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I find it very ironic that I have finally chosen the topic of ‘Love’ to share with my fellow Cursillistas this month.  The truth is that I have been struggling over the past year-not with my faith in the Lord, but rather, my faith in my fellow human beings. The political climate, heightened racial divisions and the international pandemic are all things that I never had expected to experience in my lifetime, and to have them all going on at the same time has been overwhelming.  I have said to myself repeatedly, “We are supposed to be an evolved people, so what is going on?” Although I may never know the answer to that question, I have come to understand a few things about myself and my faith through this period and God’s place for me in it all.

For me, it has been very difficult dealing with all the noise.  Everywhere I turned I felt like I was being bombarded with another negative message of division, strife and unrest.  I finally had to make the conscious decision to step away.  I narrowly limited my exposure to the news.  I had never joined the FaceBook bandwagon and was very grateful that I had made that decision many years ago.  Music has always had a huge place in my life, as it speaks to my soul, and so I have found a place of refuge in song.  It has truly been a form of prayer for me. 

Over the past few years, I have witnessed great divisions in families, neighbors and couples- even conflicts on the roadways that have made me afraid.  One beautiful spring morning about a year and a half ago, I was stopped at a three way stop and was waiting for the car to the right of me to stop before I made my left.   The gentleman in the car came to a stop and then pulled out in front of me as I was about to go.  He looked at me and yelled out, “Go back to your country” as he passed me by.  The fact that I was born in this country from two parents who were born in this country really didn’t matter.  I felt the hate that was coming from this young man and it shook me.  

I found myself unconsciously isolating myself after this incident and I was not able to talk about it to anyone but God.  My prayer to Him was to help me not only understand the hate, but to know how to respond to it.    And then COVID hit… and the real isolation began.  Thankfully, I found a great job just before things got crazy, so I was able to focus on that.  I have prayed hard and long over the past eight months.  I have asked our Lord over and over again to let me see what my role is in all this.  I was feeling helpless and was seeking direction: What are you asking of me, Lord?  How can I make things better?  The answer was so unclear to me. 

But over the past few months, through prayer and reflection, my role in all this was revealed to me.   Well, that job that I told you about turned out to be at a business that was in shambles.  The sole owner of that business was also struggling personally and at the very beginning of recovery.  To add to all that, the owner and I had very opposing political views.  I was overwhelmed initially and wasn’t sure if I could continue there. But I could clearly see that my professional and personal experiences were needed.  I started to get to know my new boss and all his struggles and soon realized that it was not a coincidence that God placed me here.   I soon became a mentor both professionally and personally to my new employer. 

In 1 Corinthians 12:5, Paul tells us, “There are different forms of service, but the same Lord.” I realize now that God, in His infinite wisdom, placed me exactly where I needed to be during this crazy time.  He placed me in a situation where I could be a reflection of His love for us; where I could share my faith and be of service to    someone who was in desperate need and at the same time, taught me that I need to be open, loving and compassionate to all-especially those that I do not always see eye to eye with. 

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13: 13 told the Corinthians that love is “the greatest” of all the gifts God could ever give us.  So, I am encouraged and hopeful, and see that the best medicine that the world could use right now is the gift of Love.

 

“Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?”  Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.” (Matt 18:21-22)

St. Paul’s Cursillo hosted the fifth installment of their Spiritual Enhancement Series on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, over Zoom conferencing. The theme of the evening was “The Gift of Forgiveness,” & our guest speakers with Joe Amato were Angie-Lee Vazquez, Jim Reid & Rob Spina. This was a special night hearing from three Cursillistas! Joe invited them to share their personal stories of forgiveness that touched on themselves, the people in their lives & God. Here are the descriptions of our guests:

* For almost a decade, Angie-Lee Vazquez has been the Director of Religious Education at St. Barbara’s Parish in Brooklyn, NY, where she also leads the youth       ministry group, various faith sharing programs & coordinates parish-wide intergenerational events. She has been a Team member & Rectora of the Women’s Cursillo for the last five years after making her Cursillo weekend in July 2014.

* James Reid made his Cursillo weekend 19 years ago (#189). Jimmy grew up in   Astoria, Queens, and currently resides in Hicksville, LI, with his wife, Rosa, and two children, Sean & Chloe. He recently celebrated his 15th anniversary at Charter Communications. Jim’s greatest passion is helping others recover from addiction. One of his hobbies is inviting God into his golf game.

