Community News

Graduation time!!

albino — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:49:16 +0000

In our houses in Florida we’ve had a bunch of guys coming for orientation. We are praying for them, hoping they will enter later to find new life. The houses are going pretty well with normal problems. Also, it is a time to begin to prepare for those that will go to the festival in Italy (Festa della Vita 2012) July 12-16. This year is the 29th anniversary of the beginning of the Community. We have a big group of guys overseas. Hopefully, we will have a large group of parents go to Italy.
We have a pilgrimage to Loreto, Assisi, and Rome after the Festival of Life. Many people were interested in information. You can contact Kim at cazzanigak@bellsouth.net, and she can send all the details. I think it will be a great addition to your trip to Italy.
Mother Elvira and Father Stefano went to Peru for the graduation of Sister Marica from Nursing School. She has been going to school for the last 5 years, taking a bus or the “colletivos” (minivans converted in taxi where they squeeze in more people than seems possible) for an hour each way. Plus, she lived in community with 25 babies and helped with all the needs of the Community. She is really an example of so much sacrifice to be able to get a degree in nursing in another language and in another country! The graduation was on April 26 and Mother Elvira and Father Stefano wanted to be present, because she is such an example of faithfulness, service, and perseverance!
We need to pray more for our former members, because we have some guys that have really made some very poor decisions. Please keep them in prayer that they will be able to go back on track or come back to the Community. We see more and more that it takes a lot to rebuild a life. They need a long time in Community and need to make a lot of sacrifices. They have to work hard on changing who they are and what they want and how they think. If you make bad choices when you go out, you can destroy everything in a very short time! It is really time to pray for our guys outside for them to make good choices and for them to keep praying and grow spiritually in their life. That is the only way to be saved from all the temptations of the world.
Some of the girls from Santa Maria Goretti will be in the Atlanta area at St Brigid after each Mass. For info on the location of the church: http://saintbrigid-org.ecatholicchurches.com/
Another event where you can find us is at the first Marian Conference at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida. Joyce and I and a couple of guys will be speaking on Saturday, May 19. Info in on this website: http://www.avemaria.edu/NewsEvents/Conferences/MarianConference.aspx
This is the time for graduating from nursing school. Last night Joyce and I went to the graduation of one of our Cenacolo girls, Susanna. She exited about 4 years ago and finished her AA, then did a two year RN program. She worked hard and was very determined and persevered. We are very happy for her!
Please keep us in your prayers.
Grazie
Ciao

Happy Easter

albino — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:28:07 +0000

I finally take a moment to write about our Lent Retreat at Camp St. John. What a weekend of prayer, emotions, joy, and tears. I think we had almost 300 people for the retreat and more for Sunday. It was so nice to see the parents spend so much time in prayer, kneeling down before the Blessed Sacrament. It made your children are very happy to know that you were doing this. Mother Elvira has always said, “Converted parents—saved children. It was a great preparation for Holy week. It was beautiful to see the long lines for Confession, thanks to the many priests who came. I could see that most of the parents went to Confession.
Anyway, we are just so grateful to God to see what is happening in Cenacolo! The weather also was very interesting with a nice day on Friday and a real stormy day on Saturday. Thanks be to God, we were in the Camp not outdoors!
The time in front of the Blessed Sacrament for the real deep examination of conscience was just so profound. The time of praying for healing for ourselves and also of asking for forgiveness really brought tears to the eyes of many people. The Adoration with the guys and girls was a special moment, for sure.
Finally on Sunday it was the time to go to our house, Mary Immaculate, to celebrate Palm Sunday! The weather was just great. It was sunny and breezy. Many of the former members came with their families and a lot of friends of the Community came, too. It was just so special to see so many people in the procession with all the palm branches and praying “Hosanna,” while we walked behind the guys that were dressed like the Jesus and the apostles, leading the walk into Jerusalem.
Mass was celebrated by our Bishop Snyder, who keeps on going forward with determination at 87 years old. He comes every Sunday to celebrate Mass at 9 for the girls and at 11 for the guys. Probably for Mass on Palm Sunday we had about 400+ people. It was a beautiful with everything set up around our rustic altar under the majestic trees of our Community. The girls led the music, and they did a good job.
Then we had lunch, and the parents had time to visit with their children! There was a lot of joy in the air, and people gathered in the shade of the trees on our property. It is great we have so much space at Mary Immaculate! Then around 3 o’clock it was time to say, “goodbye.” As always, it was difficult for families to leave. We saw many tears, mostly of joy, because of the life that the parents saw the guys and girls have found in Community. We hope and pray that everyone will take the spirit of these days and live it through the entire Easter season.
I want to thank all the parents that did service, helped in the kitchen, helped with transportation, and served in other ways!
Please pray for Gabriel NJ and Tim FL who left the Community right after the retreat.
Now the focus is the Triduum of this Holy Week. We really want to enter deeply into the prayer of the Church in these most holy days of the year. We pray for the same for you. May all of you will have a very holy Easter! We are very grateful to God that we see His Resurrection every day in the life of the guys and girls that are in Community.
Grazie
ciao

