WHAT IS CURSILLO?
The word Cursillo derives from the Spanish language and it means “a short course”. The full name is Cursillo de Cristianidad, or “short course in Christianity”. Cursillo consist of three parts, Pre-Cursillo, (which is before someone makes a 3-Day weekend), The 3-Day Cursillo, (which is spending 3-days together in a retreat format), and Post Cursillo,(which is living and growing in friendship with each other and with Christ.
One way to explain The Cursillo Movement is to tell you what it “is not”. Cursillo is not a cult, it is not just a retreat that one attends, it is not an organization that one belongs to; there are no fees for membership, nor is it something apart from the Catholic Church.
What Cursillo “is” --- is an encounter with Jesus within you. It is a realization of how much God loves each and every one of us. It is a movement in the Catholic Church, whose main objective is to assist our bishops and priests, in the evangelization of the faith, by bringing ourselves, and our brothers and sisters to a better understanding of who we are in Christ. Cursillo teaches a method, which if followed, will insure continuous growth in our relationship with Jesus.
Cursillo is a worldwide movement inspired by the Holy Spirit, and published within the Canon Law of the Catholic Church. The Bishop of each Diocese has authority over the local groups. In the Diocese of Fort Worth, we work withinthe Pastoral Plan of Bishop Vann and at His pleasure. His predecessor, Bishop Delaney was also very supportive of the Cursillo Movement.
We are a part of the National Cursillo Movement that acts as an overseer, and they operate in five different languages in theUnited States.
We are indeed blessed to have Bishop Vann as a member of our Movement, and many pastors including Father Ray are members of Cursillo. In fact, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict have been great supporters of Cursillo. Currently, in St. Mary’s, there have been 88 parishioners who have attended Cursillo. If you think you might be interested in attending a Cursillo weekend, and would like to know more about Cursillo, please call Father Ray Mullan at St. Mary’s Catholic Church (940)549-4314 or the Cursillo Representative for St. Mary’s, Sue Machenberg (940)549-7719.
God Bless You.