Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa                                                                Winter 2000

A note from our Spiritual Director

Cursillo #28 Weekends

Farewell and Our Thanks to Dan O'Brien

Welcome Cursillistas of Cursillo 27!

Ultreyas

Time Flies When You're Doing God's Work

New Co-Lay Director of Tulsa Diocese Cursillo Movement

Upcoming Diocesan Study Offerings

Leaders’ School

When you want to invite a friend to Cursillo, please review the Responsibilities of Sponsorship

How to Get Your Candidate into Grouping

When you want to invite a friend to Cursillo, please review the Responsibilities of Sponsorship
( reprinted from the TRIPOD, Archdiocese of Seattle )

Before the Cursillo Retreat:
1. Candidates shall be adult Roman Catholics in good standing (able to receive sacraments).
2. “Talk to God about your candidate before you talk to your candidate about God.”
3. A sponsor should be actively participating in Group Reunion, and know that the mission of Cursillo is evangelization.
4. A sponsor needs to have known his/her candidate on a personal one-to-one basis for some time.
5. Because this is not a secret society or initiation weekend, please inform the candidate about the weekend: explain the silent retreat, the talks, the table discussions and posters. (Just try to keep the Palanca and closure a surprise!)
6. Tell the candidate about the evangelistic purpose of the movement, and the follow-up commitments of Group Reunion and Ultreya.
7. Both husband and wife should be informed about Cursillo. It is not recommended that only one marriage partner become involved in Cursillo. If possible, submit applications together for both husband and wife.
8. Advise the candidate that a donation is recommended but not required.
9. The sponsor should have a potential group reunion for the candidate. The sponsor may invite the candidate to Group Reunion and Ultreya before the weekend.
10. Have the candidate fill out his/her section of the application. Complete the sponsor’s section. Submit the application to the candidate’s pastor to complete. The sponsor should mail in the application.
11. Be in regular contact with the candidate prior to the week-end. Confirm his/her attendance after the sponsor-letter is received. Notify the pre-Cursillo section as early as possible should the candidate decide not to attend.

During the Cursillo Week-end:
1. Provide Palanca (prayer and sacrifice, spiritual bouquets from the sponsor and family.)
2. Provide transportation to and from the Cursillo site and attend closura.
3. Assist your candidate’s family during the week-end and help in whatever manner they require.

After the Cursillo:
1. Find the new Cursillista a Group Reunion. (Ultreyas are a good place to find a Group Reunion.)
2. Bring the new Cursillista to Ultreyas following the week-end. See Schedule.
3. Continue to maintain close contact after the week-end (be a friend). Encourage the new Cursillista to persevere in the Fourth Day.

How to Get Your Candidate into Grouping

from Ultreya Magazine

Sponsors realize that their toughest job begins with their new cursillistas’ Fourth Day. Every sponsor must face the challenge of encouraging the new cursillista to find a group reunion and to go regularly.

Easy? It doesn’t seem so at first, but it can be. Try this method, which is approved by the Cursillo Movement itself. For this approach to work, the sponsor must begin before the weekend. As a sponsor, you are already doing the initial steps of this method when, with much prayer and discernment, you get your candidate to agree to make a Cursillo, fill out the necessary paperwork, and settle down to wait for a weekend which can accommodate your candidate.

As the weekend nears, casually invite your candidate to “Come with me to visit my prayer group sometime.” Offer to pick him or her up, introduce your candidate to everyone, and make the new person feel welcome. With the initial invitation, you might want to mention that this group differs from prayer groups which pray formal prayers the whole time. This is a group where each person tries to live Christ’s law of love for God, neighbor and self. On a daily basis, each person tries to change those things in his or her life which interfere with living Christ’s commandment of love. Lastly, each person does whatever he or she can to share Christ’s love with others. That’s what makes your prayer group unique, and your candidate should know that. It might make your candidate more willing to venture out with you to group reunion.

Hopefully, your candidate will see how the members of your group nurture each other on a spiritual level. No mention need be made about the new person joining the group after the weekend. Then, when Sunday’s talk about group reunion and its importance to each cursillista's Fourth Day is given, your candidate will say, “So that’s what I saw with my sponsor! I can join a group or start one with some of my new friends from this weekend.”

At the closure, the sponsor can discuss group reunion and reassure the new cursillista that they are there to help him or her find a group where they are comfortable. At first this approach may seem “backwards” to all our previous experiences. It does not lessen any o f the impact of the weekend experiences because no connection or link is given to the future cursillistas about Cursillo and the weekend. Does this work? It certainly does. I can attest to it. My group reunion members and I have used this approach with three candidates, all of whom are still grouping after several years. I urge all sponsors to consider this approach, and see how the Lord works to reassure new cursillistas that group reunion is easy, non-threatening, and important in one’s spiritual life.

When you determine to sponsor a candidate, please invite them to Ultreya and to your small group (or help them find or establish another group). You are inviting them to a long- term involvement in a community which has Christ as its head and which is intended to endure well beyond the three day weekend.