To live an authentic life is to become fully yourself. To be holy is to become fully the person God created you to be. The authentic life, responding to God’s call to live a holy life, and our essential purpose are one and the same.
More than eighteen hundred years ago, Saint Irenaeus (c. 130-200) wrote, “The glory of God is the perfection of the creature.” We do not give glory to God by presenting ourselves at Mass on Sunday, sitting in the back, paying no attention, and believing that we will have our names ticked off in some divine attendance book that exists only in our minds. We do not give glory to God by falling before his altar helplessly and hopelessly to beg him to make right what we have set wrong, or what God has given us the ability and responsibility to make right ourselves. Nor do we give God glory by masking our rejection of his gentle but ever-present call with the occasional good deed, mindless prayer, or charitable contribution.
“The glory of God is the perfection of the creature.” The human person is perfected by the grace of God through the conscious, disciplined, and persistent attainment of virtue. But the grace of God is never lacking, so it is our conscious, disciplined, and persistent effort that is the key to a richer and more abundant future for humanity. This disciplined striving for virtue is an indispensable characteristic of the authentic life.
It is important to understand that the perfection that God calls us to is not some type of robotic perfection. If you asked a kindergarten class to draw and color a perfect tree, they would use hard, straight lines and bright colors. No such tree exists. But there are lots of perfect trees. Their crookedness is part of their perfection; the defects in your character are not part of your best self.
In the Gospel of Matthew we read, “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” What did Jesus mean when he spoke of perfection? The word perfect used here, in Matthew 5:48, means “whole and complete.”
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul writes, “This is the will of God: that you be saints.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) God wants you to be holy. Your holiness is the desire of God, the delight of God, and the source of your happiness. To embrace who you were created to be and to become the-best-version-of-yourself is God’s dream for you. Therefore, holiness is for everyone, not just for a select few, for monks in monasteries and nuns in convents; it is for you and me.
Your daily tasks have spiritual value. You don’t work just for money. When you work hard and pay attention to the details of your job, you cooperate with God as he transforms your soul. In this way your work helps you to become more fully yourself. It is also a way to love your neighbor and make a contribution to society. In the same way, washing the dishes can be as much a prayer as praying the rosary. Each task, each hour offered to God is transformed into prayer. And in all these ways you give glory to God through your daily work.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
“The more fully a person we become, the holier we are. The holier we are the more fully a person we become.” - Eduardo Bonnín
“I said to the almond tree, Friend, speak to me of God, and the almond tree blossomed.” - Nikos Kazantzakis in “Report to Greco”
1. What are we here for? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is your essential purpose? In other words, what is the goal of the Christian life?
2. What is holiness? How do you understand it? And, how does Matthew Kelly explain this?
Monday, February 27, 2012
THE EXAMPLE OF TEAMWORK OF WILD GEESE
• Geese fly in a V-shaped formation because it allows them to advance more easily. Each bird flies slightly above the bird in front, benefiting from the air lift produced by the bird ahead, thereby reducing wind resistance. Birds that fly in formation beat their wings less frequently and glide more often thus reducing energy expenditure by 71% when compared to birds that fly alone.
• Geese that separate themselves from the group soon discover how much more difficult it is to fly alone and immediately return to the group.
• When the leader (the one that goes at the head of the formation and takes the greatest risk) is tired, it moves back and another bird takes the lead.
• Flying in formation also makes it easy to keep track of every bird in the group and assists with communication and coordination within the group. Geese produce noises from the back both to encourage the ones at the front and to maintain their speed during flight.
• When a bird is sick or is hurt and falls, two other geese go with it and keep it company, to provide help and protection. The companions stay with the sick or injured bird until it recovers or dies.
DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Leaders School, February 17, 2012
1. Unless they have lost their instinctive sense of purpose and direction, wild geese know where they are headed and what they want to achieve. In view of our essential purpose and charism, how does this description of the “teamwork” of geese in flight resonate as you reflect on the type of teamwork that we have or need to have in the Cursillos in Christianity Movement?
2. What attitudes and behavior do you see both in team preparation and during the three-day weekend that impede the sort of “teamwork” needed to achieve the God given purpose of Cursillos?
