Cursillo

 My Cursillo Experience

 

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

    The dictionary definition would say that the Cursillo is a method of Christian renewal based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to give doctrinal foundation and spiritual structure, and was originated by a group of laymen, assisted by Bishop Hervas y Benet, on the island of Mallorca, Spain, on January 7, 1949.

      

    All that is true and yet like everything that the Holy Spirit does, one has to to truly experience it to understand the tsunami of God's love that flows lavishly converting even the most sceptical and the practising" Catholic into truly the person who God's intended to be. It's an ineffable even indescribable joy but it sets the soul on fire like only the Holy Spirit can.

 

Purpose:

    A cursillo (short for Cursillos de Cristiandad,  which translates to “short courses in Christianity”) is an official Catholic evangelization movement centered on a brief 3-day-weekend for an intensive guided experience of Christian faith. 

    Its purpose is not simply to teach information, but to invite conversion of heart and a renewed relationship with Christ. then carry that faith into everyday life. 

    True, true but I'll say the cursillo is a great way to recognise the call of the Good Shepherd and discover what exactly he wants of you, no matter where you are your faith journey.

Structure:

The Cursillo adheres strictly to Catholic teachings to expose the candidate to God's infinite and unconditional love through a three-day course, presented by a team of priests and laypeople who have successfully completed a previous Crusillo. 

A typical Cursillo is not a "silent retreat" but is it is very interactive using various tools like:

•  15 Talks: A talk or rollo is best understood as a personal and practical presentation of a specific aspect of Christian faith that invites reflection and response. They are very carefully laid out to build on each others like a staircase to Heaven.
• Table discussions and posters: are usually ways to help participants reflect on a rollo and share what they are taking from it. The deeper purpose is reflection, witness, and communion, not producing the “right” answer or making the most impressive poster. The cardinal rule is "what is said on the table stays on the table", so unfortunately I can't tell you why this is such a cathartic experience.
• Prayers: These are the source of strength for Christian life and witness, so there is ample time for personal reflective prayer, Communal prayer including Holy Mass, Reconciliation, and Reflections; Marian devotion since the most BVM (Blessed Virgin Mother, the beloved Mother of Christ) is the patron of cursillistas; Intercessory prayer where participants pray for the intentions in written in the book and for one another. 

Redwood cathedral protecting the statue of the most BVM 

 

     What they don't tell you is the grounds of St Clare Retreat Center is built on amazing sacred grounds far from the madding crowds -  statue of the most BMV set amongst a veritable Redwood Cathedral with trees 60 feet tall planted in a tight circle leading up to Heaven. Or the evocative Via Dolorosa aka Way of the Cross cut into the steep hillside under wide open skies.

Each day had a theme - trust, faith, hope and love (The greatest of all these is love - 1 Corinthians 13); and included talks or 'rollos' on 5 different aspects of our Catholic faith through reflections, talks with table discussion and poster making, daily Mass, and a meditation each morning and evening.

Team members and their roles:

    Sponsor: In a cursillo, a sponsor has to be a crusillista and is generally the person who invites or accompanies the candidate considering the weekend and helps them answer any questions or doubts about the Cursillo. In my community, the sponsor picks up the candidate for dinner before driving together to the retreat. The sponsor is also the liaison between the family of the candidate and the candidate doing the retreat, because he/she remains incommunicado for the entire period, as no electronic devices, computers, phones, tablets or watches are allowed. The sponsor also sets up the table for the candidate, the family and friends during the community celebratory dinner on Sunday night.

    Again all this is pretty correct but none of it meant much till my sponsor John Huân Vũ  walked this road with me and what an inspiration he has turned out to be. Good bless to MBIC (my brother in Christ), John.

Retreat Director: The director of a particular Cursillo weekend is elected by consensus, since this person sets the theme and content of the entire retreat; selecting, assigning and coordinating the tasks of the support team; and is ultimately the one responsible for the weekend’s preparation and activities.

    Right, but wait till you meet my retreat director Nick Soffiotto, who is not only a veteran crusillista and Kairos member, and a killer chef but also an inspirational leader, who should seriously consider investing in Kleenex if only to get cash back for all the boxes he made us run through with his stories straight from his heart.