Same late news!

albino — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:10:49 +0000

We just had a couple nice celebrations for my birthday, and in Community it is always a lot of fun. The guys in the two houses in Florida got together for dinner at OLOH and came up with a funny skit, plus they put together a great video with some very old photos of me and of the Community from the early days right up to now. It was great! The girls did a skit, a song, and video the next day at lunch. It was very funny, so we laughed a lot again. And then it ended with the visit to Alabama where we celebrated another time, so it was a long celebration! I thank God for all the joy He has given me and for the gift of life that I received from God through my parents and, later, through the Community.
In Alabama the guys seem to be doing ok. The guys are pretty much done assembling a metal building, and we thank God for the support of local people that came to help to do the work, because we would not have been able to do it by ourselves. It is a 2400 square feet building that we can use for storage and as a shop. It is located in the area that we cleared, close to our farming area! Also, we received a beautiful, marble statue that is 7 feet tall and weight 2700 pounds. It was custom made in Vietnam and is a replica of Our Lady of Joyful Hope in South Caroline. We are trying to figure out just how to set this statue in front of the house. Moving it is not an easy task! We will have a celebration for the second anniversary of the opening of the house on March 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bishop Baker will celebrate Mass and bless the statue of Our Lady of Joyful Hope!
In Florida, we have filled all the beds in the girls’ house, St Maria Goretti! We have 17 girls! Looking back at the story of the house, I consider it a big miracle, as I think of all the struggles we have had with the girls since the house opened! The latest three to enter are Caroline (VA), Rita (AL), and Milena, so we are try to find a way to keep everyone busy!
At Mary Immaculate we just sent Ryan and Andrew A back to Italy after their verifica and short time at the house. Andy was transferred, so he went with them to Italy. They all seemed pretty happy about it. Chris M. is home on verifica and getting some medical check-ups, so please keep him in your prayers! Brian H. is home on verifica, and then he will go to the house in Lourdes! Also Tim (FL) just entered a few days ago! Piotr will be going to the mission in Peru next week! I wish we had more like him in the States! After being a missionary with us for three years, now he is going to serve the children. For sure, it will be a time of more transformation, growth, and change for him. He is certainly not like some of our American guys that just can’t wait to have three years in Community so they can hit the door! If we depended on them to keep the Community going, we would not have any more than one house in the states!

At Our Lady of Hope, we continue with our normal routine in the work to maintain the property well and having guys on orientation.
It is Lent, so the guys and girls are doing more sacrifices in their day than the normal ones they always do as part of Community life. I encourage you to do the same, to decide to really live this special time of repentance with joy and peace. Mother Elvira told our priests two years ago to turn off the cell phones during Lent as a sacrifice, and they will have more time to pray! I did it last year, and it was a good experience, so this year I am doing the same. I forwarded my cell phone to our office line. It is sacrifice for me and for all those who are trying to reach me. Please continue to help the community in what you can!

