trentonCURSILLO

Mary, the chosen one from God to be the Mother of His son, Jesus, was a woman of Great Mystery, a woman of Deep Sorrow , and a woman of Unusual Trust . While Mary had other most unique qualities, I will zero in on these three qualities— Great Mystery,  Deep Sorrow and Unusual Trust .  Now the Bible tells us in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels that Jesus was born not through the human way of birth but through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Luke goes into more detail when he describes the appearance of Angel Gabriel who tells this to Mary. Here we have Mystery !  And Mary did not hesitate to let Angel Gabriel know.  She tells him—“That’s impossible!  Joseph and I are not married yet and I’ve always been faithful to him.  We’re not living together either.” And as you know from Scripture Angel Gabriel clarified how Mary’s son would be born—through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Matthew tells us this also but not in as much detail as Luke tells us. As I prayed and pondered this,

Dear Cursillistas, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone in our community for reaching out and preparing me to work on team 126.   Each time I work on these men's weekends takes me back to when I made my weekend, years back. Going out into the environment after these weekends does make an impact on everyone in our community.  We are all on the same spiritual journey. We are all called to walk with Jesus.  It is up to us to respond yes to His call.  As we come closer to our Lord's birth let us remember to pray, pray, pray.  My favorite scripture verse is from John 3:16.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." I congratulate the new candidates of Trenton 126 and offer words of encouragement.  You and all Cursillistas are living under Mary's Mantle. Go out and live your fourth day.  It is a challenge in this environment.  May Jesus' light continue to shine in your hearts.  Bring that friend to

Our School of Leaders today was amazing! I know that word is overused and exaggerated but not in this case. Over 30 people attended the best Christmas SOL ever! We were inspired and prayerful from Sister Clara’s talk given by Pat Burke about the Holy Mother. What a beautiful unique outlook on the Virgin Mary and her relationship with her Son. We must seek pure joy even with sorrow, as Our Lady did, only through God. Our beloved Sister Clara could not be with us in person but was with us in spirit and had written such a beautiful talk, no one wanted to wait to hear it. Al Martella gave such an awesome inspiring witness, it still fills my heart  ️ and rings true, hours later.  Those in Cursillo know: we are changed, transformed, by the Holy Spirit over the years to glorious cursillistas awaiting the coming of Christ, seen through our brothers and sisters. May the new babe chicks experience that joy. Brothers and Sisters, may the peace of Christmas remain in your hearts throug

On Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 3:00 p.m., the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine will be sponsoring a bus trip to see the seasonally inspiring production of the “Miracle of Christmas” at the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase on a “first come, first served basis,” with NO REFUNDS, permitted. Following  the performance, we will be dining at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn for their Grand Smorgasbord.  The price per person will be $120 and includes the Miracle of Christmas performance, dinner at the Bird-in-Hand, (including tax and tip) and round trip transportation from the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, with our bus leaving at 11:15 a.m. For more information, please contact Marty Weisman at: 732-462-7038 or email me at: “comehome@strobert.com “

“Keep your eyes on the prize!” Be thankful for the gift of salvation. As we approach the end of our calendar year and liturgical year, we tend to look back to evaluate our life. We count our blessings as well as our trials. In counting blessings we often look at our material possessions, but seldom count our trials as something for which to be thankful.  We often think of our trials as something to be avoided, or as a punishment for our own sinfulness or the sinfulness of others.  In the 1st letter of Peter we read: “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.... you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”  For seventy years my family and I were blessed with good health. However, on Christmas Day, 2012, I suddenly became ill. Because I am a man and can

October is called the month of the Rosary. We even have a memorial for Our Lady of the Rosary on Oct. 7, to commemorate the Christian victory over Muslim forces at Lepanto in the Mediterranean, a victory attributed to Pope Pius V and his call for all of Europe to invoke our Lady on behalf of Christian forces. The Rosary also figured strongly in the apparition of Fatima, which celebrated its 100 anniversary on Oct 13 just a few days ago. But what exactly is the Rosary? Latin for “crown of roses”, it is one of the best-known and least understood of devotions. Used by the Catholic Church (although there are also devotees in the Eastern Orthodox Churches and even some Anglican and Lutheran ecclesial communities), there are many who view praying the Rosary as contrary to Jesus’ injunction against the “repetitive babbling like the pagans” of Matthew chapter 6 verse 7. Also, some see it as placing Mary above Jesus (the “Mary worship” of which Catholic are often accused). I think that it

