Good morning.  That Epistle of St. Paul that was just read was kind of interesting.  I think the priests are very glad they don’t have to give a sermon on that.  They talk about anxieties; whether you are single or married, and we have three retreats that you can come to if you have anxieties, if you are single, or if you are married.  It doesn’t matter, we have them all encompassing.  And we are going to talk about each one of them.  I’ll talk about the men’s retreat, Cathy will talk about the women’s retreat and Tom will talk to you about the Christ Light retreat.

My name is Pete O’Brien and I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk to you about the second annual men’s retreat on February 20 to 22 at Asilomar, which is in Monterey Bay. 

Here are some reasons why you men, and by the way some of you women, because we have gift certificates, might like to attend our second annual retreat.  Here are about six reasons:

First, you will spend time away from the hassle and busyness of life and enjoy the peace and serenity of a quiet weekend focusing on God and yourself.  As you can see in these slides Asilomar is a beautiful facility, just south of Pebble Beach with spectacular scenery, and I’m happy to tell you that you will have time to walk around the dunes, to be on the beach and to enjoy Monterey Bay. 

It’s an opportunity to meet wonderful men, who all want to find out more about their life and how God fits into their life.  You’ll hear the message of St. Paul who lets us know a couple of real focuses.  One of them – that God is a gift.  We can’t earn our love of God; it’s already there for the asking.

Secondly, and I’m anxious to hear about this, the retreat master told us he is going to talk about “enjoying our weaknesses.”  Interesting subject.

Please do not fear, gentlemen, when you go to the retreat you do not have to give a testimony, so it’s not that anxiety.

It’s a great way to start your Lenten journey this year, to focus on your life and your relationship with God.

Finally, you will be inspired by our experienced retreat master, Father Dave Penningill.  By the way, he’s a friend of Sister Maureen’s here, for those of you who have children at Christ the King school.  He’s been in the seminary with Father Joyce, and he has done numerous retreats throughout the United States.  He’s a very good speaker.

If you get a chance to talk to any of the men who joined our retreat last year at Asilomar, you see a picture of him up here, you are going to get the feeling that last year’s retreat was a very important weekend in these men’s lives.  Here’s what one of these men said about last year’s experience:  “In this busy time of life I was hesitant to give up a weekend of family time.  It turned out to be a fantastic experience that allowed me to forget my daily stresses, to meet a group of wonderful people, and most importantly, to take a step closer to God on my spiritual journey.”

Please join us outside.  There are some gentlemen who have experience with the retreat from last year who are outside who will be glad to sign you up and we want to thank you for listening.

Now, Cathy would like to talk to you about the women’s retreat.

Good morning.  My name is Cathy Cargo and I want to let you know that I gave my husband a gift certificate to the men’s retreat for Christmas, and he is real excited to go.

I’m here to speak about the women’s retreat.  I’m on the team, and it’s another exciting retreat for the women of Christ the King parish.  This will be our fourth annual retreat, and this year we are going to the beautiful Villa Maria Del Mar in Santa Cruz.  And this weekend is February 27, 28 and March 1.  We are fortunate this year because it follows Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent.  So we will start our Lenten journey together in Santa Cruz.

Our speaker for the weekend will be Sister Mary Greenan, a Salesian sister.  She was born in Dublin, Ireland, she grew up in the south of England, and she has worked as a schoolteacher in London and in Rome.  She is on the faculty of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, part of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.  She teaches two senior religion classes at Salesian High School in Richmond, and weekly, she flies to Los Angeles to hold a class for candidates to a religious life.  Sister Mary brings to us her enthusiasm, her wisdom, her experience, and her wonderful sense of humor.

The theme for this year’s retreat is “Between the Times – an Invitation to Journey into the Heart of God’s Love.”  There will be time for community prayer and fellowship and fun.  We have a special hour each evening.  You may call it “happy hour” we choose to call it “joyful hour.”  So there is plenty of laughter and good times.  There is a time for prayer together and faith sharing, if you choose to do that.  We also have private, personal time for private prayer and reflection, a time to rest and a time to walk on the beach and be by yourself.

As we prepare for this weekend we hope you will join us, you women, anxious or not, married or unmarried.  We are preparing for a prayerful, spiritual, fun-filled and hopeful weekend together.  So I hope you will consider joining us, 60 women of Christ the King, to retreat to the shores of Santa Cruz to rest, to reflect, to worship, and to come back refreshed.

We also will join the men and the Christ the King representatives outside after Mass if you would like to join us with any questions you have.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this morning and now I would like to introduce Tom, who will speak about Christ Light V, another wonderful experience here in our parish.

Good morning.  My name is Tom Hyden.  And the pictures behind me only give you a small glimpse of what the Christ Light weekend experience is like.  I can’t tell you exactly what it is like because it would be like throwing you a surprise birthday party and then telling you all about it beforehand.  But, what I can tell you is that the Christ Light weekend is a parish-based experience about finding God’s presence in our lives and renewing our faith in the presence of God as individuals and as a community.

The weekend gives you the freedom to enjoy and grow your relationship with God.  There’s also lots of food, fun, fellowship, and you can make some new and meaningful friendships.  Each one of your experiences will be different.  I can’t tell you what kind of experience you will have, only that it will be memorable and very personal.

My wife Lois and I were looking to get more involved in church when we made our Christ Light weekend.  What we received was much, much more.  I was able to resolve a conflict that had been festering within me for quite a while.  We made some new and wonderful friends and we are very much involved with Christ Light.  Most of all we have a renewed and much closer relationship with God and what he wants from us in our lives.  So, take a small risk, come join us for some serious fun, fellowship, prayer and reflection.  The theme of our weekend is “Love is in the Air.”  What a better weekend to come experience Christ Light than Valentine’s Day weekend.  And we have a table outside and your fellow parishioners will share a little more with you.

Thank you.