September 2014 Chicago Catholic Cursillo Come Live in the Light By: Dan Kane During the month of August, my wife Cindy and I decided to go camping for a weekend in Door County, which is something we haven t done since our kids were little. Sitting around the campfire, we both become mesmerized by the glow of the flames from the burning logs. Then suddenly we both looked up into the night sky and noticed the awesome splendor of the stars that night. The moon hadn t risen yet and the Milky Way Galaxy was clearly visible. The light from thousands upon thousands of stars congregating into a wide cluster was a magnificent sight to behold. Being the city-dwellers that we are, it had been a very long time since we last saw the magnificence of this heavenly light show. Cindy and I just stood there awestruck for a long time as we gazed upon the beauty of the light. I couldn t help but ponder the fact that we here on Earth are located somewhere in the middle of the great presence of the Milky Way, and that our little campfire is a miniscule part of its great light. Come Live in the Light is the theme of the Men s Cursillo #254 team currently in formation. Much like the Milky Way, the team consists of individual sources of light that have come together from far and wide to shine in a unique and harmonious way. The team contains members who have been lighting their world for many years, alongside team members that are beginning to shine brightly. The result of their gathering will produce a heavenly light show during the weekend of October 9-12. When was the last time you felt part of God s creation in action? Come and stop by St. Hedwig s that weekend to observe the marvel of living it the light. De Colores. Men s Cursillo #254 Come Live in the Light! Inside this issue Men s Team List... 2 Palanca.3 Weekend Schedule... 3 Dcn Robert Landuyt.4 Lay Director s Article.5 Fr. Michelini s Article...6 Grande Ultreya.7 Calendar..8 Information Thurs. Oct. 9: Sponsor Liturgy open to all 4th day to attend Fri. Oct. 10 : Dishes Anyone? Sat. Oct. 11: 4th day Mass (7PM) and Candlelight to follow. Sun. Oct. 12: Clausura (Closing) ***New Time: 4th day should arrive at 3PM Kitchen Help and Chapel Palanca are needed throughout the weekend. See Schedule on page 3 1
Pre-Cursillo By Michael and Christine LaTona What is Pre-Cursillo? It is one of the three major components of Cursillo, of which the 3-Day Cursillo and Post-Cursillo are the others. Pre-Cursillo is responsible for: a) the search for and selection of environments which need Christian transformation; b) the search for and selection of candidates within those environments; and c) the preparation of candidates for the 3-Day Cursillo. BE A SPONSOR Make a Friend, Be a Friend, and Bring that Friend to Christ To be an effective Pre-Cursillo requires knowledge of the purpose of Cursillo. The purpose of Cursillo is to grow Christian communities by spreading the Good News. Pre-Cursillo, then, is oriented towards the purpose of the Movement when it selects individuals who have the potential to become vertebrae in their environments so as to bring others to Christ, thus growing Christian communities. During Pre-Cursillo, individuals are prepared for the 3-Day Cursillo and the Post-Cursillo. Preparation means explaining the three days without revealing details and stressing the importance of maintaining open hearts and minds as the three days proceed. Men s Cursillo #252 Team List 2 RECTOR: ASSISTANT RECTOR: SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR: SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR: SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR: PALANCA: LITURGIST: Mike Ferchau Dan Kane Fr. Mike Michelini Dcn Bill Karstenson Dcn Len Marturano Ed Roberts Mike Danz Service Boss: Kitchen Boss: Gary Figiel John Litgen Steve Lundell Ralph Pesina Angel Perez Brian DeFilippo John Holmes IDEAL: Dan Kane LAY PERSON Ed Carriel PIETY: Steve Arce STUDY: Paul Clavijo ACTION: Mike Palos LEADERS Marty Yurcheshen ENVIRONMENT: Rick Landry CCIA: Mike Castellenata TOTAL SECURITY: Mike Ferchau
