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The Revd Deacon Polly M. Bowen
A recent flurry of activity – and publicity – by members of the Cursillo Community signals preparation for an upcoming Cursillo Weekend. This prompts me to reflect on my own Cursillo experience. By experience I mean not just that wonder-filled weekend I spent 23 years ago at a church in
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Episcopal Cursillo in the Diocese of Western New York. You may have heard of Cursillo (pronounced Kur-see-yo) as a three-day weekend something like a retreat – but that’s just the beginning. Cursillo is an ongoing experience. It keeps on renewing God’s love in you as you live your life following the “Cursillo Method” of piety, study and action. Cursillo even provides a method of accountability that helps to keep you on track.
I have been a spiritual director in the movement for several years. During that time I have been on a weekend team several times (although not this time), and always I give thanks that God has called me to this way of life.
“You did not choose me; I chose you . . .” Think about these words. Jesus said them to his disciples, but he says them to you and to me as well. And that is only part of the message; the second half of the verse says, “ . . . and I appointed you to go forth and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” (John 15:16)
That’s what Jesus told his disciples. There weren’t very many of them, but they accomplished much. While Jesus was with them they were a close community. They ate and drank together. They laughed and cried together. They sang songs and prayed together. They probably slept huddled together in some sort of makeshift sleeping quarters. They didn’t stay in fancy inns or wear fine clothes, but they were happy together. And now Jesus was telling them he was leaving and they had to carry on. It was a challenge, and they were frightened, but he had trained them well.
What they had learned in their time with Jesus was all about Community-building. This was the way they would carry on Jesus’ work; they would go into the entire known world, preaching and teaching and building communities in Jesus’ Name.
They became a People of God on a mission of evangelization. That’s a definition of Church. Jesus prayed for his followers, “. . . that they all may be one . . .” – that they might be a sign of his continued Presence in the world. That prayer reaches out to embrace you and me: we are a sign of God’s presence in the world when we are a People of God united in genuine Christian Community.
As a community gathered in Christ, our basic structure is triune. We are prophetic, priestly and charismatic: we are a Prophetic People because we stand before the world on behalf of God. This is what we do when we witness to our faith. We are a Priestly People because we stand before God on behalf of the world, bringing the needs and cares of the world to Him and offering our prayers and praises. And we are a Charismatic People, deeply involved in using our gifts and talents to serve others.
It’s that “charismatic” part that sometimes turns people off. That’s because they associate it with street-corner, Bible-thumping groups and they aren’t comfortable with that form of worship. But charismatic comes from the Greek word for “gifts.” It speaks of the wonderful gifts God gives each of us, gifts that he expects us to use for the purpose of building up the Kingdom. Nothing about our form of worship precludes using the gifts we are given.
Every so often I hear someone lament that they have no gifts – and that, my friends, is poppycock! What people usually mean when they say such a thing is that they didn’t get the same gift they see in their neighbor. Well, what a surprise! What kind of world would it be if we all had the same gifts? The truth is, each of us has so many gifts that we can’t possibly begin to use them all. It’s a blessing that in one lifetime we are able to develop even one or two of them into real ministry.
Real ministry? Yes! Authentic ministry isn’t something we just stumble into. Not every good thing we do is ministry. Some of it is, but some is simply the fruit of our Life in Christ. That’s a good thing – we’re supposed to bear fruit.
Making the connection between our individual gifts and the appropriate need in the world is a lifelong task. Authentic ministry is intentional, done for the purpose of building up the
Christian Community is a joyful thing. But it is a deep joy that goes beyond the external appearance of pleasure and happiness. That’s because the fullness of Christ includes charism and ministry, peace and joy, but it also includes fatigue and frustration and limitation: sin and grace, the Cross and the Resurrection.
Jesus has already done the hardest work. “Have courage,” he said. “Í have overcome the world.” Our job is to proclaim it and live it out as his disciples in the world. He is the vine, and his life flows in the branches of our lives. The power is there. And the grace is there, freely given.
By God’s grace, we can do it. I can do it. You can do it. GO FORTH AND BEAR FRUIT!