Trenton 126 is in dire need of your help. Because of the small number of team members, we especially need community to be our prayer partners. If you can come to St. Alfofonso's Chapel and pray for the team, we would very much appreciate it. The Chapel is on the second floor.  It is OK for there to be more than one person in the Chapel to pray for the team and candidates.  Please use the back stairwell to access Chapel.  Directions will be posted.  If you can help, please contact  Maria Palumbo 908-601-6234 or Kathy Tucker 908-415-6006 or email us at trentoncursillo@gmail.com.  TALKS AND TIMES: Know Yourself - Thursday 8:30PM The Prodigal Son - Thursday 9:30PM Three Glances of Christ - Friday 7AM Ideal - Friday 9:30 AM Grace - Friday 10:30AM Laity - Friday 1:15 PM Faith/Divine Aid/Palanca - Friday 2:15PM Piety - Friday 4:15 PM The Person of Christ - Saturday 7AM Eucharist Talk - Saturday 7:30AM Study - Saturday 9:15 AM Sacraments - Saturday 10:1

Sunday’s readings resonate the theme of loving God and our neighbor. To accomplish both we must  open our hearts. As cursillistas we are called to bring God’s love to others through the Cursillo Method  and that, often, is not easy. It takes time and understanding, patience and cooperation, work and  money. I am appealing to my fellow cursillistas to show your love to the team and candidates of the upcoming  weekend for men that is scheduled for December 7-10 at San Alfonso Retreat House, Long Branch. We  have been blessed with candidates (currently 8-10) but our team is small, only 4-5 men, not including  our Father Ed Blanchett and Deacon John Clymore. The team will be tasked to do double duty with talks,  facilitating, and accomplishing all that the weekend entails. With only a few men to accommodate the candidates it is impossible for any of the team to pray in the  chapel for the speakers as they give their talks. We need cursillistas (both men and women) to come  forward an

It was in the year 1988 that dear friends of me and my husband began talking to us about living a Cursillo weekend.  Needless to say, I was not impressed; but, my husband was hooked.  We began hearing words that I never heard before: Cursillo, Ultreya, Rector, Lay Director.  I was thinking is this some kind of a religious cult!? As husband and wife we did many things together, went on retreats, workshops, Marriage Encounter, Pre-Cana with these same friends for many years.  Being shy and timid, I found it hard to mingle with a group of strangers without my husband by my side.  Well, to make a long story short, being an obedient wife, I finally consented to go on the all women's weekend: Trenton #66, in Bordentown in 1988.  Guess what?  Who was the one who got involved and stayed involved for over 29 years? In the past I have been privileged to serve on teams for four Cursillos in Christianity with these titles:  "Birds of the Air", "Change of Hearts", &

To all cursillistas who may read this: I was struck by the tripod I witnessed at the Columbus Day Parade this afternoon.  While so many are trying to tear down our statues and destroy any good which they represent not just of Columbus but so many other heroes who while they may not have been perfect men, are honored for various honorable things they did or traits they possessed. I was amazed at how on this Columbus day I witnessed our tripod of piety study and action at this year's parade: PIETY - The parade started with a prayer service at St. Patrick's Cathedral (something I never realized) STUDY - Thousands of copies of the Constitution of the United States were handed out at the parade.  STUDY what it really says and does NOT say ACTION - all of the various charitable works of amazing people both Italians and non-Italians alike who give back to this country out of love and gratitude for what they and their ancestors have received.  Maybe God meant the tri

An article about our recent Cursillo installation "Prayer Key Lesson as Trenton Cursillo Movement Installs New Officers" can be found at the  Trenton Monitor website at this link . A Photo Gallery of 20 pictures from the Mass  can be found at this link.

Wow! I’m really surprised! Looking around I realize no one has left yet. I guess that’s the reason why we don’t serve the cake until the end. Well, get ready, you’re in for it! Let’s pray together: O Lord our God, you have called all those who bear the mane of your Son to serve one another and the world around us by the works of faith and love. Renew our zeal for the tasks you have given us, that we may serve the coming of your kingdom, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Here I am! And I have big shoes to fill, big shoes. Rick Klarmann has done such a tremendous job serving as lay director these past two years, it’s just incredible. We had several weekends and have expanded our horizons. We were published in The Monitor and we have been on the radio! We have funded two weekends and looking to do a third. What accomplishments! Applaud. When I first got to work with Rick I found him to be a teacher, coach, guide, supporter, true friend. I also knew him as holy,

A beautiful treat for all! Our new Lay Director, Mary Weis Our new Past Lay Director, Rick Klarmann Mary Weis and new Assistant Lay Director, Kathy Tucker Mary and Rick Past Lay Directors - September, 2017 Front Row:  Mary Weis, Ronnie Martella, Mary Ann Dowd,  Middle Row: John DiStefano, Rick Klarmann, Pat Martucci,  Cynthia Diamond, John Cifordella Back Row:  Len Capobianco, Al Martella,  Dick Hemler, Dick Andrejack, Bill Grippo