Evangelizing My Environment
By Dick Bowling

I came to Northern Virginia about 34 years ago. I was just beginning my leave of absence from the priesthood from the Archdiocese of Louisville. I never married but I have a wonderful friend whom I deeply love, named Carol. We met in the Counseling Center at Northern Virginia Community College where we both worked. When I left the priesthood, I left the Church behind: no Mass, no Sacraments, no prayer life. And I stayed away for over thirty years. About two and a half years ago when I began to feel that something very vital was missing from my life. This feeling became very intense as the Spirit started drawing me back.

I began meeting various people at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Community and a number of men started talking to me about and encouraging me to make a Cursillo. They were evangelizing me, you see. On my weekend I truly experienced the awesome presence of Jesus as he is found in Christian community. Now, despite the fact that I spent eleven years in the seminary and eight and a half years as a priest, I believe I only truly encountered Jesus, his real presence, during my weekend. This Cursillo experience has touched me deeply and has profoundly changed my life. When I left my weekend last year, I knew I wanted to keep meeting Jesus in the presence of my brothers as I had met him there and I was terrified that what I had found would fade away. So, right away, I joined the group reunion with my sponsor, which meets every Saturday morning at 7:30 A.M.

It has taken me over a year of faithfully participating in group reunion, attending ultreyas and Reunion of Leaders groups, and of being on team to even begin to understand that our first responsibility as cursillistas is to seek out the leaders in our work and parish environments, those with the greatest potential for attracting others to the meaning and love of the gospel of Jesus; and to evangelize those leaders by making friends of them, being a friend to them and bringing them to Jesus. Then, with these leaders as a hub, begin to form small group reunions in our environments.

Let me tell you some of the ways I have tried to bring Jesus into my environments since my Cursillo weekend. I started doing this as soon as the weekend was over. At Blessed Sacrament, I’m in Quinn Hall after Mass every Sunday. Here I try to meet men and women who are searching to begin or renew their walk with the Lord. I always carry with me a batch of brochures and applications and go “fishing” for candidates for Cursillo, because I know how effective this experience is in bringing others to the Lord. Twice a week I volunteer at the Lamb Center, striving to bring the love of Jesus to the poor and homeless, and allowing them to bring his love to me. In my Group Reunion, I have been striving to enhance the spirit of the Cursillo there.

I’d like to leave you with these words of encouragement: If you haven’t joined a group reunion, do so. The longer you wait the more your Cursillo experience will fade away. Second, start studying your work place. Seek out those men and women that are the natural leaders. Befriend them and bring them to Jesus. If they are Catholic, encourage them to make a Cursillo, if they are not, have them make a Way To Emmaus or similar program. But this is not necessary. Once you have brought one or two others to the Lord, form a small group reunion, meeting once a week or so. You will see how quickly your whole work environment will start to change when the love of Jesus takes over. This is evangelization!

De Colores!

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