Cursillos in Christianity

Cursillo News/Blogs

October 2011: NEC Conference blog to give you some flavor of the conference.

By John Ahrens: necconf2011.blogspot.com/

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June, 2011

Ultreya! One and All

What a joy it is to serve you as the 2011-2012 Lay Director for the Diocese! You truly have a wonderful group of Cursillistas serving you on the Secretariat. With 2 meetings behind us, we have begun to put together a plan of action to revive Cursillo within the Fourth Day Community while at the same time providing support for Cursillo Teams in place and poised to present “The Best Cursillo Ever” to the friends you have made and are sending to the Weekends. This group of fellow travelers is committed to contributing to the health of Cursillo in the Diocese of Texas but none of us individually or collectively can do that without the support of the entire Fourth Day Community….and that includes YOU.

No matter when you made your Cursillo, each of you promised to follow the Cursillo plan for your spiritual growth and the growth of Christ’s kingdom. You heard the call and learned that Christ is Counting on You. If Cursillo is to continue to provide leaders within this diocese, God intends to use you… your commitment, your energy, your hands, your feet, your mind, your heart, your spirit…. Your time, talent, and treasure are all required. Have you been doing your part?

It starts with your conscious choice to pray, study, and act on what He calls you to do. It includes a commitment to Reunion EVERY week… to make a plan and follow through. Your presence is needed at Ultreya AND at Clausura. Your efforts to make a friend, be a friend, and bring your friend to Christ should also include truly sponsoring people for a weekend AND getting them settled into a Reunion Group as well as getting them to an Ultreya, when they return. And it includes your financial support to pay for others to make their Cursillos. If everyone gives some, no one is left with the entire burden of the cost of the weekend. Start a Cursillo fund at your church, make a pledge on the Diocese of Texas Cursillo website, have a fund raiser that enables anyone who wants to go to be able to go.

Your Secretariat is willing to help you … Are you willing to do whatever it takes to re-create a healthy Fourth Day Community? Once upon a time, that question was not even considered much less voiced because it was unthinkable that each one would not contribute to a healthy Fourth Day.

Please send me or your convocational representative an e-mail about the state of Cursillo in your parish and what you would like to see happen not only in your own parish, but also in the diocese. Tell us what you think we could do to help you in your Fourth Day. I look forward to hearing from you! In the meanwhile, I hope to see you at Clausura this summer!

Ultreya!

Patsy Thomson

Cursillo Lay Director, Diocese of Texas

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DeColores!

My two year term as your Lay Director of Secretariat for The Diocese of Texas, is quickly coming to a close. At Council, a new Lay Director will be voted in and will take the helm of EDOT's Fourth Day Community.

It has been my heart-felt honor and privilege to serve you in this capacity, and I feel we have moved forward in bringing Cursillo to more Episcopalians, and I hope Making Friends, Being Friends, and Bringing Our Friends to Christ and to the Episcopal Church. I know we have trained many new leaders as I see them in all places of service in our church.

We, on Secretariat, have a committee in place looking at ways to up-date, and/or refresh Cursillo, but still staying faithful to The Authentic Three Day Weekend. More will come about that as your new Lay Director moves forward with these committee folks. We have cut the contracts with Camp Allen to 22 candidates per weekend as opposed to 42 and have been able to keep the Secretariat in the black and keep current with Camp Allen and all our other obligations as a result of this cost-saving step. We continue to work on ways to be good stewards of your contributions.

I encourage you, if you are able, to make a donate to Cursillo; any amount will be greatly appreciated! There is a provision on this website to allow you to do that through PayPal and these donations are put to good use, many times providing a scholarship to someone who truly wants to attend a Cursillo weekend or work on a Cursillo team, but cannot afford to do so on their own. It also helps provide food for the campsite weekends.

My prayer for all of you is that you will all stay active in your reunion groups, or if you are not currently in a reunion group you will get in one...that you will find like minded friends who will support you in your walk with Christ and help you maintain your rule of life. And please attend Ultreyas, whether parish or convocational or both. These activities nourish you and help you stay focused (to say nothing of being just plain good old fashioned FUN!).

It's been a wonderful two years (and seven before on Secretariat prior to being Lay Director)

and I cherish all the new friends I have made along the way, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and prayers.

May God Bless You!

Ultreya!

Carol McCauley

Lay Director, Secretariat

The Diocese of Texas

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Blessed Advent, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This is such a wonderful time of the year! Yes, I know that it's often hectic, with all the things we try to cram into such a short period of time: parties, luncheons, dinners with friends, card writing, gift buying, wrapping & sending; but please remember to be waiting with great expectation for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After all, this is all about Him! He truly is the "reason for the season" and we need to give Him this time in our hearts and in our minds, and share His love with others. That is the most important thing we can do, and as we calm down and put our minds on Him, the stress of the hectic rush of the day seems to melt away.

