Cursillo Lincs

March 2019

We often use the saying, ‘How Time Flies.’ As I write what will be my last letter as your Lay Director, I realise that the last three years have flown by. It has been a time of challenges and joy, certainly a lot of joy. The biggest challenge started when I was LD elect. We knew we had to change our Weekend venue from The Old Palace (Edward King) as they were no longer going to offer full board facilities.

Much thought was given as to where the new venue could be. Bishop Grosseteste Univer-sity (BGU) was suggested. Stuart and Lesley accompanied me to have a look around and we felt that it was a suitable venue. Nothing was going to serve us in the same way that Edward King had with everything we needed confined in the one building.

As Ecclesiastes says there is a time for everything. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. This was our time to have to cast away from what had been our comfort zone and face a new challenge.

I admit that despite much prayer I did feel a bit apprehensive as the first weekend at BGU approached, but I needn’t have. That weekend and the following went well.

As for joys, I will never tire of hearing the Pilgrims response to the Weekend at the Clausura. They are so moving and bring tears of joy. There is also the joy of, as LD getting out to reunion groups and seeing how Cursillistas have been empowered by their weekend and taken on new roles or going into ministry training.

At the AGM in May I hand the LD baton onto Stuart Duff. Please hold Stuart in your prayers as he prepares to take over from me. There will be others who are completing their three - year term of office and we need peo-ple to take on those roles. They are Rosemary as BACC Rep, Marilyn as Pre - Weekend Rep and Kath as Safeguarding officer. Please prayerfully consider if you are able to take on any of these roles. The job descriptions are on the web page and if you have any questions contact them or myself.

I would like to say a big thank you, to you all for the support and love I have received from you during my time as LD. I have tried to serve you well and I apologies if I have failed you in anyway.

As I finish my final missive to you, I leave you with the words from a song by Gerry Tuohy, which I think captures something of Cursillo.

LAY DIRECTOR REPORT

God called forth a people and we responded to His call, ‘Rebuild this ancient ruin restore My city walls.’ He has led us day by day, as we listened to His voice, and we were fed on finest wheat, and manna from the skies.

When we started, we were strangers. we hardly knew each other’s names. Now we are brothers and sisters, and we will never be the same. Love and prayers

Sandra

Prayer for the Cursillista

Lord, help us to use our time, our talents, our lives for the building up of Your Kingdom. Instill courage into our initiatives, good judgment, in our choice of the proper means, and that determination which assures success even in times of seeming failures. Move us above all discourtesy, sensitivities and rivalries which not only discourage and divide us but lead us away from loving You and each other. Help each one strive for the gift of Your unselfish love that will encourage us to prefer the more humble tasks and rejoice in the good done by others. Lord, let all see Your attractive goodness marked on all our faces, Your warm accents in all our works and in our community, a unity and a holiness that proclaims Your living presence in our midst.

Amen.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR REPORT

Dear Fellow Cursillistas As we near the end of January I am just starting to get used to writing 2019. A new year means literally beginning a new calendar, a clean sheet, a fresh start. Sometimes it is good to say goodbye to the previous year, particularly if it has brought difficult challenges, and we can look forward to better things. Or if the old year has been good to us, we can hope it will con-tinue. But inevitably 2019 will bring changes of one sort or another. For me, and for Stuart, it brings new responsibility as we take on the roles of Spiritual Director and Lay Director. We thank Jeff and Sandra for their leadership over the past 3 years. But the first of January is just a date! Every day brings us a new beginning, a chance to move forward in faith. Whatever the future holds, God is with us, and with him beside us all will be well. I know that most of us are busy with church business in our parishes, but our Cursillo experi-ence and fellowship gives us support and encouragement, so I hope we can open our eyes to those whom God is calling as pilgrims for #35 so that they too can be inspired and grow in faith. Looking further afield, it’s easy to feel depressed by the conflicts in our own political situation and in the church and the world. People seem unable to respect or even to listen to different points of view. I used to struggle with the story of the tower of Babel. Wouldn’t life be easier if we all spoke the same language? But conformity is not built into God’s creation. Diversity is the key to evolution, without variations, all species would die out. We are all made differ-ently, with different gifts - and different faults! None of us have all the gifts required to do Christ’s work, but if we work together we can achieve great things. Even identical twins have different characters and characteristics. All of us are different, but all of us are made in the image of God and together we form his body here on earth. Some are called to be leaders, others to be encouragers, or flower arrangers, or to help in the kitchen or look after the church building, or …. And as the years go by, maybe our calling changes. So as we move into the new year, let us turn a new page in our ministry and prayerfully seek to know what God is calling us to do in 2019. Maybe it is to continue what we did in 2018, or maybe He has a new task for us. But whatever it is, we can be sure that He will equip us. Ultreya!

Jacqui Morton

SECRETARIAT

GROUP CONVENERS

AN INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

'So you would like to interview me?' God asked.

'If you have the time,' I said.

God smiled. 'My time is eternity.

What questions do you have in mind for me?'

'What surprises you most about humankind?'

