March In the tender compassion of our God

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Toledo Diocesan Cursillo Mission Statement: Cursillo is a Catholic Lay Movement embraced by the Diocese of Toledo to bring hearts closer to Jesus Christ in order to transform society and be of

1 Toledo Diocesan Cursillo Mission Statement: Cursillo is a Catholic Lay Movement embraced by the Diocese of Toledo to bring hearts closer to Jesus Christ in order to transform society and be of service to the whole church. It is our mission to form small Christian Communities to deepen Spirituality in ourselves and in others. March 2017 Application Forms are on the Website: Download.html Spiritual Advisor Page 1 Lay Director Page 3 Pre-Cursillo Page 4 Cursillo Page 5 School of Leaders Page 6 Ultreya Schedules Page 9 Please share how Christ is working in your life. Chris Powers at because Chrispowers1952@ of my yahoo.com This morning, with your witness. In the tender compassion of our God (Luke 1:78 as translated for the Gospel Canticle for Morning Prayer) As we enter into Lent, it is a good time to reflect on an aspect of God that is often overlooked. God is infinite and has an infinite capacity for love and for compassion. Compassion means to suffer with. A compassionate person has the ability to suffer with another person who is going through a rough time. God has an infinite capacity to suffer with us yet we feel like He has abandoned us in our time of need. Even Jesus in his suffering cried out: My God, My God, Why have you abandoned me? If Jesus, who is fully human and fully divine felt abandoned by God in His suffering, it is natural for us to feel abandoned in our suffering. Yet God is with us always. Even when we feel abandoned, He is there with us. God was present with and in Jesus at the time of his suffering. God did not abandon Him but suffered with Him. The same is true for us. In our Baptism we were filled with the Holy Spirit. In our Confirmation, we were confirmed in the life of the Holy Spirit within us. Paul reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Whenever someone goes through great suffering, whether it is physical, emotional or psychological, God is there suffering with them. When someone is dying, God is there suffering with them. When a mother cries out for her child who is suffering from disease, God is suffering with her. With the addict, God is there. With the victim of human trafficking, God is there. With us when we come face to face with the consequences of our actions and know we have failed, God is there. When we sit with a friend who asks why God let her child die, know that God was with her child through the ordeal and God is with her in her suffering. We don t need to look out into the sky; we can look to ourselves and know that God is with us.

March 2017 Ark P a g e 2 Recently I watched the Song of Bernadette on TV. I was struck by the words Our Lady gave her at their first meeting. I can t promise you happiness in this world.

2 March 2017 Ark P a g e 2 Recently I watched the Song of Bernadette on TV. I was struck by the words Our Lady gave her at their first meeting. I can t promise you happiness in this world. It rang a bell with me. Remember the Baltimore Catechism and the answer to the question of Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, love Him and Serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him forever in the Heaven. Bernadette knew joy at times in her life and she knew great physical suffering and died at a young age. I think also of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes at the grotto at the Pines. One Cursillo, I was preparing for a rollo and was drawn to the grotto. I stood next to Bernadette and looked at Our Lady. It struck me that Our Lady s head was not tilted so it looked up at the heavens; it was tilted slightly up as one looking at someone slightly above them. It was the posture of Mary looking up at her son upon the cross. Our God is not a god distant and uncaring. Our God suffered and died upon the cross and stood with Mary as she watched her son suffer and die. In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Suffering and death give way to resurrection and peace. DeColores! Deacon Andy McMahon