PALANCA Could you not keep watch with me one hour? Matthew 26:40 All are Welcome to come to the Chapel during the weekend to sacrifice some of your time to perform Palanca. Did you know you can email your General Palanca up to the Thursday of each weekend? You can also send Palanca on-line on our website. Email: palanca@chicagocursillo.org Weekend Schedule 3 Thursday 5:30 PM Advance Team Arrives 6:30 PM Balance of Team Arrives 7:00 PM Candidate Registration 8:00 PM Introductions & Opening Remarks SPONSORS' LITURGY: 4 th day Welcome to Attend 8:45 PM KNOW YOURSELF & STATIONS OF THE CROSS 9:45 PM Break 10:00 PM Ground Rules 10:15 PM PRODIGAL SON/WOMAN AT THE WELL 11:00 PM Retire 11:05 PM Team Meeting Friday 6:45 AM Team & Candidates Arise 7:30 AM 3 GLANCES OF CHRIST 8:00 AM Celebration of Mass 9:00 AM Breakfast 10:15 AM IDEAL Friday Continued 11:15 AM GRACE (Habitual Grace) 12:00 PM Lunch 1:30 PM Photo (Chapel) 2:30 PM Song Practice 3:00 PM LAITY 4:00 PM FAITH (Actual Grace) 5:30 PM Song Practice 5:45 PM Supper 6:45 PM PIETY 7:45 PM Summaries & Posters 8:30 PM Resume by Spiritual Director 8:45 PM RECONCILIATION SERVICE 11:00 PM Retire- Team Meeting Saturday 6:30 AM Team & Candidates Arise 7:15 AM ROSARY & THE FIGURE OF CHRIST 8:00 AM Breakfast Saturday Continued 9:15 AM STUDY 10:30 AM SACRAMENTS I 11:30 AM Group Chapel Visit 12:00 PM SACRAMENTS PART II 1:15 PM LUNCH 2:30 PM ACTION 3:45 PM Song Practice 4:00 PM CELEBRATION OF MASS 5:00 PM OBSTACLES TO GRACE 6:00 PM Supper 7:00 PM LEADERS/ 4th DAY MASS 8:00 PM Chapel Visit 8:30 PM Conference Room 9:00 PM Summaries & Posters 10:30 PM Resume by Spiritual Director 10:45 PM Night Prayers 11:00 PM Retire Sunday 6:45 AM Team Arises 7:00 AM Candidates Arise 7:45 AM CHRIST S MESSAGE TO THE CURSILLISTA 8:15 AM Breakfast 8:45 AM MOP talk 9:00 AM ENVIRONMENTS 9:45 AM CHRISTIAN LIFE 10:45 AM CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION 11:30 Brunch/Lunch 12:45 PM GROUP REUNION & ULTREYA 1:30 PM Roster Distribution 2:00 PM AGAPE MASS 3:00 PM ***New 4th Day Arrival 3:30 PM Light Supper 4:00 PM Closing Remarks Clausura
Leadership by Deacon Robert Landuyt Part Two (please see the August 2014 Issue online to read Part One ) 4 We need to find ways to maintain our commitments. First of all, we need to constantly work at our progressive conversion, especially when we assume a Cursillo leaders role. Conversion is not something one can say I m already there. Sometimes we may forget that our doing of Christian things would be far more effective and realizable when we are conscious of our being a Christian and when our service or love to others is in full gear. The first thing we need is a strong life of prayer and study. Holiness and Formation; Piety and Study are the fuels of evangelization or the action and the apostolate. Without a strong life grounded in the Lord, we will run out of gas very quickly. As long as we take time for prayer and study, we will have the tools we need to continue to transform our society. When I went back to my bus, I realized this is precisely where I was lacking. I loved the idea of bringing people to Christ but I was doing it unarmed. I had no tools. Fix a car with no sockets or wrenches. Impossible! Build a deck without a saw or hammer and nails. Preposterous! I needed the tools. I needed to equip myself with the knowledge needed to put into action my evangelization of my environments. I refocused my prayer life. I read all kinds of literature including the bible. I discussed the issue with my Spiritual Advisor. Not a lot helped until I worked a weekend and Marty Panek was giving the leaders talk. His perspective was what tied everything I was doing together. He shared and I paraphrase, that when you try to evangelize your environments don t come in with all guns a-blazin. Your evangelization should be like picking small pieces of lint off the persons shoulder. Gentle touches. What a concept. So I put it into action. I halted the bull in the china factory approach. The people I knew accepted the modified Bob. I spoke to God about those I wanted to sponsor instead of going straight to the person. As time went on, the two people I wanted to share this gift with, eventually made the weekend. I am convinced it was God s time for them to go. I had a more invitational approach. I began to stick strictly to what the method taught me not just to make up my own way of doing things. The method