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The Married Couples’ Weekend took place on April 5-7. The weekend was held at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington and 13 couples came together to work on their marriage relationships. Whether the couples are married for 5 or 50   years, there is room for improving their relationships. The weekend was led by Mike and Darlene McGovern and talks were given by the McGoverns, Ed & Maryann Caskin, Rob and Liz Palombo and Rich and Rosemary Maikis.

The theme of the weekend was Cultivating Spiritual Intimacy in Your Marriage. The goal was to grow in love, happiness and holiness with God and spouse. There were 4 tables and after each talk the couples had private discussion time and then time to go back to their table to share with other couples. This gave each couple the chance to think about the talk and apply it to their relationship. The table discussions reinforced the tools learned and lead to bonds between the couples at the table. The talks covered topics that a couple might not discuss on a daily basis.

Being together away from the world of distractions and focusing on relationship with God and each other is the greatest gift of the weekend.

What does God want? Practicing the Art of Discernment.

In September 1982 at St. Paul’s Center on Humboldt Street, the first “One Day At A Time Weekend” began. The weekend was founded by a group of five women who were members of Al-Anon and who were involved in St. Paul’s Cursillo. The weekend has always been for woman affiliated with Al-Anon, no requirement to have made a Cursillo, all are welcome.

Over 40 years later, this weekend continues. The weekend of February 23-25, 2024 – 36 beautiful women accepted the invitation to a weekend experience focused on Discernment.

We met to pray, discuss, reflect on the theme –Practicing the Art of Discernment. How do you discern what God wants of you? This weekend we explored the ways we listen to God’s invitation in our lives, exploring the graces of Steps 3 & 11 as a process of discernment.

Msgr. Joe Calise joined us on Saturday with a grace filled talk inspired by the theme of the weekend, followed by confessions, and mass. It was a special time for us to have him in our company.

The weekend started with prayer and the prayers continued along with sharing of ourselves and with each other. Volunteers arrived on Saturday afternoon to offer their services in healing treatments. Also, Spiritual Directors were available for one-on-one sacred listening; there was opportunity to take a walk, spend time in quiet mediation in the chapel, and we also had our “bookstore on wheels” available for the women to purchase a spiritual sentiment.

There was an overwhelming spirit of amazement this weekend. The talks were inspirational and heartfelt. We had many new people join us this weekend, we are always honored many invite their friends to experience this weekend. So inspiring and grace-filled!

ODAT 2025 will be scheduled at ICC Huntington last weekend in February.

Some of the women offered graces received on the weekend:
“I now have a desire to discern what God wants for me.”
“Loved the theme and going deeper and deeper into the word “discernment” and how to discern in
different ways.”
“God wants me to know Him, love Him and serve Him.”
“The talks on the weekend were inspiring, excellent, heartfelt, wonderful, and extraordinary. I have a
renewed closeness to God. Outstanding, so very good!”
“Msgr. Calise talk — beautiful, as always. He is such a joy to listen to; he is down to earth, real, and such a
blessing. He delivers a great message.”
“Loved the time in small groups, the sharing was intimate, safe, and deep.”
“Just being gathered all together to have fun and relaxation, nice to have this down time, a good outlet.”
“Closing circle was very good; I loved seeing everyone’s beautiful face and hearing the gifts received from
the weekend.”

The weekend was very intimate, touching, and funny.

It seems like our weather cycle and our liturgical calendar are moving in a parallel direction. Although the temperatures may still be brisk and the sunny days limited as we enter the final weeks of winter, we know that the glory of spring will soon be with us with warmer temperatures and the colorful blossoms of forsythia and tulips bringing us a sense of renewal as we anticipate the fun of warm weather activities that will soon be ours again.

Liturgically, we are in the solemn season of Lent, culminating in the suffering and death that Jesus endured for us so that our sins may be forgiven. Yet, we also anticipate His glorious Resurrection on Easter. Jesus returns to life just as nature is regenerating itself and the trees and flowers are emerging from their winter tombs just as the stone was rolled Back and Jesus arose to proclaim his victory over death.

This is my favorite time of the year as I look forward to all the splendor and celebration of spring and Easter. But it also reminds me that we have to endure the cold dark winter and the solemnity of Lent to truly appreciate the wonders of spring and Easter. Without the crucifixion, there could be no resurrection and without the role of winter in our weather cycle, the glory of spring would not be the same.