• Geese that separate themselves from the group soon discover how much more difficult it is to fly alone and immediately return to the group.
• When the leader (the one that goes at the head of the formation and takes the greatest risk) is tired, it moves back and another bird takes the lead.
• Flying in formation also makes it easy to keep track of every bird in the group and assists with communication and coordination within the group. Geese produce noises from the back both to encourage the ones at the front and to maintain their speed during flight.
• When a bird is sick or is hurt and falls, two other geese go with it and keep it company, to provide help and protection. The companions stay with the sick or injured bird until it recovers or dies.
DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Leaders School, February 17, 2012
1. Unless they have lost their instinctive sense of purpose and direction, wild geese know where they are headed and what they want to achieve. In view of our essential purpose and charism, how does this description of the “teamwork” of geese in flight resonate as you reflect on the type of teamwork that we have or need to have in the Cursillos in Christianity Movement?
2. What attitudes and behavior do you see both in team preparation and during the three-day weekend that impede the sort of “teamwork” needed to achieve the God given purpose of Cursillos?
ELEMENTS OF A TEAM What is needed to make a team?
In teams some conditions are necessary to guarantee its correct function. The most important are the following:
COMMON OBJECTIVE
The teams establish the fixed goals between all of them, so they have clarified what to do, when and why.
RELAXED ATMOSPHERE
It is very important for the team that people who form part of it have a common goal, where communication is open and the atmosphere is relaxed and positive for everyone. It is evident that conflicts and disagreements will surface; in fact, sometimes they are necessary to achieve a fuller rapport among the team members. Nevertheless, these conflicts must be overcome. For this reason, in a team, the person leading must pay attention to the aspects that favor and allow the development of interpersonal relationships in the group.
COHESION AND TEAM SPIRIT
The goals achieved must be the result of the involvement of every member of the team. Collaboration makes it possible to resolve problems more easily and find quicker and more effective solutions. Team members must understand that working together they will reach their goal sooner and better than individually.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE GOALS
Every person integrating the team must know and share the goals and objectives of the team from the beginning. The work as well as the roles of each person involved in the process must be clearly defined.
TASK DELEGATION
Though it has been said previously that each person in the team must be clear about his/her role, it will also be necessary to delegate tasks whenever the situation requires it. People in the team need to be flexible and carry out different tasks with the aim of optimizing the coordination of individual efforts.
GOOD COMMUNICATION
Communication is the foundation of good teamwork; there needs to be open and sincere communication among the members of the team. Each person must have the freedom to express his/her opinion and feel that they are taken in account by others. In a good team, one can breathe in the air the freedom to express one’s opinions and acceptance by all in the group.
ADVANTAGES OF TEAM WORK:
• More information: more contributions and differences, more creativity
• More resources to organize, delegate, coordinate and manage
• More alternatives: higher probability of finding solutions
• Security: Less objective risk in decision making
• Communication and comprehension: More direct communications and, consequently, a greater probability of improving understanding
• Motivation: A good opportunity to motivate, as there is greater participation in the decisions made
• Ownership and Acceptance: Increased probability of ownership and greater acceptance of objectives, strategies, organization, coordination and management
DISADVANTAGES:
• Conflict between personal interests and those of the group or the temptation of following one’s interests instead of the group’s
• Conflicts and disagreements: Greater probability of disagreements and specific conflicts; the risk of interpersonal, emotional conflict
• Pressure from the opinions of the person who leads the team: Greater pressure from leadership that may distort the information received by the group
• Over-evaluation of the group and a sense of omnipotence and invulnerability: An exaggerated sense of the high probability of success and insignificant possibilities of failure
• Closed Mentality and a sense of self-reliance accompanied by many stereotypes about other teams (or movements)
• Pressure from the group to conformity, unanimity, premature consensus and a rejection of dissent and criticism. Efforts are not directed toward the search for the best solution, but rather remain with those that have the greatest support or acceptance, inhibiting opposing opinions even to the point of diluting individual responsibility or personal judgment.
COMMON OBJECTIVE
The teams establish the fixed goals between all of them, so they have clarified what to do, when and why.