Grazie
Ciao

Mother Elvira birthday celebration

albino — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:14:21 +0000

Finally I have a moment to share what’s happening in Cenacolo life. There is just so much that is difficult to explain everything. I was to Italy for Mother Elvira`s birthday. This is a big Community celebration every year. There is a whole day for the guys, girls, and friends. There is a day just for the girls, and there is a day just for the guys. There is always Mass, Adoration, and rosary, plus lots of testimonies, singing, and very funny skits. Also every house presents gifts they have made to Mother Elvira. These aren’t the normal gifts people get for their birthday! Every house of Community presents their gifts, which are usually things made for the different Community houses. Some are clever. Some are beautiful. Some are useful. Some are ugly and funny, but the house that made it doesn’t think so!
This year her birthday is the big number 75, which every year gets bigger and bigger. There is so much joy in everybody’s heart. We all want to express what Mother Elvira has done for all of us who know her. Every year there is a theme that will accompany the Community for the whole year. Last year was Divine Providence, and this year is True Friendship. So many skits were made using the theme. The guys and girls did some very great skits on the Guardian Angel in Community. In many testimonies guys expressed that Mother Elvira had been a true friend because she has never been afraid to challenge us, telling us the truth and loving us infinitely.
The first day was for all the guys and girls and friends of the Community, and we met in Caramagna, a small town close to Saluzzo. I had a chance to see a bunch of guys who are over in Europe. Pretty much almost everyone was there. It is like a big family reunion in Christ! I was impressed, because I saw pretty much everyone doing pretty good, and no one begged me to come back to the states. That’s always a plus, and it means that some of them are “choosing the uncomfortable” and growing in their journey. It make very happy just to see this. The day ended with a big cake that was 6 feet by 6 feet! Think—24 square feet! It was huge, and in a very short time it was all gone!
The next big event it was in Envie for the guys in Community. All the houses made gifts for her and then presented their gift to her. Again the day it was full of the Holy Spirit with a beautiful time of adoration and then Mass. Then we had the presentation of the presents, with some beautiful art work made with a lot of love.
This year our Community in the states did a couple of videos, one from the girls and one from the guys. We showed them on the two different days, and I introduced those to everyone there. It was great because the guys’ video told pretty much the story of Cenacolo in the States, and it was in Italian and English. Everyone had a chance to see our Community houses here in the states. The length was 15 minutes. We will show it during our retreat Palm Sunday weekend.
Another day was for the girls, and over 200 girls were together in Envie. We had the same schedule as the guys, and then in the afternoon they showed all the gifts to Mother Elvira. They did all kind of skits and dances, and it was just great. Mother Elvira was so happy!

We transferred some guys and one girl from the States to Europe: Jacob (Casaleggio), Joe G. and Louis (Medjugorje), Kevin L (Saluzzo), John W. (Loreto), Thomas H (Alessandria), Matt M. (Casaleggio), Zef (Santo Stefano), Olivia (Spinetta). Stephen E came back to OLOH in Florida.
Also we have a few guys that are on verifica now: John Y, Brian H., James G., Dan D., David T., Andrew A., Ryan M., Matt R. Please keep everyone in your prayers.
About the community here in the States, things are going ok with our up and downs. We hope and pray that the guys integrate prayer in their lives, because it is the only thing that can save us! We had few enter: Tim (IL) and John (MI) and Emily (MS) Veronica (GA). Three guys exited: Teddy (FL) Tim (WI) and Victor (TN). Please pray for them.
Grazie
Ciao

Happy New Year!

