Retreat Director
Ms. Julie Paavola
"On a recent summer vacation, I was overwhelmed at the sheer beauty of nature: the powerful, graceful whales I saw, the breathtaking colors of the California coast. It seemed that each day my heart was moved by some new marvel I usually simply ignored. The time of retreat is a time when we open ourselves to experience wonder as we glimpse the unspeakable beauty of creation and of God. It is a doorway we walk through, which helps us become more aware of the astounding love God has for us. As we come to know God personally, intimately we delight more and more in God as the Source of all that is good and true and beautiful and learn to see ourselves as part of this goodness. Nothing else can give us the joy this brings or take it away".
Ms. Julie Paavola, Retreat Director
Julie Paavola is a published author, retreat leader and trained spiritual director. Her latest book is The Mother's Calling: Love in the Heart of the World (Paulist Press, 2011).
Ms. Paavola teaches spirituality at the Institute for Lay Ministry for the Diocese of San Jose ("Treasures Old and New: Exploring the Catholic Spiritual Tradition") and leads retreats and conferences on a variety of themes, such as Ignatian prayer and discernment, women's spirituality, peace and justice, stewardship and family life.
As a young woman, Julie was given the grace to live in a Carmelite monastery, that has been the foundation of her work. She later earned a BA in International Relations from Stanford (93) and MA in Religion in Society from the Graduate Theological Union (98). Julie is also a graduate of the three-year course on the Spiritual Excercises of St. Ignatius (Pierre Favre Course). She is bilingual and enjoys ministering to the Hispanic community, and served as Assistant Director of Religious Education for Hispanics in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Later she became the Minister to Community for a growing Hispanic community in North Carolina, where she also did community organizing, social justice education and outreach to the poor of Durham, NC. Julie makes her home in Northern California with her husband and two young children, Joseph and Daniel.
Retreats Ms. Paavola is assisting this season: