Rector Handbook

The Word became a human beingand, full of grace and truth, lived among us.

We saw his glory,the glory which he received

as the Father’s only Son.…John 1:14

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INTRODUCTION

My child, conduct your affairs with humility,and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,

and you will find favor with God.…Sirach 3:17-18

The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement, an official publication of the National Secretariat, says, “The choice of Rector for a Cursillo is not decided by his/her education, ability to speak, or experience in the Movement, but rather by his/her personality, spirit, judgment, power of persuasion, that is, not a dialectic of argumentations, but readiness to understand and ability to convince not so much with reasons, but with his/her convincing way of living and communicating.”

Christ Himself has called you to serve in this position of leadership. Place your trust in Him.

While the Secretariat establishes certain guidelines for Cursillo weekends in the Arlington Diocese, Rectors have a great deal of latitude in constructing their weekends. This handbook provides information to help you through the process.

On the following pages you will find guidance on team formation, planning the weekend and other valuable information. We ask that you be guided prayerfully by these materials and allow the prompting of the Spirit to direct you as you shepherd your unique Cursillo weekend.

It is hoped that this handbook, along with the Angel Workbook and the Team Formation Notebook, will help make your planning, team formation and weekend experience a time of joy and transformation. In particular, it is hoped that your time as Rector will be a lived experience of Christ’s love for you and the world.

Be assured of the continuing prayers of the Cursillo community as you endeavor to build your communities of faith – first the team, and then the weekend participants.

In all things, be focused on Jesus Christ, and all will go well.

DE COLORES!

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The Essential, the Important, and theAccidental Elements in the Cursillo Movement

By Eduardo Bonnin

I have been asked to speak on what is essential, what is important, and what is accidental in the Cursillo Movement. With this purpose in mind, I believe that what must be done is to clearly delineate that which is essential to the Movement, because that which is important and accidental will naturally flow from this, provided we all use a little bit of common sense.

That which is essential defines the very nature of a thing. It is that which is permanent and changeless within it. This is the element which we must seek to define within the Cursillo Movement.

Perhaps there are many things within the Cursillo Movement which could be changed without disturbing its essence. Thus we could conceive, perhaps, of someone who would design Cursillo which would last only two days, or one which might be expanded to five days. In so doing, they might not tamper with the essential element, but undoubtedly they would destroy the simplicity, the unity, and the clarity of the message in the process of changing it.

The Cursillo is designed as a direct channel which should move people from where they are to where they ought to be. It might be compared to a very beautiful and wide new expressway, which would enable an ordinary man to reach his destiny without too much difficulty. Naturally, it would be foolish to expect such a beautiful expressway to always pass near our homes, for our own convenience.

When we speak of a Cursillo, as you well know, we are speaking of a group of persons who come together for three days to share friendship, personal contact, and joy. It is here that we must bring into focus and clearly delineate the purpose of the movement. The question which presents itself is: Just what is [it] that these people wish to achieve, and how do they propose to achieve it? The Cursillo proposes, and with the grace of God, achieves for the individual understanding, conviction, a living experience, and a warm personal sharing, i.e., convivencia, of all that is basic to living Christianity.

Now what is it that is basic to Christianity? That precisely which is basic to Christianity is the love of God, and love of neighbor, and the love of the world. But all of this is realized within an even greater reality – the fact that God loves us, that he seeks us, and that he is waiting for us. If we take these truths as our point of departure, we then have what is really basic, the essential nucleus.

The Cursillo Movement holds this priceless treasure in reserve, as it were, as a backing for the paper money that is issued during the three-day weekend. Everyone is well aware that paper money must have a gold reserve. Our gold reserve is the living conviction that the love of

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God, the love of neighbor, and the love of the world is indeed possible to us precisely because God loves us. This is the ABC of living Christianity. To be ignorant of this would be like being a person who has hast knowledge of many things but is unable to read and write.

The purpose of the Cursillo is to stimulate hunger for God through awareness of these truths. Within the Church we possess many things to satisfy hunger, but few to create it…what we propose is to draw persons to become profoundly and authentically Christian without ceasing to be what they are by making them keenly aware of the great truth that God loves them. This is what is important.

When I love someone, I am certain of my love within me. But if someone tells me he loves me, I must take it on faith. I must take his word for it. Faith overcomes all. When I love someone, I can prove it to myself. I can point to this, that, or another thing I have done to prove my love. And the recollection of this is sufficient to establish the presence of my love. But when we are loved, we must believe that we are loved.

We do not intend to remove anyone away from his world, but we simply wish him to remain there and be a witness for Christ. For example, in most cities of any size, we generally find a zoo which contains a tiger, a lion, an elephant that were removed from the jungle, their natural habitat, years ago. Little by little they ceased to be jungle animals. We do not intend to build a zoo; we intend to baptize the jungle. Let a man be what he is, wherever he is but authentically Christian. Sometimes, you know, we do with Christians what they do with cod fish – we cut off their heads and try to press them into a package. The Cursillo is the art of catching the whole fish, whole and entire, with its head, its scales and its fins.

The Cursillo is an unfolding of everything that is Christian.

A man of his own mind, one capable of conviction and decision, projects his values, his life-style, and his spirit through word and example in friendship. When a person of such quality comes into contact with other persons who are likewise capable of their own conviction and decisions, and who possess their own proper life-style, spirit, and values, this contact evokes, by way of reflection, a new consciousness which reassesses and restructures their values so that they can come to share the same life. They become integrated into this way of life by understanding it well, by appreciating it, by living it out – sustained by prayer, meditation and action.

Within the Cursillo, we are aware that there must be a group of leaders, priests, and laymen, (not too many now, just enough) who are dedicated to the service of those who come to make the Cursillo. These must be well coordinated, and the candidates must be open to them. It is not proper to have more than 35 candidates. A larger number becomes unwieldy, sometimes even a mob.

Everyone within the Cursillo must live the complete experience – everyone, everything – prayer, study, and action, shared during meals, discussion, chapel, recreation. This sharing brings

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about an encounter with himself, with Christ, and with his neighbor. Later these three encounters must be given their proper place within the perspective of action.

The most important thing about the Cursillo itself is that it be a solid chunk of reality and not a conglomeration of unreal and imaginary things. It must be natural, authentic, and without exaggeration. It must be a true encounter of persons. It must be true to life, true to the Gospel, and everyone must be open to each other. The environment must be one of frankness, cordiality, and joyfulness. The personal contact must be sincere, with depth and understanding. And when we speak of faithfulness to the Gospel we mean that everyone must have a concept of Christ that is faithful and dynamic. God, Christ, is not a static concept. He furnishes us with the light through which we are enabled to solve our own problems.

The total focus must be centered on the person. Only within this frame of reference can we properly evaluate all ideology and methodology. When we place greater emphasis on the ideas and the method, and withdraw our attention from the person, we always end up in a big mess. When we overemphasize slogans and verbal rituals, instead of fostering true brotherhood, we often end up with victims, i.e., those who conquer and those who are conquered among the brethren. We must treat persons who, as we have indicated, are capable of conviction and decision, and who possess capacity for free choice and great initiative, with respect for their individual personalities. Whenever we forget the importance of the person, rather than fostering his liberation, we might actually end up restricting him still further. Instead of promoting his development, we might be complicating it.

The most profound desire of the human heart is to find meaning in life. This desire obviously finds fulfillment when one lives, conscious that he loves God, his neighbor, and the world and is loved by God. Man goes from belief to love. Every man endeavors to flee from his fears and complexes to his aspirations. Thus is the life pattern of every man. That on which a man sets value and towards which he aspires, is where we must meet him.

It has been said, and it is true, that the Cursillo has several phases. The leaders, rather than concentrate on the various phases of the Cursillo as a whole, must be primarily concerned with the process which the candidates are undergoing. We are accustomed to speak of the state of grace. It would be more proper to speak of the process of grace which is initiated in each person. In terminology which might not sound entirely Christian, one could say that we propose to prod a person out of his present position by a constant bombardment of positive realities.

Being Christians, we are fully aware that there are two stages in our faith, conversion, i.e., kerygma, and knowledge, i.e., catechesis. To proclaim what is basic to Christianity, conversion, to evoke an encounter with God and to motivate an effective living out of the same, is kerygma. Catechesis is making explicit all that is implied in what is basic to Christianity. The faith of conversion contains all that is essential to the faith. Catechesis is not a perfecting of the faith but simply its explanation.

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Recalling for a moment the words of the Gospel, we find that the centurion had a complete faith. Christ praised his faith and remarked that he had not found a faith so great in all Israel. The thief on the cross also possessed this great faith – “Lord remember me when you enter into your kingdom.” Both had faith, the fundamental part of faith: an openness to God.

The rich young man in the Gospel, on the other hand, had a tremendous catechesis. But he did not have the faith of conversion, i.e., the faith of self-surrender. He had a lot of know-how, he knew many ways to be a Christian, and he even had fulfilled the commandments. But he did not have this openness, total self-surrender.

