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July-August
2007
Calendar
of Events
June 24, 2007
Grand Ultreya – Brickyard
Park, Hastings, NE.
11:30am Mass with potluck picnic to
follow
June 29 – July
2, 2007 National Encounter
–
University of Texas
at Arlington, TX (50th Anniversary)
July 7, 2007
Secretariat Meeting,
9:30am, Blessed John XXIII Diocesan
Center
(NO
Mass)
July 13-14,
2007
School
of Leaders (quarterly
reunion)-7:30pm
Fri-3pm Sat, (St.
Joseph Parish, York)
August 11, 2007
Secretariat Meeting, 9:30am, Blessed John XXIII Diocesan
Center
September
14-15,
2007 Practice
Weekend, St. Ann Parish, Doniphan, NE
September 15,
2007 Secretariat
Meeting, St. Ann
Parish, Doniphan (following Practice
Weekend)
September
20-23, 2007 Men’s Weekend, St. Ann
Parish, Doniphan, NE
September 23,
2007 Men’s
Closing, 5:00pm (4pm Mass)
St. Ann Parish, Doniphan,
NE
September
28-30, 2007 Region VI Spring Encounter
– Kansas City,
KS (Savior
of the World)
October 4-7
2007
Women’s
Weekend, St. Ann Parish, Doniphan,
NE
October
7, 2007
Women’s Closing, 5:00pm (4pm
Mass) St. Ann Parish,
Doniphan, NE,
A GRAND ULTREYA
+
+ +
June
24, 2007
Brickyard Park in Hastings, NE
(see
directions on page 3)
Arrival
at 11:00am; Mass at
11:30am
Food,
fun (games, activities)
and friends
From the Secretariat …
- Precursillo (from Kathy Rowell,
Precursillo Chairperson)
NOW is the best time to pray about AND invite
candidates
to live a Three Day Weekend. Please ask
our Lord who He wants YOU to invite
to get to know Him on a deeper and more personal basis.
First, speak to our Lord about your friend,
and then speak to your friend about the blessings of giving Him Three
Days. You should get applications turned
in as soon as possible to help the Coordinators properly welcome the
candidates
with a “welcome letter” received a few weeks in advance of the
Weekends, rather
than rushing the candidates to the Weekend with last minute
instructions about
what to bring and what to expect. The process of inviting should
unfold
gradually and naturally, and not be “forced” at the last minute. The earlier candidates are prepared and
invited, the earlier the applications can be completed, and the easier
it is to
keep the Fourth Day community informed about the candidates for the
Three Day
Weekends (for offering Palanca and writing letters).
He’s counting on YOU …
Precursillo Thoughts:
My Environment, My Life
Kathy Rowell, Precursillo Chairperson
Last
month I spoke about the
power of prayer – and how prayer plays an important role in bringing
people to
the point of saying “Yes” to a Cursillo Weekend. We
need to speak to God about others
before we speak to others about God. First,
however, we need to decide who we
should invite. Unless, of course, we are
just going to pray, “Dear God, OK - I am ready – send me a name.” If that does not work, we can look at our
environment.
I must confess that I was
totally confused when they talked about environments on my Weekend. Environments brought to mind the
environmentalists and issues such as water shortages, air quality, save
the
whales, pollution, oil spills, more humane mouse traps, and global
warming. I was pretty sure that someone
else was already studying those environments and they didn’t need my
help. Eventually I learned that my
environment is
made up of the people and institutions that I interact with as I live
my life. It includes my family, my work,
and the
culture of our society with its customs, traditions, habits, and values. My environment is my life.
It is uniquely my own because one else shares
the same set of circumstances of time and place.
It is
said that God brings
people into our lives for a reason – that paths cross and we affect
those we
encounter – that it is all in God’s plan.
People enter my environment – some stay and others pass through,
but my
actions and reactions have an impact upon them.
Sometimes just a smile or a kind word can make a profound
difference in
another’s life. Just as I have a
responsibility to care for my physical environment, I also must nurture
and
care for my spiritual environment so that it will grow and become
fruitful. To do this, I must look around
and identify those individuals who seem to be leaders, who might, in
turn,
reach out to others, or who are searching for a deeper relationship
with Our
Lord. Then I can speak to God about my
friend and the precursillo work of prayers and palanca will begin.
