Twin Cities Catholic Cursillo
July, the month we celebrate freedom! There are many ways we find ourselves free---certainly, the ability to live in a democratic society and all that entails from moving about a large geographical area unhindered to worshipping as desired--- this was paid for with the sacrifice of the lives of many brave men and women over the lifetime of our country. This gift of freedom is more fully understood when viewed through the events in the rest of the world. Gratitude through prayer and celebration is the only response for this great gift.
Living in Minnesota, we find ourselves temporarily free from the cold and whiteness of winter. In July we are surrounded by green, growing vegetation of all types and newly-born creature families all running or flying around in the lushness. We may trade some outdoor chores for others—using the lawn mower instead of the snow blower—but we also more freely spend time in the outdoors enjoying the many ways God knit together His world for us. Routines have a little more freedom—dinner served on the patio instead of the kitchen table, bedtime a little later to enjoy the lingering sunshine. All of these are gifts for which to be grateful.
The greatest freedom any of us can have is to align our will with the will of God for us. Like those who died for our country’s freedoms, this takes courage. But God has us covered. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit---fear (love) of the Lord, piety, knowledge, fortitude (courage/perseverance), counsel, understanding, and wisdom---enable each of us to discover our true self, the person God intends us to be in this world. Each of these gifts enables us to grow closer to God and who He wants us to be one step at a time.
Daily discovering the person God intends you to be is not easy, sacrifices are definitely involved. God will ask very few of us to give up our actual lives as He did with Jesus. Your sacrifices will be in areas of attitude and activities, things that hinder you from being who God made you to be. The world around is always asking each of us to align with the current false definition of greatness, power, love. Are you steadfastly holding on to a false version of yourself?
Your sacrifices become your continuous progressive conversion to reveal your true self. You are freed to use the personal gifts God gives you to become the best leader and the best disciple He created you to be. That is true freedom, the gift to be most grateful for.
God bless you, Friends!
Larry and Jeanne Bendzinski
When we accepted the invitation to serve as Lay Directors for Twin Cities Cursillo, we were told there are many moving parts to support and track. How true!
In April, after learning more about the Cursillo Movement through attending a Cursillo de Cursillo weekend, leaders in the Spanish community chose to postpone their planned 2016 weekends. This is an extremely difficult decision for everyone in-volved. It will take concerted effort and much prayer to move from feeling disappoint-ment to seeing opportunity for growth, both personally and as a community. Their goal is wonderful---to have a stronger, cohesive community to bring in new 4th dayers in the future.
The English community is experiencing challenges as well. In the past, with the growth of candidate participation at an all-time high, sets of weekends were add-ed to meet the demand. We were up to 4 sets per year. The focus of Cursillistas be-came inviting candidates and serving on weekend teams, with some maintaining small group friendships for personal support. Not all new 4th dayers were integrated well into the community for ongoing progressive conversion and participation in all aspects of the Movement.
We will have only two sets of weekends per year this year and next. This opens up opportunities for our community to grow: time to work on developing those newer friendships, time to reinvest in long time friendships, and time to re-engage with the Cursillo community in activities beyond our small friendship groups. This is a time to really learn more about Cursillo and our community of believers across the Twin Cities, our Region, and our Nation.
At a recent meeting we briefly described Cursillo from the world level down to our Archdiocesan level. See the simplified diagram to the left. Surprisingly, many were not aware of Cursillo beyond the Twin Cities.
Why is it important to understand and participate in Cursillo gatherings be-yond your own small friendship groups? We are called to make friends as Jesus made friends. We are called to grow our faith while sharing our lives with others in community. There are many opportunities.
If you aren’t grouping, find a group. Bring your groupies to Ultreya regularly. Bring your Ultreya to the National Cursillo Encounter in Chicago in August. And bring your Ultreya to the Region VI Fall Encounter at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina in September. Together let’s befriend each other and grow personally and in communi-ty. Let’s allow the movement of the Holy Spirit to flow widely, and let His light shine on all.
God Bless you friends,
Larry & Jeanne Bendzinski
At the Ultreya Rep/Parish Ambassador in-service meeting a few weeks ago a question was asked, “how do you make friends?” At the time, I responded with “just begin with a smile”, but I sensed the gentleman wanted more concrete steps to friendship. It definitely got us thinking. How do you make a new friend? How does a friendship grow? How do you keep a friend? When is the right time to introduce Jesus to your friend? Simple, yet complex, questions.
