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