3 March 2017 Ark P a g e 3 From the Lay Director... All my brothers and sisters in Christ, Karen and I recently returned from a trip to Florida. We left our home in Elida, Ohio on the morning of Sunday, February 12, We drove for 11 hours and after resting the night in Byron, Georgia, we started our visitation marathon. This included visiting 11 different families located all over the state of Florida including both the Gulf and Atlantic coast lines and in the middle of the state. We probably drove as many miles in Florida as it took to get there! We attended three different church masses during our 14 days in the sunshine state, including Saint Anne Catholic Church in Ruskin, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Sebring, and Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Clermont. All three masses were wonderful and we hope to visit them again. When we planned our trip I thought this is a lot of traveling and visiting with different people and maybe this is not how I envisioned spending a nice relaxing vacation. Karen and I looked over our itinerary and had to even remove some people from our visitation list that we see often back home but who were now in Florida. This was based on time constraints on our part -- nothing personal...so if you were in Florida during the same time frame of our vacation and we didn't see you, we apologize and maybe another year we can stop and see you. Our trip was tiring and at different times a little hectic, but we would not have changed a thing. Everyone we saw and visited, Catholic or of another denomination, somewhere along the way the subject always came up about our faith and how lost we would be without our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the personal relationship we need to have with Him to make it out of this world and into Heaven for eternity. After returning home the afternoon of Monday, February 27th, Karen and I discussed that even though we were tired we were so blessed by the visits that we had with our brothers and sisters in Christ; and we wish to thank God for placing each and every one of them in our lives. In the future, hopefully, we'll spend more time in the winter in Florida and visit with many more. De Colores! Your Brother in Christ, Dale Fair

4 March 2017 Ark P a g e 4 Pre-Cursillo News. Dear Fourth Day, Remember the men s Cursillo this weekend. Men s Cursillo # 267 Candidates Terry Bettinger Holy Trinity Parish - Assumption Don Fritsch George Dallas St. Joseph Galion Deacon Greg Kirk Dick Miller Holy Trinity Bucyrus Deacon Jerry Gubernath John Shuler St. Joseph Galion Don Evans Pat Temple St, Joseph Galion Don Evans Bryan Blevins St. Catherine s Parish Toledo Kathy Huffman Manuel Garcia St. Teresa of Avila Indiana Al Ramirez Jim Patterson St. Joseph Galion Deacon Greg Kirk Toby Smith Holy Trinity - Bucyrus Deacon Jerry Gubernath Cory Webster Holy Trinity Bucyrus Terynda Webster Bill Zirzaw St. Mary of the Snows Mansfield Tim Markel Please pray and offer Palanca for them. Women s Cursillo # 268 April 20 23, 2017 Candidate & Sponsor applications can be found at: Mary Beth Lavey, Pre-Cursillo Chair 1014 Shorewood Dr. Fremont Ohio mblavey@gmail.com Make a Friend Be A Friend Bring a Friend to Christ

5 March 2017 Ark P a g e 5 From the Cursillo Chair. Peace and God's blessings on all of you during this Lenten season. I pray that all of your efforts, your Lenten promises, palanca and prayers will be greatly blessed by God. We are just days away from the start of the men's weekend, please keep the men in your prayers this week and throughout the weekend. We are blessed with a strong team and 11 candidates. The team is ready to serve the Lord and to be His witness to the candidates. The team of #267 is as follows: Spiritual Directors Fr. Ed Littleman, Fr Gerry Knueven, Deacon Greg Kirk Mike Powers, John Bonen Rectors John Lyons, Bill Obringer, Musicians Mike Cherry, Ideal Dave Zaborski, Layperson and sacristan Ray Karbowiak, Piety, shepherd Tom Gremling, Study, shepherd Tim Haney, Action John Reinhart, Leaders, shepherd John Welch, Study of Environment Bruce Alge, Community in Action, Head shepherd Wayne Davis, Cursillista beyond the Cursillo, shepherd Mike Huffman, Table leader Mike Roberts, shepherd Mark Blum, Head disciple Greg Dobbertien, disciple Don Evans, disciple Jerry Gubernath, disciple Mark Pickett, disciple Al Ramirez Jr., disciple God bless and may the peace of Christ be with you all. Bill Obringer Cursillo Chairperson Please pray for Women s Cursillo #268 team who are in formation now. Rectors: Betty Obringer and Therese Cherry Spiritual Advisors: Fr. Jim Brown and Sr. Pat Schnapp Jeanne Badik, Deb Bartlett-Karbowiak, Helen Coleman, Joyce Davis, Linda Gubernath, Joyce Haney, Cristy Homrich, Kathy Huffman, Connie Kehres, Nan Kimmet, Patty Kreilick, Chris Powers, Karen Reinhart, Jan Stainbrook, Becky Stout, Annabell Swint, Chrissy Vasko, Luanne Welch

