John Drew, St. Michael and All Angels, Millbrook
There have been 222 Cursillo programs in Alabama and we have about 8000 Cursillistas or graduated pilgrims. Cursillo is a three day, lay-led, ministry-leadership focused Christian retreat that in my opinion, is the most fun, most poignant, most invigorating, life-changing, faith-affirming, M&M infused experience ever.
Frankly, I didn’t expect to need or even particularly like Cursillo, but here’s what happened. After being shepherded through a weekend by really nice people who were hell-bent (can I say that?) on just showing me the love of God, I came away more myself and who God created me to be. I felt acknowledged and known and accepted as a child of God. In fact, I came away from Cursillo like the Samaritan Woman at the well—she too was acknowledged, known, and accepted. And like the woman at the well, I couldn’t wait to go tell everyone I bumped into about the love of God.
I’ll tell you what it’s not. Cursillo is not a newcomers orientation class on steroids. It is not a crash course on how to be a better Christian. It is not an exclusive weekend with folks who think they have it all figured out. This is an encounter with real people of faith doing real things with their faith. These are people, like you and me, who are sharing their experience of grace in a non-threatening, hospitable, gracious way.
Over those three days, Cursillo gave me an opportunity to examine my walk with God and equipped me with a set of tools to help me think about where I was on that walk and how to make changes. It woke up childlike feelings—an eagerness and sense of wonder and appreciation—and helped me to realize that God truly loves me—faults and all. I also realized it is not enough to say I love him back, I felt a need to show my love for God in all I do.
So, technically, there are a lot of talks and small group discussions and singing and good food, and there are a few lovely surprises. The weekends are held 5 times a year the last one was in April and then next will be in June.
Cursillo is really about what happens when the weekend is over. We call it the Fourth day. It’s about taking what we experienced and building on it with a rule of life. I learned I need to stay connected and close to people who know God’s love and grace. Cursillo taught us to do that with a reunion group, mine is here today with me. We follow the rule of life cards, we study, and we serve, and we are alert to the close encounters with Christ in our daily life. By staying active in a reunion group we are able to help hold each other accountable and stay committed to this life of faith.
Somebody you all know well tends to say, that “If it’s not about Love it is not about God.” If you take anything from my talk today, know that Cursillo is about God’s love and how it impacts all of us.