albino — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:11:11 +0000

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! In Community the guys had a very good Christmas, for sure different than any previous Christmas spent with family and friends, but very healthy and safe and not commercial! The guys from the two houses in Florida went to the home of a family in Jacksonville. Since the beginning of the Community in America, this family has invited us for dinner on Christmas Eve and given a present to each of the guys. Every year we have more guys going to their home, and this time we were 38 all together! It was a great time for the guys, because they felt very welcomed in their home! The girls, instead, stayed home but went to the midnight Mass with us at the cathedral in St Augustine. It was a nice gift for them. In Alabama, the guys also celebrated Christmas at home. Our dear friend Monsignor celebrated Midnight Mass at Community, and then they had a nice party, simple but very joyful, so it was a very nice Christmas for everyone! In Italy the guys got together at Envie on Christmas Eve. All the guys from the houses close to the Saluzzo area were there. They had a very beautiful Christmas Mass with Mother Elvira and all our priests and consecrated!
Now we are ending this 2011 and looking back. We have a lot to be grateful for! When I think about everything that has happened, I see the hand of God always taking care of us, protecting us, and bringing good out of anything sad or difficult that happens, like what happened in one of the houses in Peru in early spring. Life is so full in Community that is almost difficult to remember everything that has happened.
Our life has many beautiful and good moments. I have a vivid memory of the procession of 400+ people on Palm Sunday singing Hosanna at Mary Immaculate. Then, just a few weeks later, a fire approached Mary Immaculate, and we had to evacuate, taking only the tabernacle, the statue of Our Lady, and our documents. The fires consumed 1400 acres of land just south and west of us, and they stopped at our property lines!
Another great memory was the Festival in Italy that included the ordination as deacons of two of our guys. This summer at the Festival of Life they will be ordained to the priesthood! Two more priests for our Community! Then how can we forget our fall Festival, dealing with our crazy Florida weather that seems to produce a storm every time we have an outdoor event! But our joy is always greater than any challenge by the weather. What a joy having Mother Elvira, some of our sisters, and our Father Stefano with us! Think of what the guys and girls were able to do for their family and for the glory of God!
Also a big step for the Community is opening our first mission house in Africa. We sent the first 7 guys to Liberia in August, and on December 28, three of our sisters and two other girls went there with Father Stefano e Sister Jennifer. Little by little our mission is taking form, and we from America want to support it. I will be going to visit, hopefully, sometime in February. We have a lot to be grateful for this year, and we cannot complain in any way. We are very happy for everything God has done for us!
We have a few desires for the New Year. One is to visit the mission in Liberia and be an instrument of Divine Providence for the Community there. Second is to be able to break ground for the new house in Mary Immaculate. It will be located where the garden is now and, hopefully, will be built in phases, so we will need a lot of resources! A third desire is to be able to establish, maybe in Alabama and here, some classes where the guys can learn trades. We just shipped a very large metal building from Florida, and it is going up soon. We would like to receive the Providence to get the needed equipment for a good wood shop and for a welding shop, just to start, and to find someone to teach! Another desire—the most important—is that the guys in Community will embrace prayer in their heart and carry it with them when they are go out for good, because we see every day that without prayer our guys cannot make it outside. They might stay outside a couple years before coming back, but they are a mess when they don’t have God deep in their hearts and move back into the mess of the world. We have seen this lately and keep on seeing it. Without God deep in our life, we are lost again. We see it in some of them lately! To finish in our list, we really want to see parents walk the Community journey in truth without being negative or complaining. We want the families to embrace what the Community has taught for so many years, because it gives life to us. It’s the way of life taught by Jesus. We want families to help the Community that is helping your sons and daughters. It has helped so many people for so many years—without asking much!
Please pray that God keeps Mother Elvira in good health for the next year and that she will be able to come back next fall!
Go Alabama!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Grazie
Ciao