works if you follow the method. As Cursillo Leaders, one of our responsibilities is to safeguard the integrity and authenticity of the Cursillo Movement by embracing and promoting the Foundational Charism. This is whether we are serving as a member of the Secretariat or one of their sub committees, or as a member of the team for a particular weekend. As leaders, our responsibility is to seek to be more centered, more committed and more united, to accelerate the living of what is fundamental for being Christian among ourselves, in the Cursillo Movement and in our daily lives. We as Leaders need to seek each day to be more centered to make what is fundamental for being Christian the center or axis of our lives and our mentality the center of our action as leaders in the Movement. More committed, involved with Christ on behalf of His Kingdom here on earth and united as leaders; one body. We need to seek each day the understanding of others, knowing each other s gifts and talents and working in coordination with others. A leader must be willing to make sacrifices, putting aside personal needs and directing the time, talent and treasure to the Lord s work. Measuring the pulse or inciting the groups and their reunions. Promoting friendship. Preparing and perfecting the Ultreya. Finding and promoting leaders for the Movement. Again, Father Salmani reminds us, Those who are Leaders must seek out new leaders who wish to make a commitment to the work of the Movement. We exist only to find replacements, to develop more co-workers to help serve the larger community of
Cursillistas, to support them in their work of transforming environments. This is what sets the Cursillo Leader apart from other Cursillistas. Jesus command to his followers Go and make disciples of all nations! encouraged them to go out and not only spread the Good News, but to literally recruit others to continue to spread the message, to find other disciples, students of the Gospel that would continue the work of the first apostles. Jesus does not ask everyone to embrace the same call. He calls all to accept the Gospel, and by baptism, to be disciples, students of Jesus Christ, but He calls certain people to be leaders to help others accept the call. Some are called to lead others. They are Cursillistas who are willing to walk an extra mile for Jesus, to serve on the Secretariat, in the Pre-Cursillo, on the Cursillo Weekend, and on the Post-Cursillo as Ultreya leaders. They believe that the Cursillo is a gift of God given to them, and they must share the fruits of this gift with the world. This new life they share in Christ cannot be kept to themselves. They have an obligation to give glory and praise to God for all He has shared with them. The basis of stewardship lies in the idea of the covenant. God has promised that He would be with us at all times and provide for all our needs. In a spirit of gratitude, we have a moral obligation to give back to God something in return. If we examine the principles of stewardship, we will easily see how the call to be leaders and the call to be good stewards are one and the same. All of us are called to embrace our Fourth Day fully, but some are called to do the special work of the Cursillo Movement. So how do we discern where God wants us to be? The answer is simple through prayer. The third and final segment of Dcn Landuyt s 4th Day Renewal Reflection will be featured in our Next Issue. 5 Lay Director s Article Remember the old days, when returning to school brought the request for the submission on What I did this Summer Well, what did you do this summer? Often thoughts go to long days in the sun, parties, road trips. Looking back gives us perspective, and gratitude. This summer, you were on a journey, one that God had planned for all eternity; engaged in action that He needed you to do. Pope Francis also spoke recently, How do I journey in my story? Do I let God walk with me? do I let Him walk with me or do I want to walk alone? Do I let him caress me, help me, forgive me, lead me forward to reach the encounter with Jesus Christ?. Because precisely this will be the end of our journey: to encounter the Lord. Cursillistas are blest to understand the next step, leading others to Christ. This summer