Any Cursillistas here?

[gusano]

Yes!
For me it was like spending a weekend with Jesus and His disciples…When I saw Him I loved Him with all that was in me.
For the first time in my life I was taught to Invite Jesus to come in and live in my heart for ever, …and there in front of the Blessed Sacrament I Gave Him my life.
and you know what ?..He accepted me !
So I have stayed in Him ever since. What an exciting Journey !

It was Men’s Cursillo #2 (in Spanish) …June 28. 1964
St.Rose of Lima Parish, Layton Utah

When my evangelical ex-catholic relatives ,or others, ask me if I have been “born again”
I tell them “YES !”
and if I sense they are open to hear, I say basically what I have just said here.

I am convinced the Cursillo and other workings of the Holy Spirit in the Church are sent to introduce us to ** “The New Living Path” ** in Heb.10:20

The Love of Christ to you all
“Stay with us…” Luke 24:29

gusano

 

[jpusateri]

Diocese of Joliet (near Chicago) Men’s 107th just this March 2005.

De Colores!

 

[trailblazer]

DeColores!!! Men’s #16, Archdiocese of New Orleans, table of St. John the beloved disciple, mid-1980s. It gave my a foundation, a rule so to speak, that has enabled me to continue and grow in love of Jesus and service to him!

I caanot group here because of the sparse Catholic population, the rural nature of where I am living, and the inconvenience of Ultreas. However, I am having a small group reunion every 2 weeks over e-mail. It may not be the most ideal, but it is working and helping me remain accountable!

Love & peace in Christ,
Bob

 

[johnnydigit]

De Colores! #433 ~2005, Orange County, CA.

wonderful community. i’m a young adult, so i’m more active in a young adult group modeled after Cursillo, called Search.

 

[lizaanne]

During Mass, while Jesus was present on the altar, everyone was walking around chit-chatting about this or that during the sign of peace. Then when I am accustomed to kneel before my Lord before communion, everyone continued to stand, even though the church had kneelers.

…

I don’t think the reverence is present in the Cursillo movement and I hunger for that.

This would be enough to keep me away. This is EXACTLY what we experienced at a CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) weekend recently that had me crying through Holy Communion because no one seemed to notice that Jesus was there.

I do have some friends (Anglican) who attend Crusillo, and they absolutely love it - they are in the Atlanta area.

I’ve thought about it - but after the CYO and other organized experiences we have had lately, I’m just not impressed.

I’ll stick with stuff at our parish and done by Saint Michael’s Media, and other reverent/holy priests/parishes in our area.

~Liza

 

[NotWorthy]

This would be enough to keep me away. This is EXACTLY what we experienced at a CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) weekend recently that had me crying through Holy Communion because no one seemed to notice that Jesus was there.

I do have some friends (Anglican) who attend Crusillo, and they absolutely love it - they are in the Atlanta area.

I’ve thought about it - but after the CYO and other organized experiences we have had lately, I’m just not impressed.

I’ll stick with stuff at our parish and done by Saint Michael’s Media, and other reverent/holy priests/parishes in our area.

~Liza

All I can say is find an “Acts” Retreat! actsmissions.org

 

[Sideline]

Yes.

It was actually my last weekend as a Catholic.

I guess it was helpful in the sense that it made me realize that I just didn’t belong in the Catholic Church.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Made mine June 24-27, 1982, Youngstown Cursillo #34. Awesome experience. Very Catholic. I have been in the same Group Reunion for about 20 years now, although one of our members died and another quit coming. De Colores!

 

[NotWorthy]

Yes.

It was actually my last weekend as a Catholic.

I guess it was helpful in the sense that it made me realize that I just didn’t belong in the Catholic Church.

What about a Cursilla made you feel that way?

 

[johnnydigit]

This would be enough to keep me away. This is EXACTLY what we experienced at a CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) weekend recently that had me crying through Holy Communion because no one seemed to notice that Jesus was there.

did you not bring this up to any adults?

Yes.

It was actually my last weekend as a Catholic.

I guess it was helpful in the sense that it made me realize that I just didn’t belong in the Catholic Church.

isolated incidents don’t represent the whole. nor does it represent the true intentions of the movement, and in your case, the teachings of the Church. don’t “throw the baby out with the dirty bath water”. the Cursillo communities are a very open and loving people, and if they are anything like the ones here, they will listen to you if you identify a direct violation. i would not hesitate to bring something like that up here. “um, we’re all supposed to kneel during the consecration! no exceptions unless you’re handicapped! NOW!”

in other words, having such an attitude is likened to the protestant attitude of lumping Catholics all together. granted the charism of the Cursillo movement is not for everyone, but it is not prudent to write them off if you are interested but don’t want to take part based on some bad apples you’ve seen. i would bring it up to someone if i were you. i’d bet many of the people are just ignorant and would want to comply with the Holy See if they were aware of it.

being Catholic isn’t easy and sometimes it’s up to you to fix what needs repair, ala St. Francis.

 

[Sideline]

isolated incidents don’t represent the whole. nor does it represent the true intentions of the movement, and in your case, the teachings of the Church. don’t “throw the baby out with the dirty bath water”. the Cursillo communities are a very open and loving people, and if they are anything like the ones here, they will listen to you if you identify a direct violation. i would not hesitate to bring something like that up here. “um, we’re all supposed to kneel during the consecration! no exceptions unless you’re handicapped! NOW!”

in other words, having such an attitude is likened to the protestant attitude of lumping Catholics all together. granted the charism of the Cursillo movement is not for everyone, but it is not prudent to write them off if you are interested but don’t want to take part based on some bad apples you’ve seen. i would bring it up to someone if i were you. i’d bet many of the people are just ignorant and would want to comply with the Holy See if they were aware of it.

being Catholic isn’t easy and sometimes it’s up to you to fix what needs repair, ala St. Francis.

