Cursillo Newsletter

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 January-February 2007

    Calendar of Events

January 5-6, 2007          Practice Weekend, St. Mary School, David City, NE

January 6, 2007             Secretariat Meeting, St. Mary School, David City (following Practice Weekend)

January 11-14, 2007       Men’s Weekend, St. Mary School, David City, NE

January 14, 2007           Men’s Closing, 5:00pm (4pm Mass) St. Mary Church, David City, NE

January 18-21 2007       Women’s Weekend, St. Mary School, David City, NE

January 21, 2007           Women’s Closing, 5:00pm (4pm Mass) St. Mary Church, David City, NE

February 10, 2007          Secretariat Meeting - 9:30am, Location TBA (depends on Postcursillo Reunion)

February 10, 2007          Postcursillo Reunion - 1:00pm, Location TBA

February 23-24, 2007     School of Leaders (quarterly reunion) - 7:30pm Fri-3pm Sat, St. Ann Parish, Doniphan

March 10, 2007             Secretariat Meeting, 9:30am, Blessed John XXIII Diocesan Center (tentative)

April 14, 2007                Secretariat Meeting, 9:30am, Blessed John XXIII Diocesan Center (tentative)

April 20-21, 2007           School of Leaders (quarterly reunion) - 7:30pm Fri-3pm Sat, (Location TBA)

April 27-29, 2007           Region VI Spring Encounter – David City, NE

June 29 – July 2, 2007    National EncounterUniversity of Texas at Arlington, TX; (50th Anniversary)

July 13-14, 2007            School of Leaders (quarterly reunion) - 7:30pm Fri-3pm Sat, (Location TBA)

 



 

Palanca is so very, very important … it is the backbone of the Cursillo Movement and essential for the spiritual success of each Three Day Weekend.  Your spending time with our Lord before the Blessed Sacrament is the best means of helping the candidates encounter Him.  Please make sure your Ultreya Center is covering the assigned hours, or contact a neighboring Ultreya Center for assistance … He’s counting on YOU!!!

 

                                            

 

                                          Lift them up in prayer …

 

PRAYER/ADORATION HOURS  (by Ultreya Center) for the January 2007 David City Weekends

         Thursday, 7:00pm - Friday, 1:00am        Hastings/Holdrege/Minden

         Friday, 1:00am - 7:00am                        Beatrice/Crete/Hebron

         Friday, 7:00am - 1:00pm                        Lincoln

         Friday, 1:00pm - 7:00pm                        Southwestern Nebraska (McCook/Imperial/Grant)

         Friday, 7:00pm - Saturday 1:00am          Nebraska City/Plattsmouth/Offutt

         Saturday, 1:00am - 7:00am                    Hastings/Holdrege/Minden

         Saturday, 7:00am - 1:00pm                   Beatrice/Crete/Hebron

         Saturday, 1:00pm - 7:00pm                   Southwestern Nebraska (McCook/Imperial/Grant)

         Saturday, 7:00pm - Sunday 1:00am        Lincoln

         Sunday, 1:00am - Sunday, 7:00am         Nebraska City/Plattsmouth/Offutt

         Sunday, 7:00am - 5:00pm                      David City/Shelby/Wahoo

 

Candidates for January Weekends (St. Mary School, David City) -- Please be praying for these candidates (as of 1/10/07) for the Cursillo Weekends in David City (please encourage candidates to get their applications in ASAP):

     Men:
          - Barger, Brendon – Imperial
          - Breuer, Dave – Auburn
          - Dalton, Mike – David City
          - Hilger, Dan – Bellwood
          - Juranek, Dale – David City
          - Kobza, Ray – David City

          - Oborny, Charlie – Bellwood

Women:
          - Barger, Bonnie – Imperial
          - Coufal, Maureen – David City
          - Dalton, Camille – David City
          - Else, Jeanette – Hebron
          - Gilliam, Amber – Lincoln

          - Hein, Marlene – David City
          - Hilger, Mary Jane – Bellwood

          - Hottovy, Rose – David City
          - Jakub, Roni – Abie / Bruno
          - Kobza, Cherie – David City
          - Maurin, Mary – Crete
          - Matulka, Marianne – David City
          - Oborny, Dorothy – Bellwood
          - Prochazka, Diana – Wilber

 

From the Secretariat

 

