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March-April 2008
Calendar
of Events
March
15, 2008
Secretariat
Meeting, 9:30am; before Postcursillo Reunion (Minden, NE)
March
15, 2008
Postcursillo
Reunion, 1:00pm following Secretariat meeting (Minden, NE)
April
11-12, 2008
School of Leaders (quarterly
reunion)-7:30pm
Fri-3pm
Sat, (St.
Ann Parish, Doniphan)
April
12, 2008
Secretariat Meeting, following School of Leaders
(see above)
April
25-27, 2008
Region
VI Spring Encounter – Belle Prairie, MN
(St. Cloud Diocese)
May
3, 2008
Secretariat Meeting, 9:30 am; Blessed
John XXIII, Lincoln
June
7, 2008
Secretariat
Meeting, 9:30 am; Blessed John
XXIII, Lincoln
June
29, 2008
Grand Ultreya (2:00pm=Mass;
Ultreya; 5:00pm=supper; St. Ann Parish, Doniphan)
July
12, 2008
Secretariat Meeting, 9:30 am; Blessed
John XXIII, Lincoln
July
31 – Aug 3, 2008 National
Encounter, at Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
August
22-23, 2008 School
of Leaders (quarterly
reunion)-7:30pm
Fri-3pm Sat,(St.
James Parish,
Cortland)
[in
place of regular SOL, may host Cursillo Leaders’ Workshop 1 (CLW-1)]
August
23,
2008
Secretariat
Meeting, following School
of Leaders (see above)
Welcome
New Fourth Dayers (February 2008, St. John the Baptist
Parish,
Minden)
Welcome to
the 4th Day! ***
We welcome Nick
Hein, Pat Hoban, Brian Jakub, Harold Lempka, and Buck Wood
and Becky Deaver, Anne Dorn, Patricia Pettz,
Nancy Terryberry, Lois Thom to the
Fourth Day!. Have you found a Group
Reunion? … Are you participating in Ultreya?
Just as during the Three Days, it is in being a community and
sharing
about your attempts to grow (in baby steps, at first) in holiness,
formation,
and evangelization that you will persevere and progress in the
spiritual
life. Remember that Christ is
counting on you, and you said that you would count on Him
… He gave you the gift of Cursillo to
help you … and He wants you to use it!!
From the Secretariat …
- Ultreya Center Updates:
- The David City/Shelby Ultreya Center
will be holding its next
Ultreya on Sunday, March 30th, at 1:30 p.m. in David City
(St. Mary
School, Didier Room).
- The Beatrice/Crete/Hebron/Lincoln Ultreya Center will
be holding
its next Ultreya on Sunday, March 30th, at 5:00 p.m. at the
Blessed
John XXIII Diocesan Center (3700
Sheridan Blvd) in Lincoln. The
Ultreya is scheduled for Dawson Hall at 5:00 p.m. Ultreyas
are usually the 4th
Sunday of each month, but this year, March 23 (the 4th
Sunday) is
Easter Sunday.
- Cursillo
Web Address Changing Yet Again!!
The
new address for the Cursillo web page is:
- Precursillo / Three Day Weekend
One of the charges given all of us on
our Cursillo Weekend was to study those environments in which God has
currently placed us. Have you identified any “agents of
change”? Is our Lord asking you to begin the process of “making a
friend, being a friend, and bringing that friend to Him”? Would
the persons identified as “agents of change” profit from an
understanding of the Cursillo Method? Continue to offer Palanca,
that God might give you eyes to see and ears to hear how He wants you
to evangelize your environments … now is the time to be studying
environments in search of persons who can Christianize them … now is
the time to be talking to the “agents of change” about Cursillo … He’s counting on you!!!
Tentative dates for the next Weekends are:
January 8-11, 2009 Men’s,
Location TBA
January 15-18, 2009 Women’s,
Location TBA
Remember that Cursillo applications/informational flyers are available
online. In registering candidates for Weekends, the most recent
application forms are available from the website. The Application
Form and Informational Flyer may be printed off directly, and the
Sponsor Form must be requested by email and will be sent (via email)
directly to you. The Sponsor Form is treated differently because
the sponsor fills out this form separately and then gets the pastor’s
signature.
