ACTS Retreat information

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You can probably find more online about Cursillo retreats, at least that was the case 10 or 15 years ago when I was doing research.
 
I cannot say for sure. I believe the ACTS retreats were initially created based on the Cursillo model.
 
https://actshouston.org/acts-faq

Q: How did ACTS come about?

A: The ACTS reteats came to birth from the Cursillo retreats through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. ACTS started in 1987 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Selma, Texas, a small suburb of San Antonio.
 
Let me just chime in here. I participated (“lived”) my ACTS retreat in 2013. At that time, I had been to about a dozen or more retreats in my lifetime and assumed this would be more of the same (after attending a number of retreats, you begin to identify a “formula” that they all have in common). Because of this, I had no “suspicions” about it’s “secrecy” or any concerns about “surprises” because all retreats have all of these to some degree.

I will tell you, this is a retreat that aims right for your heart and not so much your head (intellect). I MUCH prefer the intellectual/theological retreats, so this was NOT going to be my liking. BUT, it was EXACTLY what I needed. One’s faith (especially for us men) does not stop below the neck. If you are afraid of being touched in the heart, rather than the head, then yes, you will be uncomfortable. But this is how you grow. I now volunteer for the ACTS ministry which surprises me to no end as I would have NEVER willingly volunteered for this ministry based on my own likes, talents, and yes, fears.

Go on the ACTS retreat. Grow in you faith and spirituality. You will be challenged; but as far as I know, no one has died on one of these retreats. As Pope St. John Paul II said, “be not afraid.” If it’s “not for you” then you’ve really lost nothing. If it does touch you, then you’ve gained everything.
 
Thanks for sharing with me. Your words make me feel like giving it (an ACTS Retreat) a shot.
 
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You will be challenged. You will learn a lot. You will get something out of it. Maybe not what you expect to, but I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t gained SOMETHING from the experience. For some, it was dramatically life-changing. For me, not so much that radical, but it did open my eyes to parts of myself that where keeping me from growing in my faith and helped me on my journey.
 
I am just not feeling it in my heart. No doubt, there are some who will benefit from this sort of retreat. But I can’t see myself doing it. God bless those men in my parish who will be going on this ACTs Retreat early next month. May they find what they are looking for. 🙏🙏🙏
 
The reason the Church has such a broad range of “spiritualities”, from Opus Dei or Ignatiuan Spirituality to the Divine Mercy and flowery Marian Devotion of St Loius de Monfort is that we are many parts of the same body.

Those of us who don’t go in for ACTS or Curisillo are not in any way lesser or bad Catholics and vice versa
 
No one said that anyone who doesn’t attend an ACTS retreat is less of a Catholic or bad. Please don’t mischaracterize my comments. Barring false witness is a sin.
 
You might notice I made it a point to emphasize the same thing you are saying.
 
I’m not totally sure what people mean when they say that a retreat or conference engages the heart, but I hope it doesn’t mean that it’s specifically designed to bring up emotions and to elicit an emotional response. Sure, a person could become emotional and feel touched by God in a special way during a retreat, but this should not be what the person seeks to get out of the retreat or be the main reason he attends any religious event.

I’ve been to a few such feel-good events, both retreats and conferences, that were clearly designed to appeal to people’s feelings. I used to gauge my experience with God at those events on I FELT. This is deceiving. I hope the ACTS retreat is not like that, but I really do question why all the secrecy if it’s not about not spoiling a wow moment(s) for the retreatants.
 
Don’t go on it. It clearly isn’t for you. It’s for people who want to be challenged to grow in their faith in areas they may not have considered. If you want that, go. If not, don’t. It’s that simple. ACTS will survive whether you are there or not.
 
Geographer said:
It’s for people who want to be challenged to grow in their faith in areas they may not have considered.
Click to expand...
Wow. That is rather judgmental. We all want to grow in our faith. Because someone does not find the spirituality of Cursillio or ACTS to be their cup of tea does not mean someone does not want to be challenged to grow in their faith.
 
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