* Robert Spina was born & raised in Bayside, Queens, and moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL, four years ago. He made his Cursillo about 5 years ago. He is an Enterprise Software Sales Director for Donnelley Financial Solutions since 2014. His passions include motorcycles, cooking, building/construction projects and real estate. He enjoys being an uncle and    being at peace.

Joe asked each of them to share what their Cursillo did for them and, then, to share a story of forgiveness. After each gave so much of themselves to the question, Joe shared a video about Oprah Winfrey & her powerful story of forgiveness with her mother (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKzXoBfntDo). The evening concluded with feedback & prayers.

St. Paul’s Cursillo Community now has a YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVucRnZyIfWQi5GnyWO5-kQ) where we post some of our sessions (contingent on the permission of the guests). Currently, there are four videos posted for viewing. Please subscribe to our channel and feel free to share it with others. We hope that this can encourage people to accept the invitation of Cursillo and make their weekend!

For our November session, Joe Amato will lead a discussion with Deacon Rich Gilligan  and, in December, Sr. Marie Mackey. Thank you for supporting St. Paul’s in all we offer!

 

Sixteen couples participated in the evening.  Because of Zoom, couples were able to join us from Florida.  Lisa and Francis Brogan gave a talk titled Grow, Stand Still or Go Backward: Marriage in the Time of COVID.  Acknowledging the changes visited upon us by the virus – from upended home lives, to financial worries, to wildly altered job situations – and the practical and emotional impact of it all, they shared honestly and openly about what happened in their marriage, and encouraged us to examine what happened in ours.  

Knowing that things could have gone a number of different ways, Francis and Lisa told us about they remembered that God had to be at the center of their marriage, especially in challenging times.  They recalled the image of the 3-legged stool, with each of them and God supporting the marriage equally – without all 3 legs, the stool cannot stand.  Keeping God at the front and center of their relationship, including more spiritual pursuits and prayer in their daily routines, they felt that they acted more often as a team, consulted each other more frequently, and came to understand one another better.  Remembering God’s centrality to their marriage helped them to grow under trying circumstances.  

The couples all had the opportunity to share individually and with the group.  Most of the couples agreed that they experienced a bit of all three outcomes, growing, standing still and going backwards in their marriage in the course of the pandemic.  They all knew that God was an important part of dealing with this unique challenge.

Their talk concluded with the song “What Are You Still Doin’ Here” by Wayne Watson.  I encourage you to listen to it.  Take the opportunity to discuss with your spouse how the pandemic affected your marriage.  Have you grown, stood still or gone backwards?

 

Sheltering in place was a term I had never heard of in my life. It did however become my way of life as the Covid 19 virus came into all of our lives.

While sheltering in place (which is what I did for 4 months and still continue to on a limited basis), I had time to entertain many thoughts.  Thoughts of how my life was before the pandemic.  How my life was when I was a wife and mother of 5 children who needed me.

The children are all adults, most with families of their own living near and far.

I am now living alone in the home I shared with my late loving husband and those 5 children.

I had some choices. I could sit around and feel sorry for myself, or I could use all of the technology I had at my fingertips. I spoke to family and friends—many with whom I had not spoken for months.  I emailed and texted daily—I sent out prayer requests etc. I spent a great deal of time in prayer.  Jesus was my constant companion.  I had my faith.  I found that faith is difficult to live solo in isolation; faith becomes  real to me when I share my faith experiences with likeminded believers.  Hard for me to do alone.

I was missing our monthly Ultreyas seeing all those beautiful Cursillistas who have become family to me.  I was missing our monthly Evening of Prayer. I was missing everyone I had gotten to know through the blessing of Cursillo.

And then through the magic (at least I think it’s magic) of Technology, ZOOM came into my life.

By virtue of technology, namely Zoom, our Cursillo faith community was able to connect and be together at the monthly Ultreyas. Prayer groups met. We met weekly with Opening the Word, an evening for scripture study with Lisa Brogan. Joe Amato facilitated St. Paul’s Spiritual Enhancement, a monthly evening of faith sharing by Cursillistas who have been living their 4th Day.