- Continue
to offer Palanca
- EACH
WEEK
for Three Day Weekends going on in our Diocese and throughout the world. The recent Three Day Weekends in our Diocese
are a powerful reminder that Palanca is the lever of the apostles. Remember that cursillistas in our Diocese
agreed to assist at Mass each Friday and offer Holy Communion for the
intention
of all Cursillo Weekends taking place throughout the world, and, in
addition, to
pray an extra decade of the Rosary on Sundays. You
are also encouraged to offer additional personal
prayers and sacrifices
to the spiritual bouquet our Diocese offers to other dioceses.
- Included in this Newsletter [on the web, use the link for Palanca Calendars from the main
Diocese of Lincoln Cursillo webpage] is a Palanca calendar
(purple sheet) for our Diocese. For
those of you who are new to Cursillo or just never knew why we included
the
Palanca calendar with each Newsletter, it includes intentions specific
to our
Diocese, for our Region (Region VI), and for the Cursillo Movement as a
whole. The calendar always includes the
Three Day
Weekends that will be going on in Region VI, and it also includes other
general
intentions that are good to keep in mind. We
encourage you to keep the calendar in a place you
will see it each
day and to offer some type of Palanca daily for the suggested
intentions or for
intentions of your own choosing. “For where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there I am in the
midst of them” … Even if there is distance that separates us … we
are
united in prayer for common intentions …
- Spring Region VI
Encounter … The Spring Encounter is scheduled for April
25-27, 2008, at Belle Prairie, MN (St. Cloud Diocese). A
registration form is included in this mailing for your
convenience. It is always a blessing to spend time with
cursillistas who come from other areas of our 8-state region, as we
learn so much from each other.
- 18th
National Cursillo Encounter … This
year’s National Encounter will be hosted at Catholic University of
America in Washington,
DC,
from July 31-August 3, 2008. The theme
for the Encounter is “Christ Is Our Light”. Masses during the Encounter will be
held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception, which
is located on the campus of Catholic University of America. The major presentations will include: (1) Mentality of the Cursillo Movement, and
(2)
the Three Encounters. Workshops topics
include: (1) Total Security, (2) Sponsorship – What Is It?, (3) School
of
Leaders – Why?, and (4) Study of the Environment. The
registration form for the National
Encounter is included in this mailing.
- Grand Ultreya
Planned for this Summer … Plans are
being made to hold our annual Grand Ultreya
this summer at St. Ann Parish in Doniphan on Sunday, June 29th. Doniphan was chosen because of its central
location. The day will tentatively
include Mass at 2:00 p.m. (which fulfills the Sunday obligation),
followed by
an Ultreya (a grand Ultreya!), and potluck dinner/picnic at 5:00 p.m. This is an event for the entire family … so
mark your calendars now and watch for more details in the May-June
Newsletter.
- School of Leaders (SOL)
...
Cursillistas from across
the Diocese will continue to gather
to deepen their understanding of their faith and of the Cursillo
Movement. ALL ARE
INVITED … those new to the Movement,
those who have been living the Method, and those who would like to get
back to
living it.! In working and
studying and praying together, we discover ways of doing that to which
our Lord
calls each of us (not only in Cursillo, but more importantly, in our
everyday
lives) … and there is great joy in being together and working as a
community toward
the goal of Christianizing our world.
The next
SOL will be April 11-12, 2008, at St. Ann
Parish in Doniphan, NE (registration
form included in this Newsletter). As
usual, SOL begins on Friday evening with a retreat phase (Mass,
meditation,
Confessions, and food/fellowship, but not dinner); and continues into
Saturday
(we are usually finished by about 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon). You can come for whatever part you are able –
Friday or Saturday or both. You will
come away with a deeper love for God and better know His love for you …
ALL
are invited to participate.
From the Spiritual Advisor
...
As I
write these thoughts, we are in the middle of
Lent. During the months of March and
April, we journey through the remaining days of Lent, celebrate the
Sacred
Triduum, and begin the holy season of Easter.
Between the season of Lent and the season of Easter are those
holy three
days of the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter
Vigil /
Easter Sunday). Lent prepares us to
celebrate the Sacred Triduum, and having celebrated the Sacred Triduum,
we are then
to live new lives in the Easter Season.
The Paulist Press Ordo states: “The
liturgies of these days do not ‘take us back’ to the upper room or the
path to Calvary.
