New Homes for Our Cursillo Weekends

Lay Directors:

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The June Men’s Cursillo #301 and the Women’s Cursillo #302 are successfully behind us. We

would like to thank all those that made the extra effort to join us at Maria Stein for either (or

both) weekend to share the Holy Hour, serenade and closing with us. Thank you as well for all

the Palanca for both weekends. We are so very blessed by all of you!

Our Cursillo weekend dates for 2027 are as follows, at Lila Retreat Center in Whitehouse, OH;

Men #303 March 11-14

Women #304 April 8-11

Men #305 September 9-12

Women #306 October 7-10

Please keep the Secretariat in prayer as we work on details for the 2027 weekends. Lial

provides a few challenges, but by the grace of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we

have some ideas and all will come together, as always, for the greater good. May God send blessings, peace and protection upon our great country and our service men and women as we celebrate 250 years of freedom! Let us never take for granted our right to worship the one true God! Along with our right to assemble, praise and worship Him together!

Have a safe, fun, blessed July 4th everyone!

Karen Fritsch Kittyrg1967@gmail.com

Troy Peebles tpeebles1007@gmail.com

CELEBRATING 300 AND 250

From Our Spiritual Advisor:

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

May you know the grace and peace of God our Father and of Jesus our Lord as you journey through life toward your goal of fully becoming saints.

We have successfully breached the 300 mark of Cursillo Weekends with 16 new Cursillistas from the men and women’s weekend, 301 and 302 in Maria Stein Retreat Center.  Congratulations to our new members: Men’s Weekend #301: Don Christian, Jerry Comar, Bryan

Hanlon, Dustin Humphrey, Steve Ladue, Scott Swint, Jim Tabler, Rick West. The Ladies from Women’s #302: Mary Burkart, Mykenna Donnersbach, Annette Gerding, Elizabeth Humphrey, Bonnie Miller, Rosemary Roesner, Holly Schoenberger and Teresa Wright. They both were fantastic, wonderful (the best ones yet) weekends. A bit far to travel but oh so well worth it! 

Since these are the last Cursillo Weekends of this year make sure you keep in touch by grouping on a regular basis, develop and attend Ultreyas. Come to School of Leaders in the Fall and to Focus Day. If we are not intentional about continuing the MOVEMENT, then it becomes just another nice weekend of memories. These too soon fade. Constant physical presence with one another can make the difference. How about contacting people who were on your weekend and invite them to get together for a prayerful reunion. Imagine the enthusiasm we could develop that could counteract what is often heard, “Cursillo. Are they still doing that?” We have to show by our evidence YES! We are.

250 Years! The United States of America has been a formidable presence on the stage of the

world. Happy Birthday USA. This is a cause to celebrate the endurance of a unique form of government, underpinned by Divine Assistance. Not just by fireworks and picnics, parades and gatherings of patriotic songs and speeches, and prayer, but by a keen study of how and who made it all happen. Study our Founding Fathers and their intent on forming and producing the Declaration of Independence.

It was in August of 1776 that 56 courageous men came together in Philadelphia and framed the document that freed us from King George III and Great Britain to form a new nation. This Document is developed in five parts. The Preamble: “When in the Course of human events, it

becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” The New Theory of Government: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Indictment of the King. “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all of having a direct object: the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.” The List of Grievances: Here a list of 27 individual items are stated as fact of the King's refusal to respond to the appeals made by the Continental Congress of the Colonies. The final two paragraphs are the efforts the Congress continued to make and an appeal to the British citizens (brethren). Finally the Declaration of Freedom: “…That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” And for the support of this Declaration , with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Of course, the War for Independence ensued. The colonies won and America became a separate Nation from the British Empire And then the task of drafting a Constitution for this new entity was the next daunting task. And that is a subject for another time.

My point is that we all need to study these sacred documents so we know who we are as citizens of the United States.

