Category Archives: School of Leaders
We ARE – – the Fantastic Four!!
Does God give us superpowers? Yes, if we let Him! Along my Cursillo Journey:
He stretches me . . . . to do things I never wanted to do, to go places I never asked to go. I am not a natural leader – but He's led me to deliver Rollos, serve as Rector, chair the School of Leaders, take active roles in the Parish Ministries and the Knights of Columbus, and to meet people I never would've encountered – especially Jesus! Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic
He makes me burn with the joy of faith . . . to evangelize, to share the witness of my life, to light up my moveable square yard, to keep those around me on fire! Johnny Storm, Human Torch.
He gives me strength . . . . makes me a rock, enables me to do things beyond my own power. Ben Grimm, The Thing
He provides an invisible force . . . . the power of prayer – to persevere on the Journey, to act without drawing attention, to protect those I love, to do things that only the Holy Spirit can do and only the Holy Spirit can know. Sue Storm, The Invisible Woman.
The Fantastic Four had to work as a team to defeat Dr. Doom. What powers has God given you? Are you letting your superpowers work to bring Jesus to your world and defeat doom?
Fortunately, there are more than four of us – our School of Leaders will meet on April 14, May12, and June 9 at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. Please join your fellow Leaders in faith! (And, with any luck, this could be my last column – you're freeeee!!)
It is a New Year! But more significant, this Christmas Season has brought us a new child, one who was actually born some 2,020 years ago to a young, faithful, sinless woman, and a baby who was a foretold surprise to a strong, willing, silent, and hard-working stepfather! Well, just as our Blessed Mother Mary and St. Joseph realized how the Christ Child changed their lives forever, Christmas is really a new opportunity to welcome that child – into our hearts, into our homes, into our Moveable Square Yard, into our friend's heart. Events, holidays, gifts, surprises, parties – they can all disappoint the unpredictable, spiritual, but self-centered human heart. The gift of Christmas, however, is not a one-day event, and it's not just the birth of a new baby. Christmas is an annual invitation to begin our new lives with Christ, His Church, and the Communion of Saints!
Have you thought about how Saints are our Leaders? Have you realized we can't learn holiness by ourselves, we need Jesus and his Saints to teach us and lead us into the paths of righteousness? Has it occurred to you that Leaders may be Saints? In the School of Leaders, you may be sitting next to a Saint!! Blessed Christmas – and Blessed New Year!!!
Our School of Leaders will meet on February 11, March 10, and April 14, 2020, at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. Please join your fellow Leaders in faith!
We have learned some new words in School of Leaders this summer! It IS a School, right?
One of those words is "Mañanitas!" Another word we knew before, but failed to appreciate, is "Charism." Now, why are these words important? The Cursillo Movement in our Diocese is changing for the better – to reshape our Fourth Day to fit the original "Charism" of Eduardo Bonin – the gifts he was given by the Grace of God, and the gifts he shared with the Church in the Cursillo Movement about 75 years ago. To meet his original vision, we are adapting our Three-Day Weekend, our Precursillo and Postcursillo in compliance with guidance from the National Cursillo Secretariat. It is eye-opening to see how much deeper and more meaningful our Movement can be – beyond candlelight dinners and stand-up art critics!
So . . . "Mañanitas?" (Midwestern pronunciation: mon -ya- nee- tas) You'll just have to pay attention and join the Fourth Day in an early morning (rooster-crowing early!) serenade to our newest Cursillistas on Sunday, October 27, at 7:10 a.m. at King's House Retreat Center. We've never tried this before, but, believe it or not, this is a part of the Weekend that impressed Mr. Bonin as part of the Charism of Cursillo. Watch your "PrayersRequested" emails for details.
Our School of Leaders will meet on October 8, and November 12, 2019, at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. Please join your fellow Leaders in these challenges!
We have had some lively and thoughtful conversations in School of Leaders so far this year. A giant THANK YOU to all of the 4th Day who have come to share and listen!
The National Cursillo Movement has published an article on its Website that not only sheds light on the School of Leaders, but also offers an encouraging "warm-and-fuzzy" about the "Leaders." It is really a "School of Thought," where we come together to "explore and deepen" our understanding, and gain wisdom and insight from each other. These are people who "want to understand the WHY of things. . . . They do not teach by preaching but rather by being living witnesses to the very essence of the Charism." The School is a "group of friends," where we deepen our own understanding of our own role as leaders in our Environments. "The School of Leaders is first and foremost, a School of Listening, not teaching." As a group of friends, our service to others flows from friendship. When we put something into Action, it is no longer a service, a chore, but an act of love. "Secretariat and School of Leaders: Reaching a Unity of Purpose and Understanding," John Ciliberti, Region VI English Coordinator, August 18, 2018. https://www.natl-cursillo.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Unity-of-Purpose-Understanding.pdf
So, there you have it. We listen, we learn. We learn, we act. We act, we love.
Our School of Leaders will meet on July 9 (in the Parish Center), August 13(in the Parish Center), and September 10(location TBD), 2019, at 7 p.m.,at St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. Please join your fellow Leaders!
