City of Bloomfield Hills: Manresa Jesuit Retreat house is located at exactly the Southeast corner of the City of Bloomfield Hills..

Every day a mind boggling number of motorists drive by Manresa. Many are heading North or South on Woodward Avenue. Others are travelling East or West on a cross street that , starts at Telegraph Road and ends at Lake St. Clair. Along the way it changes names from Quarton Road to Big Beaver, to Metro Parkway. 16 mile also works as a moniker. A more central location for a Manresa drive by, in the Metro area would be hard to find.

Cover Photograph by Paul Seibold.

Manresa Matters published bi-annually by the Manresa Publications Team. Editor Anne Smith.

Yet most passers by have little idea that behind the trees Manresa is there. A new and improved Manresa sign at the corner of Woodward and Quarton helps, but what Manresa is all about or even the significance of the name eludes most who go by.

Manresa is a town Spain about the size of Troy Michigan but almost a millennium older.

By itself Manresa doesn't mean anything. It is the name of the family who founded the town in Catalonia, not far from Barcelona. 800 years ago.

Today Manresa is an industrial part of the Spanish economy but perhaps even more famous for a traveller, a wounded warrior of 16th century wars, who came upon the town of Manresa and wound up spending a year recuperating while living in a nearby cave.
The below film clip explains 16th century St. Ignatius and how he came to Manresa and how that lead him to the creation of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesuits religious order. It is 11 minutes long.

Our Manresa at 1390 Quarton Road is a Jesuit retreat house there to help men and women grow spiritually through prayers, reflection, guidance, and teaching according to the Ignatian tradition.

The reader who does not consider himself or herself particularly religious may wonder what that has do with him or her and the answer interesting.

At one time in their lives St. Ignatius of Loyola (Spain Jesuits) and St. Francis of Assisi (Italy Franciscans) both who eventually founded religious orders did not consider themselves particularly religious either. In fact both started their careers a soldiers.

Manresa is a community of many people doing many good things for many reasons

For some Manresa the opportunity to help others by volunteering.

Ignatian Volunteers at Manresa

"I had the experience but missed the meaning."
—T.S. Eliot

WHO WE ARE
Ignatian Volunteers at Manresa are men and women, age 50 and over, who share their skills, talents and life experiences with organizations that directly serve the poor or marginalized. Ignatian volunteers serve people in need, work for a more just society and grow deeper in Christian faith by reflecting and praying in the Ignatian tradition. Volunteers are guided through a reflection process based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. This process helps volunteers discover the deeper meaning of the work they do and see Christ more clearly as they labor among their brothers and sisters who are poor. Reflecting and praying in the Ignatian tradition — individually and communally — deepens the experience of service.

WHAT WE DO
Ignatian Volunteers: 1) work at a Detroit-area service agency that serves the poor and marginalized, and 2) grow deeper in their Christian faith by reflecting and praying in the Ignatian tradition.

Volunteers work about twice a week at a service agency. Local service agencies where volunteers have worked include: Lighthouse, the Oakland County Sheriff Department (chaplain), University of Detroit Mercy Institute for Leadership and Service, Saints Peter and Paul Warming Center, Caritas Welcome Center, Loyola High School, Reggie McKenzie Foundation, Crossroads, Capuchin Youth Program, Children's Hospital, All Saints Neighborhood Center and Freedom House.
During monthly meetings (September-June) at Manresa volunteers pray and reflect on their service experiences. In addition, volunteers meet every month with a spiritual reflector and attend an overnight retreat.

YOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORK MAY BEGIN AFTER YOU RETIRE

If interested, contact Nick Sharkey.

In addition to the volunteer opportunities there are family oriented events and adult education and enrichment classes.

The Third Annual Master Garden, a day long event to share gardening in harmony with nature is May 30th 2015

The Manresa Family Picnic which includes Mass at the Grotto, House Tours, Live Music, Hotdogs, Burgers, and Lemonade is May 31st.

There are book clubs. One of note one is the recently conducted, Faith and Fantasy: Children's Literature for Adults which included works like The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, Watership Down by Richard Adams, and The Little Prince by
Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

There are also lectures, discussion groups. and concerts. Recent ones of note include Women at the Well, Connecting Faith and Career. Outdoor reflection with Trees, Finding God in our Winter, And Jazzy January.

Fees for book clubs, lectures or discussion groups vary depending on the number of sessions and are comparable to similar events in the secular world.

Then there are the retreats for which Manresa is the Baskin Robbins. The benefit of a retreat, St.Ignatius discovered after a year long period of discernment and study spent a cave, near the town of Manresa, four centuries ago.

Today Manresa offers retreats for caregivers, a couples prayer retreats, self directed retreats and more. An up to date listing can be found in the current issue of Manresa Matters or visiting the Manresa website byclicking here

To read the entire issue of The Spring-Summer 2015 Manresa Matters and its bonus material CLICK HERE

It is 34 pages long and in full color. Be patient while it loads on slower computers and then scroll down.