Mimis Message

Words of Wisdom

Mimi Fitzgerald
Lay Director May 2008 --

Message from Mimi #13 11/3/08 Coming Up:

I was struck by the questions given to the candidates on the 117th cursillo? "What have I discovered ? and What am I going to do about it/" These are questions that we might ask ourselves daily. I was also awed by the honesty and sincerity of the answers. We are all on that long journey and there are struggles every day, but we are hopefully aware of God's love with us. We need to discover more each day about our God who loves us so concretely through the people we encounter in our families, in our offices in all the people and places we move through.

We can encounter Him in our fellow cursillistas along the way. Our next School of Leaders will be at St. Charles Borromeo in the Parish Center at 9:30am on this coming Saturday, November 8. There is a 9:00am Mass in the Chapel.

We will be discussing "The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement", Chapter 5 and Emelda August will be our additional speaker on "The Road to Emmaus Movement" Emmaus is an ecumenical form of Cursillo and I think would provide opportunities for sharing in interfaith marriages.

There will be a Diocesan Ultreya on Saturday, November 15 at 7:30 pm at St. Laurence Parish in Springfield. Sponsors, please bring your new cursillistas. It is a good time to rejoice in all that we have to be thankful for, experience group reunion, a witness by one of our community and as always good food. Check the web site www.arlingtoncursillo.org for addresses and I hope to see you there

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald
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Message from Mimi, #12 10/18/08 Awareness of Cursillo beyond our weekend

Awareness of Cursillo beyond our weekend, our group, Ultreya, even our diocese.: Last weekend I traveled to Vineland , NJ for the semi- annual meeting of Area II representatives. Area II encompasses Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia, English, Spanish and Portuguese Cursillistas. Both the English and Spanish cursillistas were represented at the meeting. Tom Silva from St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax is the Area II rep to National and Father Joe McCloskey is the Spiritual Director for Area II.

We gather twice a year to spend some time reflecting on the message of Cursillo. The theme for this meeting was “Christ Is Our Light”. Presentations by Fr. Joe, Tom and other members of the service team focused on the three encounters of the weekend, self, Christ and others. We shared thoughts in small groups after each presentation. It is in these small groups as on the weekend where growing takes place as we listen to other ideas, feelings, beliefs.

A few thoughts from one of the small groups-
Do we give the Lord permission to use us? Are we open to what the Lord asks? Are we aware of God’s presence in our changing attitudes, our approaches to people in our families, our offices, anywhere in our everyday lives?. What have been our miracles this week? Some of our miracles begin with our surrender to God. Can we listen, believe, and give up?

In addition to time for spiritual growth, we shared practical information about the state of Cursillo in each of our dioceses. This was really helpful as we exchanged information about basically what has worked and what has not. It is also interesting to note that there has been a Men’s Weekend in Newark and will be a Women’s Weekend in Trenton this month, so we are continuing to share the message and bring friends to Christ.

I simply wanted to share what I have gained from the time spent with others outside of our diocese. Sometimes it is hard to make the time to go to Ultreya whether it is in the parish or a diocesan evening, but I would encourage you to try to make that extra effort, because it does nudge us, inspire us and give us an extra boost toward deepening our friendship with Jesus which opens us to boundless possibilities!! One of those in addition to driving through the countryside in beautiful weather was lunch with Ed and JoAnn Bisone, long time cursillistas who have retired to Middletown, DE, enjoying life and starting to get involved in their parish and community!!

Quick reminder!!

We have a Men’s Weekend starting October 23 – next week! Please check the website –www.arlingtoncursillo.org for details and join us in prayer and presence!!
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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald
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Message from Mimi #11 9/10/08 Opportunities:

Please join us this Saturday, September 13th for School of Leaders at Nativity Parish, 6400 Nativity Lane, Burke at 10:00am. Frank McLeskey will facilitate and we will be discussing Chapter 3, The Method of the Movement in "The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement." Mass is at 9:00 and there will be coffee, bagels and fruit. Directions can be found on the Church of the Nativity, Burke,VA website.

