Some months ago I was asked to be Rector for this year''s Men''s Cursillo Weekend. Knowing that if they had made it all the way down the list to me, they must''ve been truly desperate, I agreed to take on the role and started the process of selecting a team. The Holy Spirit was at work here because in the end we had exactly the team we were meant to have. I was absolutely blown away by how dedicated each of these Holy men were to bringing a new group of Candidates through their weekend to become Cursillistas.\r\n

Once the team was complete we selected a theme for the weekend. Over the past two years I''ve been asked many times to describe Cursillo. As we mention in the Total Security Rollo, the Cursillo Weekend cannot be defined, it must be lived to be understood. The closest I''ve been able to get in describing it is that it is a process for taking disciples and forming them into apostles. We chose as our theme for the weekend, Christ''s words to the first apostles, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men".

This was last May or June. On the Thursday that the weekend began, can you guess what the daily Gospel reading was? That''s right, Christ calling Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him and become apostles or as he put it, fishers of men.

When we arrived at the retreat center we were given a code to get in the doors. As I''m sure the code changes regularly I think I''m ok telling you what it was. It was 0914. September 14 is both my anniversary and my daughter''s birthday. So pretty easy for me to remember.

Just a couple of taps on the shoulder to let me know He was there with us.

There were many amazing moments throughout the weekend and I''m sure what spoke to me is different from what spoke to someone else.

Going to chapel while on break to pray the Devine Mercy Chaplet during Holy Hour and having every single candidate and team member choose to spend their break there too was incredible.

Walking the Way of the Cross at night with flashlights and taking turns reading the stations from our Pilgrims Guides.

Sitting at the lunch table with a Deacon and a soon to be Seminarian discussing theology and church history because that''s what we are truly interested in.

And just seeing God pick up these tools and use them to build His Kingdom. I am humbled and honored to have been one of those tools. I am grateful not only for the amazing team that made my job so easy but for the candidates, now Cursillistas, who taught me as much as we taught them.

I can''t wait to see the haul of fish they''re gonna catch.

De Colores!

Matt Retz
September 26, 2014