Was this supposed to be in response to my post? I’m not sure what the connection is.

 

[Sideline]

What about a Cursilla made you feel that way?

How can I explain…

Okay, I think I’ve got it. You know how, sometimes, you will go to church and the priest will give a sermon that you really, really don’t like? You find everything he says to be not only wrong, but offensive? It’s not really a big deal, right? If you find that it happens again, you can always go to a different church.

Now imagine that you are at a retreat and one of the speakers gives a speech like that… one that offends you down to the core… and everyone else starts applauding. The same thing happens again, and again, and again. You go to the priest to talk it over, and he says flat out that you are wrong. That is exactly what the Church teaches, and you have to accept that if you are going to be Catholic. That was my weekend in a nutshell.

I didn’t take the one person’s word for it. I actually talked to three different priests during the following week. They were all pretty much in agreement. So I left.

 

[Chanson33]

De Colores!

Here is a way to do palanca for cursillo weekends all over the world. This national website lists the locations and provides email addresses to send letters directly to the rector/rectora. Any of you have have gone on a weekend know how incredibly powerful the palanca is. It is a beautiful thing to see it coming in from all over the planet!

natl-cursillo.org/palanca/

Cursillo was a huge gift for me, and the Holy Spirit completely transformed my life through it. I have been on teams ever since my own weekend, and I absolutely LOVE its ability to deeply affect lives. Occasionally there is someone who is not powerfully moved to a closer relationship with Jesus, but it is fairly rare, as it truly is a spirit-driven, orthodox, sacrament-filled, holy weekend. Cursillo is not meant for everyone, however. It is not meant to cure depression or apathy or to bring people back to the church. It is meant to be more of a focus for those who already have faith and believe, but who simply desire a closer, more profound relationship with Jesus.

 

[drafdog]

I attended a Cursillo retreat at St. Leo’s in Detroit in the late 60’s. The Cursillo movement was billed as a program to develop Christian leadership among the laity. As I am completely unsuited to any roll of leadership, the weekend was a bit of a loss for me.
I suppose that like Elijah the prophet, I must listen to the “still, small voice” within and let others walk their own journey.

Matthew

 

[kristie_m]

I made my cursillo in '98 and my husband made his in '99. It was an awesome experience for both of us, but it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s really important for sponsors to KNOW their candidates well before recommending cursillo. Just because you want to bless them with this experience, doesn’t mean they’ll be open to it.

I think the 4th day aspect of it is perhaps even more vital than the weekend itself. It’s been great for me to have a community where we can talk about our faith, and offer examples (I’m from old school PSA). It provides accountability, and also makes me really think about how I am living my faith. (and sometimes IF I’m living my faith!)

 

[Sideline]

Any of you have have gone on a weekend know how incredibly powerful the palanca is. It is a beautiful thing to see it coming in from all over the planet!

I forgot about that! Sorry, not to rag on cursillo, but for me that was one of the worst parts!!

Someone wrote down the wrong name for me on the palanca list. Which is odd, because my father and my best friend’s father were on the team. The rector had been to our house at least twice before, and we had met about a dozen other times.

So all weekend I was getting palanca addressed to Dan. (My name isn’t Daniel, and if it were, I’d go by Daniel and not Dan.) And it mostly came from people, I thought, who knew me. People that, if the situation were reversed, I would have recognized the mistake in an instant.

What’s really odd, is that they kept giving me these stupid letters even after they discovered it wasn’t my name! Nothing says people care about you than getting letters addressed to the wrong person.

 

[Chanson33]

What’s really odd, is that they kept giving me these stupid letters even after they discovered it wasn’t my name! Nothing says people care about you than getting letters addressed to the wrong person.

For whatever reason, the list had the wrong name on it. It does not change the fact that hundreds of people, even more than who gave you letters, said prayers specifically for YOU. Palanca is a treasure. I am sure the team did not want you to miss out on the spirit of it simply because the name on the list was misquoted. I have no doubt that the team was very worried about your weekend, and had only your best intentions at heart.

I am sorry that you had such a bad time at cursillo, but for you to leave the Catholic Church after a weekend, even when there were oh so many other priests who agreed with whatever you were saying, says more about where you are spiritually and emotionally than it does about cursillo.

 

[NotWorthy]

For whatever reason, the list had the wrong name on it. It does not change the fact that hundreds of people, even more than who gave you letters, said prayers specifically for YOU. Palanca is a treasure. I am sure the team did not want you to miss out on the spirit of it simply because the name on the list was misquoted. I have no doubt that the team was very worried about your weekend, and had only your best intentions at heart.

At a Women’s Acts retreat locally, a friend of mine got all her letters (it sounds similar to the “palanca” you guys are talking about) EXCEPT for those letters from her immediate family. When the local priest heard about it, he drove back to the rectory and found where they had been misplaced and then drove back out to the retreat to give them to the lady. Both the action (of the priest) and the letters from her loved ones really helped to make her retreat.

I am sorry that you had such a bad time at cursillo, but for you to leave the Catholic Church after a weekend, even when there were oh so many other priests who agreed with whatever you were saying, says more about where you are spiritually and emotionally than it does about cursillo.

I’ve talked a little to sideline via PM and he did this 18 years ago. Maybe the fact that he is back on the CA Forums means he is wondering about his decision.

I think a little charity may go a long way if that’s the case.

 

[HiggDo]

I’m leaving for my Cursillo tonight!



My wife made hers last fall, she said it was a very moving experience.

 

[HiggDo]

Diocese of Joliet (near Chicago) Men’s 107th just this March 2005.

De Colores!

Just thought I’d say “hey” from a fellow Catholic in the Diocese of Joliet…

Hey!



(making my Cursillo this weekend)