The Cursillo Movement – and this has been a source of much confusion – is directed towards the first, to bring about conversion. At times, when undue emphasis is placed on the duration of the rollos [talks], when an attempt is made to explain everything in the three days, we create confusion. We create the impression that this is a form of catechesis. And it cannot be catechesis because there simply is not enough time. Rather, it is simply a matter of producing that great impact which leads to conversion. Thus, these excessively long rollos – sometimes unbearable – the attempt to explain in the rollo on the Sacraments the entire system of sacramental theology, is an abuse. No one can stand this.

From the very first moment, the Cursillo must be oriented toward that which is positive in the persons and in the community. Sometimes, in that first meditation, the example of the movie is used to convince one that he is evil, rather than to convince him that he is in reality unhappy. At the same time, we should not foster his self-assurance, but we should stimulate questioning. If we leave him in his self-assurance, he is susceptible to pride while if he is left in a questioning mood, he is prone to continue seeking the answers.

Sometimes evidence enslaves, self-assurance inflated, and hope keeps us awake and spurs us on. Our purpose is to build that which is fundamentally Christian on that which is fundamentally human, namely, hope.

The explanation and the precise understanding of what is essential will place what is important and accidental in proper focus. That must be considered important which most adequately brings about the realization of what is essential – whatever circumstances demand so that what is essential may be achieved. That which is accidental is that which may be freely added or subtracted without damage to the essential and the important.

As an overview, we would now like to give a few ideas on the Precursillo, the Cursillo, and the Postcursillo. Our greatest concern is the selection of candidates. We must remember that selection has scriptural foundation. Our failures can always be traced to weakness in the Precursillo. Before he makes the Cursillo, we must know his life-style and his attitudes. This is made easier if the candidate has come through contact with the Cursillo community.

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There is a lot of common sense in the Precursillo that we must always bear in mind. We seek individuals with personality. What we mean by this can perhaps best be brought out by comparing a person with strong personality to a locomotive that is pulling a number of cars. When such a person is brought into a religious atmosphere without the cars, he ceases to be a locomotive. If we want to assure that an individual with a strong personality retain his strength of personality, he must bring with him into the Cursillo, at the same time or as soon as possible, those individuals over whom he exerts influence, so that they may give him confidence in his rôle as a leader. Otherwise, he who is a locomotive for the world would not be a locomotive for god. What is important in the Precursillo is to be attentive to the moving of the spirit, rather than to rely solely on experience and routine.

History is but a record of mistakes. We must not be satisfied with past successes and feel that things are being done well. There is always room for improvement. When speaking of the Precursillo, the Cursillo, and the Postcursillo, we must remember that old saying which says that when it comes to questions of health, only what is best is good enough.

The most important thing with regard to the Cursillo is that everything be true to life, authentic and real. Here it is not merely a question of saying things, but of living them. Here one does not theorize, one shares himself, emerged in the nucleus of Christianity – the love of God, the love of neighbor, and the love of the world – which finds expression in the idealism, the commitment, and the spirit of charity both of the leaders and of those who will be led by them. All this means to live in and by faith, hope, and love.

In regards to the Postcursillo, that which we must achieve is the living out in their daily life all that the candidates have lived and experienced in the Cursillo. There is a variety of means to attain this goal, but none of them should overshadow the value of life itself. A good Group Reunion and a good Ultreya cannot be measured by the number of people who attend or by the spirit which prevails there, for this is very easy to obtain. Rather, their quality should be assessed by the degree to which these individuals live out their entire life by the spirit which all this presupposes. Participation in Group Reunion must not be brought about through assignment or imposition, but it must be the product of a spontaneous free choice of those involved. With regard to the Ultreya, let it be an emersion of the individual and his group in the preoccupations and concerns of all the other persons and groups who participate in the Ultreya.

The leaders’ school is not established to produce apostolic professionals, but persons who live the life they should and who can serve as living witnesses to the rest.

The Secretariats at all levels must never become control towers which issue commands, but they must be persons who humbly put themselves at the service of others, becoming aware of their problems and seek solutions with them.

With the core ideas I have sketched above concerning what is essential, it is easy, using a bit of common sense, to see its relationship to all sections of the movement – to the Precursillo, the Cursillo, the Postcursillo, the Group Reunions, Ultreyas, school of leaders and Secretariats,

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and in relation to other movements. The important thing is for every person to be aware of his full potential. What is of ultimate importance is that the resurrection of Christ be realized in each person, and that we do not complicate this resurrection but facilitate it. The shortest and surest route to attain this is by following the norms which have been established, always bearing in mind that norms are only a means.

The most important element is, of course, the spirit which permeates everything in the movement, and that this spirit be filled with all the great ideas which are most timely and effective today. We must always bear in mind that that which is the greatest importance is that Christ come alive in each person, and that we do not possess all the solutions but Christ himself is the solution.

Thus we will become aware, as the Holy Father has said, that the cause of man is not lost, that great ideas will never be extinguished, that unity of the world will be achieved, that the dignity of the human person will be recognized, that social injustice will be eliminated, that neither selfishness nor ignorance will impede the establishment of a truly human order because, as Paul VI said, Christ has risen in everyone.

© 1971 The Cursillo Movement

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: Invitation……..……………………………...….……………….1Take to the Wilderness..……..……………………………………............2

CHAPTER 2: Team Formation…….…………………………………………..6Things You Need to Know Right Away………………………….............6Formation Basics………………………………………………………….8Elements of Team Formation……………………………………..............9Welcoming Team Members……………………………………………….9Planning Your Formation Schedule……………………………………….9Team Meetings…………………………………………………..……….11Administrative/Mechanical Aspects to Cover with Team……..………...12Rector’s Checklist………………………………………………………..13

CHAPTER 3: Talks and Meditations…………………………………............15The Talks, in Brief……………………………………………….............15Progression of the Talks and Meditations………………………….........15Talk Selection…………………………………………………………....18How to Write a Talk……………………………………………………..19Talk Day………………………………………………………………….20

CHAPTER 4: The Experience of the Weekend……………………………...22Thursday: Arrival………………………………………………………..23Thursday: Retreat………………………………………………………..24Friday: Encounter with Self……………………………………………..25Saturday: Encounter with Christ………………………………………...27Sunday: Encounter with Others…………………………………………28Closing………………………………………………………………...…29After the Weekend……………………………………………………….30

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CHAPTER 1

Invitation

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks,

for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.…1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

When invited to serve in the role of Rector, it is normal to be pleased, to panic, to pray, to accept. Yet there is the acknowledgement that we are in the friendship of God, His grace is with us, and through our closeness with His Spirit, we trust that He will be able to work through us. It is out of this spirit of acceptance and service that the strength of team formation and the weekend will grow. Only through the deep root of spiritual dependence on Christ can you lead.

Thus the first formation that needs to be attended to is yours. This is a good time for a retreat of your own (Take to the Wilderness), a time apart when you can listen to what God may be seeking for you in the weeks and months ahead.

The foundation of the entire Cursillo – from the beginning of the planning process, through the team formation, and right up through the Closing – is prayer. Turn to Christ before your planning begins. Make Christ the center of your formation and the reason for your weekend.

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You are Christians, Preparing for Your Large Moment(Or, "Take to the Wilderness!")

No one can take hold of anythingunless it is given him from on high.

…John the Baptist, in John’s Gospel, Chapter 6.

A priest who is a holy man and a gifted teacher told the story of how he wanted so much to be effective in his ministry that he would spend hours in preparing and pondering and polishing his words for the pulpit. Everyone told him how wonderful he was. He should have been satisfied; but he wasn’t. He wondered whether all his hard work was really having an effect on people: whether anybody’s life was changing through his words. He had the grace and good sense to agonize over the problem with the Lord. Finally, he said, “Lord, I need to know if people are hearing you when I speak, or only hearing me. For all their praise, maybe I’m only wasting my breath.” Then he added, on impulse: “I ask you to do the talking. Reach them. Next Sunday, let nobody tell me how wonderful my sermon was. Then I’ll know it was you.”

And it happened that way. He was so full of wonder at the way the words came out that he couldn’t remember what he had said. People were quiet, sharing his wonder. And he didn’t realize ‘til he returned to the rectory that nobody had told him how good he was. That was a turning point in his life and ministry.

John the Baptist had a similar experience, a turning point. Here was a man with a mission from on high, and he knew it. He was a preacher second to none, and he had a great following. When his friends came to tell him that everyone was flocking to Jesus, they were disturbed, but John was not. He was a success, his joy was complete: they recognized the Lord, and were captivated by His voice. This was John’s large moment: it all belonged to Jesus.

John gives an insight to each of us, for our large moment. Sometimes we are so taken by a great job we are given to do for the Lord, that we lose sight of Him – and presume He’s walking around somewhere. John had that problem too, momentarily – he was preoccupied by his great calling and confesses that he did not recognize the Lord. When his eyes became fixed on Jesus, however, he was able to let go of his exalted ministry, stand aside, decrease, and fade away – very abruptly!