6 March 2017 Ark P a g e 6 School of Leaders Saturday, March 18, 9:00 a.m., is the next School of Leaders. St. Michael the Archangel, 750 Bright Road, Findlay in the school Teachers Lounge (Enter through the office door, turn right at first corridor, and then left at the next corridor; teachers lounge is on your right.) Presenters for March 18: Helen Coleman - Bible reading and lead the reflection Fr. Jim - Laudato Si - Chapter 5, III-V, pages Bernie Rumschlag - The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement Ch. 8, Section 4-5, Diocesan & National Secretariats: Pages , #590 - #597 NOTE to Cursillistas especially new Cursillistas: You and your Sponsors are invited to School of Leaders on March 18. (Refer to more dates below) This is a great way to gain more knowledge about Cursillo and to meet and bond with other Cursillistas! New Cursillistas who attended the February 18 School of Leaders: Greg Dobbertein #261 from Lambertville, MI sponsored by Mike Cherry; Nan Kimmet #248 from New Riegel sponsored by Marvin Welly; Donna Laubie #264 from Crestline Ray Karbowiak, Jr. #263 from Lima. Coffee and tea is provided feel free to bring a snack to share. We end the morning with prayer in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel Remaining SOL Schedule: April 22, May 20, June 17 - Focus Day, July 23 Picnic/Ultreya, August 19, September 16, October 21, November 18 Focus Day. No SOL held in December Carol Miller, SOL Rector/Secretariat Member Team: Joan & Bruce Alge, George Miller, & Sharon DeCant

7 March 2017 Ark P a g e 7 Faithful Witness Dear Friends, Well this is a Prodigal Son / Prodigal Parents story from Gus and Pat Miller. We had adopted my great-nephew, Rob, when he was 10 years old. He had been in many foster homes SINCE HE WAS A BABY, so we wanted to RESCUE HIM. WELL he lived with us for 8 years and when he turned 18 he decided to move out. No possessions, no money, just get out of here. He did. He had some very difficult memories to overcome and we tried our best to help him through. He had a beautiful personality, very loving. So he left 30 years ago. We lost touch of Rob, not knowing where he was or how he was. Early in December, Gus found a box, marked Rob s Ornaments in HIS HANDWRITING.. We both thought we should try to get them to him some way, but we had no address. These were given to him each Christmas he lived with us. On Christmas Eve at dinner, Greg, our son, told us that he had been communicating with Rob on Facebook. Rob found Greg and Greg responded to him.!!!!!!! That was a message to us that he was looking for our family. What a nice surprise!!!!! Greg kept communicating with him and told him about this box we have and encouraged him to call us. It took a few weeks, but he did call.!!!! His number came up on the TV screen, I, Pat, had no idea who it was, BUT I answered it which is very unusual if I don t know the caller. He said this is ROB. Oh my gosh Rob!!!!!!!!!! This is Pat. We had a very nice long conversation and he said he would send us a letter then we would have his address so we could send the box. Well, that letter came early this past week. We had it on the dining room table, and both of us sat there and LOOKED AT IT. We were sure it would be a nice letter; we just could not believe what we were seeing. It looked just like his handwriting we remembered and we both had tears come to our eyes! Finally, one of us opened it. It was handwritten with some good and bad news in it. He is in the state of Washington. ALIVE, WELL AND FINALLY HAPPY!!!!!! WHAT GOOD NEWS!!!!! He has 2 awesome daughters...music to our ears.!!!!!! They don t seem to have the problems that Rob had. Maybe because he was a REAL DAD.!!!!!!! He will be 49 in August. (He and Greg share the same birthday.) So, since the phone call, we have texted and ed each other. He sent a BEAUTIFUL LETTER. He is SO appreciative of living with us and all that we did for him. We are so glad that HE SURVIVED...we always thought of him. (DID HE COMMIT SUICIDE? --IS HE IN PRISON? --IS HE SLEEPING ON THE STREETS? -- WHERE IS HE????????) Oh what a relief this has been for us. Have you ever lost anything and wondered where it could be...and then find it without looking for it??????? That is exactly how we feel! BLESSED!

