Event Details
Protected: Embracing God’s Gift of Hope – A Weekend Parish Retreat
About the Event
“Hope Does Not Disappoint” (Romans 5:5)
RETREAT OVERVIEW
In the spirit of the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025, our retreat embraces Pope Francis’s theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” As the Holy Father reminded us, “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). This weekend experience will explore the profound theological gift of Hope that sustains our journey of faith, distinguishing between secular optimism and the Christian virtue of Hope.
Pope Francis declared 2025 the Jubilee Year—a special time of grace, reconciliation, and renewal. Our retreat aligns with this vision, offering participants an opportunity to deepen their understanding of hope as “a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as ‘our hope'”.
Join us for a transformative weekend filled with prayer, community, and spiritual renewal as we explore what it means to be “Pilgrims of Hope” in today’s world.
RETREAT TEAM
- Dr. Michael Cunningham, OFS – Lead Facilitator and Conference Speaker
- Kiona Medina – Guest Speaker on Hope and Social Justice
- Margaret Riley – Retreat Team leader, Spiritual Director and Prayer Leader
- TBD – Music Ministry
- Fr. Leo Edgerly – Celebrant and Homilist
- Spiritual Directors – San Damiano Retreat Team
FRANCISCAN APPROACH TO RETREAT OFFERINGS
In the Spirit of St. Francis: All Are Welcome
In keeping with our Franciscan tradition of hospitality and inclusion, San Damiano Retreat Center operates on a donation model that ensures no one is turned away due to financial constraints. While the suggested donation for this retreat experience is $350 per person (which covers accommodations, meals, and program materials), we invite participants to contribute according to their means.
St. Francis embraced Lady Poverty and believed in God’s abundant provision for all needs. Following his example, we trust in the generosity of those who can give more to support those who must give less. This approach creates a community of mutual support that embodies the hope we seek to cultivate during our retreat.
For those wishing to help make this retreat available to others with financial limitations, additional donations can be made at sandamiano.org/donate. Your generosity enables us to continue offering spiritual nourishment to all who hunger for hope, regardless of their financial circumstances.
To discuss confidential financial arrangements, please contact our retreat office at (925) 837-9141.
SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE RETREAT
THE NOVENA FOR HOPE
Throughout the weekend, we’ll journey through elements of the “Novena for Hope”—a nine-day prayer sequence that explores different dimensions of hope in our spiritual lives. Each prayer session will highlight a different aspect of hope, from “Moving Closer” to “All Will Be Well,” offering participants a comprehensive spiritual framework for understanding and embracing this theological virtue.
JUBILEE YEAR PREPARATION
Our retreat serves as a special preparation for the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025, which Pope Francis has proclaimed under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” As the Holy Father will open the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024, we prepare our hearts to be pilgrims of hope in our own communities. The retreat will explain the spiritual significance of the Jubilee tradition and how participants can embrace its graces both locally and, for those able, through pilgrimage to Rome.
PRAYER SERVICE EXPERIENCES
Saturday evening’s special prayer service will include symbolic rituals that represent hope’s transformative power:
- A seed-planting ritual symbolizing how hope grows even in darkness
- A smooth stone meditation representing how we are shaped over time by God’s patient hand
- A special reconciliation service reflecting the Jubilee’s emphasis on forgiveness and mercy
CONNECTION TO THE JUBILEE YEAR
The Jubilee Bull “Spes Non Confundit” emphasizes that “During the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind”. Our retreat will explore practical ways to live this call in our daily lives, communities, and parishes.
As we prepare for this special year of grace, we’ll discuss how the Jubilee tradition invites us to:
- Experience God’s mercy through the sacrament of reconciliation
- Become instruments of forgiveness and peace
- Engage in pilgrimage (both physical and spiritual)
- Show special care for those experiencing hardship
MUSICAL SELECTIONS
Our retreat will be enhanced by carefully selected music from artists like:
- Lauren Daigle (“You Say”)
- Matthew West (“Truth Be Told”)
- Tom Booth (“Here I Am”)
- Liam Lawton (“Into the Quiet”)
- Chris Rice (“How Great Thou Art”)
“Hope is a confident expectation of God’s action in our world and those around us. We can be confident of his operation, and more of that operation will occur if we don’t try and over-direct outcomes.” ~ Joachim Rego, C.P.
In the words of Pope Francis, may this retreat help us to “become singers of hope in a world marked by too much despair. By our actions, our words, the decisions we make each day, our patient efforts to sow seeds of beauty and kindness wherever we find ourselves, we want to sing of hope, so that its melody can touch the heartstrings of humanity”.
Register today to secure your place on this journey of spiritual renewal and hope!
About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Michael Cunningham, OFS
Dr. Michael Cunningham, OFS, completed his MA in Ministry at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, MA, and his Doctorate in Ministry at Catholic University in Washington, DC. He is the Executive Director of San Damiano Retreat in Danville, CA. Michael is married with four children and eleven grandchildren and is an avid writer, retreat facilitator, photographer and motorcyclist. His expertise in retreats, spiritual direction and development of the “Novena for Hope” will guide and inform our retreat experience.
Kiona Medina is the current Coordinator for Respect Life and Social Justice ministries at the Diocese of Oakland. She is a Colombian-born and Bay Area raised community organizer, interdisciplinary artist and mental health advocate. She holds an MA in Expressive Arts therapy and a deep love for Eucharistic justice that grants her a commitment to a whole person approach to discipleship and faith sharing. She focuses on trauma healing and weaving networks of solidarity as a means for being the hands and feet of Christ.
Margaret obtained a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from the Franciscan School of Theology, 2004, and became a certified Spiritual Director from the Mercy Center in Burlingame, 2008. She has been a full-time Pastoral Minister in the Diocese of Oakland since 1994 and is more than ecstatic to have joined the staff in ministering at San Damiano as Director of Programs and Outreach, and part time Spiritual Director. Margaret thoroughly enjoys hiking, traveling, movie group, making cards from photos she has taken, and her greatest joy is doting over her 21 nieces and nephews — and 27 great nieces and nephews.