You are not called to be Rectors or Rectoras; you are called to be Christians. You are here today as Christians, preparing for your large moment. There is very real danger in getting too caught up in that lofty assignment. John says that God can raise up children of Abraham from even the stones – and probably Rectors and Rectoras too. Rectors and Rectoras need to know John and other prophets to understand their own ministry in the perspective of its divine, sublime limitation. You are above all to recognize the Lord. You are to announce Him – and Him alone. You are to pick up John’s interrupted footsteps and follow your Lord. You are not primarily leaders, but followers – followers with the task to precede Him.

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How to prepare those who prepare the way of the Lord? How did John prepare? How did Jesus, THE prophet, prepare? He went to the wilderness, and He often returned there. Revelations admonishes the church: “I know your deeds, your labors, and your patient endurance. Moreover, you do not become discouraged. But I hold this against you: You have turned aside from your early love.” We can turn aside, blur our focus, even through involvement in ministry.

There is only one word of evangelism: Jesus. Its purpose – conversion – is a work of the Spirit, not of a method, even the tried-and-true Cursillo method. Go into the wilderness again to find out how deeply you really believe that. Let yourself be converted again, let it be tenderly shown you need to be. Waste time just with God, your earthly love.

Take to the wilderness again and again to expose yourself to the Father that He may reveal Himself there to the stripped-down you. Jesus spent His nights on the mountain not because He had any hang-ups about beds and pillows, but to experience loneliness with the Father there, and to be healed of his own loneliness. Wilderness aloneness prepares you to go before God for His people, and before His people for God. It makes room for the togetherness of the days ahead.

Without wilderness aloneness, there is danger in the wonderful experience of team formation and also the Cursillo weekend – the danger of people holding on to you, to each other, to the experience – and missing Jesus. Presuming Jesus. We all want love with skin on it. We all need to experience affirmation and community – even Rectors and Rectoras. And we know that many people – maybe even some Rectors and Rectoras and team members – come to a weekend satisfied just to get warm. It is not difficult to miss the large moment of stepping aside.

I wish you some awareness of failure on our weekend – some awareness that you can only prepare His way, and that if you try too hard to accomplish what is ultimately His thing, you yourself are trying to be Lord; some awareness that some of your people are not going to experience real conversion on their weekend, though they say the words and cry the tears and love the team. Enough failure so that you take to heart your sublime limitations. May you be spared great success, so that you identify experientially with His failures. May you be spared the success pattern of a humanly-devised weekend.

May you realize in your wilderness that you are not as open to the Spirit as you need to be – may the realization of your spiritual poverty cause you to cry for Him brokenly, ardently. God only rations His gift of the Spirit because we don’t want Him enough. The person who presupposes His active presence in himself or any Christian community is going to be shortchanged. May He bring you to any point in the wilderness that will make you long for Him, sigh for Him, cry for Him. To long to give of yourself completely for your team and candidates is not enough. You are not Saviors.

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We desperately need to realize that the human wound in any of us – and in any Christian Body – is so deep that only Jesus can heal it. We strive toward openness and togetherness, but that is a barren wilderness within where our fear of total exposure is so great that only God can be trusted to see and not run away. Go along the barren rocks to that kind of encounter so you can lead people there. Remember Peter’s large moment of truth, his betrayal, his tears? The Lord turned around and looked at Peter, and Peter saw himself. This was Peter’s moment of real conversion. Let’s not work for the lesser conversions like how wonderful everybody is. It’s not enough of a base for people to stand on. We’ve all experienced the Fourth Day.

A major prophecy given at a national charismatic conference a number of years ago is still being widely circulated. It reads in part: “Bad judgments and mistakes I will forgive you. Wrong decisions I will forgive you. But I will find it hard to forgive if you fail to see the desperation of the times.”

Please bring your teams into this word. Beware the formation group that focuses on talk analysis, listening techniques, agapes, even Cursillo method. It is for you to challenge your teams to repentance and conversion – let no one presume it. Jesus and John took to the wilderness before their public ministry began and again and again as it developed. They weren’t preparing for a joyride. The Bible doesn’t tell us what really went on in their private encounters with the Father, but that’s where it all happened: their strength, their guidelines, their self-knowledge, their identification with Him, their simplicity of purpose.

The person who thinks the wilderness is behind him hasn’t gone very far, and won’t go much farther. He presumes that Jesus is walking around somewhere. The person who speaks only of joyful moments with God is conversing with Him only on a sunlit beach and is still afraid of the dark; the wilderness of Jesus and John was stark and barren, and night came every day. The person who thinks conversion was yesterday hasn’t faced up to his need to choose Jesus today. The person who thinks he’s a lover hasn’t seen himself or his Lord today. The person who thinks it’s a matter of techniques and hurdling spontaneous prayer hasn’t cried for the Spirit today. Be on the watch for this person on your team – he’ll bring only popping balloons and spiritual band-aids. Only the person who daily enters the wilderness that is in and around each of us, searching till he recognizes Jesus there, is equipped to tell another of the tenderness of God, and say, with the authority of Jesus, “Be not afraid.”

Christian leadership becomes, finally, a deeper and deeper repentance, a deeper and deeper choice of Jesus, a deeper and deeper cry of “Abba!” issuing from the Spirit moving more and more deeply within us, where the groaning is – and the unexploded joy.

Our greatest roadblock is our shallowness; we don’t very often go for the deeps. We’re too busy. One of the first guises of the tempter we will discover in our wilderness is his glorification of busyness. Because of it, most of us want just enough healing and holiness to get by – with a passable degree of joy and contentment. We want to be effective enough to be of some use to the Lord and His people – with a passable degree of affirmation. We are humble

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enough not to need to be Johns or Peters or even great Rectors and Rectoras – and that’s not passable, that’s false humility.

To whatever extent we opt for “enough,” we are not open to the word of God, we aren’t living in it, we are outside the kingdom, we are stifling the Spirit.

If you feel vague about wilderness, if I’m not presenting it clearly, that’s my purpose. It’s a matter of inner and outer space, not formulas. Just go with God. Alone. Daily. And make it prime time, first priority.

Before we pray together, I would like to speak to Jesus for us in the bold way, adapted by Father Hinnebusch from another prophet, Elisha, who was scared of a big job coming into his hands:

“As the Father lives, and as You yourself live, I will not leave You Jesus, till You give me the double portion of Your Spirit, ‘til you clothe me in Your mantle, and empower me to carry out my share in your mission. As the Father lives, and as You live by the Father, give me your Holy Spirit so that I may live the same life that You and the Father live! And give me a fullness of your Holy Spirit so that I may continue Your own mission to bring people into this life with the Father!

“I will follow You, Jesus, as You steadfastly set Your face for Jerusalem on Your journey to the Father by way of the cross. I will give You no peace, I will not leave you, ‘til you clothe me with power from on high and fill me with Your Spirit.”

May it be given from on high so that you can take hold of it, this word of the Lord, this way of the Lord: WILDERNESS

Mary Lou SleeviSeptember 29, 1979

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CHAPTER 2

Formation

The community of believers was of one heart and mind…

…Acts 4:32

Some IMPORTANT Things You Need to Know Right Away

1. This Manual is your guidebook and your reference for planning your formation and weekend. As Rector, you are expected to read this Manual thoroughly and refer to it often for guidance. In addition, you should be familiar with the Angel Workbook, which is included for your reference.

2. The Spiritual Directors for your weekend are invited by the Lay Director, as you were. If you have a preference as to a priest or lay spiritual director, you should express it to the Lay Director as early as possible. However, often the priest will have already been invited by the time you say “yes.” Many wonderful spiritual friendships have grown out of these “chance” partnerships.

3. Your team will be called to serve by the Team Selection Committee, with input from the Secretariat. You are encouraged to speak your preference, but it would not be realistic to expect to choose your team. Consider this formation an opportunity to make some wonderful new friends in Christ and to discover spiritual gifts in those you may not know well. Your team will be a mix of experienced team members and those with little or no experience. The Team Selection Committee will try to ensure that prospective team members are available for the great majority of meetings during your formation.

4. The Lay Director will be glad to join you at your first Team Meeting to commission the entire team with a brief prayer.

5. The Weekend Committee will provide you with a box of supplies meant just for you. This box will contain the Team Formation books, the Angel Workbook, and the Three-Day Manuals. Other boxes will be delivered to the Angel at the appropriate time. Your musician will receive supplies from Caryl Finnerty, the musician coordinator.

6. You may be reimbursed for expenses up to $50 upon submission of receipts to the Weekend Committee. Anything above that is out of pocket, although the Treasurer will gladly provide you with a letter acknowledging your donation upon submission of receipts.

7. The site for your weekend will have been determined long before you are invited. Some sites may be preferred over others, but the Holy Spirit resides at all of them.

