Father Larry Rice, CSP (left) , national director of the Paulist Associates, greets Molly Sutkaitis, an associate from St. Peter’s Church in Toronto (center) and Grand Rapids associte Cathy Hoekstra at the Paulist Associates Retreat. ENLARGE PHOTO | START SLIDESHOW

Cathy Hoekstra from Grand Rapids, Michael Jones from Florida and Becca Schott from Columbus lead the music during the liturgy at the Paulist Associates Retreat. ENLARGE PHOTO

Some 60 people came from different parishes in different cities, different states – and even different countries. But they gathered at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 11-13 to share the tie that binds them together: their Paulist spirituality.

The Paulist Associates – lay men and women who have gone through a formation process and pledged to live out the Paulist charisms of evangelization, reconciliation, and ecumenical and interfaith dialogue in their daily lives – came to this retreat for fellowship, renewal and the sharing of ministerial ideas.

Associate Mary Berwick said the weekend retreat definitely gave her some ideas to take home to her parish of St. Austin in Austin, Tex.

“I think I have a greater sense of how to communicate the spirituality of [Paulist Fathers Founder] Father Isaac Hecker to others, and how the Holy Spirit is working through all the Paulist charisms,” she said.

The weekend began on Feb. 11 with an opening prayer service and the first major session on the relationship between Father Hecker and the Holy Spirit, presented by the associates group from Old St. Mary’s in Chicago.

The next morning began with a session from the Toronto associates on the Holy Spirit’s role in evangelization followed by a presentation on the Holy Spirit’s role in conversion, presented by the Florida associates, and then a session on the Holy Spirit’s role in reconciliation ministry from the Columbus associates. A beach-themed social gathering complete with music and dancing followed evening Mass.

The associates from Grand Rapids presented the last talk of the retreat on Sunday morning – the Holy Spirit’s role in Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue.

Friday evening prayer at the Paulist Associates Retreat. ENLARGE PHOTO

Terry Modica, the coordinator of the Paulist Associates in Florida and the retreat, said planning the retreat for almost 18 months gave the Florida Associates an opportunity to work together and to interact with other associates’ groups planning the presentations.

“It is exciting to get everyone together,” she said. “I am a firm believer in unity and displaying that unity, so that is what we are doing. People get a chance to be with others they don’t normally have the chance to interact with, and meet new people, too.”

For Father Larry Rice, CSP, the director of the Paulist Associates’ national office, the retreat reminds the participants that they are “part of a national movement of the Holy Spirit.”

“This goes beyond the needs and concerns of their local Paulist-led faith community,” he said. “This is proof that the Paulist mission is alive and growing in unique ways. The spirituality of the Paulists and the vision of Father Hecker is relevant and speaks to people no matter their walk of life.”

The Florida experience was the first national retreat for Gary Clarke, an associate from Grand Rapids, Mich., for the past three years.

“It was so nice just being with the people,” he said. “It was good to meet associates from so many other places, to see what is the same and what we can learn from each other.”