September 2025
Dear Friends,
It is decades ago. I am standing in the hallway of my first Jesuit retreat house ever. An eye level bulletin board is before me with fliers about The Spiritual Exercises, the 30-Day Retreat. I am fascinated. I want this experience (but for all the wrong reasons). Yet God uses this time and place to plant a seed.
Fast forward three or four decades. God and I have been walking together a while. This time God is calling and I have just journeyed through The Retreat in Everyday Life, the Spiritual Exercises spread out over the past 9 months. The Holy Spirit has moved, touching and changing my life. I recall saying that my faith at the beginning of this retreat was like a beautiful picture, but I now experienced it as a deep, rich tapestry. Special to me was Jesus desiring an individual, personal relationship with me. Traveling with others, I was gifted with new ways of praying, of sharing, of connecting with Scripture, and I now hear a call to serve in bringing about God’s Kingdom.
Cheryl Smith
2020-2021 Retreat in Everyday Life Retreatant