8. The flow of the talks on your weekend must be as prescribed – you may not change the order or number of the talks. Talks may not be combined and must be as described in the Weekend Manual. Spiritual Director talks must be given by your Spiritual Directors, unless explicitly permitted by the Secretariat. Team members may present meditations, however.

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9. There may be no Mass at your Closing unless you have explicit permission from the Secretariat.

10. All the mañanitas in the Arlington Diocese are “no contact.”11. Skits and other “peripheral” activities (such as the type of party) are optional, your

choice, although it’s always good to get a sense of the team’s preferences before making a decision. Judges at skits may not depict church officials, real or imagined. The idea is good, clean fun without giving offense to anyone.

12. There are many who have come before you. Seek out experienced Rectors, as well as the Lay Director, and ask their advice about formation. Most are happy to loan you their formation notebooks (including schedules and meeting agendas) as inspiration. Remember, imitation is the highest form of flattery and don’t be shy about borrowing ideas that have worked for others. You are not in this alone! There is a community of support for you. You can pay this forward by doing the same – and being sure to return in good condition and in a timely way any materials you have borrowed from others.

13. Remember that this is a one-year commitment for yourself and your team and that you will be expected to follow up with the new Cursillistas for that period of time.

14. Your Angel is responsible for picking up and then returning the weekend boxes in a timely way to the Weekend Committee. The boxes should not be returned after the weekend until the supplies have been inventoried and neatly repacked in the correct boxes. It is ultimately your job to ensure that the Angel completes this task within two weeks of the end of your weekend.

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Formation Basics

The purpose of formation is to transform the team into a working example of a small Christian community and to ensure that the weekend is faithful to the spirit and guidelines of the Cursillo Movement. This is accomplished through prayer and by working closely with the Spiritual Directors, Angel, and team members.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the team has the spiritual foundation to live as Christian community while at the same time making sure that the Cursillo method is inculcated thoroughly. Thus it is important that you read and are very familiar with the Cursillo Manual and the Cursillo Leader’s Manual. Attendance by yourself and team members at School of Leaders and ultreyas is also called for.

You should be sensitive to individual team members’ needs and get to know each team member well. You will be the principal servant of charity and harmony among team members from the initial meeting all the way through the weekend and beyond.

During formation, the role of the Spiritual Directors is primarily to nourish the spiritual life of the team and, along with you, promote the spirit of unity and community. On the weekend, it is the Spiritual Directors who give the dogmatic foundation of the message. The Spiritual Directors’ mission is one of teaching as well as, in the case of the priest, dispensing the Sacraments. The attitude of the Spiritual Directors should be one of living the Cursillo, not just directing it. The Spiritual Directors also are a source of support and counsel to you, the Rector, and you should meet with them individually early, well before formation begins. Particularly if you have a new Spiritual Director, they will benefit from your guidance about expectations on the weekend.

The Angel is a central figure on the team and should be an early partner for you. The Angel will be the “Martha” of the entire process, and you are strongly encouraged to delegate to the Angel many details of both the formation and weekend. In fact, the Angel Workbook provides checklists of items that need attention, from team formation through team evaluation. This presumes a relationship founded on respect, trust and prayer between you and your Angel. It is also presumed that the Angel will be brought into the planning process early, well before formation has begun, and allowed to be of service, first to you, and then to the team. On the weekend itself, there should be many “angels” on the team under the direction of the Angel.

You should not rule or be the sole decision-maker regarding what others should do. You should know the objectives of each aspect of the weekend and the means available to obtain it and work accordingly. Above all, you should emulate Christ’s example of servant leadership.

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Again, you are strongly encouraged to meet with the Angel before team formation begins to coordinate the delineation of tasks and to establish viable channels of communication.

It is essential that the tasks get done; it is not important who does them.

Elements of Team Formation

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ...Colossians 1:17

The most essential element of team formation is that Jesus Christ is the center of team life. Each person brings the fruits of his own spiritual life to the team, but eventually each team will develop a charism or personality all its own. It is your responsibility to see that the formation is underpinned with prayer and friendship in Christ.

The use of scripture is an obvious part of formation, and communal prayer, spiritual music, quiet days, prayer partners, and sharing of Eucharist are foundational to building a Christ-centered team. First and foremost, each Cursillo team should be a community of prayer.

Welcoming the Team Members.

Building Christian community begins before your first meeting. You are strongly encouraged to meet individually with each team member before formation begins. This will provide each team member with a level of comfort at the first meeting. Also, it will enable you to know team members at a slightly deeper level and more clearly understand the spiritual needs of the team as it begins formation. These meetings also can be an opportunity to deliver the Team Formation Notebooks to the team members.

[See Appendix for samples of welcoming letters sent to team members.]

Planning Your Formation Schedule

Setting up a formation schedule can be a challenging exercise. At the time when you were asked to be the Rector, you were informed by the Lay Director when your weekend is to take place. One way to set up a meeting schedule is to begin at the date of the weekend and then work backwards to a starting date. This is fraught with all kinds of interesting obstacles that should be taken into account. How many holidays will occur during the formation period? When a holiday does occur, will the children be off from school at the same time as daddy/mommy? You may wish to skip these weekends or some other week of formation. When and at what times do you plan to have your team formation meetings? Saturdays? Sunday afternoons? Tuesdays? What time of the day do you plan to start and finish? Two hours for a team meeting would appear to be sufficient, but you may have to combine some meetings into day-long get-

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togethers due to team members’ schedule conflicts. How far will the team members have to travel for the meetings? Remember, if Cursillistas from the outer reaches of the diocese agree to be team members, it may take them about two hours to make the almost 100 mile one-way trip to Northern Virginia for each meeting (or, vice-versa). It would be nice to have them back home safely at a decent time, especially for all those who have to go to work the next day. All these things must be taken into account. Remember that the team members’ families are making the sacrifice of family time as well.

Some teams begin formation with a potluck and Mass that includes spouses and other close friends. This early social interaction can be useful in breaking the ice; in addition, meeting team spouses and supporting friends can provide insights into each other’s lives. However, frequently the potluck and social are held at the end of formation. And, sometimes, there are two potlucks to accommodate the need for purely social interaction including spouses (and perhaps families), one at either end of the formation.

Again, you have great latitude in planning your formation schedule – from meeting times and places to the order of formation. However, as in everything, a thoughtful Rector will be open to the needs of the team in choosing a time and place to meet. If the team members are widely scattered across the diocese, for example, then one solution might be to move the meeting place from house to house so no one team member has a longer drive than the others. Try to be open to alternative solutions and creativity in solving scheduling and distance issues.

It is important to get as many team members to each meeting as possible, so adjusting the schedule to everyone’s obligations will be appreciated and help the team bond, even though adapting the schedule this way can sometimes be a taxing experience. It is wise to discuss a tentative schedule with the team at the first meeting – ask your team members to bring their calendars with them so scheduling conflicts can be worked out. Nevertheless, team members need to make a commitment to formation. Missing more than one or at most two meetings should not be the norm. This should be reinforced during the pre-formation meeting with each team member, and again at the first meeting.

A typical team formation schedule could look like the one below, but this is by no means a recommendation of how it must be:

1st Meeting – Commissioning by Lay Director. General sharing about one’s life, why each one said “yes” to being on the team.

2nd Meeting – Group reunion; continuation of getting to know each other and why each said “yes.” Sharing favorite scriptures, etc., can help this process along.

3rd Meeting – Possibly a Quiet Night, perhaps with Reconciliation and Mass.

4th Meeting – Group reunion; review content of weekend.

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5th Meeting – Group reunion; sharing of gifts/talents and picking talks. Discussion about how to write talks..6th Meeting – Group reunion; review content, mechanics of weekend.

7th Meeting – Talk day, with Mass.

8th Meeting – Group reunion; review content of weekend, including table auxiliary roles, chapel visits, etc.

9th Meeting - Pot luck supper or some other kind of social, usually with spouses. Relaxed, fun time before the weekend. Final details are discussed, briefly.

10th Meeting - Evaluation. Be sure to set this date when the formation calendar is made. Pass out evaluation forms to team and Spiritual Directors before or during Cursillo weekend, so they will have time to fill them out before the evaluation meeting. Forms are obtained from the Weekend Committee. All distributed materials should be collected at the evaluation meeting.

Team Meetings

Each team meeting should be planned in advance carefully and in some detail. For each meeting, you should have an actual schedule, including times for each activity, and topics to cover. This practice helps to ensure that team meetings start and end on time, something that is greatly appreciated by the entire team and their families. A modified, shortened group reunion should be a part of every meeting. Don’t forget to leave time at the beginning and/or end for some socializing and snacks.

Many Rectors purchase (or are given) a candle to use throughout their formation. The lighted candle serves as a reminder of Christ’s light and His presence at each meeting. If a candle is used, its lighting serves as a natural beginning for each meeting. It can be lit as part of the opening prayer, usually offered by a Spiritual Director or you. Spreading this responsibility around the team, however, creates a bond and allows everyone to become comfortable with praying aloud and spontaneously, a proficiency that is needed throughout the weekend.

