Site Introduction

Hey everyone!

I'm absolutely exhausted right now, but excitement and joy are keeping me going! The anticipation has been so great that my two week orientation feels like it took two MONTHS. I've decided that for my year at Cabrini Retreat Center I am going to try at least once a week to update this blog, keeping you all abreast of what's going on with me.

Tonight is my first night in Des Plaines. We don't pronounce it the French way. It's a suburb Northwest of Chicago, and is a pretty diverse place from what I've gathered so far. My parish community is predominantly Filipino and there are a lot of Korean and other Southeast Asian folk around- Colleen and I are looking forward to exploring the community tomorrow and scopin' out the nearby restaurants even though we'll be livin' on a modest budget. It seemed to me that we passed "every kind of delicious" on the drive to the retreat center. But here I think I'll stop myself from a digression about food.

Me, Colleen, Kim, and Kathleen (the missioners) with Sr. Christine Marie at Cabrini College, Radnor PA for orientation. Also, there are two other missioners, Roxanne and Crystal who were with us in spirit during orientation. 

The retreat center is called Cabrini Retreat Center and is sponsored by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC), which is an order founded by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Mother Cabrini was a third order Franciscan until she established her own order. I still have a lot to learn about Sacred Heart spirituality, but from what I've gleaned of the Missionary Sisters so far, their spirituality seems very Ignatian; that is, they love the Spiritual Exercises and books by James Martin about the Jesuits and Jesuit spirituality. Only fitting, I suppose, as Mother Cabrini chose the names Frances Xavier for herself.   ... But I think I'll save an entry for Mother Cabrini another day. There is too much.

The Cabrini Retreat Center was built in 1956, originally as a place of rest for the sisters (MSCs). Today, it is the only retreat center in the Archdiocese of Chicago that welcomes high school students. As such, CRC hosts many Kairos retreats for young people, so I'm gonna be kept real busy! :D

Colleen and I live on the second floor of the old convent, which is quite literally attached to the retreat center. Guests can reserve my living room as a space for activities or meetings, and up the stairs is my home sweet home. Yes, this means that I can literally roll out of bed and down the stairs to work if I wanted, though I'm sure it would be uncomfortable. :D If I keep rolling, I eventually end up in our giant kitchen, our cafeteria, and then the breezeway that leads to our INDOOR POOL!!! ... awesome, innit?

"Bless you, my child."  - Sister G, keepin' us all in stitches during dinner. :D

So tonight I've basically picked my room, rearranged some furniture, unpacked, and modeled a replica of Mother Cabrini's habit for Colleen. Tomorrow the retreat center is empty, so the two of us plan to play marco polo and hide-and-go-seek in an effort to familiarize ourselves with the place a little more. The grounds are BEAUTIFUL and will definitely be explored soon, as well.

Colleen and I also met most of the staff today, whom I also intend to write about at length when I have time and energy to do them justice. The sisters and the staff here are BEAUTIFUL people and they're almost as excited to have us as we are to be here. We're going to get on so well! I am truly blessed.

Well, I'm goin' to bed.

Peace and Love,
Gina

Me modeling a replica of Mother Cabrini's habit.

Oh, also, please ask questions if you're curious or I'm not making myself clear! I love to talk about what excites me, anyways!

And stay tuned!!! SOOOOO many more pictures coming!