·  New Secretariat Members  At the December Secretariat meeting, Mark Pribyl was elected Lay Director and Kathy Springer was elected Treasurer.  John Springer was appointed Three Day Chairperson to complete the remaining year of Mark Pribyl’s three-year term.  A few days after the December Secretariat meeting, Chuck and Joyce Micek regretfully submitted resignations from their positions on the Secretariat due to work and family commitments.  They indicated, however, that they intend to stay on as Ultreya Center Representatives for the David City-Shelby-Wahoo Ultreya Center.  Kathy Rowell (Holdrege, NE) was appointed to fill the remaining year of Chuck Micek’s three-year term as Precursillo Chair, and Monica Buster (Hebron, NE) was appointed to fill the remaining year of Joyce Micek’s three-year term as Secretary.  We thank Chuck and Joyce for ALL the work they did to foster to the work of Cursillo in our Diocese.

 

·  New Cursillo Website The Lincoln Diocese has a new Cursillo web address.  It is

www.catholic-church.org/cursillolincoln/

 until that web address is up and running, we will be using this temporary address (where you currently are): http://www.gpcom.net/stpatrickschurch/cursillolincoln.html

Please book mark this home page as your Lincoln Diocese Cursillo Website.

 

·  Cursillo Application Forms EnclosedSponsor Sheet Updated

    With the January Weekends right around the corner, we are including with this mailing, a packet of application materials to be given to prospective candidates (however, do not give the blue Sponsor Sheet to the candidate).  The packet includes:

 

1)    Goldenrod Sheet – Recently re-written to explain Cursillo in a simpler way (by better defining some of the Cursillo terminology).  Still contains the endorsement of Bishop Bruskewitz and Popes John Paul II and Paul VI.

 

2)    White Sheet – Application form … this is what the candidate should complete and give to you (the sponsor).

 

3)    Blue Sheet – Sponsor sheet …  PLEASE read both sides of this REVISED sheet … it will help you better understand the responsibilities of being a sponsor.  And please note (there have been many questions on this point in the past) that when a husband and wife are both eligible to attend a Cursillo, then the two should be prepared (Precursillo) at the same time – the question of who attends first is NOT important.  In other words, it is NOT mandatory that the husband live a Cursillo Weekend before his wife.  For more explanation/details, read the Blue Sponsor Sheet.

 

May we have eyes, Lord, to know who You want us to invite …

and please help us to be courageous enough to follow through …

 

 

·  Region VI Spring 2007 Encounter ...  The Lincoln Diocese has agreed to host the Region VI Spring Encounter the weekend of April 27-29, 2007, in David City, NE.  Anyone who is interested in helping out in any capacity (planning, set-up, tear-down, music, food, etc.) should contact any member of the Secretariat to volunteer … what a great way to share the gifts that God has given you!  There will be more details in upcoming Newsletters … ask God in what capacity He wants you to be of service to Him …  …and plan now to be there!!

 

 

· School of Leaders (SOL) ...  You are invited to come together with cursillistas from across the Diocese to deepen your understanding of our Lord and of the Cursillo Movement.   ALL ARE INVITED!  SOL is about doing our Lord’s work through the vehicle (Method) of Cursillo.  In working and studying and praying together, we discover ways of doing that to which our Lord calls us.  The next SOL will be Feb. 23-24, 2007, at St. Ann Parish in Doniphan, NE (registration form included in Newsletter).  SOL begins on Friday evening with a retreat phase (Mass, meditation, Confessions, and food/fellowship); and continues into Saturday (we are usually finished by about 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon).  You will come away with a deeper love for God and better know His love for you … ALL are invited to participate.

 

·  Precursillo         Make a friend, Be a friend, and Bring that friend to Christ!!!

 

********

Precursillo (thoughts from Chuck Micek, Precursillo Chairperson)

 

I was visiting with a woman the other night in Lincoln, and we were discussing the way people dress today … in airports, shopping, and even coming to Mass on the weekend.  She made the statement the reason people are not more respectful in their dress when they come to Mass is that Catholics did not really believe that Jesus, His Body and Blood, were present at Mass.  I did not think that was the reason.  However, ever since she made the comment, I have been thinking about what she said.

 

Saturday evening I noticed how many people came to church in jeans.  It seemed to me that about 80% of the people attending Mass that evening were in jeans.  I wondered, “Did they not believe that Jesus was present?” Some of these people I know very well, and I know their belief to be firm.

 

Years ago, when Catholics attended Mass, they went in their “Sunday best”.  Times have certainly changed.  Everyone is so busy today we do not have time to dress for Mass the way we should … or the way we could … to properly worship Jesus Christ.  So what is going on?  Is it that Catholics really don’t understand what takes place at Mass?