RELAXED ATMOSPHERE
It is very important for the team that people who form part of it have a common goal, where communication is open and the atmosphere is relaxed and positive for everyone. It is evident that conflicts and disagreements will surface; in fact, sometimes they are necessary to achieve a fuller rapport among the team members. Nevertheless, these conflicts must be overcome. For this reason, in a team, the person leading must pay attention to the aspects that favor and allow the development of interpersonal relationships in the group.
COHESION AND TEAM SPIRIT
The goals achieved must be the result of the involvement of every member of the team. Collaboration makes it possible to resolve problems more easily and find quicker and more effective solutions. Team members must understand that working together they will reach their goal sooner and better than individually.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE GOALS
Every person integrating the team must know and share the goals and objectives of the team from the beginning. The work as well as the roles of each person involved in the process must be clearly defined.
TASK DELEGATION
Though it has been said previously that each person in the team must be clear about his/her role, it will also be necessary to delegate tasks whenever the situation requires it. People in the team need to be flexible and carry out different tasks with the aim of optimizing the coordination of individual efforts.
GOOD COMMUNICATION
Communication is the foundation of good teamwork; there needs to be open and sincere communication among the members of the team. Each person must have the freedom to express his/her opinion and feel that they are taken in account by others. In a good team, one can breathe in the air the freedom to express one’s opinions and acceptance by all in the group.
ADVANTAGES OF TEAM WORK:
• More information: more contributions and differences, more creativity
• More resources to organize, delegate, coordinate and manage
• More alternatives: higher probability of finding solutions
• Security: Less objective risk in decision making
• Communication and comprehension: More direct communications and, consequently, a greater probability of improving understanding
• Motivation: A good opportunity to motivate, as there is greater participation in the decisions made
• Ownership and Acceptance: Increased probability of ownership and greater acceptance of objectives, strategies, organization, coordination and management
DISADVANTAGES:
• Conflict between personal interests and those of the group or the temptation of following one’s interests instead of the group’s
• Conflicts and disagreements: Greater probability of disagreements and specific conflicts; the risk of interpersonal, emotional conflict
• Pressure from the opinions of the person who leads the team: Greater pressure from leadership that may distort the information received by the group
• Over-evaluation of the group and a sense of omnipotence and invulnerability: An exaggerated sense of the high probability of success and insignificant possibilities of failure
• Closed Mentality and a sense of self-reliance accompanied by many stereotypes about other teams (or movements)
• Pressure from the group to conformity, unanimity, premature consensus and a rejection of dissent and criticism. Efforts are not directed toward the search for the best solution, but rather remain with those that have the greatest support or acceptance, inhibiting opposing opinions even to the point of diluting individual responsibility or personal judgment.
Monday, September 20, 2010
You Will Be My Witnesses – Part II
LEADER’S SCHOOL – SEPTEMBER 17, 2010
Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez
on the Christian Mission to Evangelize and Proclaim Jesus Christ
To lead men and women to the God who speaks in the Bible, to the God who has shown his face to us in Jesus Christ! This must be our highest priority, too, my brothers and sisters. There can be nothing more urgent to our mission as the Church of [Los Angeles]. This must be the measure by which we judge everything we do. (Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, You will be my witnesses, no. 18)
1. We need “a new evangelization of culture”: This is a complex subject that requires diligent study and planning, especially by lay people in many fields of culture, to identify challenges and find new means to make the mystery of Christ’s salvation understood in our culture today… We must start where Christ started. As individuals and as a Church, our evangelization should always announce good news to the poor, recovering of sight to the blind, release to those in captivity, liberty to the oppressed, and the time of the Lord’s grace and favor. We must proclaim the Gospel as liberation, as the truth that sets men and women free from the bondage of sin and death.
