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?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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?
The Fourth Day
The Cursillo Movement does not want the joy and enthusiasm that the three-day weekend stirs in the hearts of the new Cursillistas to be lost or go to waste, letting it lapse into merely pious practices that rob individuals of their human qualities.
What the Post-Cursillo seeks above all else is for each person to be himself or herself; and that each one try to continue their journey of self-discovery, living their lives in thanksgiving to God for their gifts; and offering up to Him their limitations, both of which are often revealed in the challenging life circumstances that each person must bear.
The internalization of the Grace that a person consciously lives, or wishes to live, or pains him or her not to be able to live, is deepened by his or her personal reflection and frequent, lively and friendly contact with the brothers and sisters. Thus, he or she becomes more fully a person, and discovers within him or her self that Christ that is alive, normal and nearby – that Christ which all Christians are called to make transparent in their lives.
Eduardo Bonnín
· What do you see in this brief excerpt from Eduardo Bonnín on how he envisioned the purpose of the Fourth Day or Post-Cursillo that is different from how you have perceived it up to now?
· How, according to Bonnín here, is Christ best made transparent in the life of the ordinary Christian?
What the Post-Cursillo seeks above all else is for each person to be himself or herself; and that each one try to continue their journey of self-discovery, living their lives in thanksgiving to God for their gifts; and offering up to Him their limitations, both of which are often revealed in the challenging life circumstances that each person must bear.
The internalization of the Grace that a person consciously lives, or wishes to live, or pains him or her not to be able to live, is deepened by his or her personal reflection and frequent, lively and friendly contact with the brothers and sisters. Thus, he or she becomes more fully a person, and discovers within him or her self that Christ that is alive, normal and nearby – that Christ which all Christians are called to make transparent in their lives.
Eduardo Bonnín
· What do you see in this brief excerpt from Eduardo Bonnín on how he envisioned the purpose of the Fourth Day or Post-Cursillo that is different from how you have perceived it up to now?
· How, according to Bonnín here, is Christ best made transparent in the life of the ordinary Christian?
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