I believe that this is similar to the daily challenges that we experience in our lives. Sometimes, we may wonder why misfortune or illness or disappointments occur. Yet, it has been my experience that, when I am going through a difficult period, God has an answer for me. I just may not recognize or understand it. So often, I have prayed for a resolution that I thought would bring me what I hoped for, only to have God come up with a different and better answer than I could have ever imagined. The difficulty of experiencing what made me ask God for His help makes me so much more appreciative when He provides me with the answer or, in some cases, no answer at all, because what I was praying for was not the best thing for me. The suffering makes me so more appreciative of the resolution and sometimes that may just be the strength to endure what is happening to me. Without the Crucifixion, whatever that may represent in our lives, there can be no Resurrection.

So, I invite you to live Lent and the final days of winter with the anticipation of the glory of the Resurrection and of spring and, as you enjoy the concurrent spiritual and natural renewal, to realize that Jesus is always with you no matter what you may be experiencing and He will always provide the answer to that which you ultimately seek.

On Saturday, February 24, with the snow falling down, twenty-three brave men showed up at our Men’s Cursillo Follow Up meeting at Our Lady of Hope Church in Carle Place, NY. Although it was a smaller crowd than usual, the power of the meeting was evident.

Joe Amato gave a wonderful presentation about Lent. Some of the topics he spoke about were = Who are we? What does Lent mean to me? Honest, deep and personal sharing came from our groups because of the depth of the presentation. Our ending Prayer Service was up in the main church. It brings a lot of serenity to the men, joyous hugs and laughing faces – make us anxiously await the next meeting.

Our next gathering will be March 30 at 8:45 AM. Two of the guests that were present that day are signed up for the April 11th Men’s Cursillo.

As usual, the men shared pizza at Toskana in Westbury, which ends our day very nicely, and very satisfyingly. Hope to see you next month. De Colores!

I know what you are thinking—Yes, Christmas has been over for awhile already. All the decorations are packed away till next year, but what if I tell you “The Real Work of Christmas is just beginning”…

We are all called by God. But what is God calling us to do, what is he calling us to look for, are we looking for the same things God wants us to look for?

We look for so many things in this world to find our happiness and those things that would satisfy us. Only to find out later that those will not satisfy us, so we look again and again. And it seems that the looking for mystical formula seems endless.

Why? Maybe because we are often seeking the wrong things—the material things—things that cannot provide lasting satisfaction and contentment. For instance, can money, power, and other earthly pursuits truly satisfy us? These worldly things are incapable of providing the peace and contentment we seek.

Maybe God is telling us to seek different things, things that will give us satisfaction and make us feel content. There is a Poem written by Howard Thurman called, “THE WORKS OF CHRISTMAS,” and it goes like this…

When the song of the Angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and the Princes are home,
When the Shepherds are back with their flocks,
The Work of Christmas begins,
To find the LOST…
To Heal the BROKEN…
To Feed the HUNGRY…
To release the PRISONER…
To rebuild the NATIONS…
To bring PEACE among the PEOPLE…
To make Music in the HEART…

This poem tells us that when everything has returned to NORMAL after the holidays the REAL work of Christmas Begins.

In a world where we hear many voices telling us what to do, let us hear God’s voice.

The story of Samuel reminds us that God has a way of getting our attention. God makes himself known through a whisper in the wind or a quiet call in the night. He doesn’t bark orders; rather, He invites us to seek Him—just as Jesus in today’s Gospel invites followers to “Come, and you will see.” No pressure. No demands. No rolling thunder or flashes of lightning. God may give us a nudge. But He wants us to find Him on our own.

Are we willing to look?
Are we willing to listen?
Are we open to the possibility of an unexpected call in the night?

Let us respond to God’s voice this year with the words of a song I listen to all the time…

Here I am, Lord
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night
I will go, Lord
If You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart…

God Bless us All, Everyone…

In a scripture reflection I read in America Media, Michael Simone, S.J. recounts a tale about his sponsorship of a young man who had no religious affiliation, but said he was a fan of Christianity as a social force and for Father Simone’s ministry as a priest. At one point when the young man was talking about how much he respected the positive things that Christians had done for the world, Fr. Simone thought he saw an opportunity for evangelization. So he told the young man “You know, you could join us whenever you want!” The young man quipped “Mike, I respect the New England Patriots too, but I’m not going to show up at practice to run drills and take snaps. C’mon!” Fr. Simone wrote that the young man had intuited a truth about discipleship that he had never articulated to himself, i.e. Anyone can be a fan. It takes a different level of commitment to join the team – to be a teammate!

How about us? Have we been “fans” of Our Lord Jesus? If we are reading this reflection, we think of ourselves as followers of Jesus. We have great admiration and gratitude for Christ, but could we
be doing more in terms of our commitment to try to follow Him in our day to day living? Could we be better “teammates” of Christ?

