We are Cursillo! With Piety, Study and Action!

From Our Lay Directors:

God chooses YOU and me every moment of every day. He chose you to be where you are, doing what you are with whoever you are, at this time in the world. It’s not by chance that you made Cursillo, as God was calling you. Yes YOU! We are all chosen and called to bear fruit and be his witness to all in our lives. Is it easy? Sometimes more than others if I’m being honest. He never said it would be easy, he simply asks us to do it. To be his hands and feet, heart and voice to everyone in our lives.   

It’s through my piety and spending quiet time with God in particular and my study by reading the daily readings and listening to Christian music that I find myself strengthened and ready for action. In “feeding” myself in this way I find myself ready to be Christ to the world. Choosing to be Christ to the world through my hands, feet, heart and voice. Again, is it easy? Not everyday, or every moment or with everyone. But without my piety and study, allowing God’s Spirit to guide me, I would fail miserably. Keep your heart and mind open and he will guide you!   

We’d like to ask for continued prayer for two men in our Cursillo community who have chosen to serve our Lord as Permanent Deacons. After four years of intense study, and much devotion to prayer Don Fritsch and Chris Solly will be ordained Permanent Deacons on Saturday, September 13 at 10:00 am at the Rosary Cathedral in Toledo. Until then the prayer and study continue along with a week long retreat at Maria Stein in August.   

Don and Chris feel called by God to serve as Permanent Deacons for the Diocese of Toledo. Mind you this is not for everyone. But where or to what are you feeling called? God has chosen you! Are you listening with your heart open to his Spirit? How are you bearing fruit for his kingdom?   

Blessings,

Karen Fritsch and Troy Peebles

We are Cursillo! Let’s use it, Let’s share it

From Our Spiritual Advisor:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,  

May the Lord bless you hugely with His peace.  In this jubilee year of HOPE, we tap our many blessings received from the powerful gift of Cursillo.  We need to claim those blessings because we need them.  In many situations, whether in our own lives or in the lives of our loved ones or in the lives of strangers to us, we find a definite challenge to the new life our Lord calls us to live.  We might find unrest in our own souls, minds and bodies, little areas of darkness that nag at us and whisper that we are on the wrong path.  We might experience sadness related to our own struggles and apparent losses or are sad because these struggles are in the lives of our loved ones.  No matter the source, we can experience challenges, sufferings, struggles that can seem to make us want to give up, just quit the journey of Faith, or make us, briefly, ponder, “Is my Cursillo connection not real?”  This is when we wake up and realize, “No, I am on this journey of the Jubilee Year of Hope, and I am going to imitate St. Paul who told his friends, ‘I add my sufferings to fulfill those of Christ.’”  We are Cursillo!  We are a people of Hope; let’s use it; let’s share it.  

As we walk this Jubilee path of hope I offer some tidbits from St. Luke’s Gospel on the Sundays of August.  These words of Jesus really struck me as a Cursillista called to live a life full of HOPE.  May they touch you deeply. 

August 3 - One’s life does not consist of possessions.  Do not store up treasures for yourselves; rather, be rich in what matters to God.   

August 10 - An inexhaustible treasure in heaven where no thief can reach nor moth destroy is waiting for you.  Be careful; where your treasure is there also will your heart be.   

August 17 - Jesus said, “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing!  Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.” 

August 24 - Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”  You will stand outside the door knocking and saying, “Lord, open the door for us.”  He will say to you in reply, “I do not know where you are from.  Depart from Me…” 

August 31 - Jesus told the crowd, “When you hold a party or have a special meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.”  Sisters and brothers, we are called to hope in the One who is extravagant and generous in love.  Let’s cling to Him and follow His example.   

De Colores!  

Fr. Jim Morman

Time, Season and Change

From Our Lay Directors

Dear Friends in Christ, 

3 Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. 

For those of you who do not know us, we thought we would start with introductions, as Troy and I have recently taken over as Lay Directors of the Diocese of Toledo Cursillo Movement for John Lyons and Kathy Otermat; 

Troy Peebles lived Cursillo #195 in Carey, OH. Troy goes to Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Assumption, OH and lives in Lyons, OH. He is widowed as he lost his beautiful, loving, devoted wife Connie, also a Cursillista, to cancer several years ago. He and Connie had (2) children together who both live fairly close to Troy. Hello, 

I’m Karen Fritsch. I lived Cursillo #264 in Fremont at the Pines, in the fall of 2016. I belong to All Saints Catholic in New Reigel, OH and live outside of Tiffin, OH. I am widowed and had the blessing of being married to the late John Reinhart, a Cursillista, for almost (12) years. And God continues to send me blessings, as I am newly (1 1⁄2 years) married to Don Fritsch. I have a daughter in Columbus, OH and (4) stepchildren.

This verse from Ecclesiastes seems perfect for this time and season in Cursillo, as John and Kathy, pass the torch so to speak, to Troy and me. We simply ask for your patience and prayers as we discern and ask God’s wisdom, guidance and grace as we take on this new roll in the Cursillo movement. 

Other changes, like finding a new facility for our weekends, fit right into this theme, also. We have visited many places during our search for a “home” for Cursillo. One of the biggest factors though is remembering it doesn’t matter where we have our weekends, but that we stay centered on the movement of Christ in our lives and how we can continue to bring others into a deeper relationship with our Savior and Lord. The facility and set up may be different, but the presence of the Holy Spirit is with us no matter where we live the weekends! 

We continue to keep all of you in prayer, with the busy summer months in full swing. May all seasons of time and change find all our hearts open to Christ, His will for us and how we can continue to build His kingdom. 

Blessings,

KarenFritsch (kittyrg1967@gmail.com) Troy Peebles (tpeebles411@yahoo.com)