You are encouraged to work closely with the musician as well as your Angel in planning each meeting. Music, sung or provided as background during meditation, can be a strong bonding experience and one of deep shared prayer. A wise Rector will understand the musician’s expertise and preferences, perhaps simply providing an outline of the meeting in advance to the musician, who can then plan appropriate music for the appointed times. Virtually every team member will have favorite songs and these should be considered throughout formation and the weekend, but only within the context of the musician’s own comfort with what is being asked.

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As in all things to do with Cursillo weekends, the more control and decisions you share with the team, the greater the breadth and depth of the Christian community that results. Allowing the team members to participate in every appropriate aspect of team formation, from taking turns bringing snacks to choosing scripture readings and music, creates a oneness of heart, mind and purpose that will be irresistible to the candidates on the weekend.

Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.… 1 John 3:2

Administrative/mechanical aspects to cover with the team

It is essential that the team members become familiar with the weekend and the roles they are asked to play. To this end, sufficient time should be devoted to explaining the detailed workings of the weekend and the responsibility of each team member. This is done during team formation at the appropriate time, normally during the latter stages of formation.A quick listing of these follows, but the mechanics of most are covered in depth in the Angel’s notebook. Most are available in the Appendix.

The role of the Table Auxiliary Table placement of team members Chapel visits Team Palanca during talks by team members Liturgies - A committee – Angel/spiritual director/musician along with others – can be

formed early in team formation to do this work. Liturgies for both formation and the weekend must be well planned following Diocesan norms and music copyrights.

Reconciliation Service Posters, One-on-One discussions Samples of two different team meetings Thursday Night Friday Saturday Sunday Closing Cross Ceremony

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Rector’s Checklist

Choose a formation “theme” from scripture or spiritual writings. This theme should be informed by prayer, asking what God’s intentions are for your personal and team formations. If you start your personal formation with a retreat, then your scriptural theme may easily flow from that experience.

Meet with the Angel.

Prepare the formation schedule and individual team meetings.

Meet with each of the Spiritual Directors.

Meet with individual team members.

Prepare the weekend schedule, incorporating site requirements (e.g. meal schedule, use of chapel) and provide one copy to whichever facility is to be used, prior to beginning the weekend. Coordinate closely with the Weekend Committee for any changes. Hand out prior to the weekend, if possible, so the entire team will be familiar with it. The Angel should be part of this planning, if possible, or at least provide input based on the tasks she has been given in the Angel Workbook.

Invite someone from the larger community to give the brief Fourth Day witness at closing. The babe chicks are hungry now to hear how Cursillo has impacted the life of someone in the general community, so content should focus on powerful personal testimony. This witness must not be longer than 5-6 minutes. Getting a copy of the witness in advance helps to ensure control of the length. The community will be very grateful for your attention to this detail.

Assign table auxiliaries. Often, an experienced person from outside the team is invited in to talk about the role of table auxiliaries.

Ensure extra priests are available for the reconciliation service on the weekend if the team priest wants the help. Usually, the priest for your weekend can be a help with this.

Obtain candidate applications from the chairman of the Pre-Cursillo Committee a week or so before weekend to make table and room assignments for a good mix of age, parish, etc. (This logically would be a job shared with the Angel.)

Collect payment for the weekend from all team members except the Spiritual Directors. A good time to do this is on Talk Day.

Collect all formation notebooks, completed evaluation forms, etc. from team members at

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the evaluation meeting so that they, along with this manual, can to be returned to the Lay Director and/or Weekend Committee. The Rector’s Manual is returned to the Lay Director. Ensure that the Angel reassembles the weekend and formation boxes in good order, and takes an inventory, and then returns all supplies to the Weekend Committee. In the end, the responsibility for returning the supplies and other materials in good condition and in a timely way rests with you.

Turn in money to treasurer, and provide candidate address and email lists to Communications Committee. (This could logically be delegated to the Angel.)

After the weekend has been completed and the evaluation of the weekend has taken place, you should call your table auxiliaries approximately once every three/four months for the next year and ask them to call those candidates who were at their table and inquire as to how they are doing and if they need any help in getting into a group reunion. A special effort should be made to get the new cursillistas to the diocesan ultreya following the weekend and any other diocesan-wide events on the calendar.

Make sure your weekend community is available, if called upon by the Weekend Committee, to assist with the next Men’s or Women’s (whichever is appropriate) Closing and reception.

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CHAPTER 3

TALKS AND MEDITATIONS

To whomever I send you, you shall go;whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Have no fear before thembecause I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

Then the Lord extended his handand touched my mouth, saying,

See, I place my words in your mouth!…Jeremiah 1:4-10

The Talks, in Brief

During the weekend, a series of meditations and talks is given. The meditations and certain talks are usually given by the Spiritual Directors, although other team members have sometimes been called to do one. The names of the meditations and talks are as follows:

Thursday: RetreatRector’s WelcomeTwo meditations: Know Yourself and The Prodigal Son/Daughter.

Friday: Encounter with SelfMorning meditation, The Three Glances of ChristTalks: Ideal, Habitual Grace (Spiritual Director), Lay Person in the Church, Actual Grace (Spiritual Director), and Piety.

Saturday: Encounter with ChristMorning meditation – The Person of ChristTalks - Study, Sacraments (Spiritual Director), Action, Obstacles to the Life of Grace (Spiritual Director), Leaders.

Sunday: Encounter with OthersMorning meditation - Christ’s Message to the CursillistasTalks - Study of Environments, Life in Grace (Spiritual Director), Christianity in Action, The Cursillista Beyond the Cursillo, and Total Security

Progression of the Talks and Meditations

The talks are only part of the weekend dynamic. They draw from and contribute to the activities – discussions, socializing, chapel visits, one-on-ones, liturgies – that the Holy Spirit,

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through the team, uses to reach the candidates. Basically, the weekend succeeds because God’s love is shown through everything the team and the wider Cursillo community does; but the talks do focus the entire process of the “short course” – the Cursillo. Therefore, their order and substance may not be changed.

You should ensure that you, yourself, fully understand the flow of the talks. It is also very useful for every team member to understand as well that nothing on the weekend is haphazard. There is a definite planned flow from talk to talk and event. The weekend moves through three phases in three days, after a calming and winding down period on Thursday night.

Friday, Encounter with Self: the theme is ourselves and how we fit into God’s plan. Saturday, Encounter with Christ: the emphasis shifts to Christ and how better to

know Him as a friend and as a leader. Sunday, Encounter with Others: the theme is now outreach, our world and our duty

in it – and the support we can expect.

Thursday: Retreat

The short course, the Cursillo weekend, begins with a low-key, explanatory WELCOME BY THE RECTOR on Thursday evening, introductions all around, then activities designed to start the opening and focusing process for this group of strangers – most of whom are vaguely uncomfortable with just being there. Something is required to settle everyone down from wherever and whatever they come from, to reassure them; a familiar retreat-type atmosphere is set by the meditations and quiet time.

KNOW YOURSELF, the first mediation, asks us to reflect on ourselves and on our relationship to Christ; then, to look at how we feel about being here on the weekend and, since we are here, what can we leave behind to help us enjoy what the weekend brings to each individual.

The PRODIGAL SON mediation reminds us of our complete and unconditional acceptance by a loving Father, regardless of what we might think of ourselves.

Night prayers and quiet until after breakfast.

Friday: Encounter with Self

In the morning, before breakfast, the THREE GLANCES OF CHRIST meditation continues the pattern: What is my response to how Christ sees me now?

The first talk of the weekend, the IDEAL talk, helps us see what is really directing our lives and why we need to know that; it is a personal but not “witnessing” talk. God and faith are

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not usually mentioned, but this talk certainly can be inspirational and it sets the tone for the weekend.

HABITUAL GRACE, given by a Spiritual Director, takes us a logical step further, from What do I live by? to What does God, the Father of all prodigals, want for me? The answer is given: A life in God’s friendship, a life in His grace.

The next talk, LAY PERSON IN THE CHURCH, shows how living in grace means being living, working members of the community, and we begin, perhaps for the first time, to see that it’s also we who bring Christ to the world – not just the formal, organized, and structural religious organization called “church.”

In the palanca talk, formally called the ACTUAL GRACE, the central theme given by the Spiritual Director is the ever-presence of God to everyone, in every stage of their Christian development, but especially how He is manifested in the love and support of the community.

The next team talk is PIETY. It addresses a cornerstone of Cursillo: being an apostle, living the Christian life fully and freely, and, most of all, attainably. Through witness, the speaker helps the listeners think about their lives in relation to Christ and how they can attain a deeper, fuller relationship with and in Him. Piety is the first leg of the Cursillo tripod.

Saturday: Encounter with Christ

The morning meditation, THE PERSON OF CHRIST, shows us the ageless, eternal Lord actually among us – God and man – who is happy with us and for us.