 

World Library Publications says in the Guidelines for the Reception of Communion, “As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently.”

 

Devoutly …  Because Catholics are required to believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in what appears to be bread and wine, the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of our oneness of faith, life, and worship.  We are aware that Jesus is present in the holy sacrifice of the Mass.  Therefore, we should dress accordingly … we should be the people of faith that Christ wants us to be, and we should be the example for others to follow in showing reverence to our Lord in His Presence among us.  And if we are attending Mass and praying on a regular basis, then the presence of Christ should surround us and be so much a part of us that the way we live our lives is evidence of our belief in His Presence here with us.

 

Others may not have Christ in the center of their lives …  Ask them to live a Cursillo Weekend, so that they too might encounter Christ …  There are Weekends less than one month away at St. Mary School in David City.  Do not presume to make an answer for someone else … simply invite … and let God do the rest.                                                         

De Colores!      Chuck Micek

 

· Three Day Weekends ... 

 

         You have been given a gift … Cursillo …  Share that gift with others …  Invite someone to live a Cursillo Weekend …   And just a reminder …  Because of the increasing costs of Cursillo supplies [e.g., crucifixes, Pilgrim’s Guides, booklets (“Cursillo – What Is It?”, “Sponsor’s Booklet”, “Let’s Keep the Fourth Day Simple”), table supplies, etc.], the registration fee requested when an application is submitted was increased to $15.00 (the previous fee was $10.00). 

 

U      Men’s – January 11 - 14, 2007 (St. Mary School, David City, NE)

U      Women’s – January 18-21, 2007 (St. Mary School, David City, NE)

 

         The teams for the January 2007 Weekends are:

 

U      Men’s:      Mark Pribyl, Coordinator; Eldon Buster, John Fertig, John Springer, and Myron Wendland.  Fr. Nick Baker, Spiritual Director; Fr. Greg Pawloski, Assistant; Fr. Mark Seiker, Palanca Spiritual Director

 

U      Women’s: Annette Wemhoff, Coordinator; Monica Buster, Mary Fertig, Joan Junkin, and Kathy Springer.  Fr. Chris Goodwin, Spiritual Director; Fr. Mark Seiker, Assistant; Fr. Jeremy Hazuka, Palanca Spiritual Director

 

         If your candidate cannot be part of the upcoming January Weekends, future Weekends include:

 

U      Men’s – September 20 - 23, 2007  (St. Ann Parish, Doniphan, NE)

U      Women’s – October 4 - 7, 2007  (St. Ann Parish, Doniphan, NE)

 

U      Men’s – February 14 - 17, 2008  (Location not yet determined)

U      Women’s – February 21 - 24 2008  (Location not yet determined)

 

*     Palanca Letters …

Personal Palanca letters continue to be a very important part of Cursillo.  Letters from the sponsor and/or a spouse should be marked so they may be given to candidates during the Weekend. All other personal Palanca letters will be sent home to be read/enjoyed during the Fourth Day when the candidates will be in special need of encouragement as they return to the world they left behind on Thursday evening.  Many candidates have commented that these letters are particularly helpful following the Weekend, as they return to their homes and workplaces … please keep them in your prayers …

               Personal and general Palanca letters (including posters) may be mailed to Kathy Springer, 1410 E 15th St, Crete, NE 68333, or any Secretariat member, in time to arrive by the Wednesday prior to each Weekend (Jan. 10th for the Men’s; Jan. 17th for the Women’s).

The Lincoln Diocese Cursillo website will be kept updated with the names of candidates as they are submitted.  The new website is www.catholic-church.org/cursillolincoln/.

 

**************

From an article submitted to Ultreya on-line magazine

 (Mark Pribyl, Three Day Cursillo Chairperson)

 

     For those of you who don’t know me, I lived my Cursillo Weekend in Lincoln in January 2001.  My family was St. Robert Bellarmine.  As I entered into my Fourth Day, I planned to focus on a couple of things -- my responsibility to Christ and the fact that Christ would be counting on me.  And if I had really made the decision during my Weekend to grow in Faith, Hope and Love, I knew that I had been given some tools to do just that.
     Before my Weekend, I was learning about Christ and what He expects of me mainly through the readings and homily at Mass.  And even though I went through RCIA, it really never sank in to my head that I had any responsibilities to uphold as a follower of Christ.

 

     During my Weekend, however, it truly hit me that Christ is counting on me and that there is no other plan.  "Go out and tell all the Good News!"  I knew that if I was truly being sent, it was going to take courage, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, and fear of the Lord (the gifts of the Holy Spirit).