Cook crew volunteers for Men's 117th

Looking for a great palanca opportunity for the upcoming men's weekend? Consider signing up as part of the serving crew! Following our women's weekend breakfast debut, Arlington Cursillo is cooking and serving all meals in October. Pete Roth has created an online signup for two volunteers per meal to help with serving and cleanup - pick a date and time just like our world-famous palanca clock. Go to: http://arlingtoncursillo.org/MealHelpers/M117MealHelpers.asp

Also, Peter Hadinger is looking for two other dedicated Cursillistas who love the stove (and oven) to join him as the "core crew" for that weekend. Requires commitment pretty much full time Thu nite-Sun afternoon. Consider it like being on team but instead of stirring talks you'll be stirring pots. He can be reached at: hadinger@cox.net

Oops!! For the Community Quiet Day at Bristow, I mistakenly stated that the offering of $10 included lunch. It is simply an offering for the day and We are asking that you bring a bag lunch.

Finally - I am missing a large round glass platter which usually holds pineapple from the Women's Closing at St. Ann's. If someone knows of its whereabouts, I would appreciate its return and that can come at the Men's Closing in October or let me know and I'll come and get it. Thanks much

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald
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Message from Mimi #10 9/9/08 Time spent!!

It has been a busy Cursillo weekend for me. Saturday night's Ultreya at Our Lady Queen of Peace was a time of nourishment, sharing with friends, song, prayer and always good food!!

Yesterday, I had the honor of sitting in on the evaluation for the 127th Women's Team. We spend some time after each weekend with the team to see where and how we can work in a different way on team formation, the weekend and the follow-up. How did they do it? Were there problems? Can we help as a Secretariat? The members of the Secretariat are here to serve our Cursillo community and, further, to help each one grow in a relationship with Christ. And so this afternoon was time well spent and I thank Marylee Girardi and the team of the 127th Women's Cursillo for their time, energy and gift of grace.

Coming Up! Join us!

Quiet Day for Rectors: September 23, 2008, 10:00am to 3:30pm
Led by Jane Duffy, the day will be held at Mt. Tabor. It is open to all who have served as rectors, those who are presently serving, and those who would like to serve. Please RSVP to Freddie Wall at wallflower64@gmail.com as we will be providing lunch. Come and spend some time in quiet, grateful to the God who has been present to you as you have, will, or would like to serve.

Community Quiet Day on Centering Prayer: October 13, 2008, 9:30am to 2:00pm
This day will be held at the Benedictine Monastery in Bristow. Jim and Diane Bayne will be leading us, sharing the retreat they attended this summer with Fr. Thomas Keating at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, CO. Please join us for this very special opportunity. There is an offering of $10.00, which includes lunch. RSVP to Freddie Wall at wallflower64@gmail.com.

In addition, please check the website at www.arlingtoncursillo.org for many other activities, SOL's, parish Ultreyas, and volunteering for the cooking team for the Men's Weekend in October.

Finally, please remember to pray and do palanca for our team now in formation, the 117th Men's, and especially for their Talk Day on September 20. Notes of support and about palanca being done can be sent to rector Jack Finnerty at jjfinnerty@cox.net .
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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald

Message from Mimi #9 8/29/08 Diocesan Ultreya

This was written on Monday morning, but not sent out because I wanted to make sure that the new cursillistas were on the list, so

As I spent some quiet time with today's scripture this line reminded me of all of you. "We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing." 2 Thessalonians 1:2 or 3. And it can continue. As I thought about it this morning, so many of the new cursillistas talked of the amazing sight of the joyfilled people coming over the hill on Sunday morning. You are part of that community and can be one of those people for many years to come

You can come to share your love of God and of life or come when you need the support and strength of others. Simply come and join us! And we are fortunate to have an opportunity soon. The community will gather for a Diocesan Ultreya on Saturday, September 6th at Our Lady Queen of Peace. Please check website, www.arlingtoncursillo.org for time and directions. Please bring a snack, bring your sponsor and be one of those people walking over the hill!!!

