The Lord knows the Abbey can’t exist without your generosity…
Dear Friends,
Recently, I spoke with a guest who had not been to the Abbey since she came on retreat as a teenager, approximately 40 years ago. The reason she returned to the Abbey for that one day was because she had to make an important decision in her life. Since the Lord had spoken to her as a teenager while on retreat at the youth center, she returned to the Abbey full of prayer and hope that the Lord would speak to her again and give her guidance. The Lord did not disappoint her. She left the Abbey grateful for an answer to prayer and thankful that the Abbey was still here after 40 years.
I share this beautiful story with you because you too play a part in this person’s joy. Through your prayerful and financial support of the Abbey, you help us provide and maintain a safe quiet place for people to find God. We could not do it without you. Your kindness supports us in doing God’s work and which evidently leaves a lasting impression in the lives of people. God is aware of this truth and so has allowed our paths to cross.
It is with this confidence in God’s providence that I come to you. With your help, we would like to continue to make improvements to our retreat rooms. Last year because of your kindness, we purchased new beds and mattresses. This year we would like to begin to install individual air conditioner units in each of our retreat rooms and also at our youth center. This will help keep our guests comfortable in the desert heat and enhance their retreat experience. Hopefully, it will also increase the number of retreatants in the summer months. Your assistance will also help us preserve and beautify the peaceful grounds of the Abbey and stay on top of the necessary maintenance and repairs of the twenty-five Abbey buildings.
In my daily routine of work and prayer at the Abbey, certain things remind me of our two confreres, Philip and Francis, who recently passed away: the golf cart and blue Tacoma truck Fr. Francis used to drive; the planters Fr. Philip enjoyed working in, and the fragile trees to which he paid special attention. I think of their contribution to the Abbey, their years of sacrifice and hard work. I think of the monks who passed on before them. Clearly, their work on earth was done. Each monk, oblate and friend of the Abbey contributes in their own way. Each building upon the Foundation established here in 1956, so that people like the guest who returned 40 years later have a place to encounter God. Please consider contributing to God’s work at the Abbey by clicking on the “Donate to the Abbot’s Appeal” button on this page.
Be assured of our daily prayers for you. May God be glorified in all we do.
Gratefully yours,
Abbot Damien Toilolo, O.S.B.
Matthew 7:7