On May 1, 2015, I attended a 3 hour and 45 minutes of a life-changing event at St. Catherine Laboure, 3425 Thornwood Ave, Glenview, IL, sponsored by the Chicago Cursillo. ( My wife, Evangeline Rueles Caermare Trabanca, and I were members of the first Cursillo) in my birth town of Labason, Zambo del Norte, Phil.) That event too, back home was life-changing as wayward lives of couples, single men, and women were drowned in the maelstrom of change from those 3-day close door event/retreat. And the dawning of a new day to the life of the attendees who were: parish priest, the town mayor, professionals, and non-professionals. My wife and I were single at that time.
But this event at suburban Glenview tweaked the very core of my being. It is a decision point. The speaker, Matthew Kelley, is a New York Times best- selling author of 16 books, an internationally acclaimed speaker, and a business consultant to some of the world's largest and most admired companies. He has that unique ability to delve profoundly into the genius of Catholicism. He pulled you to be the best-version-of yourself. He talked about engagement- that in our journey on this planet we are engaged or disengaged at work, in marriage, as parents in our quest for health and well-being, in personal finances, environmentally, politically, and spiritually.
Matthew Kelley asked: Are we as Catholics highly engaged, massively disengaged, or in between? What is the difference between highly engaged Catholics and disengaged Catholics? He answered these questions in his book, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. How engaging 1% of Catholics could change the world.
The 4 signs he wrote are 1. PRAYER 2. STUDY 3. GENEROSITY 4. EVANGELIZATION. That highly engaged Catholics have a daily commitment to prayer, are continuous learners, generous, and the audacity to invite others to grow spiritually by sharing the love of God with them.
After all these years, I still hunger for learning new things that I have not encountered during my humble, younger, reckless, growing days. The decade I was born was the best of decades, the best of years. WW 11 changed the panorama of the world. The years before and after that were wonderful, memorable, and beautiful years. "Those were the days my friends, we thought 'twill never end... we sing and dance...". We were happy!
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