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Men

Georges Legrand

July 2024

Daniel Poolson

David St. Germain, Jr.

Jay Preskitt

If you had told me two years ago that I would be writing about my spiritual journey and my faith life in the Church bulletin I would have thought you were thinking of a different Kenny Miller. Yet here I am, and I couldn’t be happier and prouder to be able to do this. Two years ago, it was not my plan to be where I am today in my journey as a Catholic, but it certainly was God’s plan. I had no real “plan” if you will when it came to my faith. I had all the plans you could imagine about my future financially, my career, and the future of my family, but when it came to my faith I had not even thought about a plan.  I went to Church on most Sundays, and I prayed when I was suffering or needed something from God and that’s about it. From the outside it appeared everything was going great. I had a great job as a  lawyer, steady income, nice house and cars, beautiful wife and two healthy and happy little girls, but something still felt off. I still felt anxious most days worrying about the future and having regrets about the past, still suffered from bouts of depression, and still felt like I had to act a certain way to fit this image of what being a man should be.

Then, around two years ago, I ran into a guy I knew from high school who was also now a St. Catherine dad. We would talk at drop off in the morning and one morning we got on the topic of our faith. I enjoyed our conversation and thereafter, we began to meet over coffee and discuss Jesus and read scripture, both of which were completely outside of my comfort zone. As time went on, I slowly became more and more interested in my faith and prayer life. It was like the pilot light that had been lit but just flickering inside of me for my whole life was now getting turned up.

Then, I heard about the Men’s ACTS retreat that was new to St. Catherine Parish and I decided to go. The experience of the ACTS retreat turned that flickering flame into a full on roaring fire. The ACTS retreat met me where I was on my faith journey and in my life. No one was looking down on me for not being able to quote scripture, no one was judging me for my past, no one was comparing their financial status or bragging about how important they are. Most of us on the retreat, myself included, didn’t really know what we were looking to get out of the retreat, but God knew. For the first time in my life, I realized I’m not the only one dealing with these things and I have a savior in Jesus Christ for those times when I mess up.  I realized there were numerous other men in this parish that were dealing with the same day to day struggles as me, there were other men in this parish that had the same questions I had when it came to their faith, and there were other men in this parish that felt the same pressure to uphold this image we think we must have to fit in or be viewed as successful. Learning these things, creating friendships with men of this parish, and deepening my relationship with Jesus on the retreat finally brought the missing piece of the puzzle to my life.  I left the retreat finally having peace within my heart. The struggles and challenges of day-to-day life didn’t magically disappear because of the retreat. However, I am now armed with the spiritual tools and brothers in Christ to handle these challenges and remain at peace within my heart. I now attend mass regularly and enjoy being there. I pray daily and live a life of gratitude. I am for the first time in my life comfortable with being the real me and not acting in a certain way to uphold an image. I am grateful for the gifts that God has blessed with me instead of worrying about what I don’t have. I strive for excellence in my career, but I appreciate where I am and what I have accomplished. I still fall short and have my bad days, but that’s ok. When I do fall short, I go to confession and God forgives me of my sins. All in all, life is much more enjoyable and fulfilling.  My life with my amazing wife and kids is greater than it’s ever been. So that’s a snapshot into my faith journey. It’s a lifelong journey and I’m excited to see what God has in store for me next. There are numerous ministries at St. Catherine. ACTS Retreat is certainly not the only one, but it was the one I chose to dive deeper into my faith and thank God I did. If you are reading this and feel that same sense of something is missing like I did or if you are deeply engaged in your faith but want to strengthen it even more, take a chance and try out the ACTS retreat.  And don’t forget how simply reaching out to one person and sharing your faith can change their life forever. Let Go and Let God!

Fred Lay

May 2022

My name is Fred Lay. My wife, Claudette, and I are parishioners of St. Catherine of Siena. Our two sons attended school at St. Catherine through 7^th grade.  My wife, Claudette, taught at St. Catherine for many years.  

I had never heard of the ACTS retreat until a member of the retreat team from St Charles Borromeo Parish, Ryan Saucier, came to St. Catherine during Mass to tell our parishioners about it.  ACTS stands for Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service.  It seemed like something I should and wanted to do to help me on my personal spiritual journey.  Soon, thereafter, I signed up.  But, as time drew closer and closer to the start of the retreat, I became more and more apprehensive knowing that it is difficult for me to be vulnerable among men that I do not know.  As it turned out, I absolutely knew no one who had registered for the retreat.  I kept asking myself if I had made a bad decision.  I prayed about this, agonized about it, and mustered the courage to go forward. I am very glad I did.  It was absolutely an amazing experience each and every minute of the weekend, one that I will never forget.