There are so many resources available today from the internet, YouTube and so many podcasts around this special year of our Nation. I found my material from Hillsdale College and from Turning Point. But there are so many resources available.

Fireworks are nice,… for the moment. Knowing about our Founding and the wisdom and grace

that went into the formulation of our Country and government is amazing. May you enjoy your

experience of discovery.

Have a grand Fourth! And a wonderful Summer.

De Colores!

Fr Jim Brown

Prayers are Connections

From Our Spiritual Advisor:

One of the most special things about the Cursillo Movement for me is the reality that prayer, especially praying for others is so foundational in the lives of Cursillistas. Jesus prayed for people when he walked here. He intercedes for us from the right of hand of the Father, now and forever. How can we, His people, be anything other than people who pray.

When we pray for others we hold them in our hearts. We pray for them as Jesus prays for us, that they be healed and protected.

The enemy doesn’t want us to pray. If we are going to pray, he would prefer that we pray only for ourselves. Prayer for others connects us to them, regardless of whether we know them or not. The enemy doesn’t want us to experience connection – he wants us to drown in loneliness. Praying for others is all about the awareness of their beauty and needs. The enemy wants us to focus on our own exclusive, self-interested desires.

The potential exists for us to experience connection with others wherever we find ourselves.

I drove over to the Mansfield YMCA after Mass last Sunday to swim a half mile of laps. When I entered the locker room, I encountered a young African American man getting dressed for the weight room. He was talking to a man a few lockers away. I heard him say, “I’m not as educated as a lot of people our age, but I’ve grown and I’ve learned some things. My parents raised me with good values, but they didn’t kick in for a long time. I’ve been in a deep valley a few times, and those times changed me and made me a better person, and a better dad to my son. I made it through, with God’s patience and grace.

After returning from the pool and getting out of the shower, I sat down on a bench to change. The young man who I had heard talking earlier was back from the weight room and sitting on the bench next to me. He had tasteful, beautiful tattoo swirls on his arms and his back. I leaned over and said, “I like your ink.” He smiled and said thank you. Then I said, “I wasn’t eavesdropping earlier, but I couldn’t help but hear you sharing about experiencing change as the result of suffering, and your testimony that God brought you through it. I want you to know that you are an inspiration to me, and I’m sure you are for others. Keep it up young man.” He looked deeply into my eyes, smiled serenely and said, “you get it, you know exactly what I was talking about.” I responded, “if you mean have there been times in my life when I was stuck in deep valleys of my own making, and that God pulled me out of them and gave me a new understanding, a new heart, then yes, I get it. You found yourself in the furnace. In the furnace of God’s love. And I’m really happy that that you did.” He smiled broadly, fist bumped me and said that I really get him and that he hoped I would have a good day.

I’m pretty sure I was smiling when I walked out of the building that afternoon because I knew I had just experienced deep connection in the men’s locker room at the Mansfield YMCA. I backed my car out of my parking spot and as I was driving out of the lot, I came up to the young man who I had talked with in the locker room, putting his work out bag in his trunk. I stopped, rolled my window down and called over to him. “I forgot to ask you your name, my name is Greg.” He smiled and told me his name. I called him by his name and told him I would be praying for him and for his son. Smiling he walked over, fist bumped me and said, “I absolutely know we will be talking again Greg.” I responded, “I look forward to that.”

Connecting with others happens because God living in us and God living in them becomes visible and unites us. Praying for people is seeing them the way God sees them and helps us to remember that is the way that Jesus prays for us.

On the surface, it might appear to some that I don’t have much in common with that young man. At least forty years separate us and we are members of different races. And yet what makes us alike, even brothers, is much stronger and real than our differences. We were both created in the image and the likeness of a loving God who never gives up on us. And both of us have learned, sometimes the hard way, that God is always there for us.

So go ahead. Go ahead and pray for people. Whether you know them or not. Keep praying because prayer connects us. Because praying for others helps them. And because praying for people changes us.

De Colores,

Deacon Greg