 

    During the Three Days, I learned a way that I might first recognize, and then form, these gifts, in order that I might ''Go out and tell all who will listen".  The ORIGINAL Cursillo method of Group Reunion and Ultreya is still complete today, in that if I regularly make time to share with my brothers and sisters in Christ my attempts to grow in piety, study, and action, then I will be strengthening myself in each of these three areas.

 

    (Piety) Praying … praying is first asking for help, and then listening … listening for the answer to our prayer … followed by acceptance … accepting the answer that you receive.  And sometimes the acceptance is the most difficult part of all!

 

    (Study) Study is putting on the mind of Christ in what I read, hear, and experience … so important!  Ignorance is no excuse.  And neither is laziness … make the time!  I have … and now when I find myself confronted about my beliefs, I can respond with certainty.

 

    (Action) This is the part of my Weekend that really hit me between the eyes! Just as I did, you might need to overcome your fears of ridicule and defeat …  And knowing that God promises to be with you always, YOU should speak in the name of Christ, for Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, so that others might be drawn toward Christ.

 

    God (not man) picks those He intends to send out … and He makes them leaders.  Back in the 1940s, the Holy Spirit inspired Bishop Juan Hervas and Eduardo Bonnin with some notion of the potential that Cursillo might hold, and He has picked many others since then to be obedient and faithful to what God gave us through Cursillo.

 

    What did Cursillo do for me?  Nothing.  What has the Spirit of God done for me through my faithful living of the Cursillo Method, as presented to me by the leaders God chose for that purpose?  Everything!  I have learned one very important thing!  I CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT CHRIST.  The joy I have in and with Christ I can't even begin to put into words … to serve Jesus is to love Jesus.  And being obedient is to give of yourself and not to count the cost.

 

    My Weekend was complete, as was yours.  The Spirit moves each and every one of us at our own pace, and the Spirit knows exactly who to send and what it is going to take to get us to budge … to wake up.   We don't need hype and frills … we simply need truth.  And with joy and the truth, our mission becomes more clear … to bring others closer to Christ.

 

    God gave us Jesus … Jesus gave us Our Blessed Mother Mary … and the Spirit through Bishop Juan Hervas and Eduardo Bonnin gave us Cursillo, that we might come to know Jesus, too.  It takes grace to accept a gift as it is given.  Asking for that grace is Piety … and Study teaches me how and why … and then, with the help of God, Action makes it possible that God might use me, a mere creature who was created by God, to bring someone a little closer to Christ! What an awesome God!!
 
De Colores!!          Mark Pribyl

 

· Postcursillo ... 

 

U   Please attend the Closings for the upcoming (January) Cursillo Weekends in David City … remember how important it was for you to be greeted by the Fourth Day community …  He is counting on you!!!

 

U   And speaking of David City  Be part of the Spring Region VI Encounter being hosted by the Lincoln Diocese at St. Mary School in David CityApril 27-29, 2007.

 

From the Spiritual Advisor ...

 

We are preparing to celebrate the Solemnity of Christmas, the birth of Christ, the Incarnation … God becoming man … taking on our flesh … pitching His tent among us … in order to save us from our sins.  We have been preparing for this mystery of Christ’s birth at Christmas throughout the Advent Season.

 

During these weeks of Advent, we long, we wait, we hope for the coming of the Savior as did the Jewish people of the Old Testament times.  They knew they needed a Savior, a Messiah, and they were longing and hoping for His coming.  There were various different ideas among the Jewish people about who the Messiah would be.  God the Father had been leading the Chosen People all through the ages.  He revealed Himself to them in the burning bush, through the law and the prophets.  He led them by a column of fire and a column of cloud.  He fed them with quail, manna, and water from the rock.  Then God led them into the Promised Land and He made His dwelling in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies.  But through it all, no one ever saw God face to face. 

 

So, when God became man … when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity took on our flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was born on that first Christmas … now for the first time, men and women could see God.  God became man to show us how we are to live … to call us to holiness … and to give us the grace to make our growth in holiness possible.  All this was in the eternal plan of God … and we must reflect on that as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christmas.

 

Recently I was prompted to reflect on this as I was praying the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours.  There was a reading “From a letter to Diognetus” which said: “No man has ever seen God or known Him, but God has revealed Himself to us through faith, by which alone it is possible to see Him.  God, the Lord and Maker of all things, Who created the world and set it in order, not only loved man but was also patient with him. So He has always been, and is, and will be: kind, good, free from anger, truthful; indeed, He and He alone is good.