2. In terms of evangelization, we need to understand that [the] new digital media have their own logic, their own values, and their own “psychology” [which have “anthropological implications”]. (Ibid, no. 23)
3. [Despite the dangers] I do see great possibilities in the new social networking technologies to promote conversation about God and to share our love for Christ. The popularity of these new forms of communication reflects an intense desire for immediacy and contact; for friendship, connections, and community. These are desires that can be fulfilled, ultimately, only by Christ, in the communion we find with him his Church. (Ibid, no. 24)
4. Christianity has always been spread by ordinary men and women, in ordinary and everyday circumstances… By our proclamation, by our words and the witness of our daily lives, the people we come in contact with should know that we are “with Jesus.” They should know that we are living for Jesus and with Jesus and that we want to share the joy of this way of life with everyone. (Ibid, no. 27)
5. [We live in an age of religious relativism; how do we witness to Jesus?] I have always admired the approach taken by Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta. She was able to share her faith in the most beautiful way in a culture where Christianity was a tiny minority. Mother Theresa would say: “I love all religions but I am in love with my own. Naturally I would like to give the treasure I have to you, but I cannot. I can only pray for you to receive it. (Ibid, no. 28)
a. What do we understand to be our culture? In what way is this what we mean by our environments?
b. In spite of all the technology we use to evangelize why is it still essential to continue evangelizing one person at a time?
Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez
on the Christian Mission to Evangelize and Proclaim Jesus Christ
To lead men and women to the God who speaks in the Bible, to the God who has shown his face to us in Jesus Christ! This must be our highest priority, too, my brothers and sisters. There can be nothing more urgent to our mission as the Church of [Los Angeles]. This must be the measure by which we judge everything we do. (Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, You will be my witnesses, no. 18)
1. We need “a new evangelization of culture”: This is a complex subject that requires diligent study and planning, especially by lay people in many fields of culture, to identify challenges and find new means to make the mystery of Christ’s salvation understood in our culture today… We must start where Christ started. As individuals and as a Church, our evangelization should always announce good news to the poor, recovering of sight to the blind, release to those in captivity, liberty to the oppressed, and the time of the Lord’s grace and favor. We must proclaim the Gospel as liberation, as the truth that sets men and women free from the bondage of sin and death.
2. In terms of evangelization, we need to understand that [the] new digital media have their own logic, their own values, and their own “psychology” [which have “anthropological implications”]. (Ibid, no. 23)
3. [Despite the dangers] I do see great possibilities in the new social networking technologies to promote conversation about God and to share our love for Christ. The popularity of these new forms of communication reflects an intense desire for immediacy and contact; for friendship, connections, and community. These are desires that can be fulfilled, ultimately, only by Christ, in the communion we find with him his Church. (Ibid, no. 24)
4. Christianity has always been spread by ordinary men and women, in ordinary and everyday circumstances… By our proclamation, by our words and the witness of our daily lives, the people we come in contact with should know that we are “with Jesus.” They should know that we are living for Jesus and with Jesus and that we want to share the joy of this way of life with everyone. (Ibid, no. 27)
5. [We live in an age of religious relativism; how do we witness to Jesus?] I have always admired the approach taken by Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta. She was able to share her faith in the most beautiful way in a culture where Christianity was a tiny minority. Mother Theresa would say: “I love all religions but I am in love with my own. Naturally I would like to give the treasure I have to you, but I cannot. I can only pray for you to receive it. (Ibid, no. 28)
a. What do we understand to be our culture? In what way is this what we mean by our environments?
b. In spite of all the technology we use to evangelize why is it still essential to continue evangelizing one person at a time?
You Will Be My Witnesses
LEADER’S SCHOOL – SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez
on the Christian Mission to Evangelize and Proclaim Jesus Christ
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)
We exist for the praise of God’s glory. This is the true purpose of our lives. How often do we think about this? We have many responsibilities in our families, in our work, in our neighborhoods and communities. But what we are truly here to do is to give praise to God. These things are meant to go hand-in-hand. We are meant to praise God throughout all the days of our lives, in the midst of all the things we do that fill our days… In another place St. Paul writes: “Through [Christ], let us continually offer sacrifice of praise to God.” (Heb. 13:15) Everything we do is meant to be a sacrifice, something that we offer to God, to thank him and praise him.
