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• Wonderful to have a Saturday filled with Christ loving women. Looking forward to June. God bless.

• Loving as God loves. Today’s meeting reinforced the love of God. For us, God is love. He gave his Son to us, who in turn sent his Holy Spirit. He gave us His love. We are love.

• This was the first-time experience for me. I was very impressed how close I was to God during this time. Thank you.

• I appreciate having had the time to experience a mini retreat in 3 1/2 hours. It reminded me that I have to make the time for prayer without distractions to nurture my soul so that I can be more effective in bringing or seeing Jesus in others.

• The Irish prayer at the end was beautiful. The morning said it all. Thank you for your service. I always love the music chosen. It helps me to pray in gratitude.

• Losing my daughter this Christmas is hard at times. This time together helps me in remembering my Cursillo and that love, faith and hope in Jesus.

• Amazing Grace. Today was simply time with my best friend who comes and speaks to me through amazing women. Today was coffee with God, where
once again I was reminded how loved I am and how God wants me to do great things. Love and forgive like him freely give what I receive.

• I learned that the Lord is calling me to spend more quiet time with him.

• Transfigure me oh God.

• It was great reconnecting with everyone in the presence of God and sharing on heartfelt topics and gave me the opportunity to have the space and time to commune with God.

• Wonderful opportunity to come together with women who share our experience of heart and soul with each other and feel the presence.

• Our faith is meant to be shared. I didn’t just read scripture and listen to fellow Christians. I experienced God himself.

• I love how we come from so many lives joined together with Christ in the center.

• The morning of prayer was full of the Spirit. I learned a new method of prayer and had a moving sharing with the women of God at my table.

On March 16th, 28 God seeking women gathered in St. Anthony’s Hall in Westbury, to participate in our first “Moments With God” series. Although the weather was cold, our hearts were warm as we exchanged hugs, smiles, and exclamations of joy to see each other.

Lisa Brogan started the morning off with a very inspiring talk entitled “Loving Like Christ Loves” and invited us to become Jesus’ lambs. She stressed forgiveness, a favorite touchy subject for good Christians like us because we all have that family member, co-worker, or an annoying neighbor whom God places in our lives, so we can learn to forgive and love them just like He forgives and loves us. Theresa McHugh followed with an introduction to a different way of praying with the scriptures called “Lectio Divina”. The suggestions for this way of praying were- read the
scripture, select a few lines to reflect on, mentally chew the words and images, and make a plan of action in response to what God has spoken to us through the scripture.

The team thanks all those who attended and for your warm feedback. Hope to see you again at our next gathering which will be on June 22nd. For those who could not attend, we really hope to see
you next time. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a Cursillista to attend, so bring a friend or make a friend.

Decolores!
Norma Scally

The Couples Weekend Retreat was held at The Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington on April 5-7. After a week of heavy rain, the sun came out and welcomed us to the beautiful
surroundings of the seminary. It was a good sign of things to come. The sun was also shining in the rooms. We were welcomed with love, and it was a joy meeting the other couples on this retreat.

Thanks to Darlene and Mike McGovern for all their hard work organizing and hosting this weekend, and it was great to see Mike working the retreat after months of knee surgery complications. God is good. The meals were delicious, and the connections we made were special. We played word games, danced, and sang together, and there were tears and laughter during discussions about the struggles and joys of marriage. Thank you to all the couples who made this weekend possible. We learned ways to keep our marriage alive, and praying everyday together is the key.

We heard,” There is no Rainbow without a Storm,” and there is no marriage without these hills and valleys, but we can overcome anything when we keep God in the center of our lives and marriage.

It was bittersweet when the retreat came to an end, and we left feeling different. We found the rainbow on our weekend.

De Colores,
Norma and Rich Scally

Easter Greetings to the St. Paul’s Community!

I had the extraordinary opportunity to be in France for the Holy Days and the Octave of Easter. It was no ordinary trip, it was a pilgrimage to the sacred sites of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

We were officially founded in LePuy, France in 1650 with six women and a Jesuit priest, Fr. Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ. Medaille was an itinerant preacher and spiritual director. As the Congregation of the Great Love of God grew and expanded throughout France, God’s presence was palpable.

During the French Revolution all religious communities were suppressed and those who continued to gather for Eucharist or were found harboring priests were guillotined in the public square. Our CSJ history tells us the six Sisters of St. Joseph met their fate with the blade. As I stood on the spot I remembered my religious ancestors. In particular, I remembered our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross. His Great Love of God, his Abba, and his teachings about God’s mercy and inclusion was too much for religious and civil authorities to fathom.

Despite the Reign of Terror there eventually was a new dawn. For the Sisters of St. Joseph, it meant a refounding of the Congregation requested by the local bishop. The woman he chose was Jeanne Fontbonne, who like all the religious went back to her family to live a quiet life once she was released from prison. This task to be the greatest challenge of her life.

Known as Mother St. John Fontbonne, she went about quietly and patiently gathering young women to once again let God’s inclusive love be manifest. In 1836 a request was made by Bishop Rosati from St. Louis to send some sisters to teach deaf children as well as Native Americans. Other requests for her sisters came from other parts of France and the known world. She lovingly sent her daughters out to make God’s love visible. Today, there continue to be 9,000 Sisters of St Joseph throughout the world ministering to the “Dear Neighbor.”

We too are sent out into the world to proclaim that Jesus is Risen! God’s love is alive! WE are people of Hope! God is asking great things of us! Let us be filled with joy. Let us make God’s presence palpable to one another and all those we meet!

Alleluia!
Marie Mackey,csj

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!!!