|
BY KATHI STEARNS
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Attempts to define the Cursillo movement prove difficult because
each person’s experience with Cursillo is highly personal and
distinctively unique.
For some, it is the first time that they fall in love with Jesus Christ and
feel his unconditional love. For others, Cursillo is simply a course on
Christianity, a retreat, or a movement within the church. Some find it life
changing; for many it is a period of personal renewal and food for the journey
in a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.
While Cursillo may be each of these things, the purpose of the weekend is to
renew men and women in their vocations as laity in the church while reminding
them of their baptismal call to change the world for Christ.
Weekends are given for women by women and for men by men. The three-day
weekend, which normally begins on a Thursday evening and concludes on Sunday,
is designed to help candidates develop a relationship with the Lord. On holiday
weekends, the retreat begins Friday evening and ends Monday.
“I made my weekend in 1987 while bishop of Charlotte (N.C.),”
Archbishop John F. Donoghue said. “If I was going to support this movement
in the diocese, I wanted to make sure that the theology was sound. I found it
to be a very rewarding experience that I would encourage anyone to attend, no
matter where they are on their faith journey. The weekend speaks to
everyone.”
Candidates are divided into small groups to promote an attitude of community
and a spirit of sharing. Throughout the weekend team members present talks on
topics such as Christian ideals, grace, the role of the laity, the meaning of
being a Christian, the sacraments, apostolic action, obstacles to a life of
grace, Christian life, and leadership and community.
Each small group summarizes the presentations and shares their discussion
findings with other groups. As the weekend progresses, the group, which was
initially a discussion team, becomes a prayer team.
“The talks are geared toward the basic principles of
Christianity,” said Sister Margaret McAnoy, IHM, co-spiritual director of
Cursillo who made her first weekend in April 1971. “I always tell people
they are not going to hear anything new. The talks stress the importance of
prayer, study and action in our everyday lives. The material isn’t new,
the perspective may be.”
The talks, however, are not the main focus of the weekend. The center of the
weekend is the celebration of the Eucharist. Activities such as adoration, the
celebration of Mass and the opportunity to avail oneself of the sacrament of
penance, along with daily meditations and spiritual direction from Religious
and priests, provide participants with the opportunity to remain focused on the
person of Jesus Christ.
“If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, how
can you accomplish what he is calling you to do?” said Sister McAnoy.
“The celebration of the Eucharist is necessary for us to continue to
develop our personal relationship with the Lord.”
Throughout the three days, candidates learn how they can live their faith in
the world through the Cursillo method of prayer, study and apostolic action.
The immediate objective of the weekend is to motivate and help candidates, who
will be commissioned as cursillistas, to find a group of cursillista friends to
whom they can commit themselves in forming a small Christian community.
“It is virtually impossible to persevere in whatever ministry or
apostolate you have chosen without a loving Christian community,” said
Lelis Knight who made her weekend in 1986. “My friends in the Cursillo
movement help me make it through the thick and thin.”
During the final Mass on the weekend, candidates are commissioned to be
cursillistas by the rector, the team coordinator of the weekend. The rector
places his or her hands on the candidates and says, “Christ is counting on
you.” The candidates, after learning that their relationship with Christ
must be their foundation in the world in which they live, respond, “And I
am counting on him.”
“When I placed my hands on the cursillista candidates who were being
commissioned to return to the real world, I felt joy, humility, strength and
most of all love,” said Knight, who served as rector of a Cursillo weekend
in February. “As the candidates are told, ‘Christ is counting on
you,’ I really sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit as they responded,
‘and I on him.’ It was like reliving my personal commitment to Christ
all over again from my Cursillo experience back in 1986.”
Members of the team have made the Cursillo weekend previously and have gone
through a training and formation program. They coordinate the weekend and
demonstrate through their actions that friendship can be put at the service of
Christ and the church. This brotherhood or sisterhood also meets an
individual’s need to be part of a community. Approximately 30 people work
in the conference room, kitchen or with the hospitality or prayer teams.
Others, who have already made a Cursillo but who are not working on the
weekend, join in prayer for the candidates.
The Cursillo weekend is just the beginning of a model for Christian living
which organizers hope will deepen and continue for the rest of the
cursillistas’ lives. Members of the team hope the new cursillistas
understand and believe that it is possible to live out everything that has been
presented during the weekend in their daily lives. Cursillistas are encouraged
to take their apostolic action, piety and study and implement them on their
“fourth day,” which is the rest of their lives.
“The weekend is meant to fan the flame,” said Penny Simmons, who
made her weekend in September 1993 and has been a member of 14 teams. “If
you simply make the weekend you will have experienced a nice three-day retreat.
The ‘fourth day’ is when the real work begins.”
Cursillistas are always encouraged to attend group reunions, where three to
five cursillistas meet on a weekly basis to share their apostolic activity and
renew their commitment to Christian life.
“The group reunions allow me to share about God and my faith in a very
intimate way,” Simmons said. “The members of the group hold me
accountable for my relationship with the Lord. I can share my struggles and
successes. Even if I can’t see God in a situation, a member of my group
will often help me find him. I’ve learned a shared faith is a growing
faith.”
Cursillistas are also encouraged to attend ultreyas, a parish-based
gathering of those who attend group reunions. The ultreya, a reunion at which a
witness speaks, links the larger Cursillo community together.
“When I made my Cursillo, it solidified my Catholic faith,” said
Margie Pierce, co-leader of the ultreya at St. Pius X Church, Conyers, who made
her weekend in September 1988. “The biggest value of the ultreya is that
it has enabled me to walk my Christian walk on a daily basis. It has allowed me
to find social, spiritual and personal fulfillment.”
Cursillo weekends are offered three times a year for both men and women at
the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers. The next Cursillo weekend will be
Sept. 3-6 for men and Sept. 16-19 for women. Husbands are encouraged to make
the weekend first, with their wives making a subsequent weekend. Special
Cursillo weekends are also offered in Spanish and Vietnamese. Potential
candidates for Cursillo must be sponsored and be in a position to receive the
sacraments of the Catholic Church. For further information call (404) 885-7413.
|