We praise God for the blessings he has bestowed upon us, for the gift of life, the gift of faith, and the promise of eternal life. We should praise him every time we pray. But we are also called to talk about God to our family, neighbors, friends, and co-workers. God wants us to tell others about Jesus Christ, in whom we see the face of our Father and experience his love and tender mercy in our lives.
This is the Mission that Jesus Christ gave to his Church. In the Acts of the Apostles, the last words that Jesus speaks to his disciples are these: You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Today more than ever, Christ needs witnesses. He needs disciples who know and love him to testify to the truth of his living presence among us. To testify to the Good News that this troubled world of ours has a Savior. (Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, You will be my witnesses, no. 2)
… To know Jesus Christ and his love causes us to want to share that knowledge and love with everyone we meet. To be reconciled with the Father and to know ourselves as his beloved children fills us with the desire to tell the whole world of the gift of his salvation. (Ibid, no. 4)
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, lay people are given the “duty … to work so that the divine message of salvation may be know and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is all the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ.” (CCC, no. 900)
The apostolic preaching did more than create individual converts to Christ. The encounter with Christ was always an encounter with his Church. The proclamation of Christ aimed to bring men and women into communion with Christ in his Church through the power of the Sacraments. (Ibid, no 7)
As lay believers possessed of a “priestly soul”, your primary mission is in the world, not inside the sanctuary of the church or inside a Church office. Your first duty remains to heed the commission every one of us receives at the end of every Mass – to go out into the world to love and serve our Lord. (Ibid no 11)
The task before us is not easy. The culture we are called to evangelize is in many ways more hostile to the Gospel than that faced by…America’s first evangelists… We are called to proclaim Christ in a “de-Christianized” culture, a culture in which powerful interests have been at work for some decades now, patiently erasing the influence and memory of our nation’s Christian heritage from our laws and public policies, from our arts and literature, from our schools and media, our language and customs, from our entire life. The result of this deliberate strategy of secularization is that more and more of our brothers and sisters today live without any awareness of their need for God. Even believers face the stark reality that in order to participate in the economic, political, and social life of our country, we are increasingly compelled to conduct ourselves as if God does not exist. (Ibid, no. 17)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How do the thoughts of Archbishop Gomez on the mission of the Church and specifically that of the laity fit into our own understanding in Cursillos? Please, discuss and explain in depth.
2. How do the challenges that Archbishop Gomez identifies above find concrete expression in your own life? Please, give and share specific examples of this. How were you able to face those challenges?
Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez
on the Christian Mission to Evangelize and Proclaim Jesus Christ
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)
We exist for the praise of God’s glory. This is the true purpose of our lives. How often do we think about this? We have many responsibilities in our families, in our work, in our neighborhoods and communities. But what we are truly here to do is to give praise to God. These things are meant to go hand-in-hand. We are meant to praise God throughout all the days of our lives, in the midst of all the things we do that fill our days… In another place St. Paul writes: “Through [Christ], let us continually offer sacrifice of praise to God.” (Heb. 13:15) Everything we do is meant to be a sacrifice, something that we offer to God, to thank him and praise him.
We praise God for the blessings he has bestowed upon us, for the gift of life, the gift of faith, and the promise of eternal life. We should praise him every time we pray. But we are also called to talk about God to our family, neighbors, friends, and co-workers. God wants us to tell others about Jesus Christ, in whom we see the face of our Father and experience his love and tender mercy in our lives.