Support team: is made of volunteer crusillita selected by the retreat director who prepare by meeting once a week for 14 weeks rehearsing roles, talks and discussions so that during the retreat everything moves like clockwork. As it turned out, 19 candidates, including yours truly, were well cared for, 3 full meals a day, coffee and snacks, time on our own for prayer and reflection. We had a priest and a deacon with us the whole weekend, a Music team, Liturgy team, and Rollo team - in all 41 volunteers waiting on us hand and foot. God bless the cooks, who get up as early as 4:30 am to prepare for the each day and often go to sleep long after the candidates are in bed.

 

De Colores - the Cursillo anthem

“De Colores” became closely associated with Cursillo because its bright, joyful imagery fits the movement’s celebration of Christian life: encountering Christ, receiving new life through grace, and sharing that joy with others. Pope Paul VI once described the Cursillo ideal using an image of replacing sin’s darkness with “the vivid colours of grace” and bringing the light of faith into the world. That resonates strongly with the song’s imagery. The song also works as a communal expression of Cursillo’s spirit. Cursillo emphasizes friendship with Christ, joyful witness, and carrying the Gospel into everyday life; the song’s upbeat, memorable refrain can help a group express that shared enthusiasm and fellowship. 

What comes after the retreat: 

An Ultreya is a gathering of Cursillistas—a time to encourage one another in living the Christian life after the three-day Cursillo. Candidates who complete the cursillo retreat are called cursillistas, and are encouraged to meet monthly with the larger community after the initial program in what is called the ultreya  to pray, share their experiences, and plan apostolic action.
 

Fourth Day groups are small gatherings that help Cursillistas continue living their faith after the three-day weekend. Members encourage one another through prayer, sharing their Christian lives, and fraternal support as they try to follow Christ in everyday life. Pope John Paul II described the “Fourth Day” as lasting for the rest of one’s life, during which Cursillistas are to help one another persevere through example, encouragement, and prayer.  

 

My Own Crusillo Experience 

Who Do YOU That Say I AM?

My Cursillo weekend was led by Retreat rector Nick Soffiotto who selected the theme "Who Do YOU That Say I AM" based on Matthew 16:13-16 and was held from Thursday evening 10/15 through Sunday afternoon 10/18 at St. Claire's Retreat Center in Soquel CA, ensconced in the wooded Santa Cruz mountains.

 

Check out our Cursillo theme song "You Are I Am" – by Sanctus Real

 

Significance of the phrase "I AM", from the theme of my cursillo:

The theme of our cursillo weekend was "Who do you that say that I am?" in relation to the question that Jesus asked his Apostles after the public thought he was Elijah or one of the prophets or John the Baptist come back from the dead.  

Peter correctly answers that is Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, God's one and only son. Jesus is the I AM [Matthew 16:13-16]

God the Father is "I AM"
In Genesis 3:14, God commands Moses to return to Egypt to bring the Jews out of bondage, and when Moses asks God’s name, God replies, “I am who I am”. Then he added: This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.

The Catechism explains that this name teaches that God alone is the fullness of being: he has no beginning or end and depends on nothing else for his existence.

So the phrase “I am” is more than a name that identifies God. It is a symbol that points to who God is: the eternal, uncreated source of all that exists. The phrase "I AM" also expresses mystery—God reveals himself, yet he is not something we can fully contain or explain. In revealing this name, God makes himself known and enters into relationships with his people. Pope Benedict XVI describes God’s naming himself as making it possible for people to call upon him and relate to him.

Jesus, his only begotten son, is "I AM"
In John 8:58, Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am”. The Catechism highlights this as evidence of Jesus's divine identity. Jesus is simultaneously fully God and fully Man, agan something we cannot fully understand or explain.

St Pope John Paul II explains that, by applying the expression "I AM" to himself, Jesus makes God’s name his own and shows that eternity enters humanity through the Crucifixion, where God’s saving love is fully revealed.

Fun fact: God reveals his identity in Genesis 3.14 - which you might recognise as PI or 22/7, a transcendental number, a term used for a number whose decimal expansion never ends and never settles into a repeating pattern. Pi (3.14159...) goes on forever with no repeating pattern - that's not coincidence but coinciGOD

Interested? Contact a comment with your contact information.

As the Cursillo saying goes, Make a Friend • Be a Friend • Bring a Friend to Christ.
 

The Spring 2028 Cursillo weekends will be on

• April 8 -11, 2027 (Women’s)
• April 22-25, 2027 (Men’s) 

 There will be similar session in Fall 2027.