A Heart Like Yours Retreat, at Loyola Jesuit Center
by Sindy Collazo
Recently, more than forty participants from communities in New Jersey, Long Island, Brooklyn, and the Bronx gathered at the Loyola Jesuit Center to take part in the retreat “A Heart Like Yours.”
During this grace-filled weekend of prayer and encounter, participants were invited to contemplate the love of Christ through the spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, allowing themselves to be inwardly formed by that heart which loves, consoles, calls, and sends.
Rooted in its Ignatian identity, the retreat offered a space to listen more attentively to God’s voice in daily life, to recognize the movements of the heart, and to grow in a freer and more generous response to God’s love. Through moments of silence, personal prayer, communal reflection, and liturgical celebration, participants were accompanied more deeply into the central experience of the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola: to know Christ more intimately, so as to love him more deeply and follow him more closely.
As part of the weekend’s spiritual experience, participants also enjoyed songs from an album dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, inspired by Dilexit Nos, the encyclical of Pope Francis. The music accompanied the different moments of prayer and reflection, helping participants interiorize the invitation to contemplate the human and divine love of the heart of Christ.
Rosmery Marera, Alicia Ángeles, together with Father Rocco Danzi, collaborated generously in the spiritual accompaniment of the retreat, sharing their gifts and helping to create an atmosphere of welcome, prayer, and fraternity.
On Sunday, Father Rocco Danzi presided over the closing Eucharist, a particularly meaningful moment that gathered many of the graces received throughout the weekend. Within the celebration, special blessings were offered to couples celebrating wedding anniversaries and to couples giving thanks for the blessing of their pregnancies. As a tangible sign of the shared experience, each participant received a Sacred Heart of Jesus medal as a remembrance of the retreat.
We express our sincere gratitude to the dedicated staff of the Loyola Jesuit Center for their warm hospitality and for the care extended throughout the entire weekend.
For many, “A Heart Like Yours” became an invitation to return to the heart of the Gospel: to allow ourselves to be loved by Christ so that, little by little, we may learn to love with his very own heart.