Their
ultimate purpose is not to retrace or relive the last hours of Jesus’
life –
nor to catch sight of Him emerging from the tomb at Easter’s dawning. They celebrate not what once happened to Jesus
but what is now happening among us as a people called to conversion,
gathered
in faith, and gifted with the Spirit of holiness. They
celebrate God’s taking possession of our
hearts at their deepest core, recreating us as a new human community
broken
like bread for the world’s life – a community rich in compassion,
steadfast in
hope, and fearless in the search for justice and peace.”
With each passing year as we celebrate Lent, the Sacred
Triduum, and Easter, we should be deepening our spiritual lives through
authentic ongoing conversion … metanoia.
We should be continually moving closer to the Lord and to one
another. Our relationship with Christ is
not static … we are in a living encounter with Him.
So, we should be always growing closer to Him
… each year … each day ... each minute.
When we hear the term “the three days”, some
cursillistas might think about the “three days” of the Cursillo
Weekend. But, just as we can’t look at the
Sacred
Triduum as divorced from the rest of the year (we must daily live the
dying and
rising of our Lord), so too, we can’t look at the Three Days of the
Cursillo
Weekend in a historical sense (as having happened and that’s it). We are called to daily live our encounter
with Christ and to daily experience a deeper conversion in the
Eucharist and in
our relationship with our brothers and sisters as we live our Fourth
Day. And it is in using the tools of
Cursillo in
the Fourth Day (the Cursillo Method of Group Reunion and Ultreya that
we were
introduced to during the Three Days) that we will encounter Jesus in
this new
way.
I encourage you to do some special preparation for the
Sacred Triduum this year. One way to
deepen your experience of the Sacred Triduum is to reflect on the last
words of
Jesus to His Apostles in the upper room on Holy Thursday evening (which
we find
in John’s Gospel, Chapters 14 – 17). These
are words He is also speaking to us … take them to heart … reflect on
them …
live them …
May our encounter with Jesus during the Sacred Triduum
this year be the occasion of allowing Him to take a little more
possession of
our lives, our hearts, our souls, and our wills. In
our surrendering to Him, may He use us to
bring His Easter message to the world … may He use us to Christianize
the world
… may He use us to bring Him to those environments in which He has
placed
us.
De Colores!! ……Fr. Mark Seiker
From the Lay
Director ...
Lent
is a great time to reflect on what Christ did for us by His life, death
and
resurrection. It is good opportunity
to
work at exercising the virtues of patience and understanding. Being as honest as we can with ourselves,
trying to recognize areas in our spiritual life that could use some
work.
I just made two trips out to California. They
were, more then likely, two of the most
challenging trips that I have taken in quite awhile, in more ways then
one. The obvious was, of course, the
weather. But, as Cursillo teaches us, we
take the happenings of our present lives and discern what God is trying
to tell
us. As always, I had a deadline to
meet. But because of the weather, either
they would close the road on me, or they would require me to slow down
because
they didn’t want me breaking up the pavement with the chains on my
tires. Well, I made the delivery much
later then was
intended, but at least I got there before the boat on which my cargo
was
supposed to be on left the dock. A small
miracle, I have no doubt! I took a
little time and meditated on how, if I just trusted in God, it would
all turn
out, and it did.
At one point in one of the trips, the road
was closed. Being tired and frustrated,
I was just moping around waiting for the road to open.
It was noon and I thought, “I have not done
any praying yet today”. I try to pray
and read my Magnificat each and every day, but I had not done anything,
except
sit and wait for the road to open all morning.
So I started reading and praying, and the road opened up at 2:30
p.m.,
shortly after I had finished … thank You, Jesus!
This was the Practice Weekend for the
upcoming Cursillo Weekends in Minden, and I experienced a close moment
as I
looked out at all the activity, preparation, and enthusiasm as we were
all
doing different things in preparation for the Weekend … and what a
great joy I
felt in knowing that this was exactly what God had wanted me to be
doing right
then and right there.
Christ suffered for us, died for us, and
then returned to the Father, so that the Spirit of God would come and
help us
toward holiness. The Spirit helped me to
be patient, to trust, to be obedient, and much more.
Take a little time to evaluate your
spiritual life this Lenten season and try to recognize those close
moments that
Christ has blessed you with. And I pray
that your heart, your soul and your mind might experience as I have,
that when
we cooperate with the Grace of God, we are filled with a joy that can’t
help
but proclaim Christ to all who are around us.