It is my wish that as we share Jesus with our friends, we may think to invite them to Cursillo as a gift next year. It has been for me, a gift that just keeps on giving! I'm so very thankful for my sponsor, Charlotte Wacker, for insisting that Ray & I go to Cursillo, even though my excuse was....but we're closing on a new house and moving the Monday after the Cursillo is over, and we just don't have time. She convinced me that we needed to "make time" and she won and drove us to Camp Allen on a cold, rainy night in February, 1999. It was one of the best times of my life and I'll always love her for caring that much for us!

Ray and I are blessed to have wonderful friends all over The Diocese of Texas, and even all over the United States, and as far as The Bahamas. These are special friends that we would never have known if we hadn't gone to Cursillo, and followed up with reunion groups, Ultreyas, Clausuras, by serving on teams, and serving others on teams in one fashion or another; serving on Secretariat and going to a National Cursillo Conference.

I give thanks for each one of you who have touched my life through Cursillo, and look forward to all the new friends I will meet through Cursillo in 2011.

Ultreya, and Christmas blessings to each and every one of you!

Carol McCauley

Lay Director, Secretariat

The Diocese of Texas

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DeColores Dear Friends,

Has anyone noticed that Cursillo weekend #230 is quickly approaching? As of Tuesday October 12, 2011, we have not ONE PERSON signed up to attend! All you Secretariat members please get in touch with your convocations to see if you can generate some enthusiasm. We have a team, ready to go and to have "The Best Cursillo Ever!" but they need candidates! They need our help!!

All you Cursillistas, please sponsor someone to this wonderful Cursillo weekend. It's the most beautiful time of year to be at Camp Allen. The weather is just perfect for a campsite weekend and if you've ever talked to anyone who has made a campsite Cursillo, they wouldn't have been there at any other time...the experience for them was amazing.

We all know someone who would benefit from Cursillo, so please ask them if they would like to go in November. This is also the least expensive way to attend a Cursillo weekend. The campsite weekends are only $125 per person, so it's an affordable way to go and commune with nature and learn of God's love, and a path to follow for life of Piety, Study and Action!

We CAN fill this weekend! Nothing is impossible with Jesus Christ as Head Man in Charge, so ....Let's do it!

Your Faithful Servant in Christ,

Carol McCauley

Lay Director, Secretariat

The Diocese of Texas

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Reminder to all Cursillistas who are sponsoring a candidate to this (or any other) Cursillo weekend:

After Mananitas at Camp Allen on Sunday morning, you are ALL invited to come up to Navasota to St. Paul's Episcopal Church on McAlpin Street to worship and then stay for a homecooked breakfast! This is palanca to YOU, from the Cursillistas at St. Paul's. They have been doing this service of love to us for many years, and recently fewer and fewer sponsors have come up to join them for this wonderful breakfast. They asked us to invited you to please join them Sunday morning, August 29th for Eucharist and breakfast/brunch. It's worth it. We've been many times and are never disappointed. It's just a ten or fifteen minute ride from Camp Allen. Just go north on 362 to 105, turn left and go into the city of Navasota. The Episcopal Welcome Sign will direct you to St. Paul's, down 105 and on the left.

See you Sunday at Camp Allen!

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August is here and with it the "dog days of summer" (whatever that means!). Hope you are all enjoying your summer with relaxation and renewal. It's so hot one can hardly stand to be outside, so this summer I've spent a lot of time reading. I've enjoyed a series of books by Francine Rivers called Sons of Encouragement about five men who supported the men we hear most about, Aaron for Moses; Silas for John; Caleb for Joshua; Amos; and one I have yet to read. I'm also reading a book about Islam to help me understand the differences we as Christians experience when dealing with those of the Muslim faith. Since it's been too hot for me to engage in outdoor activities this July and August, I've taken advantage of this time to "Study", one of the legs of the tripod of our Cursillo Rule of Life. Another great book is "Same Kind of Different as Me!" If you read nothing else this year, read this one! It is a true story and an amazing one that touched my heart!

August is also the time for our third Cursillo of this year, Cursillo #229, The Cursillo of Humility and Love. Please support this team and the candidates you will send with your daily prayers and with little notes of palanca. Cursillo #229 will be held at Camp Allen in the Conference Center beginning Thursday evening, August 26th and ending with Clausaura in the All Saints Chapel at 4:00pm, Sunday, August 29th. Please plan to attend this event to welcome our newest Cursillistas into our Fourth Day Community. That's action!

Which leaves piety, and since this is Sunday morning when I'm writing this, I'm getting ready to leave for church. Hope you all can find a church, even if you're on vacation, to give you the Spiritual nourishment your soul needs for this wonderful Walk With Christ!

Yesterday someone posted something on FaceBook that I would like to leave you with:

"We are not human beings having a spirituial experience. We are Spiritual Beings having a human experience."

Ultreya!

Carol McCauley

Lay Director, Secretariat

The Diocese of Texas