Those evenings for me were faith filled.  I was able to spend time in the company of the people of the Cursillo Community who were  present to me in the quiet of my home.

It was important to me to share my faith and my situation with others. I know that the feeling of barrenness can very often cause depression and sadness.  I was aware of that constantly and made sure that I didn’t give into feeling sorry for me.

I looked forward to seeing the faces  and hearing the voices of my fellow Cursillistas at those faith sharing evenings.  I felt included, emboldened, and necessary.

One of the gifts of Zoom is that we had Cursillistas from all over the country, people whom I haven’t seen for years.  It was a Virtual Party and Jesus was the Guest of Honor.

Tom Leavens was the technology genius who was able to keep this community together connected as were Lisa Brogan, Anne Marie Dodd, Angie Vasquez and Darlene McGovern.

I know that there are contemplative religious orders who pray in silence around the clock.  That is a gift I don’t possess.

For me, Faith is never to be lived on a mountain top.  When faith is experienced in a Community such as ours, it comes alive for me.    

 

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which is in me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

The September session of the St. Paul’s Spiritual Enhancement Series hosted a powerful discussion between two highly influential members of the Cursillo Community over Zoom Conferencing: Joe Amato and Msgr. Tom Caserta.

Fr. Tom is a former Associate Director of St. Paul’s Center,   a former Director of the Boys & Young Adult Christian Awakening Programs, Spiritual Team Member for every Cursillo & CA program and Team Member after making a Boys’ CA in high school. Currently, he is a professor at St. John’s University & Pastor of St. Bernadette’s Church in Brooklyn. He and Joe have been friends for over 40 years – they knew each other well enough to provide a great discussion for the Cursillo Community to witness. The theme for the evening was, “Here I Am, Lord.” Fr. Tom was candid about his prayer life, how his YACA experience & roles at St. Paul Center influenced his priesthood, as well as his relationships with former directors of Cursillo. Most importantly, Msgr. Caserta encouraged us to keep conversations open with all of the people in our lives, to “speak the truth in love.” It was an incredible session to witness.

Due the amazing responses we’ve received regarding this series, a YouTube channel has been created for St. Paul’s Cursillo. Currently, three of these sessions have been posted, with the hope of posting more programs in the future (permission is required from all participants in the series to post these videos due to the personal nature of their stories). Our YouTube channel is St. Paul’s Cursillo Community and the link is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVucRnZyIfWQi5GnyWO5-kQ. An additional seventy-one views connected to Joe & Fr. Tom’s session! Please check it out!

We invite all of you to attend all future sessions and to please invite others. You don’t have to be a Cursillista to join us. This is a great way to bring people to our Cursillo Community! Future sessions will take place every third Wednesday of the month. We will offer presentations from different speakers that are near and dear to Cursillo. Our next  session will take place on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, at 7:30 PM. The theme of the session is “The Gift of Forgiveness,” and Joe is lining up a few members of the Cursillo Community to share their witness stories. Zoom details can be found on the flyer towards the end of this newsletter. Please join this great program to stay connected & strengthen your 4th Day!

 

 

I found myself, perhaps like many of you, looking for “something” to fill my soul leaving with words and thoughts to ponder.   Among the many books, read and unread, (yes, I still have books) that sit neatly organized in my bookcase, I found just that – Richard Rohr’s EVERYTHING BELONGS.  The title captured my attention… 

 Throughout my read, and most importantly I believe, throughout my day, the words “EVERYTHING BELONGS” kept playing over and over like a stuck record (Yes, I’m dating myself ).  I was provided the opportunity during this time and in the “present moment” to ponder, to reflect to really contemplate on the various aspects of my life.  

 Rohr references specific parables throughout the book i.e. The Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat, The Parable of the Mustard Seed, The Parable of the Yeast etc.   Which offered the opportunity to go deeper into reflection.  Deeper to see my life through the lens of these parables and contemplate on how Everything Belongs.  Helping me gain a greater understanding why God spoke in this form, and more open to witness the similar ways Jesus speaks to me today similar of the parables. 

 Yes, I am a mixture of Weeds and Wheat and always will be, yes, at times I only have faith as small as of mustard seed,  these imperfections, my weeds, also carry gifts full of grace, once I can see how they belong. 

