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ACTS Retreat

An ACTS retreat is a three-day/three-night Catholic lay retreat presented by fellow parishioners. The weekend retreat begins on Thursday evening and ends the following Sunday at a Mass celebrated with the parish community. Retreats for men, women and teens are given separately. Talks and activities during the retreat focus on Adoration, Community, Theology and Service, from which the ACTS acronym is derived. Holy Scripture and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church are the guides for the retreats.


Go to the ACTS website for registration and additional info!

Contact :

  • Angie Anderson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Paula Brozek This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 620-793-8172 & 316-641-0545              

The retreat facilitates the attainment of a new or deeper relationship with the Lord through:

  • Adoration - the call by, acceptance of and response to God
  • Community - the love and caring of each other
  • Theology - the study of God through scripture and the Catholic Faith
  • Service - to God and his people

Each retreat is conducted by a retreat "team" composed of 20-30 individuals who have attended prior ACTS retreats. Chosen by the retreat Director, the team organizes the retreat, conducts the retreat talks and activities and ministers to the needs of the participants during the retreat weekend.

What is the purpose of an ACTS retreat?

An ACTS weekend is designed to help retreat participants enter into a new or deeper relationship with our Lord and fellow lay persons. This is accomplished through adoration and daily prayer, the call to Community as a member of the Body of Christ and Theology in encouraging the study of scripture and our Catholic Faith—all of which emphasize and encourage the virtue of Service to our Lord, our parishes and one another.

What is the goal of an ACTS retreat?

An ACTS retreat strives to achieve the directives of Vatican II and goals of the Revised Code of Canon Law of 1983 which emphasize "community and pastoral care" within our parishes. The weekend allows retreat participants to experience God's love and joy. They return to their parishes with a deeper love for each other and a desire to become more involved in their parish faith communities.

Why participate in an ACTS retreat?

The weekend is a powerful and enduring personal conversion experience. Talks, which draw from the personal experiences of team members, and activities conducted during the weekend give participants a better understanding of the significance and importance of prayer, liturgy, the sacraments, scripture, community and service. Participants are also given guidance to help them in their faith journeys. It is a powerful personal, spiritual and community building experience.

 

Comments from people who have attended an ACTS Retreat

When I heard that the men’s ACTS retreat was to be held October 23th-November 1st here in Great Bend. I knew that my wife, Cathy, would want me to go.  She had attended a women’s ACTS in Amarillo in 2009 and I could tell that it made a deep spiritual impression on her. I was reticent, however, not being one to dive headlong into such activities, but I thought it over, prayed about it, and, as usual, I found the Holy Spirit has good ideas for me, so I signed up. What I found at the ACTS retreat was a leadership team from Tulsa who had a well-planned, organized program of deep spiritual meaning for my life.  It was lead entirely by men, and was geared to the male Catholic’s sensibilities and needs. The facilities provided by the Dominican Sisters were perfect for our needs, and the meals they provided, and the snacks by the ACTS volunteer staff, kept us well fed. There is an old concept called muscular Christianity, and the ACTS retreat certainly let me exercise my spiritual muscles and rejuvenate my own Catholic faith and my spirit of stewardship toward others.  I left the retreat a “lean, serene, Catholic machine”, and that serenity and strength has followed me since the ACTS weekend. I would certainly recommend that every Catholic man in our area strongly consider attending and ACTS retreat. 

An ACTS retreat is a special gift of grace. It was so nice to spend time with God to cast my worries, problems and cares away and to be renewed in my relationship with him. This retreat is amazing. I was lead to a deeper level of intimacy with my Lord and felt the Holy Spirit guiding and working on my thoughts and heart like I had not experience before this retreat. It's a weekend to bask in his presence of his abiding joy, a weekend I would highly recommend to others. It was so nice to get away for the hustle and bustle of life and to re-center on what's important. What an amazing gift Paula, Carol and Kathleen gave me in the invitation to be part of this retreat and then to personally escort me and other retreatants to Texas. This commitment speaks volumes to what kind of faith experience this is. They are certainly sisters in Christ. TRUST.... SURRENDER.... BELIEVE... RECEIVE  a mantra I learned on retreat and I still reflect on to this day. When I got back from the retreat I learned that we had an offer on our home in Great Bend and we would be moving forward with relocating my family to Hoisington. A job offer for me in Hoisington shortly followed. I found so much peace in all the changes when I would say this mantra to myself. I knew that God was calling us to these changes and I trusted all would work out.

The Acts Retreat was a great time for  prayer and reflection.  I would recommend it to anyone.  It`s not often in the business of our lives can we spend an entire weekend in a quiet peaceful environment.  The leaders were wonderful..  A week-end well spent .  A time to re-connect with God and our Catholic faith.  Leona Prosser

 

An excellent weekend to focus and reflect on how we as men can place Christ in the center of our life and family. Thank You Jesus for the sacrament of Reconciliation, what a spiritual cleansing! Simply put, besides my marriage day and the births of my 3 children, ACTS was one of the best weekends of my life.

I absolutely enjoyed the weekend. It confirmed a lot of things I had been discerning over the past couple of months. I needed to put more of God and prayer in my life.  I had been out of balance regarding a few matters and kinda of all at once it came back to center and I feel so much better and I no longer have to put that smile on each day, it's just there. I would suggest this retreat to many people.  Do you need some healing, forgiveness, reassurance, and don't know where to start, we'll let it begin by saying "YES" to an ACTS retreat. 

Cursillo

Cursillo is both a movement and a method. The purpose of the movement is to free Christian men and women to be leaven in the environments in which they live with the gospel spirit. The purpose of the method is to help these men and women to live out their baptismal call by committing themselves to the spiritual aids the church offers in order to grow in holiness, formation and evangelization

  • The Cursillo Method is presented over a three day weekend which is a unique experience with Christ, with self, with others, as well as, training in leadership.
  • Group Reunions assist those who have made the Cursillo weekend by providing support and encouragement as they strive to live as leaven of gospel spirit in their families, on their jobs, at school, with their neighbors, among their parish and community service.
  • While there are English-speaking cursillistas in the Diocese, the Cursillo structure functions primarily in the Spanish language sector.

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