More good news: Joan Sheppard from St. Anthony's Parish has agreed to serve as chair of the Pre-Cursillo Committee. We will have contact information for Joan and the other committee members at the end of September. I thank Jack Finnerty for his patience and all of his attention to detail in this job and his many hours of work . Thanks Jack and congratulations, Joan.

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald
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Message from Mimi #8 8/20/08 Women's 127 Cursillo

Hi all,
Just a quick reminder that tomorrow evening the 127th Women's Cursillo begins at the Dominican Retreat House in Mclean. The Palanca Calendar and all information pertaining to the weekend is on the website www.arlingtoncursillo.org and in the Aug.-Sep. issue of "His Banner".

I am delighted to let you know that Marilyn Krause has agreed to serve as rectora for the Women's Team in March, 2009 and Tony DeCristofaro will lead the Men's Team in April 2009. Please keep them in your prayers. The Team Selection Committee will begin shortly to make calls for the teams. If you are called, please consider the requests pray fully and also consider joining us at the School of Leaders around the diocese. We will be scheduling sessions on team formation and the information from "The Fundamentals Ideas of the Cursillo Movement" provides us with tools to assist in our growth not simply as cusillistas but as Christians.

Hope to see you this weekend at mananita and closing.

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald
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Message from Mimi #7 8/12/08, SOL at St. John the Beloved

I meant to write this on Saturday afternoon and did indeed put it together once and lost it. Such is the joy of computers. So it is Monday evening at the beach, the Outer Banks of North Carolina with 28 members of my family, some watching the , Olympics, some tucked in bed and a couple in various stages of meltdown.

We had an exciting morning on Saturday at the SOL at St. John the Beloved. Thanks to Mark and Sue Clemente for gathering many members of that community, to Freddie Wall for the presentation on the purpose of Cursillo , to Jean Sweeney on the Why and How To Draw Near to Suffering and to Father Scalia for giving us his blessing. In particular , Jean asked us to consider being present to others in their hard places of pain, to find and share the vision of Christ who will bring something good out of these times. We need to believe in the reality of Easter resurrection after the pain and death of Good Friday. So many of us have experienced this in our lives and hopefully it leads us to a deeper relationship with our God. It is indeed an ongoing journey. Consider joining us at next month's SOL: at Nativity.

If you haven't already, please check out the Palanca Calendar and the website for the candidate list for the Women Weekend. I know that Palanca from the beach doesn't sound very authentic, but consider 14 cherubs under the age of 13!!!!

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald
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Message from Mimi #6 8/05/08 SOL 8/8/08

For God and for each other, we would love to see you at the next School of Leaders' meeting at St. John the Beloved in McLean on August 9, 2008 at 9:30 a.m..

Our School of Leaders is coming to YOU. Instead of your traveling far and wide to take advantage of what the School will do for you, we come to YOU.

The agenda for Saturday morning August 9 is as follows:
    Meet and greet - Coffee, fruit, bagels, etc.
    Leaders' Prayer
    Group Reunion
    Discussion of the second half of Chapter 2 of, The Fundamental Ideas of the
    Cursillo Movement", The Purpose of the Movement..led by Sue and Mark Clemente
    Books will be provided.
    Guest Speaker is Jean Sweeney speaking on,
    Why/How To Draw Near To Suffering
    Q&A for Jean
    Closing Prayer.

The last School of Leaders at St. Charles provided a lively and thoughtful
discussion. All of you who were there please come and continue.it was great!
The Kairos presentation by Angela Dinkle spread good seed on fertile ground. We
expect to see more Cursillistas doing prison ministry.they need us.
ALL are invited to participate.

