View of the coast of California

Front of the house, The Spiritual Ministry Center

The chapel

Patricia Garcia de Quevedo once spoke thus: “We want to give life, and today we have to give it with feeling, with passion. This is what our world needs.” These words , together with the words of St Madeleine Sophie: “How few people permit themselves to be captivated by God, who so much deserves to be loved!” and again  “I would go to the ends of the earth to gain one soul for God; I would stop at nothing – one solitary soul is worth more than all our lives.”  seem to me to capture the meaning of what happens here at the Spiritual Minister Center in San Diego.

Here, in a small town house within walking distance of the majestic Pacific Ocean, people of diverse faiths and cultures seek to deepen their relationship with God, to learn to open their eyes and their ears in order to find and to respond to the Divine Presence in the myriad ways God makes God’s Self known to them in their daily lives.  Paul tells us that:  “There is only Christ: He is everything and He is in everything.” (Col 3:11)  This we may think we know, but the pace of life, the demands on us to produce, to act, to prove our worth, grab our attention and our energy. It is when we can stop, withdraw and attend to the inner heart, the inner being that the reality of these words takes over, that our hearts are open enough to return to God the love that God showers upon us every moment of our existence.

To attend, to see, to hear, and then to respond to God is not always easy. Thus there are on the staff at the Center, trained spiritual directors who have struggled through the journey themselves, who desire above all to allow God to speak in and through them, to assist God in convincing persons that they are loved with an everlasting Love, that they are Beloved Children of a compassionate God.

Five religious, inspired by the Love of the Heart of Jesus and the desire to make Him known, meet regularly with retreatants who come for one or two nights, or ten or thirty, as well as those who come for spiritual direction on a monthly basis. Chiefly we listen, perhaps make suggestions, offer programs, provide books and articles, whatever helps to open the mind and heart of the one seeking a deeper relationship with God. 

The location of the retreat house encourages quiet walks between the cliffs and the ocean along tide pools or on the sandy beach. Bike paths tempt the more athletic while numerous secluded spots draw others to sit in communion with the Creator God. The varied foliage of southern California, palms, coastal sage scrub, the hummingbirds, pelican, green parrots, the friendliness of the people, all contribute to a tranquil and peaceful mood in which the Incarnate Word can speak to the soul.

Throughout, the challenge remains for those of us who minister here, the challenge to sink deeper into the Heart of Jesus ourselves, to study His interior dispositions, to unite and conform ourselves to them, to surrender to His Love and His desire to draw all souls to Himself, to trust that it is indeed the Holy Spirit who speaks, who directs, who teaches.

This Center, founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart in 1987, is truly a place in which God resides, in which God can be felt, in which God enlightens the soul, lifts the heart and fills the being with peace, joy and love.

Visit Spiritual Ministry Center's web site.

The staff: Sis Flynn rscj, Mel Loomis SHCJ, Justine Lyons rscj, Anne Wente rscj, Jane O’Shaughnessy rscj