Cursillo Talk

Jesus said, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy …” Luke 15:4-5


This was the verse that was shared today at the last 2010 Helena Cursillo team meeting. We are the men who are going to assist God in conducting the Cursillo beginning on November 11. The message offered by the parable is clear. God will never abandon any one of us and if we are lost or separated from the flock, he will search for us for as long as it takes to find us. As we shared our reflections with each other, some other messages became equally clear. While the Bible does not tell us about the other 99 sheep, we believe we know how they reacted when the Shepherd went to search for the missing sheep. They went looking for the missing sheep with Him and then when the missing sheep was found, they rejoiced with the Lord.

That is what the Cursillo is all about. We are the 99 searching for our missing brothers. We do so because each of has been blessed with knowing the joy of being in the presence of the great Shepherd. Who are we? We are doctors, lawyers, dentists, surgeons, auto mechanics, real estate agents, insurance guys, bankers, mayors, salesmen, judges, accountants and so on. We are your neighbors, your friends, and the people you see at football games or sitting beside you at church. We are all Christians and we are mostly, but not all, Catholic. We are you. We were you. We want you to know us.

We are regular guys who have heard the word of the Lord, been moved by it and we are driven to offer our experience to others. We have experienced the love of God and we want to share the good news: Gods’ love is there for us all of us. We just have to open our eyes, our ears, our minds and our hearts will come to know that we are loved and we are capable of love.

The Cursillo offers us the opportunity to reflect to one another that is possible to have a change of heart and to make a commitment to live our lives in accordance with God’s will for us. Having participated in Cursillo has energized me to be a better husband, father, son, brother, and friend. When I was called to orient my whole life toward God, I found that God dropped me into a community of men and women who believe our greatest calling is to know, love and serve God.

If you have come to this page because of an inquiry from me, please be assured of this one thing, the purpose of the Cursillo is to bring us closer to God. It is a retreat but it is more than that. Virtually everyone I know who has made a Cursillo came to the weekend looking for something and virtually everyone I know who has made the Cursillo has found something they wanted and needed.

One of the important focuses of the weekend is that each candidate is allowed to see themselves as others see them. Few of us really know how much we are loved by others and how important we are to them. When a candidate is encouraged to understand the depth of God’s love, they are suddenly able to appreciate their ability to love and be loved by others. Consider this a very simple way of making a major impact on someone you love’s life.

For more information:
http://www.helenacursillo.org/
http://www.natl-cursillo.org/whatis.html