Upcoming Diaconate Retreat 2025

For the Deacon Retreat:  

The Gospel of Luke and the Jubilee Year of Hope

 We live in discordant times. There is a rupture in our nation that prevents us from cultivating harmony in our Church, in our social lives, and even in and among our families. We all have fears which foster confusion and often prevent us from looking at one another objectively. We are losing our abilities to listen through our disagreements with open hearts and minds. Many of us are concerned that so many of our relatives and friends no longer find participation in the Church fulfilling as a result. 

Throughout the Gospel, Jesus insists we "take up the cross" of patient endurance -- refraining from judgments, sacrificing our willfulness to God's will. Jesus reminds us that discernment requires a company of disciples. As disciples, we must accept the painful process of true collaboration with others to discern God's will for our times. He promises us that we will find God in the dialogue, persevering in a sobriety of meekness and modesty that alone prevents us from rash, reactive responses to complicated issues. Before we move into the realms of our individuality, unique talents and interests, our particular hopes, and desires --all of which reflect the Life of the Spirit in each of us -- the Gospel Luke insists we focus on our "Common Humanity." Indeed, belief in God and God's ways requires a deep humility. Jesus strongly urges us to cultivate humility in his powerful Sermon on the Plain (Luke Chapter 6) which will form the heart of our retreat -- along with personal stories, commentaries, songs, opportunities for conversation, and private meditation. 

Father James DiLuzio’s Bio

Father James DiLuzio is a Paulist priest www.paulist.org and from 2003 to 2020, a missionary to the United States, traveling to parishes throughout the USA since 2002, offering his dramatic proclamation of the Gospel of Luke entitled Luke Live! in four distinct missions (www.LukeLive.com ).  He is currently the Paulist Fathers Liaison for Ecumenical and Multi-Faith Relations in New York City, and the Director of the Paulist Associates Organization, similar to a "Third Order" lay apostolate, with about 170 members. 

Before his ordination in 1993, Fr. DiLuzio earned a B.A in English and Education from Montclair State University, New Jersey, an M.A. in Drama from the University of Southern California, followed by several years working as a teacher, actor, and director. As a Paulist, he completed a Master of Divinity at Catholic University, Washington DC. Fr. DiLuzio’s ministries contribute to the Paulist Fathers’ objective to “Give the Word a Voice in the 21st century” – i.e., sharing the Gospel in new, fresh, and engaging ways and fostering the dialogue of faith with American culture. Prior to his full-time Mission work, Fr. James served as Associate Pastor at Saint Paul the Apostle Church in Los Angeles and as a Campus Minister at St. Lawrence Parish and Newman Center, Minneapolis, MN. He has offered retreats to the Priests of the Diocese of Orlando, FL and Little Rock, AZ, the Deacons, and their wives of Erie PA Diocese, the La Salette Fathers Community in Connecticut, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Mid-Atlantic Community, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet in St. Louis, MO.