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BY KATHI STEARNS
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--When Fred Hedges made his Cursillo weekend in 1965, the world was
“very difficult and troubling” due to the challenges of the Second
Vatican Council and the racial tension that occupied the country.
“The world was not accepting of African-Americans and the South was not
very fond of Catholics,” he said. “Vatican II was winding down and
the role of laity was being redefined. There weren’t a whole lot of people
standing up and saying they were proud to be Catholic.”
Hedges, then a parishioner at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta,
remembers vividly the incredible boldness and pride exhibited by the
African-American man who led the first Cursillo weekend held in the Archdiocese
of Atlanta, which Hedges attended.
“You could say he put his life on the line to share the good news of
Jesus Christ with a handful of cursillistas who wanted to learn about this new
form of renewal in the church,” Hedges recalled.
During the weekend Hedges found the community which helped him experience
the unconditional love of Jesus and also meet his personal need for support in
his Christian life. By his own admission that weekend contained the day which
was the first day of the rest of his life.
“Before I made that weekend my faith was based on a fear of going to
hell,” said Hedges. “After making that weekend my faith was based on
a love for God.”
This May, Hedges served as the rector for the 100th men’s weekend in
the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
“When I was first asked to do this, I really didn’t want to do
it,” the retired insurance company owner said. “I decided to do it
for all the men who made that first weekend with me who never lived to see us
complete the 100th weekend. We knew back in 1965 that the Lord was going to
bless this movement; however, none of us thought we’d be around to see
it.”
The origins of the Cursillo movement in the archdiocese grew out of the
vision of Msgr. Michael Regan.
“As the Second Vatican Council was ending, he was deeply impressed by
the call of the council for all the baptized to take an active part in the life
of the church,” said Father Richard Kieran, co-spiritual director of
Cursillo and pastor of St. Anna’s Church, Monroe. “His search for
ways to involve the laity brought him to the Cursillo movement.”
In 1965 Msgr. Regan participated in a Cursillo weekend in Chicago with a few
men from IHM Church. That August two teams from Chicago spent their vacation in
Atlanta and presented the first Cursillo weekends for men and women at IHM.
Hedges says that once word got out that an African-American Catholic was in
the area, members of the Cursillo team had to be stationed outside the
rector’s truck to protect him from outsiders in the community who were not
accepting of his color or faith.
“If you were Catholic, you were in the minority,” he said.
“If you were African-American and you were Catholic you were even a
smaller minority. If you were going to stand up and say you were Catholic, you
had to be ready to face the consequences. That man was a real source of
inspiration to me. Despite the threats that came his way throughout the weekend
he held firm to his faith and just kept spreading the good news. He got his
strength from the community of people who were surrounding him. It was at this
point that I understood the need for belonging to a community of faith. It is
often easier to stand as a group than it is by yourself.”
Since that weekend Hedges has remained active in Cursillo, attending group
reunions and ultreya meetings while also serving as a member of numerous
Cursillo leadership teams. The purpose of the renewal is to form leaders for
Christ, to nurture them in small faith communities and help them discover their
role in transforming their environments with the Gospel.
The Cursillo weekend is an intensive review of what it means to be a
Catholic Christian in today’s world. A typical weekend accommodates some
40 participants and is presented by a team of lay leaders and spiritual
directors. Separate men’s and women’s weekends are held. After the
Cursillo, participants are supported in small faith communities and encouraged
to be active apostles in their environments.
“You don’t have to make a Cursillo to be a good Christian,”
Hedges said. “However, it is a progressive method to help you be a good
Christian, day in and day out, and it helps you develop a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. Cursillo is only one of many renewal programs that are
available to Catholics. But the thing I like about Cursillo is that there is
follow-up and it can be continuous with the small faith communities.”
More than 10,000 Catholics in the archdiocese have made a Cursillo weekend
since its beginning in 1965.
“From the beginning the movement in the Archdiocese of Atlanta remained
focused on quality faith formation rather than on giving the Cursillo
experience to great numbers,” Father Kieran said.
Approximately 200 cursillistas in the archdiocese attend the Leaders School
throughout the year. The school exists so that cursillistas have an opportunity
to continue to develop their faith, leadership skills and understanding of
Cursillo while reinforcing the need for community to gather on a regular basis.
Meetings are held at St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, every Thursday during the
school year. From this school teams are formed to work the weekends.
Father Dan Toof, pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Toccoa, made his weekend
in September 1986 and served as a member of numerous teams while discerning a
vocation to the priesthood for the archdiocese.
Father Toof said that while Cursillo is not the only way for people to have
an intimate relationship with God, it is what worked for him.
“I needed to be surrounded by people who were living their faith on a
daily basis,” he said. “There are a lot of ways to develop an
intimate relationship with the Lord. Cursillo was what worked for me. I’ve
sponsored numerous people from my parish and I have never been disappointed
with the results. I’m hoping to sponsor a lot more.”
Thirty-four years after its establishment in the archdiocese, Cursillo
continues to have a profound effect on people’s lives, often introducing
them to a relationship with the Lord. For others it is a shot in the arm to
keep them on the right path as they walk toward their heavenly goal.
Russ Hayes, a parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Alpharetta, was
filled with anxiety before attending the men’s 100th Cursillo weekend.
“Anytime I would ask someone about Cursillo they would tell me it was
something that couldn’t be explained; it had to be experienced,”
Hayes said. “Not knowing what was going to happen created a lot of anxiety
and uneasiness. I just kept praying that I would be open to whatever God wanted
me to get from the weekend.”
Hayes said that after the first night he was able to overcome his feelings
of anxiety. “There were a lot of pleasant surprises,” he said.
Hayes said that the Cursillo experience helped him reevaluate the priorities
in his life and his relationship with Christ.
“It was an awesome experience with a lot of very powerful
moments,” he said. “I was able to reset my priorities and refocus my
attention on what is truly important in my life--my relationship with the Lord
and my family. My life will never be the same. My prayer life and my
relationship with God is on a new level.”
For Mark Papania, a parishioner at St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, his
Cursillo weekend was a wake-up call.
“Everything I have that is important to me I get from the church,”
Papania said. “Cursillo was a reminder to me that I needed to give
something back.”
Papania, who is married and has six children, said that the group reunions
help him to balance his faith, work and family.
“Knowing that there are a group of people who support you in your faith
is just incredible,” he said. “To be able to share your love of the
Lord within a community is something I will never take for granted.”
Papania says that he and his wife, Karen, who made the weekend two weeks
after he did, have developed a new appreciation for each other and they are
working at bringing the elements of Cursillo into their family life.
“We are trying to set an example,” he said. “We try to pray
as a family every night and be consistent in our prayer life. In addition to
our own personal prayer life and our family’s prayer life, we are also
trying to pray together as a couple. That weekend expanded our lives in so many
ways. My wife and I just hope that others will take advantage of such a great
opportunity to grow in their relationship with Christ.”
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