Every January Director Janice Filippi holds a retreat for the council members. They are all busy servants in their prayer groups, churchs in addition to serving the Charismatic Renewal in the Archdiocese of Boston. Photos from the January 5, 2019 retreat are shown below.

Council members attending were Jesse st Louis Pierre, Michaelle Sylvestre, Romanus Ajaero, Ann Moore, Roque and Maria Pena, Chris Muise, and David Brooks, ELT leader for the Anglo community.  Father Robert Carr was the retreat master and Eileen Mulgavaro the guest speaker. Also attending were Associate Director Vincent Cerasuolo and CRS Boston Director, Janice Filippi.

The day started wirh coffee, muffins and praying one for another. We went into the chapel at Immaculate Conception Church in Malden/Medford to pray and praise and listen to a talk presented by Fr Robert Carr, our Spiritual Director.

We reflected on the calling of our names by Jesus, just as the apostles who were called by Jesus to be more than they could be, Jesus sees our potential and when he calls our name we start the journey that changes our lives forever. Jesus breathed on the apostles the very breath of God, and they were no longer afraid, they became empowered to be more than they ever thought they could be and to spread the good news. At this point, we heard a witness of a life changing event, and God's merciful love in the life of Eileen.

Father Carr passed out a paper for us to reflect on. (#83 Century IV; Four Centuries on Charity; Saint Maximus the Confessor 2915; R.P. Pryne;Philadelphia; Kindle Version.)

Has someone vilified you? Do not hate him; hate the vilification and the demon which induced him to utter it. If you hate the vilifier, you have hated a man and so broken the commandment. What he has done in word, you do in action. To keep the commandment, show the qualities of love and help him in any way you can, so that you may deliver him from evil.

The members broke into groups of 3 to reflect, pray and discern. A fruitful day ended with a lunch prepared for the council members by a loving couple from another church affiliation. It was cooked, delivered and served in love, showing us the face of God by their service to us. What else could we have wanted, to be fed by the word and in the feeding of the twelve by others who wanted to love us.

May God reign in our hearts as we begin a new year 2019.