01/15/2026
Here’s the message from Deacon August Mones, FCDO Assistant Spiritual Advisor, read by Bro. Meyei last Saturday at our Ultreya.
De Colores, brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our good Deacon asked that his message be shared with you today.
He asked that you receive these words not as a sermon, but as a reflection from his heart.
“Today’s Gospel gives us a simple and powerful truth from John the Baptist:
“He must increase; I must decrease.”
These words capture the heart of Cursillo and the reality of the Fourth Day.
After Cursillo, life does not suddenly become easier. Monday still comes. Work, family responsibilities, fatigue, and struggles remain. What changes is not our circumstances—but our hearts. And the Fourth Day is where we decide whether Christ will truly increase in the ordinary moments of our lives.
We have heard this lived out in the witness of our brothers.
Brother Percy reminded us that the Fourth Day is not lived in retreat centers, but in quiet places—beside dialysis machines, in conversations with the tired and overwhelmed, and at home when patience is chosen instead of irritation. Christ increases when love stays present.
Brother Jun echoed this same truth through a different journey—years of work far from family, faith slowly drifting, and reliance on self instead of God. Yet God never stopped calling. Through Cursillo, Christ began to increase again through community, humility, and renewed trust in the Lord.
This Gospel has also been lived recently within our own Orange County Filipino Cursillo community.
For a short time, the Secretariat asked the Deacon to step in as Spiritual Director while the community prayed and prepared for a priest of the Diocese of Orange who is also a Cursillista. That request was answered by God’s grace.
We now welcome Reverend Pastor Thomas as our official Spiritual Director.
And so today, the Deacon steps aside—not with sadness, not with loss, but with joy.
Because this is exactly what John the Baptist teaches us. When God provides what the community needs, we do not cling to roles—we rejoice.
He must increase.
I must decrease.
The Fourth Day teaches us that leadership is not about holding on, but about serving faithfully for a season. Sometimes the most faithful act is knowing when to step back so Christ may be more fully visible.
Brothers and sisters, the Fourth Day is not about perfection—it is about direction. It is about choosing, day by day, to let Christ increase:
• in our work,
• in our families,
• in our ministries,
• and in our community.
May we continue walking this Fourth Day together with humility, faith, and trust—always pointing not to ourselves, but to Christ.
De Colores. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and if the Holy Spirit. Amen”