The answers are also simple, yet complex. Think about your small friendship group. What are the qualities of relationship that maintain your group? In our groups we find first our common denominator is a love of Jesus. And sharing how He works in our lives sustains us, gives us hope and courage to live through the challenges and joys of daily life. Friendship with Cursillo friends is different than with others. Do you remember how you became friends with your sponsor before your Cursillo weekend?
As far as we can tell, there are no concrete steps to take, no recipe to follow. But there are some qualities that people seeking to make friends live out, sometimes just naturally, sometimes with specific intentions. Making a new friend who is not yet a Cursillista requires you to find some common interests and ways to share time together. Literally, it does begin with a smile followed by a friendly greeting. What follows depends on the people involved and how much time and energy they can invest in creating a relationship. The key here is the investment in time and energy—generosity of spirit, or to look at it another way, sacrifice of self to gain something greater for both.
In our fast-paced world this process takes longer than we would like. But the results are worth it when through mutual respect and trust friends can eventually talk about our Savior without reservation or worry that it is not a politically correct thing to do. Relationship has been established, the bridge to something greater has been built.
In our Cursillo community we understand about generosity of spirit, sacrifice of self, openness to others, true joyfulness that comes from our relationship with Jesus and each other. Opportunities abound to spend friend-time with each other. We have seen generosity play out recently in the way experienced Secretariat members mentor new members, Cursillistas preparing dinner for seminarians, English Cursillistas preparing meals for our Spanish friends’ Cursillo de Cursillo weekend, and the acceptance of our next Rector and Rectora to form teams that will lead candidates into a deeper relationship with Christ.
Our Cursillo movement depends on each of us giving with joy, our time and energy, our generosity and sacrifice, both for needs of the movement and for the sake of bringing new friends to Christ. This mission begins after a weekend and is nurtured in our small groups, but it is designed for us to spread further for the good of all.
The 3-legged stool: piety, study and, if you are telling others about Jesus, apostolic action. Throughout our Cursillo weekend we hear about how using these three elements can lead us to a balanced way of life, a life lived with Christ as the center and Christian friends as our community.
Most of the things we do in Cursillo revolve around this kind of balance. It is the way we group in our small group of friends. It is how we engage in Ultreya through sharing an example of knowing Jesus as our friend.
The structure of School of Leaders follows this same pattern. A group of friends gathers: we sing and pray and group (piety), we hear either a technique talk on some aspect of the charism of Cursillo or a doctrinal talk that gives a topic the viewpoint and support of our Catholic church (these are definitely study), and we learn about and engage in the work of the Pre-Cursillo, Cursillo, Post-Cursillo and Music sections (action).
Some of this work is directed to planning and executing a set of weekends, but there is much more being done as well. Other current Cursillo events and issues are discussed and problemsolved, if needed. In addition, generating ideas and plans for future items from our strategic plan takes place. And it is work always done with friends who have the same goals---that of spreading the Good News of Jesus with others around us through friendship and living the Cursillo method.
If you are choosing only to meet with your small group, you are missing out on experiencing how the Holy Spirit is at work in the Cursillo community. And the community is missing out on how the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. It can be challenging to share with others you do not know so well, but these are friends who have the same practices and goals that you do. How will you be able to feel comfortable sharing your faith life with someone who is not yet a 4th dayer if you cannot share with someone who is?
At School of Leaders we are in the middle of a two-part series on friendship as a cornerstone of Cursillo. Come, hear encouraging words, be inspired, meet with old friends, and get to know a newer friend better. More importantly share your knowledge, wisdom, and ideas to keep our Movement growing.
Cursillo is a laity-led (that’s you) Movement. Friends (that’s also you) are an important part of the work that needs to be done to keep us vital. And Christian community (again that’s you) is where we begin to live out our mission.
The best weekend ever! Every time we attend a closing, we not only hear that from the Rector and Rectora, but the new 4th Dayers just touch our hearts with their comments. We are pleased to welcome 24 new friends to our Cursillo community from weekends #355 and #356.
They experienced a special kind of friendship on the weekend. The friendship found in the love of Jesus. They got to know each other and the team. They were held up in love and service. And the Good News of God’s love was shared with them through the Rollos, table discussions, and the other weekend events.
The purpose of Cursillo is twofold: continuous progressive conversion of the person, and sharing the Good News of God’s love through friendship with those around us. This is exactly what happened on the weekend in a condensed period of time.
We work on our continuous progressive conversion through our Piety, Study, and Action. What we learn, and how we grow, enables us to be friends to more people in our environments. And our grouping, Ultreya, and School of Leaders participation with our friends in Christ supports our sharing of the Good News with those people in our environments who have become our new friends.
