Dad's birthday and an imminent retreat.

Today is my Dad's birthday - happily he and my Mom are spending the day on vacation in Florida. Dad typically likes to keep the occasion low-key, so I hope he doesn't mind my mention of the date here. Happy birthday, Dad!

In other news, the novices of Loyola House head out tonight for a three-day silent retreat at Manresa. This is the same triduum retreat we have each year, and as in years past we'll be joined by the first-year novices from Jamaica. After the retreat, the Jamaicans will join us for Christmas and the bi-province formation conference in Barrington, Illinois before heading to Gloucester with the primi for their Long Retreat. This year's triduum will be directed by Jesuit Father Pat Fairbanks, who served until recently as director of pastoral ministry at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago and who also - as I only just discovered - has a blog. In addition to listening to Pat's presentations, during the retreat we'll have time to relax, pray and catch up on spiritual reading - I'll be bringing along The Pilgrim's Tale, a relatively new translation of a Russian devotional classic perhaps better known to English-speaking audiences as The Way of a Pilgrim. Expect some comments on the retreat, if not a full report, when I return to Loyola House on Thursday. AMDG.