Welcome to the Diocese of Grand Rapids Catholic Cursillo Website
Bienvenidos! Welcome New Cursillistas! Women's Cursillo Weekend #383
Read About One Person's Experience In This Recent Faith Magazine Article
Bienvenidos!
Welcome New Cursillistas!
Men's Cursillo Weekend #382
Bienvenidos! Welcome New Cursillistas! Women's Cursillo Weekend #379
Bienvenidos! Welcome New Cursillistas! Men's Cursillo Weekend #376
Bienvenidos! Welcome New Cursillistas! Women's Cursillo Weekend #375
Bienvenidos! Welcome New Cursillistas! Men's Cursillo Weekend #374
What is Cursillo?
The Cursillo is an Apostolic Movement of the Roman Catholic Church. It is an encounter with Christ. It employs a method that emphasizes the importance of a balanced life of piety, continued spiritual study and action to help us keep Christ at the center of our lives.
The Cursillo is introduced and explained over a 3-day weekend retreat which includes daily prayer, Mass and opportunities for confession. Here a team of religious and laymen present a series of talks. The titles of the talks indicate their content: Ideal, Habitual Grace, Layperson in the Church, Actual Grace, Piety, Study, the Sacraments, Action, Obstacles to Grace, Leaders, Study of Environments, Life in Grace, Christianity in Action, the Cursillista Beyond Cursillo, and Total Security. These talks are then discussed in small groups which allows for sharing insights about the presentations. At the end of the weekend candidates feel closer to Christ, have a better understanding of their Catholic faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit.
After the 3-day weekend, the community spirit is continued through small group reunions and Ultreyas. A group reunion is a weekly gathering 3-6 friends (men's groups and women's groups) who share their enthusiastic faith in Jesus Christ. The Ultreya is the gathering of all the groups in one area usually every month.
Is Cursillo for You?
Do you feel called to a deeper commitment to your faith? Do you want to more fully understand the mission you are called to through your baptism Are you looking for a way to sustain your Christian journey? Are you a Practicing Catholic adult (able to participate in the sacraments)?
To attend a Cursillo 3-Day Weekend, you will need a sponsor within Cursillo -- maybe a friend who is active in Cursillo. A sponsor will prepare you for the weekend, will help you find a Group and will introduce you to Ultreya.
Pope Francis on Cursillo
Below is a letter to Cursillistas from (then) Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. Archbishop of Buenos Aires (future Pope Francis).
Dear Cursillistas,
"The Good Seeds are those who belong to the Kingdom"(MT. 13:38)
Your Service of announcing Christ, being witness in the everyday environments, is to live and renew in a concrete way the Baptism that in HIM we have received and therefore transforms you into disciples and missionaries of the Word. According to the Constitution of the Church (#33) : The lay apostolate is a participation in the salvific mission of the Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation all are commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself.
Even as I write to you, I am very well aware of the difficulties that present themselves while trying to insert the Gospel into our society and also very well aware of your boldness and apostolic fervor, born of that personal encounter between yourselves and Christ which leads you forward to make history, for the good of many; and that the many, whether they are on the fringes of society or not, feel the loving embrace of Jesus.
Being a pilgrim in our society means to be open to life and pay very close attention to what happens within our hearts just like a good Samaritan before the difficult reality of so many brothers and sisters.
It is necessary that the Cursillo Movement through the participation of everyone continues its journey of pastoral conversion..
As Cursillistas, in difficult times, you need to ask God for the Grace to sponsor many candidates, to always have a pre-cursillo in motion, so that you will not fall into a hopelessness that paralyzes and causes anguish.
The gift of the Kerygma (the apostolic proclamation of religious truths) received during your Cursillo is missionary, just like the tripod points out (piety, study, and action).
As a Church all of us need unity in Christ, so that HE, only HE reigns in our hearts and only then we will be able to recognize HIM as the disciples did in Emeaus.
As I thank you for your pilgrimage as Cursillistas, I ask you to never cease to renew in Jesus' Eucharist your apostolic fervor and that of your brothers and sisters in Group Reunions.
Now, more than ever we need your closeness in the environment to be light and joy for so many brothers and sisters who ignore God as a Father that loves them with tenderness.
Today, more than ever we need your presence so that many families can find the transcendent love of Christ - a newer and larger dimension of human love. Today, more than ever we need your presence and your witness in the Ultreyas, to keep moving forward in the proclamation and living out the Kerygma.
I ask you to pray for me. May God and theVirgin, Mother of the Divine Grace, be with you and take care of you!
Sincerely,
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.
Archbishop of Buenos Aires
Saint Pope John Paul II on Cursillo
Saint John Paul Encourages the Cursillo Movement “Follow Confidently the Way You Have Undertaken”
MAY 06, 2002 00:00 ZENIT STAFFVATICAN DICASTERIES/DIPLOMACY
VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II offered encouragement to the Cursillo movement, a Chrisitan renewal effort now present in 60 countries and 800 dioceses.
“The little seed sown in Spain more than 50 years ago has become a great tree rich in fruits of the Spirit,” the Holy Father said.
The basic concept of its spiritual way is the “cursillo” (little course): a three-day retreat for those who are seeking God, to hear the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. The idea was first implemented in 1948, with a pilgrimage of youth to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela. The initiative spread and today is lived by over 8 million people. Read More...