There were twenty-five retreatants, plus twenty men team leaders consisting of former ACTS retreat leaders.  These twenty men had spent twelve weeks meeting weekly to plan and to prepare for the men of St. Catherine.  Their enthusiasm, dedication, strong faith in serving God and their fellow men were impressive to say the least.  They were welcoming, caring, and eager to make our time away from the outside world meaningful and rewarding.   I am sure each man’s take away was a little different.   Among other things, the retreat opened my eyes to de-clutter my life in order to make more time for the important things in my life—God, my family, my friends, and others who are in need of my help.

This retreat was organized and led by men for men to help us strengthen our relationship with God and to help guide us on our individual spiritual journeys to serve God and one another.  I left the retreat feeling peaceful, joyful, thankful and hopeful.

The retreat made all of us realize that men have a lot more in common in that we tend to hold things inside ourselves.  Vulnerability can be difficult for us.  We came to realize that we all have had difficulties, challenges, burdens, triumphs and failures during our lives.  It is just God’s plan for us and that with prayer and with a strong relationship with God, we can overcome whatever comes our way.

During our retreat we had a chance to get to know and share many experiences with other men and to develop lasting friendships.  Many of us are still meeting every Thursday morning to continue our spiritual journeys together.  I plan to stay involved in this ACTS group at St. Catherine and hope to be able to help bring this great experience to other men in our parish.

I hope that you will take some time in prayer to consider this opportunity and to join other men for our next men’s ACTS Retreat in late January 2023.   This ACTS Retreat runs from Thursday evening, January 26, 2023 through Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 11 a.m. Mass.   Block off your calendar and make it happen.  The ACTS Retreat will be a wonderful experience and for some it will be life-changing.  It will help strengthen your relationship with God and fortify your willingness to be of service to others.
 

Mike Haynes

May 2022

My name is Mike Haynes, and I’m a new Parishioner to St. Catherine’s. My wife Carolyn and I moved to Metairie in 2018 after our house in Houston flooded during the Hurricane Harvey debacle. Naturally, after your house is flooded in a hurricane the first place you want to move to is New Orleans, right? Well, Carolyn is a native New Orleanian and still has a lot of family here so moving back wasn’t much of an issue. Being able to participate in all the family activities has really been a blessing.

Finding the right church after spending 31 years in our church in Houston wasn’t an easy decision. We tried four other churches before we walked in the doors of St. Catherine. I knew by the end of our first Mass, we were at the right place.

Being new to the Parish, I wanted to meet some fellow Parishioners and get more involved. The ACTS retreat seemed like a good opportunity.

In the back of my mind, I had always wanted to make a religious retreat but had always put it off. You know, I was on that road to Hell which is paved with good intentions. I envisioned a retreat where I could spend some time in solitude, commune with God and hopefully improve my relationship with Him. I thought a retreat was living a monk’s life if for only a weekend. Perhaps those religious retreats exist but the ACTS retreat isn’t one of them.

I find it difficult to describe in words the beauty I found at my ACTS retreat. Some in our group described the experience as a group of strangers becoming a “Band of Brothers”. That comes close but it doesn’t capture the entire weekend experience.

Maybe I can summarize my retreat as a re-evaluation of my time. For one weekend the retreatants were asked to fight our “time addiction” and just be in the moment. Such a radical idea is difficult when our culture says we “can’t waste a second” and our days pass in a “New York minute”. The ACTS retreat showed me how difficult it is to stop tracking time and instead, take time to feel Christ’s passion. Take time to listen, speak, and empathize with fellow Christian brothers. Take time to reconcile, to let your guard down and refresh. Take time to be humbled, to laugh, to cry and feel joy.

The ACTS retreat wasn’t even close to what I was expecting. It was far more than I could even imagine.

Joe Raspanti

My name is Joe Raspanti and I am a resident and parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Parish and the proud grandparent of four grandchildren, the oldest being a preschooler at St. Catherine.  Father Andrew asked me to write something about my experience in the ACTS Retreat.

I was surprised at this request as I attended the ACTS Retreat when I wore a younger man’s clothes.  My very dear friend, Dr. Jaime Garza, asked me to participate in this retreat in the hill country of San Antonio.  We stayed in rooms available at a convent there and had our life changing experience among the nuns.

Suffice it to say, I was a reluctant participant at first but can truthfully say it was a life-changing experience.  Confucius says, “Wise men learn from their experiences, but wiser men learn from the experience of others.” This retreat is being led by men for men to help us in our walk with the Lord.

Some of the same men who led the retreat those many years ago in San Antonio are taking the time to come to New Orleans to help us here in our Parish.  I want to take this opportunity to encourage you and your family to avail yourself of this unbelievable gift.  I know it can be difficult to ask to be excused from life for three days and three nights to stay at the Cenacle Retreat House in Metairie, but as a reluctant Christian warrior, I can tell you it is time well spent.

I ask you to take a moment to pray about this opportunity and I am hopeful we will see you the next retreat.
 

