Cursillo movement calls us to stay close to God

IC photo by Christine Young

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Cursillistas from the Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Filipino, and English speaking cultures in the Diocese of Salt Lake City meet to form a secretariat, or team, to pursue getting the Cursillo Movement started again in the diocese.

SALT LAKE CITY — “Jesus is the vine and we are the branches,” said Ceferino Aguillon, Cursillo Movement National English coordinator. “We have to be ready to go where God calls us.”

Aguillon spoke to cursillistas of different languages following a Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Parish and Newman Center Oct. 15. A cursillista is someone who has made a cursillo, which calls us to stay close to God.

The Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, has given his approval for the team of cursillistas to research if there is enough interest to start an English cursillo movement in the diocese.

The cursillo began in Spain in 1940, because Spain was entering a civil war and a lot of Catholics had either turned their backs on their religion or did not know their faith. Pope Pius XII addressed the world and said we need to help our brothers and sisters return to their Christian beliefs.

At that time, there was a pre-Vatican II group called Catholic Action for men. Women were not offered such courses. They would plan seven-day pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in Spain during Easter or Christmas. A man by the name of Eduardo Boline joined the military and realized the pilgrimages were only for upper- class men because the lower-class men had to work and care for their families. So he shortened the pilgrimages or cursillo, which means course in Spanish, to three days so men of all classes could participate.

The first cursillo was held in January 1949. A cursillo has its own charism – a pilgrimage back to the Father and eternity. The purpose is to save souls and build a Christian community. Through our baptism, God asks us to participate in his plan of salvation.

The cursillo method is divided into three steps: the precursillo, the cursillo, and the post cursillo. The precursillo is a person searching for Christ, searching for an authentic witness and searching for someone who is living their Christian faith. This person prays and is a potential candidate for a cursillo. A candidate has to have a sponsor to share a cursillo.

The sponsor becomes a friend to help the candidates move from where they are to where they need to be on their road to salvation. During the cursillo, the person encounters Christ through word and testimony, scripture and doctrine. One is asked not to judge the cursillo until the third day, and is asked to have an open mind and an open heart so God’s will can enter their heart and mind. In the end one will discover God loves him or her just as he or she is.

“During a cursillo we want an individual to have three essential encounters – with self, Christ, and others,” said Aguillon. “We want every man or woman to experience God’s grace, not the people who present the weekend.”

The post cursillo is the person following Christ through authentic action and evangelization. Aguillon said if your sponsor is not there to help you, the environment can draw you back to where you were before you experienced the cursillo.

Jim Duff is part of the secretariat working to see if there is enough interest for a cursillo. He was a civilian working for the Army and in the Army Reserves assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division in Seoul, South Korea. He was sponsored by a person in California for a cursillo, but left for Korea. He and his wife, although they were Protestant, would attend Mass with their friends.

“One day I started thinking about cursillo, and I was in a man’s office talking business,” said Duff. “It just came to me and I said, ‘I want to talk about Jesus.’ We pushed our work aside. I don’t know what a cursillo is. He said, ‘You came to the right place. I am the lay director for the military cursillo and I will sponsor you to a weekend.’

“I am Catholic today because I went to that cursillo weekend,” said Duff. “I have been involved in the Cursillo Movement ever since. I was so impressed by the Catholic liturgy, I decided to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and I become baptized.”