{"id":32892,"date":"2026-08-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=32892"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:24:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:24:46","slug":"retreat-deepens-aspiring-salesian-cooperators-sense-of-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/08\/07\/retreat-deepens-aspiring-salesian-cooperators-sense-of-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"Retreat Deepens Aspiring Salesian Cooperator\u2019s Sense of Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maria Quilizapa, Salesian Cooperator<\/em> Candidate<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Bellflower, California)<\/strong> \u2013 My husband Abraham and I were among eight aspiring Salesian Cooperators from St. Dominic Savio Church who attended the retreat on July 31 at St. John Bosco High School Chapel in Bellflower.  The retreat was led by Fr. Alejandro Rodriguez, SDB, a professor at the Institute of Salesian Studies in Berkeley, California.  
 
I attended the retreat with an open heart, eager to deepen my understanding of the Salesian mission.  Within the first few minutes of listening to Fr. Rodriguez, I felt an even stronger sense of why becoming a Salesian Cooperator is my calling.  One statement, in particular, deeply resonated with me: \u201cWe must see the love of God in all things, but specially in young people.\u201d  Throughout the retreat, Fr. Rodriguez reflected on the lives of St. John Bosco and Mama Margarita, Don Bosco\u2019s first dream, the influence of St. Joseph Cafasso, and many other aspects of the Salesian Cooperator\u2019s charism.  The five hours seemed to pass in an instant.  Every presentation strengthened my desire to dedicate myself to serving and accompanying young people through the Salesian mission.
 
I left the retreat with a deeper understanding that the Oratory is not simply a building.  Rather, the Oratory lives within the Salesian Cooperators who walk alongside young people, educate them, love them as the Good Shepherd does, and, above all teach by the witness of their own lives.  This retreat reaffirmed my commitment to continue discerning and, God willing, to embrace this vocation as a Salesian Cooperator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
From left to right:<\/strong> Abraham Quilizapa, Manuel Garcia, Maria Quilizapa, Yesenia Montes, Fr. Alejandro Rodriguez, Estella Hernandez, Catalina Aviles, Giovanni Fernandez, and Maria Engracia Cardenas, aspiring Salesian Cooperators from St. Dominic Savio Church, attended a retreat July 31 at the St. John Bosco High School Chapel in Bellflower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Retiro fortalece el sentido de vocaci\u00f3n de una aspirante a Cooperadora Salesiana <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Por Maria Quilizapa – Aspirante a Cooperador Salesiano<\/em> 
 
Mi esposo Abraham y yo formamos parte del grupo de ocho aspirantes a Cooperadores Salesianos de la iglesia San Domingo Savio que asisti\u00f3 al retiro el 31 de julio en la capilla de la escuela secundaria San Juan Bosco, en Bellflower. El retiro fue dirigido por el padre Alejandro Rodr\u00edguez, SDB, profesor del Instituto de Estudios Salesianos en Berkeley, California.
 
Asist\u00ed al retiro con el coraz\u00f3n abierto y con el deseo de profundizar mi comprensi\u00f3n de la misi\u00f3n salesiana. A los pocos minutos de escuchar al padre Rodr\u00edguez, sent\u00ed con mayor fuerza la raz\u00f3n por la cual ser Cooperadora Salesiana es mi vocaci\u00f3n. Una frase, en particular, reson\u00f3 profundamente en m\u00ed: “Debemos ver el amor de Dios en todas las cosas, pero especialmente en los j\u00f3venes.” A lo largo del retiro, el padre Rodr\u00edguez reflexion\u00f3 sobre las vidas de San Juan Bosco y Mam\u00e1 Margarita, el primer sue\u00f1o de Don Bosco, la influencia de San Jos\u00e9 Cafasso y muchos otros aspectos del carisma del Cooperador Salesiano. Las cinco horas parecieron pasar en un instante. Cada presentaci\u00f3n fortaleci\u00f3 mi deseo de dedicarme a servir y acompa\u00f1ar a los j\u00f3venes a trav\u00e9s de la misi\u00f3n salesiana.
 
Sal\u00ed del retiro con una comprensi\u00f3n m\u00e1s profunda de que el Oratorio no es simplemente un edificio. M\u00e1s bien, el Oratorio vive en los Cooperadores Salesianos que caminan junto a los j\u00f3venes, los educan, los aman como lo hace el Buen Pastor y, sobre todo, ense\u00f1an mediante el testimonio de sus propias vidas. Este retiro reafirm\u00f3 mi compromiso de seguir discerniendo y, si Dios quiere, de abrazar esta vocaci\u00f3n como Cooperadora Salesiana.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maria Quilizapa, Salesian Cooperator Candidate (Bellflower, California) \u2013 My husband Abraham and I were among eight aspiring Salesian Cooperators from St. Dominic Savio Church who attended the retreat on July 31 at St. John Bosco High School Chapel in Bellflower.  The retreat was led by Fr. Alejandro Rodriguez, SDB, a professor at the Institute of Salesian Studies in Berkeley, California.   I attended the retreat … Continuar leyendo Retreat Deepens Aspiring Salesian Cooperator\u2019s Sense of Calling<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":32953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20310044,57325636],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-province-news","category-salesian-cooperators"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-8yw","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2026-08-04-Alejandro-Bellflower-feature.jpg?fit=1600%2C875&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32892"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33006,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32892\/revisions\/33006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}