Duncan Blue

Hello, my name is Duncan Blue. I am a parishioner of Christ the Redeemer in Houston ever since we moved here back in 2002. Before that, we were parishioners at St. Catherine of Siena. My wife is Anne Blue.  Many of you may remember us as we were active at St Catherine.

Although I always considered myself a ‘good Catholic’ I never spent much time thinking about what it is to be a Catholic. Sure, I attended Sunday Mass regularly, never missed a Holy Day of Obligation (or hardly ever), and even educated all four of our children in Catholic school through High School. We went to all the Church Fairs, Gala, and other fundraisers. We were involved in many activities at St. Catherine: Anne headed up buidling the playground, I was a Scoutmaster, both Extraordinary Eucharist Ministers, and we were involved in the various Marriage Preparation programs.

After moving to Houston, we joined the nearest Parish, that at the time was very small and poorly attended…about  500 families. As the area grew, so did the Parish with a population of over 7,000 families. We were strangers and didn’t know how to get involved like we were at St. Catherine. 

Then the opportunity to attend an ACTS retreat was presented.  I agreed to attend. It wasn’t with the idea of needing to ‘find the Lord’ (I hadn't lost Him… He hadn't lost me!), it was more the pressure I was under from work that I thought would be good to get away for a few days to catch my breath.  Not knowing much (or anything) about ACTS, the timing for this was good and I decided to take a swing at it. Plus, I thought it might be a good chance to meet some guys from Church.

I won’t say I had any revelations or immediate earth-shattering things during that retreat. The Lord was a bit more subtle than that (He knows me too well). What I did experience was  some good fellowship, an opportunity to express some inner feelings I had that I was never comfortable  sharing with too many people, and  an opportunity to spend some time with my thoughts about where I was headed. The ACTS experience is different for every man that attends. Some people have been away from the Church for years, which has led to a pretty rough life, and were at the end of their rope. Others like me just needed time to refresh their batteries and take a deep breath. Others are ‘encouraged’ by their wives to go.

While I didn’t have a ‘Paul getting knocked off his horse’ moment, I did come out with a renewed commitment to see what I could do to become a better Catholic and a better parishioner of Christ the Redeemer. I wanted to discover the various ministries that offer help, education, and provide service to those that are experiencing difficulties or need help. I discovered new friends and opened up various communities that we were seeking to feel a part of that huge parish. We discovered there are many small ‘churches within the church’ that we have common interests and can share.

Although I'm not a traditional ‘joiner’ or one to show much public emotion, ACTS helped me to become a better man, a better husband, a better father, and a better Catholic. It helped me realign my energy into things that make a difference in my life and subsequently others. After my first retreat, I decided to help out as a team member in the next year’s retreat. I had so much fun working with my ACTS brothers in putting that retreat together that I decided to continue working with ACTS. I encourage you to give ACTS a try.
 

Women

LIZ MILLER

Tara Maddox

My name is Tara Maddox.  Myself, my husband, Fisher, and our three daughters are parishioners at St. Catherine Church.  When Father Tim asked me to write about my experience with ACTS, I immediately had fond recollections of both Women’s ACTS retreats I have attended. My first was in 2013, and I signed up again in 2015 to assist as a team member. At the risk of sounding cliché, there are no words to describe my feelings after my ACTS weekends. I didn’t want the feeling to end, and I wanted to encourage others to share the experience.

I became interested in learning more about ACTS many years ago when residing in Beaumont, Texas. It was as if my attention was drawn to cars with ACTS logo stickers, and I was intrigued by the acronym. I was in my mid-20’s at the time and, although I was not a member of the Catholic Church, I attended mass at St. Anne's. There, I learned ACTS stands for Adoration, Community, Theology and Service. I also heard testimonials of those who had attended ACTS retreats. All things were working together, leading me to sign up.

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

Years passed, and I decided to attend RCIA. Though I routinely attended mass, I still felt like something was missing in my faith.  I decided the next step on my faith journey was the ACTS retreat. By this time I had a 1-year-old daughter and a second child on the way. Leaving for a long weekend seemed more like an emotional hassle than steps on a journey of faith. Wow! I was wrong! Nothing about the weekend is a hassle.
It is a break from everyday distractions and a time to focus on your relationship with God. It is a time to pray, reflect, heal, learn, forgive, form new friendships, laugh, and have fun. It is a time to surround yourself with women from different walks of life and different denominations, but with the same goal - a deeper relationship with God.

Going in, I was nervous and unsure of what God wanted me to get out of the retreat. I came away with a boost of faith in God and a dose of assurance for myself. I made new friends who continue to be a part of my journey.

The ACTS community shares an indelible bond. I am so excited St. Catherine is providing others with the opportunity to be a part of this meaningful community. I encourage you to sign up, and block that weekend on your calendar, pack and go.

 

Want to Share Your Story?

If you would like to share you experience of an ACTS retreat, please contact Joni in the parish office.