Sister Act

It’s a question that always makes Sister Catherine Marie laugh: “You’re going to play with us?”

Yes, she tells the children who come to spend the day at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana.

Along with five other nuns, Sister Catherine Marie will sing with the children, play ball, read stories--even dunk doughnuts--at this facility where kids of all faiths can leave their differences outside the door.

The idea of creating a spiritual retreat center for children, she explains, was not to force an unnatural silence upon them or to steal them away from reality.

It was to give children an opportunity to develop their character and learn about God in an upbeat way.

“These days, being at risk isn’t just about drug use,” explains Sister Catherine Marie, director of the center that 14,000 young children and 2,000 teens visit annually.

“It’s character itself that’s at risk. Children are so caught up in materialism that the basic dignity of who they are doesn’t seem to count.”

By way of fair play, storytelling, craft lessons and group discussion--and a special time for reflection--the nuns help the children develop a spiritual value system.

For example, a point of discussion might be: “Are there values for me that transcend just what I can get for me, right now?” she says.

Another: “What are the characteristics of someone who can face difficulties in life and not change their behavior because they are afraid?”

Children today are destabilized on many fronts, notes Sister Catherine Marie, a member of the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart. Family breakups, reports of violence at home and abroad--all go toward making a child feel insecure and afraid, she says.

“When you hear that the richest nation in the world has one of the highest violence and suicide rates among children, you realize that some children don’t think there is a tomorrow.

“We want them to know there is a tomorrow--that God will be there for them, that there is a reality that goes beyond all of us,” she says. “We want them to know someone loves them, cares about them and has a stake in their future--that they’re not alone.”

*

On Tuesday, the nuns will be among the hundreds of guests attending the 20th anniversary celebration of Gentlemen’s Haberdashery, a benefit luncheon in Irvine for the retreat center.

Founded by the late Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley and his wife, Emma Jane, the annual event features about 60 male Orange County business and industry leaders walking the fashion plank in everything from neon-colored wetsuits to white tie and tails.

Over the years, some of the models have had so much fun they’ve tossed their hats and jackets to the crowd.

One year, Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates dressed as a marshal from the Wild West and Harbor Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt wore a clown costume while carrying on a hanger the suit he was supposed to be modeling. “We’ve found there’s a little ham in all of them,” Riley says with a laugh.

Models pay $200 each to participate, but one year three of them--John Crean, Michael Hayde and Jim McNamara--paid $5,000 each not to model.

The sisters dubbed the trio the “Runway Runaways” and in their stead, female models walked down the ramp holding cardboard images of each man.

Funds raised by the event--$1.5 million since its premiere--have been used to expand the retreat center and pay for its operations and upkeep.

The center sits on 2.9 acres of land donated to the Catholic Diocese of Orange by the Borchard farming family of Santa Ana.

The idea for the all-male fashion show--a concept unheard of in Orange County benefit circles two decades ago--came to Emma Jane Riley when she was having lunch with one of the sisters, she says.

“The sisters needed financial help because they had just come to Orange County,” Riley explains. “And I thought they should do something different. There were plenty of fashion shows featuring women in those days. But there had never been one with only male models. So, that’s what we decided to do.”

It was easy enlisting men to model because “Tom was in politics,” Emma Jane says. “They helped Tom. He helped them. He used his political position to do good.”

Without the Rileys, the retreat center might never have been a reality, says Sister Catherine Marie. Initially, the money raised by the Haberdashery enabled the nuns to convert an old garage on the Borchard property into a conference room, a dining room into a chapel.

Later, the center developed into what it is today: a sprawling complex with five state-of-the-art conference rooms in the Spanish architectural style, a sport field featuring basketball and volleyball courts and a 300-seat chapel.

Tuesday’s 20th anniversary benefit will be dedicated to the memory of Thomas Riley. “We’d hoped that he would be with us for this special day,” says Sister Catherine Marie.

Says Emma Jane: “On this anniversary, I feel a sense of accomplishment and a sense of loss because Tom isn’t here. He was really looking forward to the 20th. But I’m glad we were able to accomplish something that we could see in our lifetime. Not everybody can say that.”