In reading about the conversion of St Paul, I came across the words that Ananias said to Paul right after he told him “Saul, my brother, regain your sight”. In Acts 22:14-15, Ananias told Paul: “The God of our ancestors designated you to know His will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard.”
Having made the Cursillo, we learned and we know how much we are loved by God. We have heard His voice, and we know His will. And we have read in St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, “For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance….”

In preparation for the upcoming 2024 baseball season, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for their first workouts on Valentine’s Day, Wednesday, February 14th. It is also Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and our chance to renew/rededicate ourselves to our spiritual workouts. If we want to make the team, we know what it takes: PRAYER – RECEIVING THE   SACRAMENTS (especially the Eucharist) – READING GOD’S WORD – GOOD WORKS – SELF SACRIFICE.

Christ calls us to be perfect as His Father in heaven is perfect, BUT no matter how much we desire to spread the Light of Christ and be His witnesses in our world today, our humanness will still get in our way at times. He knows us and loves us and our efforts anyway. May each of us put in the effort to be better teammates! DECOLORES!!!

I am so grateful for our commitment to Cursillo and how we continually fight for it’s existence! I am proud to share OUR story— of how we keep our programs going. We believe in this powerful,
essential need of God’s Friendship in our lives & the Cursillo experience is something that no other program is!

Since becoming a 501c3 non-profit company, St. Paul’s Cursillo & Retreat Programs, Inc. has a Board that meets regularly to review expenses & other business requirements. The Board is comprised of members from the Cursillo Community that represent all of our initiatives = programs, follow-up, finances, gathering spaces, etc. Recently, the Board needed to review the cost for running our programs. Expenses like retreat centers, supplies, insurance, etc. have increased. We had to make the difficult decision to raise the cost of our Cursillo weekends in 2024.

We are grateful for the support we receive from donations & fundraising. The Cursillo Community is so generous—you support everything that we ask! Because of your generosity & support, we
have money reserved for scholarships. We NEVER want someone to not make a Cursillo, or work as a Team Member, because they cannot afford to. The money you give—raffle tickets, free will
donations, donations for remembrance of loved ones, T-shirt & gift purchases—all go to supporting everything, especially those who need assistance.

All this leads to sponsorship—what we need to do to get others interested in making a Cursillo, and what’s needed to make that Cursillo experience the best it can be. As Cursillistas, we need to
commit to sharing Cursillo, inviting others to consider making a weekend. It involves giving candidates all the information they need to make a Cursillo & following up with them about it. Please
know that you can ask for help with sharing Cursillo with others. Our Program Directors & Team Members will talk to anyone & everyone about Cursillo. Last year was so tremendously successful
with four Cursillo weekends—let’s continue those blessings in 2024!

On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, the Cursillo Community came together to experience the multimedia presentation for Advent. The evening was a joint effort from members of the Floral Park and Manorville Ultreyas to promote our unity as a Cursillo community. Held at the Brentwood Academy, it was the first time since Covid that we were blessed to gather in person for this annual evening of prayer.

The theme this year was, “Advent: A Season of Holy Waiting.” There were personal reflections from Jo Anne Ayers, Mario Cannariato, Tracey O’Reilly and Ann Marie Dodd. Joanne Lauro and I shared prayers and introduced the program. We even had some surprise giveaways for a few of our attendees in the true Christmas spirit of gift giving. As each of our presenters lit the Advent candle to introduce their piece, it announced to our community that Hope, Peace, Love and Joy abound, not only around us but within us during this season.

When I presented the theme, I said that Advent is a time to wait—to be in suspense, a holy waiting. It is a time between now and not yet, a time when we are very aware of what is behind us but not sure of what lies ahead. Holy waiting is active, not passive. Holy waiting begins with listening. We listen to God. We listen to our own inner promptings.
Here are some inner promptings from our presenters after the fact, sharing their experience and how it impacted their
own Advent journeys:

“To be celebrating our Advent service in person was a beautiful prayerful experience.”– Jo Anne Ayers
“The Advent evening of prayer was a perfect way to start the season, allowing me to focus on hope, joy, love, and peace, and hold on to the stories shared. It helped me to slow down while I was holy waiting for our Savior to be born” – Joanne Lauro
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to reflect on my abundant blessings this season. I entered Advent with a deeper, more meaningful, and prayerful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus. To see each candle lit ignited that feeling in me. It was less about the external decorations and more about my interior journey”– Tracey O’Reilly
“As I was preparing for the prayer service I was focused on Joy. As they say, God always gives you what you need. In that preparation and reflection, I was able to stay in joy throughout the season of Advent. It was enlightening for me as I don’t recall in years past that I gave it much thought. My favorite line from that piece was … joyful anticipation. It is in the waiting that we can experience the joy. So, I stayed focused on being in Advent, staying present and mindful as the days and weeks went by. I entered several different stores as Christmas was coming and I needed to prepare in a few different ways, I entered
each store reminding myself to experience the joy. And you know what, I did! It was such a grace for me.”
“I am always humbled to work with my Cursillo brothers and sisters doing anything for our community. My take on this advent season was the line in my section that read “Are you waiting for peace or are you waiting in peace?” Reflecting on that line led me to think how blessed we are as Christians to be given the gift of our Lord coming to us each year. This God of ours thought of everything, each year we celebrate our Savior’s birth, and we celebrate his death for all humanity” – Mario Cannariato

This Christian Community was certainly a gift to me this Advent season. These words from Ann Marie Dodd express the gratitude of all of us involved: “And finally, I want to say how much I was truly touched by the in person gathering. Bringing the community from the East and the West together in one location and in person was truly wonderful. At first, I was skeptical, and I had even bet someone that if “X” amount of people showed up I would do a “jig”! Imagine that! Well guess what folks, more than I expected did show up and that was a wonderful grace as well. I look forward to the opportunities for our community to come together to have the opportunity to prepare for and pray during Lent and Advent. Thank you to all who came in person and on zoom. It was a beautiful evening. I look forward to the opportunities to pray together in community, it is such a blessing for each of us.”

I am already looking forward to our next in person gathering for our Lenten Evening of Prayer on March 5,2024. Let’s see what dance we can get Ann Marie to do that night!! Save the Date. Details to follow—Stay tuned!!

Happy New Year!

I am breathing a sigh of relief that the frantic part of the holiday season is done. I don’t think I am alone in that sentiment. Over the last few years, I had really begun to reevaluate what the true meaning of the season meant for me. This year, especially, the greatest lesson I have learned is to keep my mind on Jesus. As Advent progressed, I intentionally focused on the theme for that week. I was hard pressed when it came to joy. Grief from the death of my father this past summer lightly drifted in and out of moments in my days. I was grateful that in those moments I knew God wasn’t a far away God, that He was right there with me. So, God and I had plenty of quiet time with one another, sometimes not so quiet- at least not on my end.

Somewhere in all that, I began to consider my vision for the upcoming year. What would I like to see happen in my life? What needs to change? What am I willing to do about any of it? Putting the laundry list of future broken resolutions aside, I laughed when it dawned on me to ask, “God, what is your vision for my life?” This is the real-life definition of Holy waiting. Partially yes and partially no – I do believe I am living out His vision for me each day. I trust God will reveal all that and so much more in His time. As I continue to ask God to mold and shape me, His vision becomes my reality.

In 12-Step Recovery, we strive to live our lives 24 hours at a time—each day is a new beginning, a clean slate, a “do-over”. I believe that is precisely what living life in deep relationship with Christ is for me. So, at the clock strike of midnight this past New Year’s Eve, I unhitched the U-Haul truck of 2023’s worst moments to embrace to new vision God has in store for me.

I will continue to contemplate what God is calling me to do this new year with every invitation. In your prayer time you might want to consider:

What is God’s vision for your life? What is He calling you to do in this new season? What dreams does He want you to pursue? What matters of your heart does He want to work on healing? In what areas does He want you to grow?

On December 6th, fifty-two men gathered at Our Lady of Hope Church, Carle Place, NY, for our Annual Men’s Christmas Mass and Dinner. Our main celebrant was Fr. Tom Moriarity, a recent Cursillista, who has such zest for the Cursillo program! He has helped us with the last two Men’s weekends and plans to be on every one going forward! A good deal for us!

During this liturgy ,one of our recent Cursillistas was Baptized and Confirmed. How special this was for all of us to witness. The spirit was so alive at this celebration. The gentleman’s name is Kumar. He chose Paul as his Confirmation name in honor of St. Paul who touched him so much on his weekend. He asked us from now on to call him Paul Kumar!

After Mass, we went to the church basement where a fantastic dinner was set up—catered by Toskana on Post Avenue in Westbury and overseen by our two Christmas Elves, Darlene McGovern and Catherine Amato. They kept the men full of food fun and spirit. We had our sharing session which always leads to such great discussion, as we reconnected with men we haven’t seen in a while—as well as faithful ones who are there all the time. Ending with coffee, cake and candy to make this event just perfect. Until next year, may you all have a wonderful New Year!

DeColores!