The first talk on Saturday is a lay talk, STUDY. It is a response to the desire to know more about living in grace and how to go about that lifelong process of understanding an unchanging God in an ever-changing world, and our place with Him in it. This second leg of the tripod of Piety, Study and Action, is the first step toward consciously developing the ability to be a Christian leader.

The SACRAMENTS talk, usually given by the priest, draws us back to the importance and happiness of a personal relationship with Christ. The sacraments are God’s loving offer and proof of His friendship.

ACTION, that is, apostolic action, brings men and women to Christ. This lay talk is very heavy on witness and personal experience. Action is linked to Piety and Study, and is presented as befriending people, bringing them to friendship with Christ, and keeping them there. The tripod is now complete.

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The next talk, given by a Spiritual Director, discusses the OBSTACLES TO THE LIFE OF GRACE – influences that pull us away, or keep us away, from our Ideal. Our appreciation of the life in grace and ways to stay in God’s friendship are affirmed and reinforced by this talk.

Saturday’s last talk, LEADERS, through its strong witness places the emphasis on hard work, dedicated effort, and living the Christian life as the foundation for Christian leadership.

Sunday: Encounter with Others

The theme on Sunday is outreach, how we live out our life in Christ – apostolic action in the real world in which we belong. The morning meditation, CHRIST’S MESSAGE TO THE CURSILLISTA, is Jesus’ call to us. The theme is that God wants us to live in the world, evangelizing and building our community, in the society in which we live. This meditation is designed to pull the candidates back into the weekend after the excitement of the mañanita.

The first lay talk is STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTS, an enthusiastic and optimistic examination of various approaches to God’s children in the real world, in an environment that includes changing circumstances. We look at how we, as Christians, as leaders, can adapt and build and take advantage of change; how we might be said to “manage chaos.”

LIFE IN GRACE, a personal action plan, is given by a Spiritual Director and helps us structure our lives using Piety, Study and Action to enjoy God’s grace – doing it with confidence and enthusiasm, not hesitantly or with uncertainty.

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION, a strong witnessing talk, should create in us a need to make Christ known. Drawing from the previous days’ calls to service, especially the Layperson in the Church talk, several models of community are examined and the conditions necessary for Christian action are covered.

THE CURSILLISTA AFTER THE CURSILLO, another strong witnessing talk. What are the Cursillistas to do with their new-found idealism, self-surrender, and spirit of charity? The Grace of God has been poured out on them and they feel alive, convinced and enthusiastic. This talk is a reminder to take their light from under a bushel and put it on a lampstand. No one can do everything, but all can do something.

TOTAL SECURITY is the final talk. It introduces the human side of the support structure in Cursillo – group reunion and ultreya. The emphasis is on not only are you not alone, but you are both surrounded and uplifted. This is always a personal witness talk.

Talk Selection

The talks themselves are assigned during the meeting at which the talents, background, and sharing of gifts takes place among all team members. It is important to take into

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consideration which talks have been previously given by each team member. It is preferable that a team member not give a talk that he or she has given before. Talks need to be fresh, current, and about the team member’s present day life and spirituality.

The decision as to who will give which talk is handled differently by each team. Ideally it is done by consensus; sometimes, however, particularly on men’s teams, the Rector and Spiritual Directors will make the talk assignments. If this latter method is used, the Rector and Spiritual Directors will absent themselves from the room while the decisions are made. More frequently, and preferably, in discussing team members’ gifts, attributes and previous talks, it becomes clear which talk should be given by whom. Being open to the direction of the Holy Spirit is central for everyone’s having a positive experience during talk selection.

You should encourage team members not worry too much about who is to give what talk, since no one talk is more important than another.

Following is a summary concerning the writing of a talk. It is intended to be conveyed by you to the entire team, with the focus on first-time team members. Often, experienced team members will have wisdom to offer, as well. A much more complete discussion on writing talks is contained in the Team Formation Notebook and the Cursillo Manual. Be sure to distribute the Cursillo Manuals when you discuss writing talks.

How to Write a Talk

Talks must be limited to approximately 15 minutes, but not longer than 20 minutes, generally about 1500 words.

The purpose of each talk is to encourage discussion at the tables after the talk is over, since the tables are where the action is on a Cursillo. One of the best ways to encourage discussion is to end your talk with a question.

Each talk builds on the one before and each day builds on the previous day. There is a gradual progression which takes place during the course of the weekend. All the talks and meditations fit together to make up the grand mosaic of the Cursillo weekend.

Every talk is not a witness talk. But all talks should be personalized, which keeps them from becoming dull and dry. The early talks on Friday can be made personal without witnessing. We can put ourselves into the talks without sacrificing the main points of the outline, which are essential to the progression of the weekend. To be personal means to express the content in your own words and using your own life. “Witness” adds the element of using your words and life and stories to show how God is working in and through you, and about the power and impact of Christ in your life. “Strong witness” means that there is a larger amount of witnessing to underscore the points of the talk.

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It is not necessary or desirable to be powerful or dramatic. The talks are a means of giving the candidates something to reflect on and talk about at the tables and with each other during the weekend. Being overly emotional or dramatic will tend to move the focus from Christ and the weekend to yourself, and possibly turn off some of the candidates. In all the talks, success is in the discussions they generate, not in any applause or tears. A talk that “blows you away” usually leaves you remembering the speaker, not the message.

The talks should be written in your own personal style. Each talk will be unique to the person giving it, even though all have worked from our Cursillo outlines. Remember, most of us are not professional speakers. We do ask that the candidates bear with us as we deliver our talks. Much of what speaks to the candidates during our talks is our openness to being vulnerable in front of them.

Before beginning to write a talk, take some time to pray and ask for guidance. Read over the talk source material several times to get the gist of what is to be said. You then may want to make an outline of what you are going to say. Remember there are certain points that must be covered in each talk. Be sure to include these in your talk. Continue to pray about what the Holy Spirit would have you say, and listen intently for direction.

After you finish your talk, let it sit for a few days then go back to see if it addresses whatever is requested. Remember, write in your own style. Put yourself into the talk. If you are Joe, put Joe into the talk; if you are Irene, put Irene into the talk. Write the way you talk, and act normally when it is time to present your talk on Talk Day.

Practice giving your talk out loud to yourself whenever you consider the talk is finished – at least several times. Make sure the main points are emphasized in your delivery. Time yourself. Take things easy and do not be in a big hurry to get it over with. Don’t sweat it. Many people before you have given this same talk and all have survived. You can do it even if this is your first time. Remember that it is important to stay within the assigned time and make a real effort to do so. The weekend is run on a very tight schedule and each talk needs to be concise without sacrificing the essentials.

If changes are recommended to you on Talk Day, this is nothing personal. Make the recommended changes, share your changes with the Rector, practice your talk out loud some more, then lay it aside. If you have concerns, discuss them with the Rector. Do not go back again and again in an attempt to fine tune it. And, above all, do not rewrite or add to your talk on the weekend! If something occurs during the course of the weekend that dramatically underscores the focus of your talk, discuss with your Rector whether you should add it.

One most important reminder – be sure to bring your talk with you for the weekend and don’t forget to pack your Sunday clothes for your talk and the Closing!

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Talk DayTalk day usually is scheduled on a Saturday. This is a time where the entire team can be

together and each member, except the Spiritual Directors, gives their talk to the group. The Spiritual Directors can give a basic outline of their talks if time permits.

The site of Talk Day should be selected long before the day of the actual talks. Usually the talks are given at a church facility where the greater part of the day can be spent together, often at the home parish of the priest who is serving as Spiritual Director. If possible, this day should be started off with a Mass; often, the team gathers for the regularly scheduled morning Mass in the parish. Frequently, however, Talk Days are held outside parish facilities – at the home of one of the team members, for instance, or even at the facility where your weekend will be held. This last suggestion has the advantage of helping team members get familiar with the site and its advantages and challenges.

All talks must be completed by Talk Day. This is the time for critiquing the talks to ensure that all points essential to the message are included and that the witness given supports the points. Make sure that all have their talks written out – not just a collection of notes on a scratchpad, for this can be disastrous. Each team member should arrive for Talk Day with a copy of their talk for you or the Angel to keep, whichever you decide.

During this time, the speaker can get suggestions from other team members, such as personalizing the talk more. Fear of hurting a team member’s feelings should not prevent a person from offering constructive criticism. One might start by noting positive aspects of the talk before commenting on negatives. Take notes so that criticism is specific, such as, “In the section or sentence about...”

Hearing all the talks in one day has the advantage of showing the connectedness of the talks, so the beautiful flow of the weekend is appreciated, and the essential points are ensured of being clearly set forth. This day is a specific high point in the bonding of every team, for it becomes clear how the formation in prayer and service to each other has invited the Holy Spirit to shine through the lens of each personal story.

It is also beneficial for team to spend the whole day together, usually including two meals (generally breakfast and lunch) and Eucharist. Again, this will depend upon where the Talk Day is to take place.