your Secretariat planned more events, added regular Email articles, updated the database, and increased follow-up of new Cursillistas. The Day of Renewal offered insightful processes to living a full Fourth Day. We had a thank You dinner for our Cursillo priests, we made contact cards, reminders used for invitation support, and Bulletin Announcement templates for you to use to encourage attendance at Ultreyas. There is more to be done, we need your help; (even an hour a week is helpful). We cannot journey alone. Ask a friend to a Cursillo event, offer some time to Cursillo; come encounter Jesus. De Colores Cindy Kane JULY 2014 Annual Visit with the Cardinal
Good News Bad News By Fr. Mike Michelini Many of us are familiar with good news/ bad news jokes. We re never quite sure whether to ask for the good news or the bad news first. A couple of Sundays ago in the first reading Jeremiah the prophet was told by God, after being called by God, to announce a message of destruction to the people of Israel. Needless to say this message was not a big hit with his community. He cries out to God saying that he was duped or fooled into becoming a prophet. He wanted to speak for the Lord but was distressed because the message he had to speak was such a negative one. In other words what do you do when the good news to be announced is bad news? In the Gospel on the same day the St. Peter hears for the first time from the mouth of Jesus that Jesus will soon have to go to Jerusalem to be crucified and put to death by evil men. This is the work of salvation necessary for Jesus mission. St. Peter, ever the impetuous one, jumps in front of Jesus and says God forbid that this should happen to you. Jesus turns and looks at Peter and says: Get behind me Satan because you are looking with man s eyes and not God s. In this case, Jesus preaching of the good news is in fact bad news, namely that he will have to die. You cannot fault St. Peter s good heart and willingness to protect his Savior Jesus Christ. So what does one do in both cases: Jeremiah s and St. Peter s? The vocation of being a prophet and the vocation of being an apostle are similar. Both deal in news: good or bad. As members of the Cursillo community we have the vocation of either evangelizing, that is, spreading the good nose through lives of charity or inviting reconciliation. At times we are prophets, apostles, and friends. We speak the news of Jesus Christ: in season and out of season, when convenient or inconvenient. We cannot keep the word bottled up inside of us as Jeremiah says in his anguished cry to God that he s been duped. No less embarrassing is St. Peter s experience of being singled out and criticized by the Lord. What to do? experiencing a certain difficulty in finding candidates for the weekend. This is certainly frustrating to us who know the richness of God s love and mercy because of our weekend. However, at the same time, we are now seeing an increase in vibrant Ultreya celebrations throughout the community of Chicago. While struggling in one area, we are experiencing blessings and graces in another. It is important to remember that we are prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ. The word needs to be preached constantly a la Jeremiah and St. Peter. The answer lies in St. Paul when he says: owe no one any debt except that to love one another. In other words, don t give up. Don t stop preaching the word. We are instruments of God s grace and God indeed works through us. We must always remember that it indeed is God s work being done not ours. We make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Christ. We must remember the last two words:: TO CHRIST. Our own spiritual lives of piety, study, and action are given to us as gifts solely for the purpose of building up the kingdom of God. Our group reunions help us to maintain our spiritual strength, courage, and focus on the mission of bringing the world to Jesus Christ. And so we rejoice in the tension between the good news, the bad news, and the preaching of the gospel. We trust in the Lord s call at all moments in our lives; even in the dark times as well as in the times of joy and hope. We remember that we do not walk alone and that Jesus walks alongside of us using our gifts for good. We continually thank God for the gift of our three vocations: prophet, apostle, and friend. De Colores. Father Mike Michelini Because we are human beings we tend to worry a lot about success which is mostly measured by our own standards. I m sure many of is have felt duped like Jeremiah or criticized like St. Peter at times in our lives. Our own Cursillo movement is 6