Someone
looked at you and saw
something special. They spoke to God
about you and He gave them the “go ahead”.
They extended an invitation, prayed and offered palanca and you
lived a
Cursillo Weekend. Right now your friends
are waiting for you to invite them to take the “short course” and grow
closer to
our Lord. Reach out to them.
Pope John Paul II said in REDEMPTOR HOMINIS,
“The Church wishes to serve this single end:
that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that
Christ may
walk with each person”. Remember
– We are the Church – and now is the
time to ask someone to join us on our walk.
De Colores!! …………………Kathy Rowell
- Upcoming
Cursillo Weekends are scheduled for
Men’s – September 20 - 23, 2007
(St. Ann Parish, Doniphan,
NE)
Women’s – October 4 - 7, 2007
(St. Ann Parish, Doniphan,
NE)
Men’s
– February 14 - 17, 2008 (Location not yet
determined)
Women’s – February 21 - 24 2008
(Location not yet determined)
It’s NEVER too
early to be inviting and preparing
candidates!!
- Grand
Ultreya ... Mark
your calendars now … The Grand Ultreya
is scheduled to be held on June 24, 2007, at Brickyard Park
in Hastings,
NE,
beginning with Mass at 11:30 a.m. (arrival around 11 a.m.). Join cursillistas from across the Diocese for
fun, friendship, faith and fellowship ... see page 2 for more details. If you’d like to help (e.g., music,
games/activities, etc.), please contact Annette Wemhoff,
Postcursillo Chair
(402-477-1821). ˜
Directions
to Brickyard
Park (for the
Grand Ultreya)
º
If
coming into Hastings
from the North
(Highway 281), turn right (west) on South Street until Baltimore Avenue. At Baltimore Avenue, turn left
(south) to D Street.
Turn right (west) on D Street until Woodland Avenue
… the park will be on
your left.
º
If
coming into Hastings
from Highways
34/6, turn north on to Baltimore
Avenue. At D Street,
turn left
(west) on D Street
until Woodland Avenue
… the park is on your left.
- And
remember to continue offering
Palanca
for Three Day Weekends going on throughout the world EACH WEEK, knowing
with
certainty that Palanca is the lever of apostles.
- Spring
Region
VI Encounter … The Lincoln Diocese hosted the Spring Region
VI
Cursillo Encounter on April 27 - 29, 2007, at St.
Mary School
in David
City. Eighty-five cursillistas representing 14
Dioceses from 6 states participated. Twenty-seven
cursillistas from the Lincoln Diocese
participated,
including several Vietnamese-speaking parishioners from Immaculate
Heart of
Mary Church in Lincoln. There were conferences given in three
languages – Spanish, Vietnamese, and English. This
is the first Region VI Encounter to have conferences
in Vietnamese,
with cursillistas from Lincoln and Minneapolis
participating.
The three language groups were blessed to be
able to
pray together during the Reconciliation service and Masses. Readings
for the Masses were given in all three languages, and music was also a
cooperative effort. During the Masses,
musicians from different dioceses joined together to share their gifts
in
praise of our Lord. One of the highlights
of the Encounter was the singing of the Prayer to the Holy Spirit in
Vietnamese
at the beginning of the Ultreya on Saturday evening.
The Weekend was a great blessing for our
Diocese and for all those who participated.
Thank you to ALL who helped in any capacity … you were His hands
and
feet.
- School of Leaders (SOL)
...
Brief thoughts
… on “Giving
to God What Belongs to God”
(the Magnificat meditation from June
5th): “… The one thing that
God asks of each of us individually is that we fulfill the duties of
our state
of life, willingly accepting whatever condition has fallen to our lot. If we fail in this, even though in other ways
we may advance and gain distinction, we are displeasing to God … God does not want to have in His household
people who do not fulfill the duties of the office He has assigned to
them
… those who neglect their obligations,
however hard they may labor to fulfill others which they have taken
upon
themselves, waste their efforts and forfeit their reward.”