 

He devised a plan, a great and wonderful plan, and shared it only with His Son.  As long as He preserved this secrecy and kept His own wise counsel He seemed to be neglecting us, to have no concern for us.  But when through His beloved Son He revealed and made public what He had prepared from the very beginning, He gave us all at once gifts such as we could never have dreamt of, even sight and knowledge of Himself.

 

When God had made all His plans in consultation with His Son, He waited until a later time, allowing us to follow our own whim, to be swept along by unruly passions, to be led astray by pleasure and desire.  Not that He was pleased by our sins: He only tolerated them.  Not that He approved of that time of sin: He was planning this era of holiness.  When we had been shown to be undeserving of life, His goodness was to make us worthy of it.  When we had made it clear that we could not enter God’s kingdom by our own power, we were to be enabled to do so by the power of God.”

The letter to Diognetus speaks of God’s plan … that would be the Incarnation … the great mystery that we celebrate on Christmas Day and throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas.  By taking on our flesh, our human nature, God shows His love for us.  Through His Body, Jesus makes visible the invisible reality of God, and as Vatican II said: Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear.” (GS #22)  That call is to holiness.

 

As cursillistas, we strive to grow in holiness through our acts of piety … through our efforts to use the gifts that God has given to us, to respond to His grace, and through being aware of the “close moments” when God is revealing Himself to us, and calling us to holiness … calling us to make Him known in the world.  God wants to use our bodies, and we need to let Him. 

 

He wants us to give of our time to enter more deeply into a personal relationship with Christ, and to get to know more about our faith.  We are to put on the mind of Christ … to be formed in His image and likeness … and that happens through our study as well as through our piety.  But it is not all about us.  So, we need to give our bodies to the Lord … to put them at His service … to do apostolic action … “to make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Christ.” 

 

Mary said “Yes” to the Word of God … to the plan of God … and God used her body, according to His plan, in order that His Son could take on our flesh, and save us from our sins.  Mary knew what we need to know, that it is not about us … it is about God … it is about God’s plan … not our plan.  But our plan needs to be God’s … which comes back to putting on the mind of Christ … and letting Him use us and our bodies so that He might lead others to Christ … to Heaven. 

 

So, as we reflect on the message of Christmas … the joy of Christmas … that in this little Baby born in a manger, God, through a human body, reveals to men and women their calling … to be holy and to lead others closer to Christ.  I encourage each of you to let Christ live in you and let His grace through the Sacraments so fill you, that in your Fourth Day you may bring His message to the world … to all those persons that you come in contact with in your daily life … to those situations and places that He wants to touch through your body … Jesus live … Jesus live … in each one of us.  Amen.

 

                    De Colores!! …………………Fr. Mark Seiker

 

God is calling ~

RSVP today!

 

From the Lay Director ...

 

My term as Lay Director is drawing to a close …  and I will be praying for Mark (as should you) as he accepts God’s invitation to make it a priority to work at keeping Cursillo strong in our Diocese.  Cursillo is a wonderful mechanism for helping men and women throughout the Lincoln Diocese (and beyond) come to know and love and serve our Lord better.  After all, as Mark points out in his comments, He is counting on us!!  And that is a corporate “us” … it’s not just Mark or me or Fr. Seiker or the Secretariat or the SOL … it’s ALL of us … each in that place that God put us!!

 

I had the great blessing a few days ago to be part of one of the retreats given at Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly … the retreat master was Fr. Benedict Groeschel.  The topic of the retreat was to be “Understanding the writings of Pope Benedict XVI”; however, Fr. Groeschel walked off without his notes (as God would have it), and he gave the retreat God must have planned from the beginning … on virtue. 

 

Fr. Groeschel talked about the four moral virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice) and the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity/love).  Many of his remarks paralleled thoughts from his book, “The Virtue Driven Life”.  The retreat was a great blessing (and being a professor and constantly around people, the silence may have been the greatest blessing of all!!), and I took many things home with me, a few of which I would like to share here …

 

