In our February Leaders School, we began the discussion of Ch 5: The Role of Cursillo Leaders. The sharing was so involved that the discussion will continue in the March School. We hope everyone can join us at 6 pm on March 5. Following is an outline you may find helpful.
Definitions
· Cursillista: All who attend a Cursillo weekend
· Leaders: Total leaders who are involved in all aspects of the movement – PreCursillo, 3-Day Cursillo, Postcursillo.
· Precursillo: The phase of Cursillo where persons are prepared through personal contact for a 3-Day Cursillo
· 3-Day Cursillo: Often referred to as the “Weekend”. A team transmits a spirit of charity and community witness, with God’s grace, to aid in the conversion of those participating.
· Postcursillo: The tools of Group Reunion and Ultreya are used to help Cursillistas in their progressive converstion.
· School of Leaders: The reunion of the Ultreya of Leaders. (more will be discussed in Ch. 6)
Leaders are total leaders. Leadership is more than just being on teams. They are the axis of Ultreya and of Christianity and are involved in (i.e. making things happen) all phases of the movement. Bringing others to Christ through personal contact. Personal contact involves listening to determine where others are; sharing and providing them a truth; and witnessing by living in a grace filled Christian life and sharing it with others in their environments.
THE PRECURSILLO
Being a Leader requires Christian witnessing at all times and in all environments. Leaders should be discovering the persons who can best Christianize their environments. Candidates will be attracted to those living a life of grace and who, through personal ongoing contact, establish a friendship.
The reunion of the Leaders (in School of Leaders) should involve sharing among them that includes their efforts in the different environments of PreCursillo. The objective should not simply be to get key people to live a Cursillo, but to become active in PostCursillo as well.
THE CURSILLO
Leaders who’ve prepared candidates for the weekend, become part of the weekend team. The rollos which are given in the Cursillo should reflect the type of progressive conversion to which the participants can relate and which they can imitate. The leader’s role on the weekend is personal contact.
No one should serve on a team for the Weekend unless they are a member of the School of Leaders (which implies being a leader in all 3 phases of the Movement.)
THE POSTCURSILLO
The tools of the PostCursillo, Group Reunion and Ultreya, are meant to keep the individuals of their groups in a progressive state of conversion by living what is fundamental to being Christian.
These tools, Group Reunion and Ultreya, by themselves are dead. What gives them life is the grace which flows when the participants and their groups live it. Just as the Weekend team gives life to it, the team of Leaders gives life to the environemtns they are in and their Group Reunions. Leaders in PostCursillo should be in contact with those not regularly attending Ultreya.
All Cursillistas should be encouraged to consider: 1)Regular Spiritual Direction,2) Annual Retreat, 3) Attend Cursillo Closings, 4)Attend Diocese/Archdiocesan & Regional Ultreyas, 5)Spiritual Exercises, and 6)Continuous Palanca. Leaders Should create an atmosphere where the sole purpose it to share a Christian life with others.
SCHOOL OF LEADERS
The School of Leaders is the Reunion and of the Ultreya of leaders. The School is the hub around which the whole Movement moves through the “spokes”, the leaders. (More in Chapter 6)
THE TECHNIQUE OF PERSONAL CONTACT FOR CURSILLO LEADERS
See paragraph p 49. From Evangelization in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi), no. 46
If religious experience is a personal event, we all need individual help: thus one of the main functions of the Team on the Weekend is their openness to personal dialogue and sharing so that they may act as a renewing agent. This dialogue should be based on sincere friendship through personal contact. This technique uses opportunity, gentleness and tact and is carried out in an apostolic spirit. Team members should spend all their free time in personal contact and schedules for the weekend should allow sufficient time for the process. During this personal contact, leaders may discover moral or other types of problems. These should be referred to the Spiritual Advisor(s). Team contact should help deepen the personal understanding and commitment to “Christian criteria” i.e. to present Christianity as an aid and Christ as its solution. The following “power ideas” express many of these basic criteria:
· “Christ and I are an overwhelming majority”
· “Sons and daughters of the Father, brothers and sisters of Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit>”
· Christ is counting on you”
· “Without Christ, we can do nothing”
· “With Christ and His Grace, we can do everything”
· And not in the book but one of Theresa’s favorite… “Know Christ, know peace. No Christ, no peace”
PART ONE: “SOUNDING” (KNOWING)
The 1st 2 elements of personal contact are commonly referred to as “sounding” (as in to sound out a person’s opinion about something or to take some soundings to determine the lay of the land. This reveals where a person stands in regard to certain realities which then allows one to form an opinion. It is a technique that should be used in all phases of Cursillo. We know it as Make a friend. Be a friend. Bring a friend to Christ. Candidates experience this before the weekend from their sponsors, during the weekend from the team and later through the Ultreyas. This is such an important part of the Weekend that more time needs to be allotted to it. Therefore o the 1st day of the Cursillo we endeavor to:
Sounding – “To inquire with caution, to analyze the personality and circumstances to ascertain:
· If a person’s soul is aching
· Their present attitude
· The circumstance of that person’s life
· How to get to know the Cursillista
· How to understand the Cursillista
· How to convey the truth to the Cursillista effectively
This “sounding” or analysis should be done prudently, respecting and loving the person. Caution demands that we realize that we are taking care of God’s interests. This “sounding” should be done at appropriate times using normal occasions for conversation.
PART TWO: STABBING (PRODDING)- (ENLIGHTENING THEM)
This may be better expressed as seeking to direct or enlighten. On the 2nd day of the Weekend, we look to enlighten candidates so they may see clearly, to comprehend them; and on the 3rd day we prod them so they help others see clearly. Our mission is to take the individuals from where they are to where they might be. It must be a decisive arrow to the heart of the problem. With stabbing one must aim high, implant truths…, always keep in mind that it is more effective to point out potential than to demand responsibility. The stabbing must penetrate them, stir up their passivity, and pick at their conscience. The founders want mature Christians who are being led by God and who have a sense of the sacredness of personal contact to engage in this work after studying (the method) in the School of Leaders.
DANGERS OF MISUSING THIS TECHNIQUE
The founders were concerned with using these techniques in such a way as to make a mockery of the work of the Lord and do damage to peoples’ lives.
“It is not easy, however, to discuss techniques; it could even prove dangerous since this is a field in which values are easily mistaken. A person who lacks a good understanding could unwittingly see as an end, something which was intended as a eans.” (The How and the Why, p.31)
“We are seriously concerned with being able to reach a complete classification of what may be established as a technique of our apostolic life. But we never want this technique to choke the Spirit or to serve as a stumbling block intead of a conveyor.”(Structure of Ideas, p. 131)
SUMMARY
We can all improve in some way, by engaging in dialogue with other experienced apostles who are articulating the experience of the founders of the Movement, We can all benefit by studying and reflecting on the wisdom contained in this technique.
We should all strive to improve the effectiveness of our personal contact with others by studying and praying in community (School of Leaders), and with the help of other Christians and Christ, learn the elements of effective personal contact.