Fall, Time to Grow

From Our Lay Director

Fall is finally here! The skies are grey, the wind is chilly, and we’re starting to think about what coat is needed today, light or heavy?? Our reluctance to rejoice in the changes in temperature is tempered by the beautiful leaves both on the trees and falling to the ground like gentle rain. November, for our diocese, also indicates that the next Cursillos will be held in 2024. (Those dates are March 710 (Men’s), April 11-14 (Women’s), September 12-15 (Men’s) and October 17-20 (Women’s). What have we learned in 2023? How have we grown?

I have continued to learn that this movement is so precious to me with its mighty weekends and grouping/Ultreya methods to keep us connected to Our Lord and each other is a powerful force for good. How are grouping and Ultreyas calling me to a deeper relationship with Jesus, and transforming my environments to be more Christ-like?

For some of us for whom Cursillo has been a part of our lives for years, it can be easy sometimes to gloss over what the service sheet mentions. For Piety, it’s not supposed to be a laundry list to share what I’ve done this past week (4 morning offerings, 7 rosaries, 1 visit to the Blessed Sacrament, etc.), but opportunities to share with those in our group about how one or more of those acts brought me closer to God. (For example, while visiting the Blessed Sacrament, I felt God encouraging me to ask a particular person to be a sponsor for someone who I hope will attend a Cursillo next year. (And then the person I asked agreed to be the sponsor!!)

With Study, a suggestion would be to share something that you read or heard or observed that stretched or enlightened what you know of God. For me, I attend an Adult Faith Formation class on Sundays after Mass. We are currently studying the book of Mark using a video series. The presenter explained how Jesus as our King isn’t like the kings of Israel’s past. I knew that in 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites asked for a king, and Samuel explained how a king would reign over them, taking their sons and daughters and crops and how they would be the king’s slaves. The Israelites still wanted a king, so Saul was anointed king. Jesus is not a king like that. He instead gives himself to us as a gift. Wow! Of course, I know that Jesus is our king, but didn’t really understand how He transformed the title of King. Old Testament kings take; Jesus gives. What a lesson!

The third leg of the stool, Action, calls us to look at our environments closely, putting on the mind of God. What am I doing in my family, workplace, parish, everywhere I go to make those environments more Christ-like? What is going well? What struggles in an environment do I have right now that I need some extra prayer and support?

Thanksgiving will soon be upon us. I am so thankful for the Cursillo movement. What can we do to help this movement to grow, to continue to be a method for positive change? Being on a team is a powerful way to do that. Pray about filling out a team application and sending it to our Cursillo chairpersons, being an agent for change to help others to love God and neighbors more fully, more enthusiastically, more unselfishly.

De Colores!

Kathy Otermat

John Lyons