Back to Miami

I had a wonderful summer! I shall be telling you all about it, I think, for several blogs. First, the meeting of Religious of the Sacred Heart in higher education at the University of San Diego was a joyful gathering and a great exchange of ideas and plans to connect with other RSCJs in other countries to share research, publications, and educational developments. We found that we hardly know what we are doing here in the different Universities where we work; we want to know what we are doing also on an international level. The University of San Diego is beautiful and we still have a community in Founders Hall and several of our nuns are on the faculty there.
After the meeting, I had a lovely two days at Oakwood with all my friends. I then was driven down to the retreat house, Villa Maria del Mar, in Santa Cruz by two of our nuns. I stayed there from July 15-August 15. It is run by the Sisters of the Holy Names and is a place where I feel God's presence in a special way. I have been going out there for about eighteen years for my retreats. The month of prayer this year was special and I will be telling you more about it but will just give an overview of my summer today.
Just looking at the ocean is prayer for me and I love it even when it is foggy (most mornings were foggy and cloudy with the sun coming out around noon).
I came out of retreat at Mass on August 15th and then two more of my RSCJ friends came down and picked me up; one of them was celebrating her golden jubilee at an afternoon liturgy and wanted me to be present for it. I was glad to be there and take part in her ceremony. I stayed with her community in Redwood City and we drove up to Davis on Saturday to see one of my friends from Miami who has moved there. That was a good visit. On Sunday we drove to Novato to see a friend from St. Louis that I have known for over 60 years. She had one of my classmates come visit at the same time and took us all to the Country Club for lunch. The visit was too short, but we had to be back at Redwood City as school was beginning for the teachers the next day. I had some more time to visit our older religious at Oakwood and came home Wednesday night.
Two of my community picked me up at the airport and before we were really out it, the car just stopped. Well, we got out and sent the other cars around us and we waited for AAA to come tow us. It was quite an adventure as other cars kept stopping to talk and some to ask directions since the three of us were just standing there. After the tow truck arrived, we all squeezed into the cab of the truck with the driver and he brought us home!
It was a great summer, but I am very happy to be home now and will be at the University almost everyday next week to catch up. I will be back doing my daily blog and hope my retreat reflections will be helpful for all my dear readers.