These
are difficult words to hear, but better to hear them now and truly
reflect on
that to which God calls us than to hear the disappointment in Jesus’
voice when
He asks us to account for the time/talents He left for us to ‘invest’
on His
behalf. Ask Him sincerely and
courageously where He would have you serve …
If the answer is in the Cursillo Movement, then please become
part of
SOL and see all that there is to do. A
priest once said that when we do that which our Lord asks of us, even
if it is extremely
hard, it will always be easier than trying to take a different path. He loves you no matter what … but as Mother
Angelica says … He will fill you up to
the extent that you allow Him to work in you …
give Him a thimble, and He’ll fill it to the brim …
give Him a barrel, and He’ll fill it to the
brim … Be a barrel!! Give
to Him what belongs to Him …<><>
The work of Cursillo is very, very important in
building the Kingdom of God, and He’s always looking for designers and
engineers and carpenters and bricklayers and concrete workers and
roofers … plumbers and electricians and
heating/ventilation
workers and interior decorators … skilled and unskilled craftsmen of
all kinds
who know their trade well. Consider putting your talents/gifts at the
disposal
of our Lord as He changes hearts and minds through Cursillo. HE NEEDS YOU … your “YES!” The
SOL will help you deepen your
understanding of how Cursillo helps you witness to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in
the places that He put you … help teach others to do the same. ALL ARE
INVITED to become active in Cursillo through the SOL. Won’t you at least “Come
and see”? The next SOL will be July
13-14, 2007
at St. Joseph Parish, York, NE ... see registration form
(included). If you
feel God nudging you to make a deeper
commitment to Cursillo, come to SOL to learn more … He can be very
persistent …
From the Spiritual Advisor
...
On June
10, 2007, we celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, or The Body
and Blood
of Christ. Each year as we celebrate
this great feast, the Church encourages us to have a Eucharistic
procession,
and to acknowledge again our belief in the “Real Presence”. We believe that Jesus Christ, the God-man is
really and truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the
Eucharist … in
the Host which looks and tastes like bread, but has been changed from
bread
into Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
One of the saints said that when you receive Holy Communion, “The reality that is within you is greater
than the reality that is outside of you.”<>
When
Catholics receive Jesus in Holy Communion at Mass, then the God-Man,
our Redeemer,
who refashioned us into His image and likeness through His obedient
suffering, death
and resurrection, comes within us to strengthen us and to be our
nourishment. He is our “food for the
journey”.
We
would not dream of setting out on a journey without bringing along food
or making
plans for “food stops” along the way. So,
too, we need the spiritual food of Our Lord’s Body, Blood, Soul, and
Divinity
in Holy Communion for our journey through this life to Eternity.
In
addition to our need for receiving Holy Communion, our spiritual Food
for the
journey, we also need to think about others that we meet along the way
in our
journey to Eternity. How we live our
journey
has an effect on others who journey with us and on others who observe
us on our
journey. Indeed, when others see our
love for our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament, and our joy and
true pride
in being privileged to be in a “procession” with our Lord, then they
might be
inspired to seek Him Whom we have found and carry with us.
As
Pope Benedict XVI said: “By carrying the
Eucharist through the streets and squares, we desire to immerse the
Bread come
down from heaven in our daily lives. We
want
Jesus to walk where we walk, to live where we live.
Our world, our existence, must become His temple.” It is kinda like the idea of “Christianizing
the
world” … it is really Christ who does that through us, as we spend time
with
Him, being present as He is carried through the streets in a
Eucharistic
procession, or “carrying” Him inside us, after having received Him in
Holy
Communion, and letting Him change how we live, what we say, and what we
do.
Pope
Benedict XVI said: “Indeed,
the Eucharist is the ‘treasure’ of the Church, the precious
heritage that her Lord has left to her.
And the Church preserves it with the greatest care, celebrating
it daily
in holy Mass, adoring it in churches and chapels, administering it to
the sick,
and as viaticum to those who are on their last journey.”
