Welcome to the web site for the Catholic Cursillo Movement ...



Have a friend. Be a friend. Bring a friend to Christ.

Welcome to the web site for the Catholic Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, CA.

My name is Deacon Joseph W. Olsen, jr. During 1979, my family was living in Cincinnati, Ohio when people from our parish tried high pressure tactics to induce us to attend a Cursillo weekend. They said things like, “Your life will be changed forever once you make a Cursillo!” and “You don’t know what your are missing.” And “This is important, everyone has to do this!” The high pressure tactics put us off.

Our best friends were Don and Phyllis Flugel. Our children played on the same soccer teams and we got to know them at the parish social gatherings. We knew they were “Cursillistas” but they never pressured us to participate. They simple invited us and offered to sponsor us if we decided to attend a weekend.

We put them off for a long time. One afternoon we were sharing a meal with them and I remember saying, “I bet you are going to ask us again to make a Cursillo.” They replied, “Oh no, you know enough and the decision is yours.” We replied that we had decided to accept their invitation. Our friends, Phyllis and Don Flugel, sponsored us, and in September and October of 1979 we lived our Cursillo weekends.

Don and Phyllis had put into practice the basic rule for a sponsor. “Have a friend. Be a friend. Bring that friend to Christ.” It was friendship that brought us to Cursillo, and it was our friends in our Group Reunions and Ultreyas that help us continue our life as Cursillistas after our weekends.

Don and Phyllis remained good friends even when my job caused us to move away from Cincinnati. They came to California to visit us and we flew back to Cincinnati for their children’s weddings. Several years ago we flew back to Cincinnati for Don’s funeral and I was glad to be able to assist as a deacon in the final mass for my friend.

The friendship that Don and Phyllis shared with us is the friendship Christians share. This is the friendship that Jesus shared with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. This is the friendship that Jesus wants us to share with one-another.

Please ask God to show you how to, “Have a friend, Be a friend. Bring that friend to Christ.”

Please pray for the success of the Catholic Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Ask God to bless this work and to bless the men and women who will join us in friendship to build a community of Catholic Cursillistas in our Diocese. Bishop Robert Vasa has encouraged the development of the Catholic Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Santa Rosa. He said, “I look forward to an active and robust Catholic Cursillo, it can do such great good!”

During the remainder of this year we have a full schedule:

• Ultreyas are scheduled for the 3rd Saturday of each month from 2:00-4:00 PM in the large meeting room at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Rohnert Park.

• The Secretariat will continue to meet on a regular schedule at the home of Brother Al Berenguer.

• We look forward to beginning our School of Leaders to meet monthly from 12:30-1:30 PM preceding the Ultreya.

• We look forward to the day when we will begin inviting friends to join in living Cursillo weekends!

Have a friend. Be a friend. Bring a friend to Christ.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download