Today’s Readings Daily Readings Calendar
Cursillo had a very large impact on my faith life in particular and my life in general. It made me stop and think about my relationship with God over the course of a long weekend. And to hear others witness as to how life with and without God affected them. For those of you who are not familiar with Cursillo, the concept began in Spain in 1944. The goal was to prepare Christian leaders to guide those intending to walk the Camino de Santiago or Way of St. James. Cursillo stands for “Short Course” in Christianity. The weekend compresses lessons into 4 days, Thursday through Sunday, with a group of men or women who are also seeking to grow closer to the Lord. I highly recommend taking the time to attend a Cursillo weekend.
I attended Cursillo in 2014. A concept of the movement is what is called the “Fourth Day Community”. You are encouraged to carry the weekend forward by grouping weekly with others (Cursilistas) who have also gone through Cursillo. During this time you review your week and encourage one another in the areas of Piety, Study and Action. Our group has been meeting since we attended our weekend 8 years ago.
One member of our group is named Bob. He is, by the way, one of my biggest encouragers in my writing here at ACM. He will recognize himself and his story in this reflection. On our weekend, Bob and I were in the same small group. At one point he mentioned to the group that he did not understand why we had to go to church. Why couldn’t we just stay at home and pray to God as an individual person. Isn’t our connection with God most important, after all?
Bob wound up going to Cursillo because a neighbor of his, Jim, had gone door to door in the neighborhood inviting people to do a Cursillo weekend. Jim, who is a member of my parish, is also the person who had kept after me for 3 years to get me to go. The Holy Spirit must have been in Bob that day because he said yes to Jim without much hesitation.
So, when Bob made the comment about not having to go to church it kind of hit a nerve with me. Why can’t you just pray at home to God? Well, besides the likelihood that you won’t pray on your own, I reasoned with Bob that if Jim had made that same decision…to just stay home and pray…Bob would not be at the Cursillo weekend. Jim would not have reached out and extended community to Bob. And that is what Church (capital intended) is. Community. And James says so today in the first reading.
James tells us, if someone is suffering, pray for them. If they are in good spirits, praise God in song. If you are ill, ask the presbyters to pray over you. He also commands us to confess our sins to each other. Prayers of the righteous are powerful.
Yes, I know there is the scripture reading that says that when you pray to go to your room and lock the door. But Jesus was telling us to not make a spectacle and call attention to yourself when praying to impress others. There were of course times when he went off to be by himself to pray. As we do at times such as during adoration. But Jesus’ ministry was obviously a communal one. He chose 12 apostles. He sent out 72 disciples in groups of TWO. He preached in synagogues. It was a sermon on the MOUNT not a sermon in solitary confinement.
We are social beings. We are asked to support one another. To comfort and reach out to others when in trouble and to rejoice with each other during good times. Catholic Charities supports the homeless, provides health care, provides services during disasters, aids women in crisis pregnancies and helps to place children in adoptive families. These are a few of the many services they provide. Knights of Columbus reaches out to the needs of the parish and to the wider community. Raising funds in the parish for programs within the parish, organizing blood drives, cleaning up the roads in town, helping to run Special Olympic programs, and aiding veterans. These two groups could not accomplish a fraction of this if we were not community. Either by directly participating in their ministries or supporting them financially through the appeals of our diocese and parish.
Are churches perfect? Heck no. There is gossiping, there is hypocrisy, sinful priests, there are weak homilies and music at times. But there is ALWAYS community. Whether we just attend mass to worship or are inspired to get involved in a ministry. In all these ways we CONNECT with one another. And when we connect, we invite the Holy Spirit in. And where the Spirit is, that is where Jesus resides. It is also so neatly summarized in the Cursillo slogan: “Make a Friend, Be a Friend, Bring a Friend to Christ”
For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
