This retreat is currently full. Please call 650-948-4491 to be added to our wait list.
Non-silent Recovery Retreat for Men and Women (retreat fee: $280, deposit: $100)
We will usher in the New Year in the company of women
and men in recovery and in a sacred space, giving thanks
for the practicality of our 12-Step way of life. Alcoholics,
Addicts, and family and friends are most welcome.
Fr. Thomas C. Weston, S.J., has been involved in 12-Step Programs since 1976. A former Director of the Jesuit Volunteers Corps and a teacher at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, he has degrees and experience in counseling, education and theology. He counsels, conducts workshops and seminars, and preaches retreats internationally and often. He lives and gardens in Oakland, California.
Assisting
Fr. Kevin Ballard, S.J., was born in San Francisco and raised in a traveling military family, joined the Society of Jesus in 1972 and was ordained in 1985. His ministry, mainly in parishes, has also included community organizing, high school teaching, and retreat work. Three years in Kathmandu, Nepal were a highlight and delight. His ongoing interest in Ignatian Spirituality has entailed directing the Spiritual Exercises in their various forms. Since 1981, the blessings of the 12 Steps have been key to life and work. Judaism has been an ongoing inspiration. He is blessed to live sober, one day at a time, since 1981. Kevin is recreated by languages, bird-watching and "staring into space!"
Fr. James Flynn, S.J. was born in 1942 in Los Angeles, CA and attended St. Charles Grammar
School in North Hollywood. After graduating from Bishop Garcia Diego
High School in Santa Barbara in 1960, he matriculated at Santa Clara
University. On September 8, 1961, he entered the Society of Jesus at
Los Gatos.
After the normal course of training at Los Gatos, Fr. Jim majored in
philosophy and English at Gonzaga University, graduating in 1967. He
taught at Loyola High School, Los Angeles from 1967-1970, and after
theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, he
graduated with an M.Div. in 1973. He was ordained a priest on June 15,
1973. That same year he completed a Master's Degree in English
at Loyola University, Los Angeles.
The next 12 years Fr. Jim worked in administration in Jesuit secondary
education: Assistant Principal for Academic Affairs at Loyola High School,
Los Angeles, Campus Minister (1967-81) and Principal (1981-85) at Jesuit High School, Sacramento. After a sabbatical year at the Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA, he pursued graduate studies at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA. His concentration was Ignatian Spirituality and American Jesuit Higher Education: how to maintain the Ignatian character of the institutions with fewer and fewer Jesuits. He graduated with a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1989. — more about Fr. Jim
Fr. Jim Hanley, S.J., Spiritual Director Emeritus. A native San Franciscan, Fr. Jim entered the Jesuit order in 1945 after graduation from Sacred Heart High School, San Francisco. Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1958, Fr. Jim served as a teacher of religion and a campus minister at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, San Francisco, and Loyola High School, Los Angeles. He served as president of St. Ignatius College Preparatory and as vice-provincial in charge of formation in the California Province.
Fr. Jim Hanley, S.J. who was on the Retreat Center staff for 25 years, will be helping on various retreats during the year. Fr. Jim now lives at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center at Los Gatos and works as a spiritual director for the priests of the Stockton Diocese.
Fr. Gerald F. Hudson, S.J. was, for many years, a mathematics teacher (at
Loyola High School, Loyola Marymount University, and St. Ignatius College
Preparatory). He has served several times as a director in the JRC 36-day
program. He joined the staff of the JRC in August of 2006 and has been
involved in retreats and spiritual direction.
Fr. Jack Mitchell, S.J. , currently the Minister of the Jesuit Community in Berkeley, entered the Society of Jesus in 1962 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1972. He has served as a teacher and administrator in Jesuit secondary schools in San Jose, New York, Phoenix, Nigeria and Los Angeles. He has a B.E.E. degree from Santa Clara University and an S.T.M. degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. In recent years he has found increasing opportunities to provide spiritual direction to people seeking to deepen their relationship with God.
Sister Stephanie Still, P.B.V.M., is a trained Spiritual Director with
a ten-year private practice in San Francisco. She was formally training
in the Spiritual Direction three-year training program at Mercy Retreat
Center in Burlingame. A Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (San Francisco) for nearly thirty years, Sister Stephanie has also
had ministry experience as a high school principal and teacher, in leadership
roles, and as a Communications officer for her Congregation. She is currently
the Vocation Director for the Sisters of the Presentation. Sister Stephanie
is a California native and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for
most of her life. As a Presentation Sister, she is committed to those
made poor and to the sustainability of all creation. She deeply believes
in the importance of contemplation and of developing an awareness of
the sacredness of life in order to be a balanced and intentional presence
in the world.