When Fr. Groeschel spoke to us about the virtue of charity (love), he commented that we really find out about charity at home … among those with whom we live, and who see us at our very worst.  He told us that it is in the family (the very home of charity) that charity must come to make up for our deficiencies.  He cajoled us by telling us that we argue about the most stupid things … and he concluded that it is absolute nonsense!!  He made his point by means of “the green garbage can” lecture …  He told the story of a man who had gone to the store at his wife’s request to buy a garbage can, and when he returned with a green one, his wife raised her voice and asked (in a less than thankful way), “Why did you get a green garbage can?!!?” … and she carried on and on about his having gotten a green garbage can.  Fr. Groeschel’s assessment of the situation – “How stupid … what nonsense!”  He said that if you ask any widow what she would have done differently, she would tell you that you just don’t have many years together … she would tell you that she would have been kinder and wouldn’t have argued over such stupid things …  We really don’t have all that much time with our family and friends, so why waste it?  Is a green garbage can really all that big of a deal?  As the year draws to a close, you might reflect about the extent to which you are making progress (or not) in the virtue of charity, especially at home?  How might you better live the life that you profess to … that of a Christian … would others recognize Christ in the things that you say and do?  Fr. Groeschel concluded the discussion of the virtue of charity with a quote from St. John of the Cross: “Where there is no love, put love, and you will draw love out” … it will be there …  Fr. Groeschel assured us that it is a greater charity to share love with those who are uncharitable … that THAT is how we imitate Christ …

 

During the homily of the Mass on Sunday morning, Fr. Groeschel asked us, “What is standing in the way of virtue?”  He commented that God, in His wisdom, knows what a person is capable of …  That’s why, when He was alive, Jesus went along the road calling to ALL … especially sinners …  He knows what we are capable of …  Fr. Groeschel reminded us that to whom much has been given, much will be expected!!  As the year is drawing to a close and a new year fast approaching, it seems a good time to reflect on what EXACTLY we have done with all that He has given us …  And Fr. Groeschel, in his wry little way, reminded us that “there is always room to improve!!”

 

Probably one of my strongest impressions from the retreat (and the one that I most needed to experience) was the witness of Fr. Groeschel’s untiring desire to do the will of God by helping others to know Him better.  I arrived at the retreat absolutely empty, knowing that on Monday, I had to have three final exams written, none of which I had had the opportunity to even begin … I don’t want to go into all the details, but my guess is that you have all experienced the exhaustion to which I am referring, and you know what I am talking about.  And thank You, God … there is the witness of Fr. Benedict Groeschel … able to get from place to place and up and down with the assistance of his friend, Brother Andrew.  On Friday afternoon, before coming to Waverly, Fr. Groeschel had gone to the seminary to visit with the priests and seminarians … and on Saturday afternoon, during one of the breaks, he went up to the Motherhouse of the Marian Sisters to visit with the Sisters (and “experience their joy”, as he put it), and during the supper break, he made a quick trip to Madonna to visit Msgr. Leonard Kalin, who helped approximately 60 young men in the Lincoln Diocese to say “yes” to our Lord when He called them to be priests …  And there he was Saturday evening offering to have a question and answer session, after a very, very long day, asking himself the question, “Why am I here? … I’m exhausted” … knowing full well what the answer was …  And thank you, Fr. Groeschel for your “yes” … for your witness that we just have to keep moving … with the grace of God …

 

I was reminded (and it is on this note that I will end) of a similar incident in the life of Pope John Paul II (from the book, “Let Me Go to the Father’s House”).  In the days leading up to his death, for the first time in his twenty-six years as Bishop of Rome, Pope John Paul II was unable to preside over the rites of the Easter Triduum … from the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum to the Urbi et Orbi apostolic blessing on Easter Sunday.  When he appeared at the window of his private library to impart the blessing, “…  because of his deep emotion and his suffering, he was unable to speak, and only made the Sign of the Cross and responded with a wave to the greetings of the faithful. …  The Holy Father was also profoundly shaken by this event.  After he moved away from the window, he said: ‘Maybe it would be better for me to die if I cannot carry out the mission entrusted to me,’ and immediately added: ‘Your will be done … totus tuus.’”  When I read/prayed these words, I was with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament (in Wichita, KS, in fact … I was making a holy hour before Mass, praying for a family member who professes to be an atheist) … and I was moved to tears …  In my life of exhaustion and pain, I reflected on my mission in life … why did He put me here … and the fact that I am still here tells me that there is no time for exhaustion … that He still has work for me to do … I, too, want to be totus tuus  Thy will be done!!

 

As the new year approaches, it might be a good time to reflect on green garbage cans (don’t get so hung up on the green garbage cans … the little things that are not so significant … that you fail in your apostolic efforts … especially at home), on your response to exhaustion, and on your mission in life.  Repeat to yourself, as did St. Paul, “I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me.”

        

De Colores!! ……………………  Kathy Springer

 

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