This homily was given by Father Kieran Oct. 6 at the Cathedral of Christ the King for the 30th anniversary of the Cursillo movement.

I suggest three dimensions to this anniversary celebration. First, that we praise and thank God for the wonderful ways God has worked through the Cursillo Movement in the Archdiocese of Atlanta over the last 30 years.

Next that we seek to listen to the new challenges the Holy Spirit is putting before us now and that we rededicate ourselves to the mission of our movement in the future.

While this is a celebration for the entire Cursillo community, it has very special significance for me. God has worked more powerfully in my life through you, my Cursillo family, than in any other way in the last 30 years. Through all of my efforts in ministry, the community has been my mainstay. I am not sure I would have survived without you and, to a very large extent, you have made me the priest I am today. I can never thank and praise God enough for what this extraordinary community of faith has meant to me.

...There were times when I wondered if we would survive...I remember one year, when we seemed to be at a low ebb, I had to dish out the counsel of Gamaliel to some of our archdiocesan leaders: "For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy it; you may find yourselves fighting against God." (Acts 5:38-39)

It is very evident now that our movement has been the work of God; it has not only survived, but has flourished. Over the years it has had a profound impact on the life and mission of the Church of Atlanta.

Tonight we should praise and thank God, among other things, for:

--The leaders of the renewal, some six thousand, and especially the working group of leaders, which have been generated by the Atlanta Cursillo Movement. They are now renewing environments with the Gospel within the archdiocese and in countless other places around the world. There is hardly a parish in the archdiocese where I do not encounter cursillistas who are active leaders... quietly transforming environments with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

--For the genuine missionary spirit and calls to ministry fostered by the movement... the vocations to religious life, priesthood and diaconate which have developed within the movement...

--For the real ecumenical gains though our work with the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, the Lutheran Church and the Protestant Cursillo.

--For the other forms of renewal fostered by cursillistas -- parish renewals, Search, Experiencia Cristo, Bible studies, evangelization programs.

--For the awakening of many through the Cursillo Movement to the social mission of the Church, to stand for justice and peace, to be in solidarity with the needy...

Now the Holy Spirit seems to be challenging us in new ways, especially in Pope John Paul's vision for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. The objective of the jubilee is "the strengthening of the faith and of the witness of Christians." Is that not precisely the mission of the Cursillo Movement?

Pope John Paul asks us in his apostolic letter, As The Third Millennium Draws Near, "How can we remain silent about the religious indifference which causes many people today to live as if God did not exist?"

Religious indifference is the great malaise of our times and explains why the Catholic Church in the U.S. is hurting. Less than 50 percent come to church on Sunday, 15 to 18 million are inactive; many of those still active are disillusioned and discouraged.

The "new evangelization" which Pope John Paul is promoting begins with re-evangelization and renewal within the Church. The Cursillo Movement is needed more than ever to carry on this mission ...to revive the Church for a new millennium of being the saving presence of Jesus Christ in the world...

We are being called upon to bring renewed energy to our work, to go about it more intentionally and with a new urgency.

Have we not lost some of our original fervor?... Could we not be more intentional about the post-Cursillo, forming working groups for Christ in our environments? What about an infusion of the missionary zeal demanded of Timothy: "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus...proclaim the word; be persistent whether convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching...perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry." (2 Tim 4:1-5)

...What do I hope to accomplish in His name in the years that remain? If I have befriended others in Christ, linked them with faith-filled friends and helped them discover their mission for Christ, I have done well.

Our basic mission is the same as it was at the end of the first century: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all peoples."

The question is: How can we influence others to be Jesus' disciples? By who we are, much more than by anything we say or do. By being faithful as Catholic Christians.

To be Catholic means:

--To claim Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and to be a living and active member of his Church.

--To be a missionary, always seeking to bring others to salvation in Jesus Christ.

--To have a universal and inclusive outlook... To be a Catholic is to seek to be all-inclusive, with no barriers of sex, age, race, lifestyle.

--To welcome a rich diversity within the Church, of charisms, of spiritualities, of world views, of lifestyles, of movements. We should rejoice in the manifold ways the Holy Spirit draws people to God.

--To be faithful to all that is essential to our Catholic heritage, faithful to all of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, as handed on by the Church. We do not pick and choose between theology and social teaching, between personal piety and liturgy, between evangelization and social action.

--To be ecumenical, to believe in and work for the real formal union of all Christians in the one body of Christ and for the unity of the whole human family under God...

--To consciously belong to the communion of saints, to feel a part of that union of all the saints in heaven and on earth, the sung and unsung heroes of the Church, with our mother, Mary, at the center of it...

The cursillista is a genuine Catholic Christian with a mission to become a better Catholic Christian. The key to transforming the world is to be the best Catholics we can be.

Pope John Paul II declares in his apostolic letter, As The Third Millennium Draws Near, that "the best preparation for the new millennium" is a "renewed commitment to apply, as faithfully as possible, the teachings of Vatican II to the life of every individual and of the whole church." This has been our conviction and the driving force behind our efforts over the last 30 years. Now it is our mission as the third millennium approaches.

"Be not afraid..I am with you always, until the end of the age."