Obviously prior to Talk Day, you or the Angel must see to it that some group reunion, ultreya group or other means is taken for providing the breakfast, lunch or supper. After the day has been completed, it is a nice gesture to write a note of thanks to those who worked so hard to set up and provide the nice meals.

Talk Day is usually a good fun day, and frequently the time that team members identify as “we really came together as a team.”

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CHAPTER 4

The Experience of the Weekend

Do not restrain the Holy Spirit……1 Thessalonians 5:19

The formation of team and coordination of the weekend itself are a different experience for you than for the team members. Because you are responsible for the spiritual formation of the team, the structuring of the weekend itself, and maintaining an awareness of the reasons behind all that is being done, you will be in a different place throughout the entire process. However, this “different place” must be a quiet kind of understanding that should never appear as an obstacle to be overcome, but rather as a desirable direction in which to go. Your role at times is a lonely one that, if used well, can be a time for close conversation with the Lord and full of growth. For example, Thursday of the weekend can be a time when you may feel somewhat in a state of suspension. It can be a time of trepidation – or a time of quiet trust.

Keep in mind that most of the weekend participants will arrive on Thursday already fatigued and stressed from their daily lives. There is no reason to add new and different activities to the weekend – it is already quite full with the required activities. Trying to do too much will only result in exhausted and emotionally drained candidates and team members. In fact, in today’s busy world, building in some “down” or quiet time can greatly benefit everyone, team and candidates alike. Your focus should be on the fundamentals, not the “frills” of the weekend. Be sure the things that have to get accomplished, do get accomplished. Anything additional may be more than you need.

You must turn the weekend over to the Holy Spirit – the sooner this is done, the easier it is for the entire weekend community. If the human inclination to worry and fret is allowed to dominate, it can be an obstacle to the flow of the weekend for all. The same can be said for over-planning the weekend and focusing too heavily on details, and being inflexible in regard to the clock. This kind of focus can leave no room for the Holy Spirit to enliven and flourish and use the gifts of those on team.

Your role on the weekend is to be deeply observant of all that is happening at every moment, from the interactions at the tables between candidates, to the attentiveness of team members. During discussions, you should not be trading stories in the back of the room with the Spiritual Directors; rather, you should be moving about the room (but not invasively), gauging how things are going. This is not to micromanage but instead to ensure that the table auxiliaries are doing their jobs and that the candidates are interacting well. If there seem to be problems, address them in private with the table auxiliaries. Note if one candidate seems to be having difficulties and be a friend to that person. Your deportment throughout the weekend provides an example for the team and demonstrates an ideal for the candidates.

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It is humbling to remember that this is not your weekend – first, it is Jesus’; second, the candidates’; and finally it is the team’s. The preparation and planning for the weekend will have been accomplished in advance – the weekend is the time to gently facilitate and step aside to allow God’s grace to work. If this is done, then the rest of the weekend, from the loneliness of Friday through the exhilaration (and exhaustion) of the Closing, can be one long close moment with Christ for you. The key is faith and trust.

Remember above all that you are the servant leader for the entire weekend community and strive to be simply that.

And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them.

… Luke 24: 15

The time that everyone has been praying and preparing for has come. It should be a time of excitement and anticipation – a time when it all comes together.

These three days are primarily designed to prepare the candidates to experience and live a full Christian life, rather than to convey knowledge about the faith. For some, it may be a conversion experience, while for others it is a deepening of a commitment previously made. In fact, some may have a delayed experience of the full impact of the weekend, coming to understand its significance only days, weeks or even months after it is over. The Holy Spirit is in charge, and each will react in his or her own personal way.

The dynamics of the Cursillo Weekend consist of a sharing of prayer, study and action woven through the talks, discussions, liturgical celebrations, mealtimes, and recreation. It is a process of introducing the individual to a personal experience of Christian community in action.

The weekend is not to be seen as an end in itself, but as a catalyst for the formation of Christian leaders willing to live and work for the common goal of renewing and restoring all things to Christ.

Thursday: Arrival

The team gathers at the appointed time and at the appointed place. Within whatever time constraints are imposed by the facility, the earlier you arrive, the more time you will have to familiarize yourselves with the facility, get settled into your rooms, set up things for reception of the candidates, celebrate Mass, eat supper, etc. The team members may bring snacks for the Thursday evening reception, but this special welcome is frequently planned and supported by a group reunion or ultreya.

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The team should settle in and get ready for a nice weekend. Set up a table with the candidates’ badges displayed in alphabetical order; distribute the team’s nametags. Table Auxiliaries should take a moment to review the applications of those who will be seated at their tables, so they can memorize names and seek them out at the reception, and also with an eye to choosing a Table Leader.

Those appointed to meet and greet the arriving candidates and their sponsors should be outside early and awaiting their arrival. The schedule generally calls for the candidates to arrive between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. (note that it can be an hour earlier for sites in the western reaches of the Diocese), but with the challenges of Metro Area traffic, candidates can arrive either very early or very late. Be prepared to deal with this (be finished with your team dinner and Mass early), and go ahead and start your evening activities if it appears a candidate will be unusually late.

Once inside the community room, the candidates pick up their badges and then are escorted to their room by a team member and brought back to the community room to mingle with members of the team, other candidates and their sponsors, and some of the members of the community. No candidate should be ignored or left alone. This is not the time for the Team to engage in long conversations with sponsors, even if they are long-lost friends, and it is not the time to collect payment for the weekend. The team should be acutely aware that this is the candidates’ first exposure to Christian community in action. Introduce the candidates to others and show them where the food is located. Candidates will then experience that the Cursillo group is indeed a caring community. They should be treated as honored guests, welcomed as Christ Himself would be.

This is the time when the Table Auxiliaries should be seeking out the candidates who will be seated at their tables and assessing who would make a good Table Leader. This also is the time when you should be sure to meet and greet every single candidate personally.

As the candidates arrive, the Angel and assistant angel can get an accurate headcount of all those who are on the weekend. This is important in that the Cursillo community is charged by how many people make the weekend, including the team.

Thursday: Retreat

At the appointed time, the bell is rung and the sponsors are invited to the chapel for their prayer service. Now the weekend really begins with the WELCOME BY THE RECTOR talk. While structured, this talk is delivered in an informal manner, and is intended to set the candidates at ease. If space and number of candidates allow, the candidate’s chairs can be set in a big circle around the podium.

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Before the welcoming remarks are made, notebooks and pencils may be handed out to the candidates and they should be carried to the chapel for the two meditations.

The meditations for this evening are: (1) Know Yourself as God made you, realizing your limitations and state of life, and (2) The Father is a forgiving Father, no matter how bad we feel or have been.

When the candidates return to their rooms and observe silence, the team selects the Table Leaders. [See Appendix for information on Table Leader selection.]

A team meeting can be held to clear up any loose ends or if anyone has concerns about a candidate. Throughout the evening, including during the team meeting, the Spiritual Directors need to be visible and available to any candidate who wishes to talk.

You should try to have personal contact with each candidate every day. This is may be done simply by your greeting each one at the chapel door before morning prayers.

Remember that a sincere, simple group prayer at the beginning and end of each day is a good witness to the candidates as to the focus of the team, while making the act of community prayer accessible, something anyone can do.

Friday: Encounter with Self

The theme for this first day of the weekend is a presentation of life in God’s friendship, that which is fundamental to the Christian life, the direction of one’s entire life to God.

The day will start off with a meditation by one of the Spiritual Directors. This is followed by breakfast. Near the end of breakfast, you announce the table assignments. You also ask those who have been selected to be Table Leaders to remain for a minute after breakfast so they can learn what their role involves. Their appointment possibly lasts for one day, so that a change can be made if a Table Leader was chosen in error.

Five talks are given this day, with discussions and posters for each talk. Each speaker needs to allow time to get dressed in their Sunday best. The speaker, the team member doing palanca, the Spiritual Directors and you go to the chapel to offer a prayer that the candidates will hear and act on what the speaker has to say. At the end of the chapel prayer, you escort the speaker to the community room, where you introduce the speaker and announce the name of the talk that is to be given. The name of the talk and the name of the speaker are written on the blackboard. The Spiritual Directors also return to the community room at this time. After each talk has been given, the speaker, Spiritual Directors and you rejoin the team member who has been doing palanca in the chapel and offer a prayer of thanksgiving. The Spiritual Directors, other team member and you then return to the community room, but the speaker does not return

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until the discussion period has been completed. The speaker can go to his room to change and take this short time to relax.

[See Appendix CD for information that should be explained to the candidates as to what they are to do during and after the talks.]

Give the candidates ample time to finish discussions. Do not pass out poster paper until the 20 minute discussion period is finished. At the end of the day, the candidates will give a summary of what their table discussion was for each talk and also be invited to give a description of their poster. These summaries and poster presentations are crucial aspects of the Cursillo and must happen.