De Colores!! Mark Pribyl
The Prayer of
the Cursillista (from the
Pilgrim’s Guide)
Lord, help
us to use our time,
our
talents, our lives
for the
building up of Your Kingdom.
Instill
courage into our initiatives,
good
judgment in our choice
of the
proper means,
and that
determination which assures
success
even in
times of seeming failures.
Move us
above all discourtesy,
sensitivities,
and rivalries,
which not
only discourage and divide us,
but lead us
away from loving You and each
other.
Help each
one strive for the gift
of Your
unselfish love
that will
embold us to prefer
the more
humble tasks
and rejoice
in the good done by others.
Lord, let
all see Your attractive goodness
marked on
all our faces,
Your warm
accents in all our works
and
in our community,
a unity and
a holiness that proclaims
Your living
presence in our midst.
Amen.
Our Lady of
Guadalupe, patron of the Americas.
Pray for us!
St. Paul,
patron of Cursillo. Pray for us!
(Insert #1)
Registration Form
School of Leaders - Quarterly Reunion
April 11-12, 2008
202 N. 5th Street (5th and
Cedar Streets)
St. Ann Parish - Doniphan,
NE
New participants are
ALWAYS
welcome ...
If you cannot be with us, we
request
Palanca for the success of the School.
Name: ________________________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip: _________________________________________________________
Phone:
Email: ______________________________________
Where and when did you make your Cursillo?
______________________________________________________
Are you able to receive the Sacraments of
Confession
& Holy Communion? Yes No
To which Organizations do you commit your
time?
__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Are you living the follow-up program of
Group
Reunion? Yes No
Are you living the follow-up program of
Ultreya?
Yes No
Do you have any physical/medical/dietary
conditions
to be considered? __________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Please Return this Form WITH PAYMENT
To:
Jon Junkin, 7820 Sandalwood Dr, Lincoln, NE
68510
BY April 9, 2008 (this allows us to plan for food).
[Suggested donation (if you are able) is $15.00
per
person to cover meals and a donation for facility usage.
Please make check payable to “Cursillo of Lincoln”
and mail with the Registration Form.]
SOL is the working arm of Cursillo … May God
us
your time/talent/treasure in SOL to do the work of Cursillo ... build
community
with other cursillistas ... spend time in prayer and meditation with
the
Blessed Sacrament. SOL is for ALL cursillistas ...
men
and women, couples, singles, priests and religious.
FRIDAY, APR 11th (Retreat Phase
...
preparation for Saturday's SOL)
7:30pm
---
Registration (NO Meal Friday evening)
7:45pm
---
Mass
8:30pm
---
Meditation, confessions, quiet time
SATURDAY, APR 12th (School of
Leaders
Agenda)
7:00am
---
Morning prayer and Mass, followed by
breakfast
8:30am
- 3:00pm Group Reunion, Intro, 2-3 Sessions and Lunch
3:00pm
---
Clean up and Depart (Supper not provided)
Please bring the following with you to the
SOL:
- Pilgrim’s Guide
- If you have the following:
- Leader’s Manual (please begin
praying the
Leader’s Prayer on page 57)
- Technique Talks will come from the Fundamentals of
Christianity (the book, by Fr. Frank Salmani, is available for
$10.00
at SOL)
- Doctrinal Talks will come from Vatican
II Decree On The Media Of Social
Communications [Inter Mirifica,
12/04/1963]
and Vatican II Decree
On Ecumenism [Unitatis Redintegratio 11/21/1964] download at:
- "Classic” Cursillo accommodations
will
be
available
... no showers
- Advance registrations are requested;
it is
fine
to attend Saturday only (SOL) or Friday only (Retreat Phase)
- Suggested donation (if you are able)
for
the weekend
is $15.00 per person. Please make check payable to “Cursillo of
Lincoln”
and mail with the Registration Form.
- Please keep this half of the
flyer
for
future
reference.
Please bring a snack to share, if you
like.
(Insert #2) Cursillo Region
VI Spring Encounter Registration Form ...
Get
Registration Form from the Region VI Website
(at Belle Prairie, MN)
Friday, April 25 - Sunday, April 27, 2008
(Insert #3) 18th National
Cursillo Encounter Registration Form ...
Read info and get
Registration Form from the National Website
(at Catholic University of America -
Washington, D.C.)
Thursday, July 31 - Sunday, August 3, 2008