 Interestingly, but not surprising, in Spiritual Direction I have been exploring the question of “What If.”… The “What if” was followed by questions such as “What If” I stopped to listen and really tried to hear what the Lord is asking of me? What would I hear?” What If” I saw Jesus in every face I meet? Especially where I cannot find him now? Weaving in this theme with Everything Belongs offered yet another opportunity to contemplate and find where is God.

 Finding God in the times of darkness, confusion, the unsteady, rough and bumpy is not as easy as the times I feel more steady, smooth, calm and joyful.  During those times in contemplation I found myself stopping       followed by a Big “REALLY”??? And would have to ask for more clarity to see the Everything Belongs…       Sometimes with success other times not so…  However, knowing and trusting (trying) Everything Belongs leaves me feeling more hopeful, even when I have not yet seen how “It” Belongs.  As Christians living in a      dualistic world, we are provided daily with the opportunity to understand and invite union – to bring love into all situations.  By learning more about the characteristics of opposite things, we can paradoxically come to    understand the deep connection between them, to help us see, believe and trust that Everything Belongs. 

 As I continue on my journey, I pray for the understanding and openness of heart and mind to invite union, to invite love so that I may enter fully into life with Christ and see more clearly how Everything Belongs.

 “What If’s”might you be asking the Lord? What might Jesus be asking of you to contemplate deeper to possibly gain a greater understanding and trust Everything Belongs and   receive the gift of Grace?   

 

 

In April 2020, Cursillista Peggy Virgadamo shared a few articles that she received & admired from St. Paul’s Center. The following article was written for the St. Paul’s Center monthly newsletter in October 2003 by former St. Paul’s Center Director, Fr. Jim Fitzpatrick. Although written almost seventeen years ago (and nine months before he passed away), Fr. Jim’s message is still powerful and needed today.

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“If we persevere we shall reign with him.” (2 Timothy 2:11)

St. Paul tells us with this quote that the work of living out the gospel and putting the teachings of Christ into practice in our everyday lives will be difficult. Anyone who wants to follow Christ and remain faithful to all of His teachings will find it very difficult at times, but with the help of God and others, we will receive the strength to persevere. All of us want to persevere in our following of Christ, but for many reasons, many of us do not persist and give up the most important thing in our lives, namely, our faith.

We can see in the life of Christ that He also had to persevere. At times He found the will of the Father to be very difficult, but He remained faithful. He persevered. Jesus persisted even though He was denied and betrayed by some of His disciples. Jesus also persevered even though many people did not understand His message.

I think it is very important for each one of us to understand both the difficulty and the importance of persevering. We must look directly to Jesus to see what allowed Him to persevere. There is no doubt in my mind that the key ingredient in the perseverance of Jesus was His prayer life and relationship with God the Father. Jesus was always able to remain focused. He never got distracted, nor di He give in to what other people thought of Him. We can do the same if we develop the same type of prayer life and relationship with God.

Let me give a few examples of why some people don’t persevere. In my experience, some people don’t persevere in their faith because they are not able to deal with imperfections, they see in both the Church and some of its members. Many times, a person will stop practicing their faith because of a bad experience with a priest, or an experience with a member of the Church who is not acting in a Christian way towards them. We can never let experiences such as these interfere with our faith. There is so much more good going on in the Church and in the lives of its members than one can ever imagine. The Church is a worldwide institution that does so much good across the world. We must never lose this perspective.

A second reason that I feel people don’t persevere in their faith is that they don’t want to put the work in that is required. We need to pray regularly, and to attend Holy Mass as much as possible. When we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ at Mass, we also receive the strength the persevere. When we hear the inspired word of Jesus Christ proclaimed at Mass, we receive the wisdom that we need to understand the ways of God. That does not       happen without work, and this work can only be done by us.

A third reason I feel that people don’t persevere is that they just give in to the ways of the world. They let their priorities get mixed up. It seems easier to pursue what the world offers us and to easily forget what God is offering us. God is offering us eternal rewards and truths. The world offers us the immediate gratification that expires in many cases as quickly as it comes. What God is offering us lasts forever.

There are many more examples that I could give, but in my experience as a priest, these are the ones that I seem to encounter the most. We all can correct anything that is taking us away from our faith. We should all take a look at our own lives and see what may be getting in the way of us deepening our own faith. With a deepening faith comes a peace that this world cannot offer us. Let us also pray for each other that we all persevere and then, at the end of time, share in the reign of God.