Anniversary Mary Immaculate

albino — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:45:58 +0000

Feast of the Immaculate Conception
It has been a great day , we celebrate also 7 years of the community of Mary Immaculate. For the occasion the 2 houses OLOH and Mary Immaculate got together plus some friends of the community and we had Mass outside in a pretty cool weather and then a nice Lunch in our dining room pretty pack with over 50 people there. The high light it was also a nice slide show of the story of the fraternity, pretty well done where really gave the idea of how many progress had been made in the house and how much work it has been already done and how many guys pass through! The day continued with a nice soccer game and then everyone return to their own house!
Lately we had some of the post festival effect with some guys leaving from OLOH, Jonathan CA and Sean PA, please keep them in your prayers. We had also Brian P. re enter in Italy and Blake F. coming back in Alabama. Please keep them in your prayers. Also Nicholas M. after an experience with his mom exit the community please keep him in your prayers to be able to make some good decisions for his future!
Other then that we are preparing for Christmas our houses are well decorate and we are entering through the advent into the spirit of Christmas and I will say that is always very joyful to see Christmas coming in community. Completely different in what you see in the world outside, people rushing to get presents and stuff like that, here pretty much we focus on the real meaning of the birth of Jesus.
At the girls house we have had girls in orientation every week and the everyone seems in a god spirit. They will have a market next weekend in a parish in Jacksonville and everyone is working for it. Also they are painting and organinzing the shop with some very bright colours and it looks pretty nice and girly.
Hopefully I will make to Alabama sometimes next week to see the guys there and to see how they are doing. On the phone they sound pretty good and exited for the changes we have made. Also we were able to ship there a metal building ad it is going up soon, we are working in the foundation now, so a lot of work is going on there!
We have send to the regional people what can be use as gift for the guys for Christmas, so you will know by now. Joyce puoi aggiungere per favore.
Hope all of you are preparing for Christmas and we pray for you and pray for us!
Grazie
Ciao

Thanksgiving

albino — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:40:16 +0000

What a joy to have Mother Elvira and Father Stefano and the sisters come from Italy! It was hard to see them go, and we really miss them. For sure, having Mother Elvira with us at our festival this year was really a special blessing and left all of us with our hearts full of joy. Mother Elvira and Father Stefano were able to go to all the houses a few times to be with the guys and girls. It was a great blessing for everyone to hear them and be with them.
At Mary Immaculate, we took everything apart, and the guys are back to all their duties. There is a lot of joy in the air because of everything they experienced and all the work they did to prepare for the Retreat and the Festival! We made some changes: Andy and Michael N. were transferred to Mary Immaculate. Tom Q. and Brandon were transferred to OLOH. Philip, Victor, Matt. T., Joe O., and Stephen were transferred to Alabama. All the changes are a good opportunity for growing in the journey of the Community. Even though everyone was surprised at first, they all had good attitudes about the change.
I also spent a few days in Alabama, the place that suffered the most post-festival. We had three guys leave: Beveridge, Kevin B, and Robert. We were sad to see them go and are praying for them.
You can feel the winter there now, and fireplace is up and running. We lined up some projects to keep everyone busy, and I was there when the brothers transferred from Florida arrived. It was a big surprise for everybody.
There are a few guys that exited a while back that are not doing well at all. Please keep them in your prayers.
Thanksgiving is coming, and we have a lot to be thankful for this year. We have received so many graces. We want always to be more and more grateful for the gift of life that God gave us and for having the Community in our lives. The tradition is that all the guys come to our house for the day. The guys in Alabama are going to Bishop Baker’s house. This is a relatively new tradition! The girls will have Thanksgiving at their house.
As you can see, Thanksgiving came and went. It was a great day! The guys arrived at noon, just in time for a huge lunch with many, many desserts! Then they went to the beach, where they prayed a walking rosary and then had a good time swimming and playing football on the beach. They came back to the house when it was almost dark, where everyone just talked and visited. A few played chess and Monopoly! Then we prayed the third rosary of the day. And then we ate again! I can’t believe we were hungry after the lunch we ate, but we were. It really was a day of joy!
Grazie
Ciao