This is the Mission that Jesus Christ gave to his Church. In the Acts of the Apostles, the last words that Jesus speaks to his disciples are these: You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Today more than ever, Christ needs witnesses. He needs disciples who know and love him to testify to the truth of his living presence among us. To testify to the Good News that this troubled world of ours has a Savior. (Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, You will be my witnesses, no. 2)
… To know Jesus Christ and his love causes us to want to share that knowledge and love with everyone we meet. To be reconciled with the Father and to know ourselves as his beloved children fills us with the desire to tell the whole world of the gift of his salvation. (Ibid, no. 4)
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, lay people are given the “duty … to work so that the divine message of salvation may be know and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is all the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ.” (CCC, no. 900)
The apostolic preaching did more than create individual converts to Christ. The encounter with Christ was always an encounter with his Church. The proclamation of Christ aimed to bring men and women into communion with Christ in his Church through the power of the Sacraments. (Ibid, no 7)
As lay believers possessed of a “priestly soul”, your primary mission is in the world, not inside the sanctuary of the church or inside a Church office. Your first duty remains to heed the commission every one of us receives at the end of every Mass – to go out into the world to love and serve our Lord. (Ibid no 11)
The task before us is not easy. The culture we are called to evangelize is in many ways more hostile to the Gospel than that faced by…America’s first evangelists… We are called to proclaim Christ in a “de-Christianized” culture, a culture in which powerful interests have been at work for some decades now, patiently erasing the influence and memory of our nation’s Christian heritage from our laws and public policies, from our arts and literature, from our schools and media, our language and customs, from our entire life. The result of this deliberate strategy of secularization is that more and more of our brothers and sisters today live without any awareness of their need for God. Even believers face the stark reality that in order to participate in the economic, political, and social life of our country, we are increasingly compelled to conduct ourselves as if God does not exist. (Ibid, no. 17)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How do the thoughts of Archbishop Gomez on the mission of the Church and specifically that of the laity fit into our own understanding in Cursillos? Please, discuss and explain in depth.
2. How do the challenges that Archbishop Gomez identifies above find concrete expression in your own life? Please, give and share specific examples of this. How were you able to face those challenges?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Ideological Foundations
This is the name we give to the ideas that preceded the preparation of the Cursillos in Christianity Movement, which constitute its fundamental lines of development, and that at the same time explain its emergence.
A TRIUMPHANT CONCEPT OF CHRISTIANITY
That is to say, to have the absolute certainty that Christianity is the solution to all human problems. There is no other name but that of Jesus by whom we may be saved. (Cf. Acts 4:12) St. Paul is the prototype of this view.
Contrasting View: All who believe ourselves to be saviors on our own, or by the use of force, or institutions, or cleverness or any other means; every pessimistic, sad, or bitter view of the problem.
A DYNAMIC VIEW OF CATHOLICISM
a. Not only do we have the answer, we must communicate it.
b. To standstill is to move backward. It is an ascetic vision; the pilgrim’s vision; to move constantly from reality to Ideal; from the person that is to the person that can be.
Contrasting View: Every bourgeois, static, conformist, ineffective attitude.
THE APOSTOLATE IS VIEWED AS A REQUIREMENT OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
Not superabundance, not an organization or a structure, rather a living organism as distant from the bureaucratic armor as it is from the self-sufficient elite.
Contrasting View: Only “X” and “Z” are fit for the Apostolate. All the rest are part of the contemptible masses.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF TODAY’S MEN AND WOMEN
An understanding of the problems and concerns of people today – a lived, experience and not book learned knowledge. It is an understanding grasped from living with the mass to which the leaven of Christ needs to bring life.
Contrasting View: Every class based, or sheltered or speculative type of “Catholicism” (?).
AN ATTITUDE OF DISSATISFACTION
That is forthright, honest, and full of anticipation – a source of ever greater accomplishments. A perpetual openness to improvement. A revision of one’s own methods. (“Nothing is ever so good that it can’t be better”)
Contrasting View: It’s Ok as it is! Don’t complicate things!
A CONVICTION ABOUT THE ANSWER
That it is truly possible for those who live on the periphery of the religious to be floored by grace and to be perfectly able to surrender to Christ – as long as Christ is presented as He truly is, and always taking into consideration their individual freedom. It was a FIRM HOPE that if this experience (of grace) was made real, the same thing would happen as always happens: the Mary Magdalenes and the Zacchaeuses would become Jesus’ most dynamic apostles.
AN EFFORT TO FIND A METHOD
That was concretely feasible, based on apostolic processes, that would take into account the problems and needs of each person so as to solve them at their very root.
THE CONVICTION THAT THE SOLUTION HAD TO BE SIMPLE AND UNIVERSAL
And, consequently, Catholic… In Cursillos one would have to live an effective Catholicity; and, consequently, all types of persons, of every race, class, etc – no matter how distant their respective backgrounds or points of departure – would need to come together in everything that took place in a Cursillo.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Do you see how these underlying ideas are reflected in what we do and say in Cursillos? If so, give some examples.