In Christ,

Father Jim Fitzpatrick

 

The St. Paul’s Spiritual Enhancement Series continued through the summer & held two more sessions: Joe Amato lead discussions with  Mary Adamo in July and Tom Fox in August. Both were held over Zoom Conferencing.

Mary Adamo made a Young Adult Christian Awakening (YACA) weekend in the early 1980’s. Since then, she has worked in different roles, including Spiritual Team    Member for the Women’s Cursillo & YACA weekends,  as Director of the One Day At A Time (ODAT) program at St. Paul’s for eighteen years and leader in the Enneagram program. Mary has 30 plus years experience in corporate America and served as an officer in a Fortune 500 Company. Mary shared her insights from her own spiritual journey and how as a “reluctant prophet” she responds to the Holy Invitations in her life. 

Tom Fox made his Cursillo in 1976 & that was the beginning of getting spiritual and psychological traction for him. He met his wife of 38 years there, Rosemary, as well as Joe Amato. He was asked to get involved right away and was a Team Member & Rector. He worked on Wall Street for over 30 years when he realized that he needed to do different work, work that had meaning and was helpful. Today, he is a Chaplain Fellow at the VA NY Health Care Center, assigned to the Psych unit where he works with veterans with mental health and substance abuse diagnosis. Also, he is a Candidate of MS for Pastoral Counseling at Fordham University. He came to AA in 1975 (he will be sober for 45 years in October). Tom shared in his bio: “Service had become instrumental in my salvation. Doing for others and diminish me. The example of Christ. The message in AA. Love and service. The phrase in the 12th step, “True ambition is not what we thought it was – true ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God.” That was my mantra. Sitting at my desk after recovering from surgery, I looked around and said, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Both of these sessions showed the  Cursillo Community how the Cursillo experience affects and strengthens Fourth Day journeys in so many ways—and that the journey is neverending!

We invite all of you to attend all future sessions and to please invite others. You don’t have to be a Cursillista to join us. This is a great way to bring people to our Cursillo Community! Future sessions will take place every third Wednesday of the month. We will offer presentations from different speakers that are near and dear to Cursillo. Our next session will take place on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, at 7:30 PM. Our guest speakers will be Joe Amato & Msgr. Tom Caserta.

Zoom details can be found on the flyer towards the end of this newsletter. Please join this great program to stay connected & strengthen your 4th Day!

 

 

We started our St. Paul’s Spiritual Enhancement series over Zoom Conferencing. This will happen on every third Wednesday of the month. Our first will take place on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, at 7:30 PM. Our guest speakers were Joe Amato & James White. In future months, Fr. Joe Holcomb & Msgr. Tom Caserta will be presenting.

The attached file is a recording of our first presentation that can be downloaded to your computer for viewing.

Two guys who know each other for 45 years and collectively have been in ministry for 90 years, will be in dialogue about the Spiritual Journey.

Joe Amato (made his weekend in 1969) and Jimmy White (made his weekend in 1979) will share their joys, struggles and reflections with stories, insights and personal experiences from their individual ministries and commitments to Christ, His Gospel, and His Holy Invitation.

Zoom details are provided monthly by email request to Tom Leavens (tmyluv@gmail.com) or by Facebook message request on our St. Paul’s Cursillo page https://www.facebook.com/groups/328727230586143 .

This is a strange moment in our lifetime.  And while the world is in a vulnerable place – on many levels, and in many ways – we hope that this email finds you and your loved ones well, and in the comfort of God’s Peace and Love.  Lord knows, we need Him now more than ever.  Please pray for those who are sick, those who are working to treat them, and those who are working to keep people healthy and safe, and get life back to normal.

Attached is the Community Newsletter, for March 2020.  Please take a moment to read it, as it is full of good stuff.

We hope that you enjoy the newsletter.  And remember, if you feel inspired to share a story of Faith, Hope, and Power of God’s Love – we welcome you to send it to us.  We would love to include it in a future newsletter.  Faith sharing is such an important part of our Community – as it is through God’s Love that we grow and strengthen.

Thank you all, De Colores and God Bless you.