March 2017 Ark P a g e 8 Greg and he are still on Facebook sharing many pictures of his family and his work projects. He has a BA in Computer Security. However he is not using that.

8 March 2017 Ark P a g e 8 Greg and he are still on Facebook sharing many pictures of his family and his work projects. He has a BA in Computer Security. However he is not using that. He is using his art talent working with wood. Greg says he has some beautiful pictures of his work. We knew he was a computer whiz and had a gift of art when he was younger. Neither one of these surprised us. So now that we have his address, we can put his box in the mail. One more thing got added to that box. I was cleaning the computer room after we found the box, and I found his grade cards! I could not believe this either. I have no idea where they were when I found them. Just in that room. We really believe that this was supposed to happen. It must have been God s plan to have this reunion, if not in person, in many other ways. THANK YOU GOD. THANKS TO ANY OF YOU WHO PRAYED THAT THIS DAY WOULD COME FOR US. Love, Gus and Pat Miller Prayervine February Prayers Cancer of the Lungs, Chiara Disease, Treatment that Works, Rest in Peace, Murdered, Small Fetus, No Heartbeat, Early Pregnancy, Chest Pains, Testing Being Done, Disabilities, Sponge Soaking up Ideas, Moving Out, Looking for a Music Teacher, Brain Tumor, Dade needs Help, Breathing Obstruction, Lost Left Lung Completely, Triple Heart Bypass New Assignment, Heart Issues, Upper Respiratory Virus, Safe Trip, Stroke, 12 Lymph Nodes, Left Lung had all Cancer, Healing of Scars, Pain, No Chemo, No Radiation, New Job, Deployed with Navy, Safe Return, Help Needed, Baby Born Early Problems, Progressive B-Cell Carcinoma, Mass on Neck, High Blood Pressure, Breast Cancer, Pneumonia, Spotting, Palanca: Alabama, Arizona, California, Canada, Florida, Georgia, Hungary, Idaho, Indiana, Italy, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mexico, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,

9 March 2017 Ark P a g e 9 Ultreya Location St. Clement Parish, Jeager Hall 2nd Sunday of the Month, 2:00 PM Tiffin, St. Francis Home March 26th, 7pm Holy Hour ½ hr, Palanca Party Lima St. Charles Gathering Space To Be Determined Bucyrus/Crestline/Galion/ New Washington/Bethlehem 2nd Wednesday of the Month 7:30PM Contact Ron and Carol Plenzler carron@buckeye-access.com Betty and Bill Obringer wobringer@woh.rr.com Dale Fair kfair@woh.rr.com Connie Kehres blessedarewe37@gmail.com Spanish Ultreya/SS Peter & Paul Church Juan & Ramona Duran 728 S. St. Clair St., Toledo camposduran54@yahoo.com 1 st Saturday of the Month, Noon NATIONAL CURSILLO INFORMATION: Read about Cursillo news, palanca requests from around the world, or read the national newsletter. CURSILLO WEBSITE: Go here to view news of upcoming events, read the current month s Ark or download forms. To request prayers from our fourth day community, Barb Grycza: faith2co57@bex.net or faith2co57@buckeye-express.com.

September Dear Cursillistas, Beloved of God,

September Dear Cursillistas, Beloved of God, Toledo Diocesan Cursillo Mission Statement: Cursillo is a Catholic Lay Movement embraced by the Diocese of Toledo to bring hearts closer to Jesus Christ in order to transform society and be of service