Well, it was nice to use the extra "spare time" to pour myself into Novena, Formation, Men's Weekend #38, and learning how to be an Altar Server at my Parish. (As a convert, that was not part of my grade school experience!) But I don't want to live in the past. By the time you read this, "right now" will be "a few weeks ago." So let's look ahead . . .
That was my frame of mind . . . . until last night. I finally worked up the courage to watch Mel Gibson's 2004 masterpiece, "The Passion of the Christ." Watching a film last night, from 15 years ago, about a time 2000 years ago – how is that NOT living in the past? To put it simply, what Christ suffered 2000 years ago is "right now." Jesus' agony, from the Garden to the Cross, for my sake and yours, will never again, for me, be something long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. The awesome love of our God for us is . . . right here and right now!
Jesus chose us by name, as he chose his apostles, to witness his love to those in our environments. Let's learn how, to the best of our ability and to the depths of our souls. This is what the School of Leaders is all about – praying, learning, sharing (Piety! Study! Action!) on our journey together. Let's share the beauty and the intensity of the Passion of our Lord as we walk together into the Easter Season and on to Pentecost, the Third Glorious Mystery.
Our School of Leaders is back on April 9, May 14, and June 11, 2019, at 7 p.m. in the Parish Center of St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. Please join your fellow Leaders!
Do you find yourself in groups or in conversations where you desperately want to lead the discussion to something more positive, more life-centered, more fruitful, more about love than about divisions, gossip, negativity or spite? You are a leader!
Can you lead your work or social environments, your moveable square yard, the people and ideas that surround you, to a closer awareness of Christ? If you have Christ's love in your heart, even if it's deep down, then you can bring it to the surface at the times it is most needed. You are a leader!
Do you shy away from committing to an organization? That's okay– you just need to be your authentic, natural self and lead others to Christ. This is what the School of Leaders is all about – bringing to the surface our hidden abilities to Make a Friend, Be a Friend, and Bring a Friend to Christ! You are a leader in Christianity!
Our School of Leaders will meet on July 10th, August 7th, September 11th, and October 9th at 7 p.m. in the Parish Center of St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. We want to take this Show on the Road! Please join your fellow Leaders!
The School . . . of Fish?
In Cursillo, as in our Christian faith, to be a Leader means to be a true and authentic Follower. To be a Follower means to be a true and natural Leader. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Our Lord Jesus became as a slave and washed his Disciples' dirty, smelly feet. He commanded them to do likewise.
When He began his public ministry, He promised those Disciples that they would become fishers of men. He taught them in the Faith and offered them the Sacraments as visible signs of His ever-lasting presence and love. They became the followers who, by sharing His love in those Sacraments, would lead their friends and family in their Movable Square Yards to become His followers. Those followers then became leaders, who would lead their friends to Christ. In an unbroken line of leaders and followers, Christ has been building His Kingdom one person at a time, the followers becoming leaders.
This makes perfect sense: the fish become the fishermen – – the followers become the leaders. There is security in numbers, and the school of fish lives for the greater good of the others. Sounds like the School of Leaders!
Our School of Leaders will meet on April 10, at 7 pm in the Parish Center of St. Joseph's Parish in Freeburg, IL. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month, May 8, June 12, and July 10, at locations to be announced in the 4th Day Prayer chain. Our 4th Day gained 34 friends this year! Please join the Leaders!
And Upon this [School of] Rock. . .
As we like to say, we are not an Organization, we are a Movement. We did not join an organization, but we did set out on our 4th Day Journey, a movement toward Christ with those we encounter. We have no membership dues, no mandatory meetings, no rituals, no ranks or offices, no awards for "Cursillista of the Year."
What we do have, however, is the Friendship Group, which gives life to our Movement. Everyone in our Friendship Groups is equal in status, free to speak their minds, and committed to the good of the others in the group. We all have equal responsibility to each other, to Christ and His Church, and to use our time, talent and treasure for the good of those near to us – – and to those far away.
But wait, you might say: What about this "School of Leaders?" Isn't the Secretariat an "Organization?" Don't we have Committees and Chair people who have to go to meetings? Don't we have monthly Ultreyas that someone has to organize and run?
Yes, but these are simply larger "friendship groups," which only exist to encourage and facilitate the forming of Friendships in Christ. In the School of Leaders these past few months, we have been discussing and learning the meaning and effect of "Friendship" in the PreCursillo, Cursillo, and PostCursillo. We have been studying the articles from the National Cursillo website and answering the question of what it means to "make a friend, be a friend, and bring your friend to Christ."
Cursillo is not about adding up numbers of Candidates for the Weekends, it's about developing friendships in Christ. If you only have one friend, that friend may have two friends, and each one has more friends. That's the way God created us, and that's the natural and authentic way we can share the Gospel, the Good News, that we are all loved, we can all receive forgiveness, and we are all friends in the Body of Christ. See? No mention of meetings, dues or committees –Cursillo is all about friendships, not about numbers, structures, fund-raising, or hierarchy.
The School of Leaders will be on "Christmas Vacation" until after the 2018 Weekends. Our next meeting will be April 10, 2018, at 7:00 pm at St. Joseph's Parish Center. I wish all of you, your families and friends a warm and happy Christmas season! Welcome the homeless, infant Christ into your home, and introduce your family and friends to Him.