Grouping

1. Grouping School of Leaders July 2014 Diocese Of Birmingham Alabama “A Cursillo Leader, therefore is a dedicated apostle; a person who puts all of his abilities in the service of Christ.”

2. Agenda Leader’s Prayer Leader’s Group Reunion Doctrinal Talk Technique Talk: Ornaments Work of the Sections Announcements Discussion Items Closing Prayer-Chapel visit

3. Leader’s Prayer Lord grant that we may understand the necessity for depth in our Movement, rather than surface glory. Convince us of the truth that colorful programs do not constitute success. My God, give us a spirit of self sacrifice so that we may offer everything for Your cause: our time, our abilities, our health and even our lives if necessary. Instill in us courage in our initiatives, good judgment in our choice of the right means, and that determination, which in spite of failures, assures victory. Move away from us the tiny rivalries, sensitivities, discourtesies, pride, everything which distracts from You, everything which divides or discourages.

4. Leader’s Prayer con’t Help us to maintain at a high level, a meaningful supernatural and mutual charity among ourselves, so that each one will seek by preference, the most humble task and will rejoice at the good performed by others, so that all our spirits, united in a common purpose, will have one single spirit, Yours Jesus, and that this spirit may let us see Your attractive goodness marked in all our faces, Your warm accents in all our words, and in our lives something superior to the world, something that proclaims Your Living Presence among us. Amen Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patron of the Americas, Pray for Us. St Paul, Patron of the Cursillo, Pray for Us.

5. Doctrinal Talk

6. Technique talk

7. The Tree of Cursillo If we compare the Cursillo Movement to a tree, we are happy to see that it has grown, because an evangelical seed sown in many hearts and cultivated with prayer has given its fruit; but it also hurts to see that in some places, no doubt with the best of intentions, they have taken the tree of the Cursillos for a Christmas tree and have been hanging lights and decorations…their favorite brilliant ideas-and have gradually been spoiling its clear and simple profile.” Eduardo Bonin, My Spiritual Testament, Chapter 6

8. The Tree of CursilloNational Cursillo Center Mailing Oct 10 As Cursillo Leaders today…we continue to study the Foundational Charism of Cursillos of Christianity…[we] must ensure the movement does not deviate from its Divine Purpose. …if we allow deviations on our watch, the danger is that in the years to come the Movement will look just like the screwdriver that no longer serves its intended purpose and future generations, our replacements, won’t know or be able to carry out the intended purpose of the Cursillo.

9. Father Frank SalmaniWhom Shall I send, Discerning the Will of God • Eduardo was led by the Holy Spirit & Cursillo is God’s gift to us-a Charism • “To tamper with its essence is to interfere with the work of the Spirit”. • Cursillistas try to reengineer the tree: • With good intentions • By those who are misinformed and do not understand the Charism • “It seems that the temptation…is to make the movement into our image and likeness • So we add ornaments to the tree, potentially preventing the tree from being seen

10. Essential and Non-Essentials Essentials (fundamentals) are things that define the very nature of the thing. It is permanent and changeless within it. Non-essentials (ornaments) are things that can be taken away and do not impact the very nature of the thing it is being taken away from. “Unity in essentials, diversity in non-essentials, charity in all.” --Eduardo Bonin

11. What is essential to Cursillo Informed, intimate relationship with the Person of Christ The Three Encounters—God, Self and Others Friendship (Personal Contact) Authentic witness of life (Action) Real Palanca (Piety) Freedom of the person--no one should be forced to do what they do not want to do—this includes participation in the non-essentials (Ornaments) A spirit of poverty and simplicity The living conviction that the love of God, love of neighbor and the love of the world is indeed possible to us precisely because God loves us.

12. Non-Essentials (Ornaments) in the Birmingham Movement

13. Non-Essentials (Ornaments) in the Birmingham Movement

14. Process for addressing Non-Essentials Currently… The Secretariat has allowed a rector who is willing to choose whether to eliminate some non-essentials (ornaments) After a weekend, the results of eliminating the ornament have been presented to the Secretariat and shared with the SOL After the CdC… Identification and listing of Non-Essentials to be done by SOL Prioritization of the Non-Essentials to be addressed developed and recommended by SOL to the Secretariat Procedures for eliminating Non-essentials (i.e. by SOL recommendation and Secretariat vote; Rector choice; other means) developed and implemented by SOL and Secretariat

15. RecommendationsNational Cursillo Center Mailing Oct 10 Cursillistas must understand and embrace the authentic identity and charism of the Movement We must remove the non-essentials (ornaments) from our Movement We must study the Movement to improve its effectiveness in our Diocese We must put more emphasis on the encounter with the person and the message of the weekend rather than the technique and style with which the weekend is conducted and presented

16. Work of the Sections

17. Work of the Sections Work of the Sections is designed to be the opportunity for the members of the School of Leaders to identify, design, and help implement solutions to any issues within the three sections--PreCursillo, Cursillo and PostCursillo Work of the Sections is directed and conducted under the leadership and guidance of the current Secretariat member responsible for that section SOL members count off and distribute evenly between the 3 sections—unless they are actively serving on a particular committee within a particular section (i.e. Palanca committee members work with the Precursillo section, Communications committee members work with PostCursillo, etc…)

18. Announcement Items

19. SoL 2014 Schedule Remote SoL 1st Thursday each Month; 1900 Go to www.BhmCursillo.org for details

20. Announcements The Cursillo de Cursillos (CdC) will be held Sept 25-28, 2014 at St Bernard’s Retreat Center in Cullman. Cost is $225 per person. There are still a few slots, so contact Christina Semmens, 256-603-0225, semcsem@aol.com as soon as possible if interested. Next SOL meeting will be COMBINED and held in Cullman on October 11, 2014 at 9:30am. Nominations for the Secretariat positions of SOL Chair, Cursillo Chair and Secretary will be a part of the SOL. If interested, see the website for Secretariat position qualifications and descriptions as well as Nomination Procedures. Next Cursillo Region VII Encounter, October 17-18, in Savannah, GA. Link to Registration form and other info is on Region VII website, www.cursillo.org/region7 Cursillo Day of Reflection, Sat., Nov 9th, 9am-4pm, Casa Maria Retreat House, Bham. Topic is “Prayer as the Foundation for Evangelization.”

21. Discussion

22. Discussion Items Is it time for a second satellite SoL to be established in Tuscaloosa Is it time to eliminate the Remote (dial in) School of Leaders?

23. Closing Prayer Dear Lord, we must have fraternal charity, or we can accomplish nothing for you. In loving you, help us to have a genuine concern for one another, a generosity in sharing one another’s burdens, a gallantry in defending the reputation of our group, a sincere sympathy in sharing one another’s suffering and sorrows, and a joy in sharing their spiritual growth. By this shall all men know that we are your Apostles. Amen.

24. The Diocese of Birmingham School of Leaders I Am Third