God answered...

'That they get bored with childhood,

they rush to grow up, and then

long to be children again.

That they lose their health to make money...

and then lose their money to restore their health.

That by thinking anxiously about the future,

they forget the present,

such that they live in neither

the present nor the future.

That they live as if they will never die,

and die as though they had never lived.'

God's hand took mine

and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...

'As a parent, what are some of life's lessons

you want your children to learn?'

'To learn they cannot make anyone

love them. All they can do

is let themselves be loved.

To learn that it is not good

to compare themselves to others.

To learn to forgive

by practising forgiveness.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds

to open profound wounds in those they love,

and it can take many years to heal them.

To learn that a rich person

is not one who has the most,

but is one who needs the least.

To learn that there are people

who love them dearly,

but simply have not yet learned

how to express or show their feelings.

To learn that two people can

look at the same thing

and see it differently.

To learn that it is not enough that they

forgive on another, but they must also forgive themselves.'

'Thank you for your time,' I said humbly.

'Is there anything else

you would like your children to know?

God smiled and said,

'Just know that I am here... always.'

author unknown

(Thank you to Susanne Wills for this article)

WINTER EVENT 2019

A reflection on the day by Liz Lilley Over 30 of us gathered at Bailgate Methodist to share our day of fellowship, worship, fun, food, singing, reflection, group discussions, and even . . . artwork!! Our Spiritual Director, Jacqui Morton, led the day and had clearly put in a lot of preparation. The opening Worship reminded us of the importance of drawing aside from our daily routine in order to allow God to refresh, feed and challenge us. It was good to sit quietly as we remembered individually our first encounter with God, and what we felt God had called us to do. We sat in table groups for the main sessions -just like when we "did" on our Cursillos. They mostly centred around the apostle Peter - an impulsive man who often got things wrong and yet was chosen to become the Rock on which the Church would be built. The first Bible reading was Matthew 4:18–20 about the calling of Peter and Andrew, his brother. Then followed a "meditation" read by Peter (alias Chris Lilley!) Peter was mulling about having to think on his feet about his response to Jesus at that time. Then he looked back over the three years of Jesus' main ministry and wondered whether he would have decided differenly about following him if he had known what it would lead to. Discussion in our groups led to feedback that was quite deep. People had been very open about their own ongoing responses. After coffee the second reading was Matthew 10:1-4 about the twelve disciples being sent out by Jesus with authority to preach, to heal, and to challenge unclean spirits. Peter's meditation revealed his initial doubts about the other men called to be disciples! Would they be able to work together? Our group artwork pieces were amazing – and indeed reflected how different we all are. We are individuals with different giftings but with Jesus in the centrewe can bring out the best in each other. After our splendid and abundant shared lunch we had the third reading – Acts 2:1–4 about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Peter's meditation revealed how frightened they all had been after the Crucifixion – hiding away because they felt helpless to carry on Jesus' work. I loved the phrase he used – that the Holy Spirit came a s a mighty wind to "blow away the cobwebs!" How we all need that from time to time! Then Acts 4:32–37 about the renewed and inspired believers living together and "being of one heart and soul." Barnabas was one who joined the group, bringing with him his own gifting. Barnabas (alias Elizabeth Page) shared how surprised he was to be given that nickname – son of encouragement. This gift was considered as important as the more dramatic ones, such as prophecy, tongues or healing. God can use us all, through the power of the Holy Spirit! The groups rseponded

magnificently again with their artwork – demonstrating the many gifts we all contribute to our churches and to people whom we meet every day. The "leaders" rely on the support and prayers of the whole body of Christ. We finished with a wonderful service of Holy Communion, and left feeling encouraged to keep on keeping on. Thank you, Jacqui, for being our Barnabas! P.S. I can't finish without mentioning little Theo Gardiner, whose attendance brought great joy to us all! What a bleesing he is!

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Let’s pray for: AGM Secretariat Cursillo #35 The cursillistas that do not attend our reunion groups or

those that rarely do Finances

PALANCA

The following Weekends have been sent a Palanca Poster from Lincoln Cursillo. Please support them with Palanca prayer.

CLOTHING

Please order through Janet Shephardson. 7, Saddle Close, Goxhill, N. Lincs. DN19 7GB. Tel. 01469 530896. Email to janetshephardson217@gmail.com for an order form or Go to http://lincolncursillo.btck.co.uk/Downloads

SUMMER EVENT

Saturday 20th July

At St. Wilfred’s in Alford (More details to follow)

DIARY DATES

Annual General Meeting

Saturday 23rd March 2019

Bailgate Methodist 9:30 am for 10am

Bring and share lunch

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Secretariat position available

Pre Weekend Rep

See website for further details

Message from editor I really hope you like the Cursillo Lincs and I would like to apologise for the delay in sending it out. I would appreciate any feedback both positive and negative. It would be wonderful to receive articles or stories that you share within your reunion group to put in the Cursillo Lincs so these can be shared with others. Please contact me on email: publicityrep@lincolncursillo.org.uk Ultreya! Donna