May
we each Sunday, and even daily, be strengthened by Him through our
participation
in the Eucharistic sacrifice and our reception of Holy Communion …
through our
time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament … through our participation
in Eucharistic
processions. May we invite others to
journey with us, and with our Lord present in the Eucharist … that
“Real Presence”
… and may we one day come to live in that Eternal Presence forever. Remember, Christ is counting on you and you
must count on Him.
De Colores!! ……Fr. Mark Seiker
From the Lay
Director ...
De
Colores, brother and sister cursillistas!
Just a few weeks ago I read in Mt 24:46-47: "Blessed
is the servant whom the Lord finds watching when He comes; truly I tell
you, He
will set him over all his possessions." I
thought, “Well, since we don't know the
day that Christ is coming, maybe we should serve in some way
every
day.” One thing made aware to me by
living out the rollos from my Weekend is that we need to give of
ourselves in
service to those God places in our lives.
God says: "It is in giving that we receive."
As we grow in holiness, we begin to recognize the areas of our lives
that need
to be reformed and repaired. By
recognizing our flaws and desiring to overcome them, we then have made
the
first step in remolding ourselves to better serve the Lord; thus,
we open
ourselves up to the grace God has in store for us. God gives us all things, and He expects us to
give back as it is given. The passage in
Holy Scripture where the landowner entrusts to three of his hired hands
talents
used to confuse me because I couldn’t understand why he would take the
talents
away from the last one, who appeared to me to be very frugal. Obviously, I didn't understand!
The talents where just that, TALENT! If
God gives us talent, then we
are to use that talent for the building up of His
kingdom because, if not used, it is taken away.
Cursillo is not just a gift given for us to use and reform our lives. It is a method learned and practiced, to give
of ourselves in service to others in the places God has
placed us.
Holiness is our talking to God and God talking to us.
Where are we … what are we doing …
where are we going … and
such ... To work on our holiness is
asking the Boss how we are doing, and then ask, “What's next?” We work all day for earthly bosses, so why
not work each and every day for the heavenly Boss?
If we claim that we know, love, and
desire to serve God, then it is necessary to spend time with Him
by asking, and this should happen daily.
Formation is gaining wisdom through what we read, witness and
experience in our
lives. To gain knowledge about God
and His teachings, and the world and its message and our part in it
all, we
need to form our minds on a regular basis. To seek out the truth and
defend the
truth, you have to know the truth.
In response to Rom. 14:11, which says: “’As
I live’, says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bend before Me, and every
tongue
shall give praise to God’", the Magnificat
(June 7th, page 98) states: "All
creation sings praise to God simply by being fully what the
Creator
intended. Obedience to God's designs is
in itself an act of worship. Worship
without obedience is merely hollow flattery.
Yet both worship and obedience are less than Christian if they
do not
spring from the one root, love of God."
So, if we love God and we do as He says, that act of obedience in
itself
is an act of worship? So it sounds. Christ calls us to serve... to
obey... and
to love.
We are all called in different ways to do different things. Some may be called to Cursillo.
Cursillo has changed my life; did it change yours?
It has given me a way to give of myself
in ways that I never thought possible … to be courageous in living
out
what is necessary to be Christian.
Is God calling you to evangelize by going to a SOL and/or Ultreya? Are you grouping? If
not, would you like to? Check the dates
and times for these events
and take the time to stop by and say hi.
If you are not grouping, give me a call … you never know.
May God richly bless you and keep you close to his Sacred Heart. Amen!
De
Colores!! … Mark Pribyl
(Insert #1)
Registration Form
School of Leaders
Quarterly Reunion
July 13-14, 2007
505 East Ave
St. Joseph Church - York,
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 July 11, 2007
[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, JULY 13th (Retreat Phase
...
preparation for Saturday's SOL)
7:30pm
---
Registration (NO Meal Friday evening)
7:45pm
---
Mass
8:30pm
---
Meditation, confessions, quiet time
SATURDAY, JULY 14th (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
Chapters 13-14 (the book, by Fr. Frank Salmani, is available for $10.00
at SOL)
- Doctrinal Talks will come from the Vatican II Document Sacrosanctum
Concilium [The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,
12/4/1963] down load at:
- http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html
- "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.
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