Mount Claret dedicates new buildings

By J.D. Long-García
The Catholic Sun

Since 1988, Mount Claret Retreat Center has served Catholics from all walks of life in the Phoenix Diocese.

With the dedication of a house of discernment, four houses for retired priests and a shrine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the retreat center will continue its mission well into the future.

“We estimate that 20,000 men and women have made a Cursillo here and really changed their lives,” said Msgr. John J. McMahon, who served as director of the center from 1988-2005. Cursillo is a Catholic movement that grows out of a three-day retreat on Christianity.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted gathered with past and current directors Msgr. McMahon and Fr. Don Kline and other members of the Mount Claret community to dedicate the new buildings and renovations two years after the groundbreaking June 18.

“All kinds of groups come here for days of recollection and days of reflection,” Msgr. McMahon said.

Future retreat participants will benefit from the two new dormitories and six private retreat rooms in the new John Paul II building.

The Christ Child Society, a non-profit group that serves underprivileged mothers and their children, will serve their clients from a space in the building.

The Casitas, eight new residencies for retired priests, provide a place for older clergy “to enjoy much deserved rest,” Fr. Kline said.

“This is the first retirement facility of its kind in this diocese and hopefully the first of many,” he added.

The Serra House of Discernment, which opened in January, will create a meditative environment for young men discerning the priesthood through Mass, adoration, Liturgy of the Hours and weekly vocation discussions.

“Often the chasm between personal thinking about the seminary and actually entering is very large,” said Fr. Kline, who is also the vocations director for the diocese. “The Serra House of Discernment is meant to bridge that gap.”

Fr. Kline added that societal pressures can also “drown out God’s voice” and the Serra House will be a quiet place for young men between the ages of 18-33 to examine God’s will for their lives.

The Serra House is named after Blessed Junípero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan priest who founded the mission of California.

For more on the Serra House, call Fr. Kline at (602) 354-2004.