Friendship is the cornerstone of Cursillo. Friends listen to our stories. Friends share our joy and our sorrow. Friends play back what they heard us say, usually in ways we didn’t think we said it, causing us to recognize our shortcomings and the places we need to grow further.
Friends inspire us with their stories and actions. And friends give us a chance to be Christ for them too (reminds us of a song). Living in the light of Christ through Christian friends encourages us to share His light with others. Eventually, we are blessed to sponsor on Cursillo weekends. And each one really is the best weekend ever.
Our next couple of School of Leader meetings will further explore the importance of friendships in our lives, our Christian friendships, and how they help us on our journey to heaven. Join us in learning more about this friendship journey.
Also, please join us in offering the Lord prayers of gratitude for a very special friend. Fr. Al Backmann concludes his tenure of service as Spiritual Advisor to Twin Cities Cursillo on June 30, 2016. He will still join us on team occasionally as a spiritual director. Bishop Hebda will assign our next Spiritual Advisor in the near future. Please pray for his discernment for who the Lord has planned as our spiritual leader.
Thank you, Fr. Al! May God bless you abundantly.
And God bless you Friends,
The Winter Retreat was fantastic. Just when you thought the King’s House staff could not make the weekend any better, they do. The talks on God’s mercy were inspiring and confirming. The facility is wonderful with beautiful prayer and chapel spaces, good food and snacks, and amaz-ing scenic outdoor views, complete with soaring eagles. Being there with our beloved 4th day com-munity is always heartwarming and joyous. And then receive multiple sacraments, and you have a great way to start the New Year.
Thanks to those that joined us. Next year, the retreat will start on Friday night Jan. 6th, so it will be a week after the holidays and should have fewer conflicts with family events. Plan on attending!
At the School of Leaders meeting in January, we shared some thoughts on the Charism and the strategic plan—things that have been done or started in the last two years; and other things that we should consider for the near future. We talked about the keys to effective discipleship through Cursillo---authentic grouping of piety, study, and apostolic action, attending Ultreya, and attending School of Leaders as necessary supports for our continuous progressive conversions.
Most important for the health of the Cursillo Movement in the Twin Cities is participation in SOL. It is the heart and soul of the Movement. In the Leader’s Manual we are told….”the School of Leaders is to the Cursillo community what the team is to the Cursillo weekend”. Having experi-enced the Cursillo weekend and committing to discipleship for Christ makes each one of us leaders. The SOL is designed to support our personal and community growth and spirituality. That means the ideas and work to make our whole Movement continue to experience continuous progressive conversion comes from SOL. It means that the prayers and support for each other at SOL is what fuels our vision and perseverance. It also means reinforcing our authentic Christian friendships that drive us to openness to God’s will beyond our close knit, closed circle of friendships. The Move-ment gains momentum and we make more disciples for Jesus. Plan to attend some SOL meetings in 2016!
Our brothers and sisters in the Spanish and Vietnamese communities are also working on ac-tivities for their growth and support. At the end of March, the Spanish community will host a Cursillo de Cursillo for our region. The Cursillo de Cursillo is designed to teach more deeply the elements of the Charism and the Movement. The English community will support them with a kitchen team for the weekend.
Our Vietnamese community will host the first-ever Twin Cities weekend in August. At this time, it will be only a men’s weekend. In the future they look to also host a women’s weekend.
English weekends 355/356 will begin February 4th. Plan to hold all of our Cursillo friends in prayer and participate in all the 4th day activities you can!
Farewell Blessings to each of you in this Christmas season. It has been a great honor and pleasure to serve as lay directors over the past two years. We are humbled to have been given the privilege and are grateful for all of the support and prayers from the fourth day along the journey. Our tenure started a very challenging time for us with our son being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We are delighted to share that as we complete our tenure he is considered completely healed! Oh what a difference two years makes!
We have seen many wonderful things take place in our movement during this time. One thing we would like to encourage each of you to do in the coming year is to genuinely befriend your priests and deacons and welcome them to a Cursillo encounter weekend. We all know how valuable this movement is in bringing people closer to Christ, and our spiritual directors are essential to this end.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Fr. Al Backmann and Deacon Mick Humbert for their tireless work in support of TC Cursillo. We also thank all of our priests, deacons and deacon wives past and present who serve(d) as spiritual directors on our encounter weekends. You are loved and appreciated!
As we hand over the reins, please join us in welcoming Jeanne and Larry Bendzinski to the lay director role. We know they will serve with diligence and love.
