Father John Gordon and I were privileged to attend the National Cursillo Encounter in Orange, California July 21-24. We were there to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Cursillo in the United States! There were more than 800 Cursillis-tas, both clergy and layper-sons from the US’ Cursillo multiple language groups of English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Filipino, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese—what a joy and a blessing to be part of it!
The days were filled with speakers, workshops, prayer, sharing, and of course food and singing!
I want to try and summarize some of the Rollos and work-shops. These are just some phrases and reflections that had meaning for me.
The focus of the first Rollo was “The Eucharist in Cursillo“and given by Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle Eusebio Elizondo. His message was clear, filled with bits of humor and his English was excellent.
We need people to be AWAKE, to learn what a real Christian is, and that means having a PERSONAL ENCOUN-
TER with Christ. Thinking “I have to go to Mass” is the wrong attitude; it is a gift, a privilege. But some of us are REALLY slow learners!
PIETY: The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. I love the phrase “May you receive what you are and become what you receive: "The body of Christ.”
In the BREAKING of the bread, our lives, which are broken, will be put back to-gether with the Eucharist— we will be transformed be-cause the Eucharist is TRANS-FORMATIVE.
ACTION: Each Mass should be a shock to our systems, to redeem our sins and go out transformed. It must hurt, to make an impact: ” I do this in order for you to have life”. What do I need to do with my life once I have the Eucharist in me? Remember God does not impose, he waits patiently for us to get it.
Mahatmas Gandhi was once quoted as saying “When I see Christ, I want to be a Chris-tian. When I see most Chris-tians, I do not”. That’s one to think about!
The Eucharist is a cosmic act, uniting Heaven and earth and permeating all creation. Again, when we receive it, we CHANGE. We should hun-ger for that transformation. The Eucharist is REAL, not a symbol, It is the real pres-ence of God, given so we can act divinely. The Bishop talked about how we can be a yo-yo, having all always come back to us. We need to push it out, go out with the love and grace we re-ceive through the Eucharist and give it away. We need to live what we believe.
We all know the phrase “you have to be in it to win it”— usually as it relates to a lot-tery game. Well we need to “Arise and eat else the jour-ney will be too great for you” (1Kings 19:7) as God told Elijah. We have the ca-pacity to strengthen our-selves for the journey by re-ceiving the Eucharist, praying for ourselves and others, and sharing our faith. It is our privilege, our mission and our joy as a Christian to be able to do so.
I know this is a bit long so I’ll just tell you about part of one other talk, given by the Archbishop of LA, Jose Horacio Gomez, who is also the president of the USCCB. The Conference was held on the Feast of Mary Magdelene, and she was his focus.
He began with “Today is the feast of Mary Magdalene, the feast of the ‘everyday apostle’”. Mary did not run at the time of the Crucifixion, she was there and later prepared the body for burial. When she came back to the tomb Jesus SPOKE her name, and she recognized Him. It was an ENCOUNTER that every heart is looking for, it was personal, and it’s what we want as a Cursillista.
Mary was the first to follow the “Great Commission”—she went to the apostles and told them “I have seen the Lord! He is Risen!” She was the Apostle to the apostles.
Jesus chose several ordinary women to be his first witnesses.
Mary –when she said “Yes” and prayed what would become the Magnificat.
Elizabeth—when she called Mary the Mother of God.
Mary Magdalene when she was the first evangelist after the Resurrection.
As Cursillistas we must be missionary disciples, just like the first apostles and disciples, one on one, heart to heart. Save a soul one friendship at a time, that is what Cursillo does!
Remember Christ does not call me by my sins, but BY MY NAME. As a PERSON we are a vehicle of Community. Christ came so we can discover our identity and illu-minate our possibility, and recognize our limitations. In other words, Christ came so we could be come persons, capable of loving and worth being loved. This is the part of the Charism of Cursillo. We need to ask God to allow us to be the channels through which He will continue to reign.
How do we do this? Through friendship, a fundamental element of Cursillo. It is a grace of God, a charism to be shared.
“If I want to walk, fast, I walk alone. If I want to go far, I walk with others”.
A faithful friend is priceless. There is no way to measure her worth. (Ecclesiastes 6:15)
There is much more to share and I will do so over time, especially regarding Eduardo Boudin and some of his writings.
As always, thank you for your faith and dedication to this movement.
Decolores!
Barbara