Please Join Us -
Mary Lou McGonigle
SOL Director

Message from Mimi #5 7/29/08 Feedback

I meant to do this yesterday, but there were other things to do then. We often as for your prayers and then forget to follow-up and particularly to say "thank you".

It was a busy weekend for some cursillistas and I always know when we ask for palanca , prayers, sacrifices and notes are sometimes written and sometimes simply offered.

For the members of the Secretariat, it was a prayerful, peaceful time at Mt. Tabor on Friday night and Saturday. It is a beautiful place, tucked in the woods, and Father Paul Weyant's hospitality is as wonderful as it was for those who remember his days at Missionhurst. It is good to come away and spend time in quiet in the company of our brother, Jesus and His friends. Jean Sweeney guided us and hopefully we will be better servant leaders for this community because of this time.

The 127th Women's Talk Day went well and their smiling faces are on the web site as is the Palanca Calendar for the weekend and there is still some space on the weekend.

Sunday, the October Men's Team met for the first time/ Their journey has just begun. Please remember them palanca during formation. The team list is now on the website.

The National Encounter begins on Thursday and there is an opening Mass on Friday. Again take a look at the website.

And so , I do say "thank you" for prayers and all of the "yes's" of this community. I am constantly aware of the support that you give and I keep you in my prayers, daily.

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald

First the members of the Secretariat will spend some quiet time at Mt. Tabor from this Friday evening until Saturday afternoon-July 25-26 - "Listening and being led in Prayer, Community and Service - Together."

The August Women's Team will have Talk Day this Saturday, July 26 at St. John Neumann's.

And the National Encounter will start at Catholic University on Thursday, July 31.

There is much to pray about and offer sacrifice for. Please keep all of these endeavors in your thoughts. Somehow it makes even our mundane, routine activities a little more alive when we keep others in mind!!

And one more request - work is going to be done on our website. What would you like to see on the Arlington Cursillo site? How can we serve you better with clearer information, communication and support? Think about this. Pray about it. More information will be forthcoming in future "His Banner's"

Message from Mimi 3 7/13/08 Updates on National Encounter, Local SOL, St Charles Ultreya

I am attaching a flyer concerning the National Encounter and I hope that some of you are able to attend the open sessions. There is much to be gained from these Spirit filled gatherings and I hope to see you there!!

Yesterday was a double header at St. Charles as we hosted the Northern Virginia SOL in the morning and our parish ultreya in the evening.

Frank Mcleskey put life and energy into SOL and "the Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement". Angela Dinkle shared experiences and information on Kairos. It is good to group with different members of our community and to share the richness of diverse ministries. Next month SOL in Northern Virginia will be at St. John the Beloved in McLean. Check the web site for time and topic and join us.

Last night's parish ultreya was again a time to experience grouping with friends we don't share with every week. Mike Doyle shared his journey and offered us the opportunity to become aware of another person's search for a deepening relationship with Christ.

If you have a number of cursillistas in you parish and do not have a functioning ultreya, think about getting one started. It's not difficult and it is wonderful to spend the time together and help each other grow!!

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald

Attachment:
18TH NATIONAL CURSILLO ENCOUNTER
The Catholic University of America Washington DC
Thursday, July 31 – Sunday, August 3, 2008
“Christ Is Our Light”

"Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us
owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light” Albert Schweitzer

The time has arrived for the Washington DC Cursillo Movement to host the 2008 National
Encounter. The time has arrived for us to be Christ and to share Christ with 650 cursillistas
from the English, Hispanic, Korean, Vietnamese, and Portuguese language groups in the United
States. The time has arrived to receive a wonderful blessing and to be that blessing to someone!