Your sister & brother in Christ,
Justine & Bill Bojan
New Year New Beginnings
DeColores! Along with a New Year, we are taking on a new leadership role—that of serving you and Twin Cities Cursillo as Lay Directors. We are excited to have a front row seat for all the love, joy, and enthusiasm 4th Dayers bring when they gather!
Bill and Justine initiated a working plan to strengthen our Movement in areas that needed more attention. So much has been accomplished with the dedication of many. But there is always more to do to keep us aligned with the charism and running smoothly. Join us where you can in various leadership roles, attend School of Leaders and Ultreya, and other activities to support Cursillo, and always hold the Movement and fellow Cursillistas in your prayers as we journey together to bring others to know our loving Lord.
Please thank Bill and Justine when you see them next. They have kindly befriended and mentored us during the last year, steadfastly honoring their commitment to serve Twin Cities Cursillo. We are grateful to follow their example in serving all of you during the next two years.
Blessings,
What an amazing day full of powerful healing, love and encouragement! About 230 of us gathered at Our Lady of Grace on October 31 at our 4th annual Fourth Day Encounter. Bill overheard Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Fr Kevin Finnegan commenting on how moving it was to hear such engaged participation at the morning mass. The volume and intentionality in the praying of the Our Father touched both of them that morning. In his homily to the 4th day and the parishioners of OLG, the bishop made a point to impress upon us the importance of an encounter with the living God. He witnessed firsthand the powerful effect of the Cursillo on the faith life of our community.
Bishop Cozzens delivered the first talk on Accept-Listen-Love: Self—The message was very powerful for all of us and so we thought sharing some of his key points would be helpful to each of you. (He gave us permission to post a recording of his talk on our TC Cursillo website!)
Then Fr Kevin Finnegan shared his thoughts on Accept- Listen-Love: Others
God bless you all, Justine & Bill Bojan
My group is a place for me to be inspired and hopefully an opportunity for me to help inspire others as we witness how Christ is present in our lives through our piety, study and apostolic action. I love to share my close moments with Christ. These are the moments that touch my heart and sometimes bring me to tears. Most recently, I have been volunteering as an assistant in a classroom of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd with 3 to 5 year olds. The lesson was on giving thanks and the meaning of amen. The teacher went child by child saying, “God thank you for Johnny. God bless Johnny. Amen.” and so on. As each child was featured it was beautiful to watch each reaction—on some a big smile on others a bowed head or a sheepish grin. The bottom line, even as a very young child they each recognized that they matter to Christ and they each belong to Him and are valued in this community.
Last November we challenged you to open your groups up to new members—to steer away from being insular and uninviting, to being hospitable and welcoming. How are you doing with that? If you’ve made the move to welcome new members, bravo! If you have not, will you join us in making that effort? Perhaps start a new group with new members looking for “a home” would be a way to serve our new brothers and sisters. We make it a point to impress upon new 4th dayers to join a group. To do that they need a group to join. And so it goes.
The title of this article is “Are you Walking the Talk? Part 2”. Here’s the part 2. The Cursillo movement has continued to touch the lives of many as it has you and me. Has your faith grown as a result? Are you closer to the Lord on your walk as a result of your experience? I know the answer to that question is yes for the great majority of you. Did you know that our entire movement counts on the willingness of volunteers to serve? Believe it or not, Cursillo encounter weekends and 4th day events don’t just happen. It takes the commitment and service of many people who are willing to give their time, talent and treasure not just in serving on a weekend team but on secretariat, as ultreya reps and as parish ambassadors too. Not only that, but many are called to serve in a leadership capacity over time in more than one position.
In our case we started out as Ultreya representatives, wrote a few articles for the Kindling on topics that were important to share, contributed to the annual campaign, served as rectors on Cursillo encounters and ultimately serve now as Lay Directors. It was a progression of involvement to serve and continue to bloom where we were planted. This is what our movement needs to grow and remain strong and do the important work of bringing others to Christ.
Do you remember filling out the self-assessment inventory identifying how you spend your time and money early in your Cursillo encounter weekend? Could it be time for you to reevaluate how you spend your time? It’s easy to hide behind the façade of busyness. Do you give back to God by contributing your time to advance his kingdom? We invite you to take some time to evaluate how you spend your time and consider serving our Cursillo community.
We really need your help. We have several po- sitions on Secretariat that need to be filled. The posi- tions are not difficult and training will be provided. If each of us would be willing to offer a finite period of time to serve, we will ensure that Cursillo will be available to serve all who seek it as they seek to know Christ.
We thank you in advance for your help in this very important mission!
Thank you and God bless you all. Justine & Bill Bojan
Welcome 4th Day!
