Sorry this got so long. Print it out and read at you leisure. God Bless!!!


I guess the first thing we look at is the changes National wants to make in PR.


1) No Specials 2) Fewer Cursillos and fewer candidates


3) Co-ed Ultreyas 4) No more separate 3day & 4th day leaders school


5) Change Ultreya format 6) Remove marriage and prolife talks


7) Selection of candidates Smaller cursillo team size


9) Days to long and more time to "socialize"





The Cursillo Movement is "built" on 4 basic foundation stones; the mentality, essence, purpose, and method. But the CORNERSTONE will always be JESUS.





The Cursillo has a What (Essence), Why (Purpose), and How (Method).





The Mentality is basically a combination of all of these because it explains "why we are what we are"; "why we do what we do"; and "how we do it".


It (mentality) is the key to the whole Cursillo Movement!





Lets say I ask you to give a talk on Grace at a Workshop. It needs to be about 45 minutes long and a give you an outline similar to this:





1) Explain Sanctifying Grace


2) Explain Actual Grace


3) How to get / lose/ and regain Sanctifying Grace





Now you have 45 minutes of fill in.


The essence of this talk is the 3 items above, this is what is to be proclaimed.





The rest of the talk is up to you. How you present these three primary points are the Method. The method is up to you as long as the essence of the talk is there


.


Now why you are giving this talk is the purpose of it. That purpose of course would be to inform them of how easy it is to get Gods grace, how easy it is to lose Gods grace and how to regain it.





The purpose could change based on "who" the talk is for. For "new" cursillistas, it would probably be as stated above. For "clergy" or those "well studied" in the spiritual life, the purpose may be totally different.





The method could change based on who is giving the talk. My talk on this subject would surely be different from Fr Freys or Fr Herlongs. Mine might be based on a Layman's point of view with lots of personal examples, theirs would probably be based on a theological view.





But the ESSENCE cannot be LESS. It must present the facts of the outline I prepared for at the very minimum. This is the essence.





The CURSILLO is much the same, as long as the essence is maintained, certain other things MAY change, even the essence





When I look at the list of the items that National wants to change, they all appear to be METHODS of doing things. As long as the method doesn't change the essence or mentality of the Movement, it appears that it must be alright. See FICM.





1) no specials- simply a method we use to dig a ditch. (we use a shovel instead of our hands) We use a "method" that aids in speeding up the process of the candidate showing compassion, love and praying for someone else. Is it Necessary? NO! But it works, why change it? METHOD





2) Fewer Cursillos and fewer candidates- The number of Cursillos is set by the spiritual director and governing body of the cursillo. It should a number that they feel are manageable for our particular center, and Necessary for our particular environments. The number of candidates should be decided by the CAPACITY of the center and PRIMARILY by the HOLY SPIRIT. We have many Cursillos with lots of candidates, it works; why change it? METHOD





3) Co-ed Ultreyas- We already have some and they seem to work fine. But we also have separate mens, womens, and youth Ultreyas and they seem to work fine. This may be an area that we could compromise and not suffer too much; but again I ask WHY change it? METHOD





4) No more separate 3 day and 4th day leaders school- Granted, we are probably the only center in the US that may do this; but it was not something we just decided to do. Fr Frey saw the need long ago to have a leadership for the 4th day that was COMMITTED to the 4th day and 4th day only. THE ONLY REASON WE HAVE A 3 DAY CURSILLO WEEKEND IS TO GET THE CANDIDATE LIVING HIS/HER 4TH DAY. If the 4th day is not STRONG, the Cursillo is a FAILURE!! As stated above this center may have MORE Cursillos and MORE candidates than other centers, well we need a more committed group of men and women to take on the responsibility of bringing the candidate through their 4th day. It was decided that this was too heavy a burden for the 3 day leaders to take on and still have the number of CONVERSIONS going on in the 3 days continue. So the 4th day leaders school and 4th day formation schools were started. This is one point that National needs to look at stepping up to our level. METHOD





5) Change Ultreya Format- The format we use has always been directly from the pilgrims guide (the section for "order of the reunion") National has their own idea of a format that is not really that bad but why change what works? If the "governing body" would like to put both formats on the table and allow the ultreya to choose, that may not be a bad idea. ?????? METHOD





6) Remove marriage and pro-life talks- One of the primary points made in the FICM about the Movement is that it is a LIVING ENTITY and must grow with the times. The falling apart of the family unit and the willful and LEGAL murder of MILLIONS on unborn babies not only Warrants but MANDATES that these talks be PUT BACK INTO THE 3 DAY WEEKEND!! ESSENCE and MENTALITY an ADDITION to the Essence and a change to the Mentality based on the needs of a changing world.





7) Selection of candidates- Many centers and many publications talk about the selection of candidates and how they should be carefully monitored. WE MUST ALLOW GOD TO DO HIS WORK THROUGH WHOMEVER HE CHOOSES TO DO THE WORK THROUGH. I know all of you have heard, God got your candidate there, YOU just drove him there.


There is no doubt that there are people who have made cursillo who are not PREPARED to make the weekend, but that just means we need to do a better job of preparing, not a GOD LIKE job of CHOOSING the candidate. METHOD





Smaller Cursillo team size- The team size for PR is rather large, and Palanca could be done at home or other places. The candidates should as little contact wilth the outside community as possible, and all these things lead us to agree with National. BUT... PR has come to be a place of RENEWAL for cursillistas and if the number of candidates stays the same the help is always needed. Why change something that appears to do a tremendous amount of good and very little if any harm. Some changes are in order though. METHOD





9) Days are TOO long and "time to socialize"- This is what I understood Lou Robbio to say. No manual on Cursillo I have read yet says anything about "socializing". This would be contrary to the work done to get the candidate into a "meditative" mood, to start to evaluate his life and relationship with God and his fellow man. As for the length of the days, YOU CANT PUT A STOP WATCH ON THE HOLY SPIRIT. It's not over till the fat lady sings ( not that I'm calling the Holy Spirit a fat Lady) I guess confession tomorrow!!!!





I truly believe that if it is of God, it will not be destroyed. and if we listen to the "pings", the promptings, of the Holy Spirit and defend what we have here in PR, then the "WILL of GOD" will continue to live on in the halls and the grounds of the Holiest place I have ever set foot on; The Prairie Ronde Cursillo Center.





God Bless and DECOLORES!!! Randy