FESTIVAL OF LIFE FLORIDA 2011

albino — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:27:34 +0000

Finally I have a moment where I can recollect my thoughts and write a little about what happened over the weekend. I do not even know where to begin, because the emotions are so high. The joy is so great, and what I saw over the weekend was so beautiful. The presence of Mother Elvira, Father Stefano, and our sisters really made the weekend memorable.
Let’s begin with our retreat, where Father Stefano gave some beautiful talks about Community life. It really went deep inside the hearts of those present. One father told me that he enjoyed listening to Father Stefano more than anyone else he had heard in his life. It is a pretty good compliment, especially since he spoke in a different language and a translation was needed.
Over the weekend we fought a lot with the weather, between a lot of wind, a sky that sometimes looked really dark, and occasional rain, but it was not enough to stop us. Friday night the girls danced to the Mysteries of Light. They chose five beautiful songs that spoke of each of the mysteries. In between the five dances were a couple testimonies. The biggest testimony was their big smiles and their joy.
Saturday night the guys did a show that they called “Miracles,” alternating between a scene in the time of Jesus and a pretty realistic presentation of the struggle to get a guy into Community. It started with conflict between a son who is an addict and his father. It showed the hurt and the prayers of the father who is trying to help his son to enter in Comunita Cenacolo. I think everyone was moved because all our families could relate to the script in some way. The wind added to the choreography, because we had four pretty big cubes that made up the set and the wind kept moving them!
Sunday the weather got worse with more wind and some rain, so early in the morning Father Stefano and I got to Mary Immaculate and woke up the guys. We had everyone come to take down part of the stage, and then we set it up again under the protection of the tent. We made some good adjustments. In less than three hours, everything was set. It was a great team effort, and the guys really worked fast. Thanks be to God, we did it, because the weather at one point got really bad. In the morning we had a beautiful Adoration led by Father Stefano. All the guys and girls were on the stage all around Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It was really a time of deep prayer. It was a powerful moment.
In the afternoon, the girls of Maria Goretti did a couple of dances, followed by dances of the Sisters. It was a great moment of joy. We had a few testimonies, too. Then the Cenacolini, children of former members, did a couple little songs. They were dressed like saints and were so cute. Some of the guys and wives gave testimonies, too. Some of the guys have been out of Community for many years. I pray that it will give hope to those who are in Community now. The day ended with Mass with the local Bishop Felipe Estevez, who has become a good friend of Cenacolo in his short time here. I think everyone was happy and joyful. We could not ask for anything better. I want to thank all those that made this possible: the parents that worked at the booths, helped with the auction, sold cook books, cards and everything that was prepared for the Festival. I want to thank the parents that help cooking, serving food, making sure that everything was ok and in place and helped keep everything in order. I want to end with a line from Mother Elvira that has repeated over and over to us: “Grazie perche` tu esisti.” (Thank you that you exist!)
Grazie
Ciao

Pre-retreat news

albino — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:17:15 +0000

This is our final week before the Parents and Families Retreat and Festival of Life! We are very excited, because we just received word that Mother Elvira will be here for our weekend. It is a great surprise, because we did not expect for her to come to the States this year. The fact that she is coming is making our preparation much more exciting. Father Stefano, our Sister Jennifer, and three other Sisters of Cenacolo are coming, too. What a gift to have them with us for the weekend!
I’m happy that almost every parent is coming! We will have a big crowd. I am sure we will have a great retreat and a wonderful Festival. Here in Florida we are working hard to put everything together, rehearsing almost everyday and evening, singing, dancing, decorating, praying novenas and many other things. This year is more difficult because we lack talent in the guys’ houses!
The emotions are high, but I can feel a sense of peace. For sure, that comes from God. He is helping us all to handle everything we have to do, and I can tell you that it’s a lot. We are also fighting with weather in these days. We have rain and cool winds coming. For sure, that is not helping us at all. Last month was beautiful with a lot of sunshine and great weather. Now, instead, everything changed, but we’ve learned that every time we have to deal with a lot of struggles and inconvenience, trying to do something good, it means that will be really good for everyone that comes. So be ready!
We suggest that you come dressed modestly, but casually, because we’ll be in a field. If it keeps on raining, we will have some mud there, so bring your bug spray. In Florida, we never run out of bugs, and we have all kinds of those. Some people are asking what they should bring and where. You can bring groceries and everything else that a family needs to live in a home and to clean it every day. We have a really BIG family! You can take you providence to Mary Immaculate or Our Lady of Hope, wherever your son is NOT. Please do not go to the house where your son or daughter is. Everything for the three houses will be distributed according to need after the Festival. Bill Haneman is coordinating the drop off of Providence. His cell is 219-614-2511.
As always, do not worry what you should say to your son or daughter. Come with a spirit of listening and a spirit of sacrifice. Come with an open heart to really participate in the life of the family that welcomed your son, when you and nobody else could handle having him around. He’s doing a lot better than when you last saw him!
We hope to see you soon! We will pray for a safe trip for all of you.
God bless you!
Grazie
Ciao

