�It was the generosity of Archbishop Thomas Wenski and his directive to do this that has left us, at first, speechless, and then filled with gratitude and re-energized for the work our creator has in store for us,� said Sue DeFerrari, director of the retreat center. 

�My bookkeeper received the email; she forwarded it to me, and I confirmed it with Sister Elizabeth Worley (archdiocesan chancellor for administration); then I started singing praises to the Lord,� DeFerrari said. �We are truly blessed.�

Nestled on 10 acres in Pinecrest, MorningStar was put up for sale by the archdiocese in 2008 for financial reasons � both the outstanding debt on the property and the need for the archdiocese to raise funds at the height of the nationwide financial crisis. 

Prior to May 2004, MorningStar was operated by the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de Ricci and known as the Dominican Retreat House. The sisters ran the retreat house for more than 40 years, inspiring and touching the lives of people from all denominations. In 2004, they decided to put the property on the market and move back to Pennsylvania. 

Under the guidance of Msgr. John Vaughn, pastor of St. Patrick Church on Miami Beach, and a group of archdiocesan leaders, a plan was formulated for continuing to operate the site as a retreat center. With the approval of the archdiocese, the property was purchased from the Dominican Sisters and MorningStar was born. 

Father James Fetscher, then pastor of St. Louis Church, which is adjacent to MorningStar, was named Vicar of the Archbishop to MorningStar while continuing his role as pastor. 

�The best thing I ever did was to find Sue DeFerrari to run MorningStar on a daily basis as its director,� said Father Fetscher, now pastor of St. Sebastian Parish in Fort Lauderdale. 

�My term as president of the board of MorningStar just ended and James McDonald is the new president,� he added. �I am on call. The archbishop took a big chance on this spiritual center where the Gospel is heard by many having positive experiences. He gave us lots of hope.�

Father Fetscher recalled his struggle to find answers when MorningStar was for sale. He kept looking for a sign from God.

�It was the summer of 2008, late in the evening. I had no business watching the Marlins, on the road, playing the Arizona Diamondbacks, as I had the 6:30 a.m. Mass the next morning and it was a late game,� Father Fetscher said. �I found myself going back and forth between watching the game, which was a tough one, and asking the Lord for guidance � �Dear God, what are we going to do about MorningStar?� � 

�Then Cody Ross came up to bat for the Marlins. I found myself saying, �Dear God, Jesus, if you�re going to save MorningStar, let Cody get a hit.� Cody drove it into the left-field stands for his 18th homer! I never asked God for that kind of sign before, and I have never done it again. Then I remembered I forgot to ask him how we were going to save MorningStar. With great faith, we have not only survived, we are starting to thrive.� 

James E. McDonald, newly appointed president of MorningStar�s board, said he is delighted to be working with DeFerrari and the other board members. 

�We are off to a good start, now that the debt-burden is off,� McDonald said. �Our focus is on capital improvements, and increasing our space for retreats. We end up turning people away, because of our need for additional meeting space. Our plan is to increase retreat space and to add another chapel. We have the space to house 80 people. With more retreat space, we can have two events going on simultaneously. Our board member and architect, Bill Brown, is creating an architectural plan for this to happen. We are very excited to take our message to the community that has supported us over the years.�

MorningStar also is expanding its outreach to programs that are beyond the scope of the Archdiocese of Miami. 

�We are a gateway to the Americas,� said DeFerrari. �We want to encourage missionaries who are bound for, or coming from, Central and South America to use MorningStar as their retreat house where they can refresh and renew in their spirituality. We have a vision of being the retreat house, as part of the Archdiocese of Miami, for the Church of the Americas, and beyond.� 

Over the past year, MorningStar increased its revenue by 28 percent over the previous year. This has come largely through marketing efforts to groups outside of Miami: 

The Communicators Network for Women Religious will be at MorningStar in February; the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), based in Genesee, Col., will use MorningStar as its retreat stop-over for its spring and summer break missionary trips to Jamaica and Brazil; a chapter of Amigos de las Americas, based in Houston, Texas, will be staying at MorningStar on their spring break as they come to tutor at a school in South Miami; the Eastern Synod of Lutheran Young Adults, through a Lily Foundation Grant, will be conducting a series of immersion retreats to develop vocations, looking at a call to ministry for young adults; the Catholic Leadership Institute, based in Chicago, will be hosting a two-year program, Good Leaders, Good Shepherds, with MorningStar.

�We are poised and ready for growth, development and fundraising based on the green light we have been given by the archdiocese,� said Tracy Germani, a board member. �Sue is our creative leader, and with a good marketing effort, we have many donors from the past to whom we can reach out and share the excitement of MorningStar�s future.�

�We want to receive and welcome people from the Americas,� said DeFerrari. �We want to animate people, through service as role models, so they will walk away saying, �Wow, that was the Catholic Church,� hopefully changing their perception to the reality of who we are.�

Archbishop Wenski sees a bright future for MorningStar. 

�As more people come to MorningStar and there have a conversion experience bringing them closer to the Lord, the pool of actual and potential supporters for the work of MorningStar also grows,� he said. �Encountering the Lord is the best thing that can happen to anyone, and there�s no greater joy than sharing him with others.