For those locals who registered for the National Encounter, arrive early to sign-in and obtain
room keys and/or Encounter information at Caldwell Hall at the Catholic University of America
on Thursday, July 31, from 11:00am – 2:00 pm. Dinner is served from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
General sign-in for all others is from 2:00 – 5:00 pm in Caldwell Hall and late registration will
take place at Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center, 5:00–7:00 pm. Try to arrive early at 11:00

Calling ‘All’ Cursillistas to Attend “Open Events” at the 2008 NATIONAL ENCOUNTER
If you are unable to attend the 2008 National Encounter but want to participate where possible, below are two events that are open to all cursillistas, regardless of registration status.
􀀁 Opening Session of the 18th National Encounter, Thursday, July 31, at 7:30 pm, Basilica
of the National Shrine, Upper Church: imagine, cursillistas illuminating the National
Shrine by ourselves; imagine, joining hands and hearts with 650 cursillistas across the US as
lights for Christ; imagine, the Keynote Address, Christ is Our Light” by Bishop Gonzalez,
prayer, song, Adoration, Benediction, Reconciliation…and lots of grace; imagine, missing
this historic event by not attending! Don’t stay home this night, be blessed and a blessing!
􀀁 Mass – Friday, August 1, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm, Upper Church, National Shrine
o Concelebrated by Bishop Francisco Gonzalez and Bishop Martin Holley

We still need your help, whether registered or not, with the National Encounter:
Registration, hospitality (see article), transportation (greeters) etc. Please contact Jackie
DeMesme-Gray at washcls@aol.com or on (202) 330-7337 to share your gifts.
Celebrate our National Encounter: Grand Fiesta: National Encounter Goes Country-Western
Sat., July 26, St. Mary’s of the Assumption School, 4610 Largo Road, Upper Marlboro, 20772
We must be around each other to relight another’s flame. One candle can light another candle
and still keep its light; one candle can light many candles without diminishing its own flame.
Be a “Light for Christ” at the 2008 National encounter! Wear your sunglasses.
God bless you, Jackie DeMesme-Gray

Message from Mimi 2 7/9/08 Help with meals at the 127th Women's Cursillo

Message from Pete Hadinger regarding Meals at the Dominican Retreat House:

The 127th Women's Cursillo, August 21-24, is fast approaching. You are on this email because you (or your best Cursillo buddy) said you'd like to help with food for upcoming Cursillo retreats. Feel free to pass this on to another Cursillista!

We currently have 11 Babe Chicks and 13 Team members signed up for the August retreat at Dominican Retreat House in McLean and our team will be supplying breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as lunch on Sunday. Regulations at Dominican prohibit on-site cooking so we will be bringing in prepared foods to heat/chill and serve.

I have two requests of you. First - I would appreciate your filling in the blanks below and returning this form to me so I can understand availability and create a contact list. Second - because we are new to serving food at Dominican, it would really help to have some folks on the cook team help with a meal with Dominican's regular retreat volunteers to get the lay of the land and procedures. I would like you to consider volunteering for one of the dates below.

Name:
Home phone:
Cell phone:
Preferred email:

Availability:
Friday 8/22 Breakfast (Y/N):
Saturday 8/23 Breakfast (Y/N):
Sunday 8/24 Breakfast: Fredericksburg Ultreya
Sunday 8/24 Lunch (Y/N):

I'll help with a "Volunteer Training Opportunity" at Dominican (pick from July 12 B-L-D; July 13 B-L; July 23 D; July 24 D; July 25; July 26 L-D):

Finally, while I plan to do as much organization as possible by email, I'd like to host a 30 minute call-in discussion about schedules, food, etc. at noon this Friday - conference bridge: (218) 936-7979 code 131725#. Note this is a toll call from DC (if you have a nationwide cell phone plan use it!) Let me know if you plan to dial in.

In Christ's service - DeColores,
-Peter Hadinger

(703) 715-2639 h
(703) 975-9008 c
hadinger@cox.net

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God bless
Mimi Fitzgerald

I would like to get out and about, renew friendships and establish new ones, as we all travel on this journey each day, strengthening our relationship with each person we are in contact with and our brother Christ. Let me know who you are, where you are and when you meet, and I will plug your address into my VZ navigator and come find you.