Families retreat and festival coming up!

albino — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:14:10 +0000

We are almost in the end of October and fall is in the air also in Florida. Finally, we are getting some cool weather. At night it’s around 50, and it’s very comfortable during the day at about 70, after a very long and hot summer. Our houses in America seem to be doing ok. We have a lot of very young guys and girls in all our houses, and everyone is trying to do his part.
Friday, November 4th at 9 a.m. is an hour that holds excitement but also a bit of fear for your sons and daughters. They want it to come quickly, but they also feel kind of nervous about seeing you. Those who will be seeing their families for the first time are especially nervous. It’s all pretty normal.
The house of Mary Immaculate is busy preparing for the upcoming Parents and Families Retreat and Festival of Life Nov 4-6. We know that you want to see your sons and daughters, but maybe you are feeling some nervousness about it, too.
9:00 a.m., Friday, November 4th is almost here! Please be sure to come! Your sons and daughters are incredibly disappointed when you don’t come or you show up late. All the other guys and girls have their family there, and they feel very alone. It just confirms their belief that other things are more important to you than they are. It can really affect their journey in a bad way.
We are trying to prepare the site as well as we can. We were able to bring power to the back of the property where most of the event will take place. The stage is already set up. A tent will be set on the basketball court that they guys poured last month. The guys are rehearsing a lot for a scriptural scenes they put together for a show. This is year we have a lot of guys, but we do not have very many that have natural talents. Most of our talented guys are still in Europe, so we do what we can with what we have. What really is important is the how much commitment they put into what they do and, so far, I can see that are really trying to work hard on that.
We also hope and pray to have Father Stefano to come from Italy, but as always nothing is definitive yet. Most of the other houses are working toward the Festival too. Our Lady of Hope is working on the music. It will be the place where the food will be prepared for the retreat. Santa Maria Goretti this year has plenty of natural talents, and they are preparing a show with dances and testimonies. They did a very beautiful back drop and are working very hard for the art and craft market that will take place at the Festival.
Also I have seen a great effort from the parents on preparing and finding items for the auction and raffle that will take place at the Festival. We want to really give you an opportunity to do something for the community. It is important for you to really try to help the community and give an opportunity to the community to keep helping those in need in the States and in our missions in South America and Africa. So a big thank you for all the regional contacts who worked hard to prepare everything.
For those parents that are coming for the retreat for the first time, come with an open heart and open mind, not only to see your son or daughter but to live a spiritual experience and also to learn more about what we try to do with your son and daughters every day. For sure not everything will be very comfortable, but think about how many sacrifices the guys do in community without complaining, so do your part without complaining. We are doing ours only for the glory of God.
I’ve contacted our community houses in Europe to see how our guys there are doing, and I am getting some really good response. Everyone seems in good spirits, trying to learn the language, learning trades, trying to get as much as they can from it, even those guys that were trouble here in the States are doing much better also because they had been stretched a lot.
We just need to pray for good weather!
Hope and pray to see everyone soon!
Grazie
Ciao