When the weekend schedule is prepared, try to allow about 20 minutes for a talk, 20 minutes for discussion and another 10 minutes for the poster or one-on-one discussions. This can be followed by a 10 minute break. This will automatically build in a little cushion in the event someone’s talk goes beyond the allotted 20 minutes and will provide for moving the time schedule around as needed. It is emphasized that the 20 minutes for table discussion is an absolute and should never be shortened – this is where we most encounter Christ on the weekend. Shorten the poster time if necessary.

After the last talk of the morning, you make the announcement that table groups are to sit together during lunch and select a name for their group. The names should be rooted in Scripture or spirituality, or a saint’s name may be used. Candidates should be told that their group names should be easy to remember, easy to pronounce, and easy to understand.

Just before lunch, the musician explains and teaches the candidates the De Colores song. The song sheets are passed out at this time. Usually everyone sings the song on their way to all meals. This is a bonding time for the community, and the focus should not be on creating great music but on having fun.

During the first talk of the afternoon, Actual Grace, the bags of palanca notes are distributed. The bags should contain notes only; other “gifts” should be left in the Cursillistas’ rooms. Every Cursillista should receive the same amount of palanca at this time. Well-known Cursillistas will receive a ton; the excess over that of the Cursillista who receives the least should be delivered to the Cursillistas’ rooms. The candidates should be allowed plenty of time and privacy to read their notes, either at the tables, in their room, outside etc. You and the Spiritual Directors, along with the rest of the team, should be wandering and visible during this time – but not invasive. Team members may need to put their palanca bags away for later perusal, if it appears that a candidate is eager to walk and talk, or the snack table needs straightening during this time.

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One of the most important parts of the day is the Mass, which should be scheduled in accordance with the one-hour fast beforehand. All liturgies must be well planned in accordance with Diocesan norms, and distributed music must respect copyright restrictions.

The summaries of each talk by each table and the descriptions of the posters are worked into the schedule, generally in the late afternoon and after supper. These must not be skipped for any reason; adjust the rest of the schedule if necessary.

Night prayers follow the reconciliation service, and a brief team meeting can then be held if required. At this time, Table Leaders may be changed if warranted, but a caution here: if one is changed, they all must be changed, and daily, so no one Table Leader is singled out. Announce the change, or continuity, the next morning.

Saturday: Encounter with Christ

The theme for this day emphasizes of the person of Christ. The message is formation as a Christian leader by drawing closer to Christ and by learning to do what Christ did.

One meditation and five talks will be given this day.

After breakfast, when all are seated in the community room and before the first talk, you should explain that after the discussion period of the talks of the day, instead of making posters, the members of individual tables will make visits to the chapel while those remaining in the community room will conduct one-on-one talks or walks with each other, including team members. If there are changes to the Table Leaders, this should be announced as well.

[The appendix contains information on Chapel Visits, posters, and one-on-ones. You and/or the Angel schedules which table is to make the Chapel Visit while the rest of the community does one-on-ones.]

After the discussions on the Obstacles to the Life in Grace talk, the “I’m Lovable” buttons are passed out and pinned on. The buttons might be distributed after the Rite of Reconciliation instead.

Summaries of all the talks can begin sometime late in the afternoon.

If skits are being done, you make the announcement during lunch or supper that after all the summaries have been completed in the evening, each table will be asked to present a short skit on the Obstacles talk. The table groups can sit together at dinner or meet at another provided time to come up with their skits. The skits should not be too long, no more than 2-3 minutes. The skits may be judged, but parodies of church officials are discouraged.

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After all skits have been completed, there is a service of some sort in the chapel. On recent weekends, this has often been a Rosary service. This is followed by night prayers. The meditation combined with night prayers should be long enough to allow for the sponsoring group reunion or ultreya to complete their job of setting up the community room for the party that follows. Whether to serve alcohol at the party is an individual team choice, but the benefits must be weighed carefully against the downsides, including contributing to additional fatigue on Sunday.

At the end of the night prayer in the chapel, the candidates are escorted back to the community room to the party which has been set up for them.

At about 10:30 or so, the lights are brightened up and the musician can make the announcement that the party is now officially over, we have a long day tomorrow and you need your sleep, and then close out with a nice song. At this time the candidates are supposed to go to their rooms and the team cleans up and sets up the room for Sunday activity. A short meeting can be held if required.

Sunday: Encounter with Others

The theme for the last day of the weekend is the opening out of the cloistered weekend community to consider society. Christ is sending us out to bear fruit. Today’s talks explain the key to bearing much fruit. The secret to Apostolic Action is contact with Christ and with people.

There will be a meditation, four talks, and the Sermon on the Amount given this day.

The mañanita occurs at 7:00 a.m. It always is a “no contact” mañanita. The community is to be clearly separated from the candidates.

One way to choreograph this happening is to have the Angel meet the mañanita group at a designated place where the Angel holds up the arrivals until a member of the team gives her a signal that the candidates are on the way to their “morning service.” This way, the groups will meet at the same time at the mañanita site.

The Angel needs to be prepared to deal with gifts of flowers, balloons and other items at mañanita. It is a good idea to encourage sponsors to tag their offerings with the intended recipient’s name.

Sunday afternoon needs to include time for the Sermon on the Amount, distribution and explanation of the Fourth Day packets, and some reflection time. Payment for the weekend by the candidates should not be sought until the Sermon on the Amount, when the payment envelopes are distributed. Care should be taken to ensure candidates know that payment is not tracked, that their weekend has already been paid for by preceding ones, and the payment being sought is for future weekends.

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A few minutes should be devoted to walking the candidates through their Fourth Day packets so they will be inclined to revisit them once home.

The candidates should be given some time, 30 minutes or so, to be off by themselves to ponder what the weekend has meant to them and to have them write down these thoughts. Giving them a 3x5 card on which to record their thoughts will encourage conciseness. This will help them when it comes time for them to give witness during the Closing.

The team may need to be reminded that they should not be seen packing up too early on Sunday, giving the impression that the weekend is over before it really is.

If the Closing is being held away from the weekend site, the Angel should ensure that the bus does not arrive too early to pick up the candidates. Remember that you ride in the bus with the candidates to the Closing. The Spiritual Directors, the Angel, and musician(s) will depart for the place of closing 15-20 minutes before the bus departs. These transportation arrangements should be taken into account when planning who on the team will be driving to the weekend site.

Closing

You are strongly encouraged to write out your Closing remarks in detail in advance of the weekend and stick to them in order to prevent fatigue-inspired rambling. Notes can be added to the written remarks throughout the weekend in order to make them current and meaningful to the weekend community. Like everything else, there are certain things prescribed for the Closing. The candidates, led by the Angels and followed by the team, come in singing De Colores and are seated. Following this, you:

Begin with an opening prayer; Present the new cursillistas; Make opening remarks; Introduce the team, spouses and supporting communities; Introduce the Spiritual Directors; Make appropriate acknowledgments and especially thank the pastor of the parish for

allowing the church to be used for the closing ceremony and mass or the facility where the weekend has been held;

Ask the new Cursillistas to witness; Ask for a fourth day witness from the congregation (which you have arranged

beforehand, with the witness not being too long in duration. Several minutes should do nicely. A written copy of the witness, received in advance, will afford you some control over its length.);

Introduce the Lay Director, who will make a few comments and probably recognize you;

Then turn over the microphone to the Angel, who will announce the cross ceremony and how it is to take place.

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After the Weekend

Your evaluation meeting – your last official meeting together as a team – should be scheduled at the beginning of formation and take place soon after your weekend, preferably the weekend following, so that memories are fresh. Be sure your team has the evaluation forms before the weekend so they can begin making notes. The evaluation will cover formation and the weekend, but don’t worry: this evaluation is not specifically directed at the job you have done. Rather, it is a continuing source of information for the Lay Director and Secretariat about the processes involved. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to expect some feedback from the Lay Director after the weekend.

When you and your team accepted the responsibility of serving, it included a commitment to follow up with the new Cursillistas for a year. This is a serious commitment, one which the entire community expects from you. You should call your table auxiliaries approximately once every three to four months for the next year and ask them to call those candidates who were at their table and inquire as to how they are doing and if they need any help in getting into a group reunion. A special effort should be made to get the new Cursillistas to the diocesan ultreya following the weekend and any other diocesan-wide events on the calendar over the next year.

Your team and new Cursillistas may be asked to serve the next weekend in some way, such as cleaning up after Closing. This is a wonderful way to involve new Cursillistas in the excitement and service around a weekend and keep them in close touch with your team and the Movement.

Finally, be sure that all materials – notebooks and manuals, boxes, the button maker, etc. – are returned to the Weekend Committee in good condition and in a timely manner. It would be very helpful if the Angel takes an inventory of supplies before returning the weekend boxes. Supplies should be organized and repacked neatly. Other teams will be beginning formation soon and are as eager for information and materials as you were when you first began reading this manual. Begin praying for them even as you ensure that you and your Angel are returning everything that has been provided.

Be at peace when all is done and feel the quiet joy that comes from being a servant leader for Christ. Your grateful community joins you in praying that the harvest will be large.

ULTREYA!

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