Sacrofano - Community on Retreat

The whole community of Gesù Maestro (or at least 40 of us) left the university campus this morning and headed out to the country, about 30 minutes away, to a retreat center called Fraterna Domus. This is located in Sacrofano.

The timetable was easy-going. We left the UPS at 8.15 and arrived at the Fraterna Domus at 9.00 or so. Each of us had a room with bed and shower, but the grounds are stupendous. It is more like a national park than a retreat center. At 9.15 we had Lauds and the introductory talk of the retreat day, offered by Jesús Manuel Garcia. The theme was "Hope", which is the theme of Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical issued yesterday (and each of us received a copy).

The rest of the day was given to quiet and reflection, although there was the opportunity to join in a group discussion before dinner, which was at 13.00.

Dinner was festive. I found it to be an opportunity to share with some of the professors whom I do not really know, since we all work in different faculties. It was a lot of fun and very interesting to hear of people's projects and perspectives. After dinner, after we paused for a group photo, D. Giorgio Zevini, dean of the theology faculty, cornered me (again) to invite me to say good-bye to Berkeley and come to Rome definitively. The proposal is very interesting, and I see the need in the congregation for teachers of the Salesian spirit and spirituality is great. But is this the path for me?

This all needs reflection (or else I am just putting off a decision).

With those thoughts churning around in my head, I spent the afternoon reflection period walking through the forests of the Fraterna Domus. The afternoon went quickly then, with Mass at 16.00 and the return to the UPS at 17.00. Of course, we hit a lot of traffic on the way home, and what took 30 minutes in the morning, took 90 minutes for the return. All and all, a very wonderful day in the country, with time for prayer and community building… good food and challenging invitations.