2. Do you believe that we sometimes diverge from these foundational ideas of Cursillos? How? What have been the consequences?
A TRIUMPHANT CONCEPT OF CHRISTIANITY
That is to say, to have the absolute certainty that Christianity is the solution to all human problems. There is no other name but that of Jesus by whom we may be saved. (Cf. Acts 4:12) St. Paul is the prototype of this view.
Contrasting View: All who believe ourselves to be saviors on our own, or by the use of force, or institutions, or cleverness or any other means; every pessimistic, sad, or bitter view of the problem.
A DYNAMIC VIEW OF CATHOLICISM
a. Not only do we have the answer, we must communicate it.
b. To standstill is to move backward. It is an ascetic vision; the pilgrim’s vision; to move constantly from reality to Ideal; from the person that is to the person that can be.
Contrasting View: Every bourgeois, static, conformist, ineffective attitude.
THE APOSTOLATE IS VIEWED AS A REQUIREMENT OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
Not superabundance, not an organization or a structure, rather a living organism as distant from the bureaucratic armor as it is from the self-sufficient elite.
Contrasting View: Only “X” and “Z” are fit for the Apostolate. All the rest are part of the contemptible masses.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF TODAY’S MEN AND WOMEN
An understanding of the problems and concerns of people today – a lived, experience and not book learned knowledge. It is an understanding grasped from living with the mass to which the leaven of Christ needs to bring life.
Contrasting View: Every class based, or sheltered or speculative type of “Catholicism” (?).
AN ATTITUDE OF DISSATISFACTION
That is forthright, honest, and full of anticipation – a source of ever greater accomplishments. A perpetual openness to improvement. A revision of one’s own methods. (“Nothing is ever so good that it can’t be better”)
Contrasting View: It’s Ok as it is! Don’t complicate things!
A CONVICTION ABOUT THE ANSWER
That it is truly possible for those who live on the periphery of the religious to be floored by grace and to be perfectly able to surrender to Christ – as long as Christ is presented as He truly is, and always taking into consideration their individual freedom. It was a FIRM HOPE that if this experience (of grace) was made real, the same thing would happen as always happens: the Mary Magdalenes and the Zacchaeuses would become Jesus’ most dynamic apostles.
AN EFFORT TO FIND A METHOD
That was concretely feasible, based on apostolic processes, that would take into account the problems and needs of each person so as to solve them at their very root.
THE CONVICTION THAT THE SOLUTION HAD TO BE SIMPLE AND UNIVERSAL
And, consequently, Catholic… In Cursillos one would have to live an effective Catholicity; and, consequently, all types of persons, of every race, class, etc – no matter how distant their respective backgrounds or points of departure – would need to come together in everything that took place in a Cursillo.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Do you see how these underlying ideas are reflected in what we do and say in Cursillos? If so, give some examples.
2. Do you believe that we sometimes diverge from these foundational ideas of Cursillos? How? What have been the consequences?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Essence and Purpose of the
PART I
ESSENCE: The nature of something or its fundamental character.
PURPOSE: The end or object to be attained. Things are explained and understood better when one articulates their purpose.
The essence of Cursillos is that which is essential to being a Christian, that is:
The HEART
the CENTER
the CORE
the MOST BASIC aspect of what we call
FUNDAMENTALLY CHRISTIAN
What is “Fundamental to being a Christian”?
It is not a doctrine or a set of principles or beliefs one must learn; it is a reality that must be lived in vital connection to life itself – life as it truly is – trying to internalize the realities that aim for the summit of what is Christian, in order to embody them in our daily lives. Trying to understand and assimilate the fact that to live the Gospel is not merely to choose virtue; rather, it is an honest effort to opt always for Christ and for man.
God loves us in Christ. God loves me.
Above all else, to be a Christian is to feel one is loved by God, and to live in constant amazement at this fact. For, what is most genuinely Christian is to let oneself be loved by God.
