retreat for the LGBT community (June 19–21), a weekend of hope and healing for combat veterans and active military personnel (June 2628), and a weeklong directed retreat (August 30–September 6). We will also offer our second national film retreat weekend from August 28-30.
This July San Alfonso will offer two summer institutes. The clergy institute for priests and deacons (July 5–10) will have Father John R. Donahue, SJ, speaking on the Gospel of Mark; Father John Cecero, SJ, speaking on issues of spiritual and psychological self-care and leadership; and Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, addressing the role of the Church in a big bang universe.
The pastoral institute, open to all (July 12-17), focuses on Tranformation in Christ and will have Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, speaking on the evolutionary vision of Teilhard de Chardin, Sister Kathleen Deignan, CND, speaking on the ecological vision of Thomas Berry, and Father Daniel Horan, OFM, speaking on the mystical vision of Thomas Merton.
These weeks provide an ideal opportunity for continuing education for us but also an extended period of time to spend with other Redemptorists here at San Alfonso.
For more information on our offerings, check our website: www.sanalfonsoretreats.org. We are on Facebook too: facebook.com/alfonsoretreats.
San Alfonso’s facilities are also used by various religious communities for their chapters and other meetings and by parishes and schools for retreats/weekends for DREs, staff, faculty, and youth.
Without compromising our mission of preaching retreats, we are looking for other ways to make greater use of the facility, since retreat revenue alone is not sufficient to support our ministry. We do want to express our appreciation to groups that have come here from our parishes: a bus from Boston for one of our women’s retreats, the RCIA groups from the Bronx and Brooklyn, and individual parishioners from Annapolis, Baltimore, Bethpage, New York, Philadelphia, and Saratoga.
It has been said, “Clean air makes it possible to breathe. Silence makes it possible to think.” On our part, we are making a greater effort to bring more silence into our retreat house in response to a growing number of requests. San Alfonso Retreat House is an ideal setting to think and meditate, ponder and pray, for those who wish to turn from a noisy world and enter into deeper communion with Jesus Christ. Our ocean “back yard,” our prayer garden, our chapel, and many places within the house contribute to the experience of San Alfonso as “holy ground.”
We are proud to continue offering retreats marked by the spirit of St. Alphonsus and his dedication to prayer and contemplation for the sake of ongoing conversion and growth in holiness. We ask you to encourage your parishioners, friends, and acquaintances to consider coming to San Alfonso for a retreat, either with a group or privately. We promise you our best efforts to greet them with warm hospitality and a spirit dedicated to ensure their having an experience of San Alfonso as “holy ground.”
Father Jim Wallace, C.Ss.R., Father Kevin O’Neil, C.Ss.R., and Father John McGowan, C.Ss.R.