Grande Ultreya St. Damian graciously hosted our recent Ultreya Grande on Friday evening, September 12 th. Cursillistas and friends from near and far gathered for an evening of Spiritual Reflection and Fellowship. The evening began with Reunion and witness speaker, Mike Minnis. Mike shared his road to Cursillo and what the movement has done for him. Many people in attendance related to Mike as he spoke about his feelings prior to his Cursillo weekend. He was just going through the motions with his faith and relationship with God. Mike spoke about now being able to understand God s presence not only at mass, but everywhere he may go. One thing that really struck many people in the echo was how he keeps a list of people he thinks would benefit from a Cursillo. He prays for them and prays they find their way to Christ. He makes friends, is a friend, and he is bringing friends to Christ. He is a great example of living his life for Christ, with Christ, in Christ and like Christ. Some of the echoes were reflecting on something one statement, Before Cursillo, I was looking for a treasure, something that would bring me happiness. With Cursillo, I received the treasure map, and through this map I was directed to the greatest treasure of my life, Jesus Christ. He shares this treasure with people by being a sponsor. He was brought to Cursillo through friends and makes every effort to find friends from all aspects of his life; family, neighbors, business associates, and sometimes even strangers. Deacon Bill Stearns lead us into the echo. The Mass concelebrated by Father Michael Hack and Father Joseph Noonan (the pastor of St. Damian). Tony Berardi (the parish music director) and the St. Damian Choir lead us in song. The walk to the dining room would not have been the same if we didn t have Deacon Bob Landuyt and his guitar leading the way! A dinner consisting of salad, lasagna, and garlic bread was served for all to enjoy and plenty of dessert to share! All went home not only with full tummies, but also with warm hearts. Take Me Out To The Ballpark!! The 2nd Annual Cursillo White Sox Outing took place on Saturday, July 19th. The theme for the night at US Cellular was Noche Tropical and Cursillo set up tailgate to go along with this theme. A taco spread, chips and guac, along with margaritas were provided for all! It was a great game and fireworks night as well! 7 Don't miss the 3rd Annual White Sox Outing on Saturday, July 18, 2015!
Calendar SEPTEMBER 9/24: Men s Team Meeting 9/26: Ultreya St. Catherine Laboure 9/27: Women s Team Meeting Secretariat Meeting @St. Hedwig OCTOBER 10/1: Men s Team Meeting 10/4: Women s Team Meeting 10/9 12: Men s Weekend 10/11: Women s Team Meeting @ Our Lady of Hope Parish in Rosemont 10/11: Candlelight Mass 7 pm 10/12: Closing 3 pm 10/17: Ultreya St. Thomas of Villanova 10/18: Women s Meeting 10/19: Ultreya Our Lady of the Ridge 10/22: Men s Teaching Ultreya - St. Hedwig 10/25: Women s Team Meeting Secretariat Meeting @ St. Hedwig NOVEMBER 11/1: Women s Team Meeting 11/7: Ultreya St. Catherine Laboure 11.8 : Women s Team Meeting 11/ 13 16 Women s Weekend 11/15: Candlelight Mass 7 pm 11/16: Closing 3 pm 11/17: Ultreya St. Gertrude 11/21: Ultreya St. Thomas of Villanova 11/21: Secretariat Meeting @ St. Gertude Up Coming Events December 7, 2104 - Sunday 2pm Advent Service @ St. Gertrude May 1, 20145Mathew Kelly Event: Living with Passion and Purpose @ St. Catherine Laboure For more details about these events please visit our website at www. Chicagocursillo.org Could your Reunion Group Need some Grace? Come join your Cursillo Brothers and Sisters for a day of support by helping to clean St. Hedwig's Convent on: Wednesday October 8, And/or Wednesday November 12 to pray, eat, and clean. Time 6 Pm to 9 Pm RSVP on our website see home page OR Email JoAnn Collins jcollins1210@att.net 8