When one actually believes and fully lives the reality of God’s love, it creates an internal attitude that spreads and becomes contagious. But, in order to grasp and experience the truth of God’s love and continue encountering Him – who is love – as He truly is, we must make an effort to stand before Him exactly as we are.
God loves each of us. God loves me! This is the most authentic truth and the greatest good of all. It is the only value that cherishes all things and never loses its value, because it considers the worth of what is beyond price – of what is truly precious; of the transformation that does not change.
God’s love is the most vital, genuine and dynamic reality. It is the motive, direction and tempo of the most effective, fullest and most humanizing self-realization.
When the reality of God’s love is grasped, understood, embodied, lived in common and shared by a person, that truth becomes categorical, clear and transparent and has the power to provoke a dynamic process that leads all things to their full potential. It propels people, events and things towards their most radical originality, towards their most boundless fullness and most dynamic creativity.
God’s love allows us to see everything through God’s eyes and, consequently, in a more optimistic, joyful and positive way. It is a new way of seeing the same everyday things. Cursillos approaches Christian life from this perspective.
That part of the solution that each person might provide must come from within, from his or her inner self, starting right now.
Those who have ears to hear are asked adopt an attitude that is coherent, practical, immediate and concrete. In other words, I must be able to attain it, starting now, this very moment. Above all else, what is sought is to adopt a positive attitude in life.
1. Please share the insights that you have personally gained with regard to what Eduardo Bonnín describes as “what is fundamental to being a Christian”?
2. In view of the discussion that took place in class: If love and forgiveness are the most Christ-like qualities – indeed the summit of what is genuinely Christian, How can I embody them in my daily life?
ESSENCE: The nature of something or its fundamental character.
PURPOSE: The end or object to be attained. Things are explained and understood better when one articulates their purpose.
The essence of Cursillos is that which is essential to being a Christian, that is:
The HEART
the CENTER
the CORE
the MOST BASIC aspect of what we call
FUNDAMENTALLY CHRISTIAN
What is “Fundamental to being a Christian”?
It is not a doctrine or a set of principles or beliefs one must learn; it is a reality that must be lived in vital connection to life itself – life as it truly is – trying to internalize the realities that aim for the summit of what is Christian, in order to embody them in our daily lives. Trying to understand and assimilate the fact that to live the Gospel is not merely to choose virtue; rather, it is an honest effort to opt always for Christ and for man.
God loves us in Christ. God loves me.
Above all else, to be a Christian is to feel one is loved by God, and to live in constant amazement at this fact. For, what is most genuinely Christian is to let oneself be loved by God.
When one actually believes and fully lives the reality of God’s love, it creates an internal attitude that spreads and becomes contagious. But, in order to grasp and experience the truth of God’s love and continue encountering Him – who is love – as He truly is, we must make an effort to stand before Him exactly as we are.
God loves each of us. God loves me! This is the most authentic truth and the greatest good of all. It is the only value that cherishes all things and never loses its value, because it considers the worth of what is beyond price – of what is truly precious; of the transformation that does not change.
God’s love is the most vital, genuine and dynamic reality. It is the motive, direction and tempo of the most effective, fullest and most humanizing self-realization.
When the reality of God’s love is grasped, understood, embodied, lived in common and shared by a person, that truth becomes categorical, clear and transparent and has the power to provoke a dynamic process that leads all things to their full potential. It propels people, events and things towards their most radical originality, towards their most boundless fullness and most dynamic creativity.
God’s love allows us to see everything through God’s eyes and, consequently, in a more optimistic, joyful and positive way. It is a new way of seeing the same everyday things. Cursillos approaches Christian life from this perspective.
That part of the solution that each person might provide must come from within, from his or her inner self, starting right now.
Those who have ears to hear are asked adopt an attitude that is coherent, practical, immediate and concrete. In other words, I must be able to attain it, starting now, this very moment. Above all else, what is sought is to adopt a positive attitude in life.
1. Please share the insights that you have personally gained with regard to what Eduardo Bonnín describes as “what is fundamental to being a Christian”?
2. In view of the discussion that took place in class: If love and forgiveness are the most Christ-like qualities – indeed the summit of what is genuinely Christian, How can I embody them in my daily life?
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