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Suzanne Wade When I was asked to ‘give witness’, I instantly said, “yes”, and I have been in prayer since that moment. I have read and heard the witnesses of others and there’s no way that God and I are as powerful as their experiences. “What have I gotten myself into?” - a typical, late reaction. I made my Cursillo in Quincy, IL in December, 1998 – Cursillo 166. God gave me back much of my life during that weekend. I also participated in their first Fourth Day Renewal Weekend and considered it my Cursillo Anniversary experience. The most powerful moment in my life was when I stood beneath the cross in the Cursillo chapel with the rest of the Cursillistas from my weekend. We had just experienced the most powerful example of God’s love through others. We were led single file, hand in belt loops through a darkened hallway, up stairs and through another dark hallway to the Cursillo Chapel. Lining both sides along the walls of the halls and stairs were hundreds of men and women, fellow Cursillistas holding battery-operated candles. We, the candidates and team, snaked down the sides of the chapel where folding chairs had been added for seating. We continued our procession through this sea of semi-lit faces to the back extension of the chapel and continued around to the main aisle. Periodically I heard hugs and back slapping as people recognized their fellow parishioners scattered throughout the crowd. The emotion is overwhelming, tears are streaming down our faces and the whole time the crowd chants in rounds, “Jesus, Jesus, let me tell you how I feel. You have given me Your Spirit. I love you so”. We make our way to the altar and form a circle under the huge suspended cross. In this circle we sway to those words until they become ours. As we chant, the hundreds of people leave the chapel and halls still chanting and we remain. After the only voices are ours, we begin giving our individual and collective thanks. You can’t live through that experience and not be changed by it. Each month I returned to give the same experience to the next team, and the next and the next. Cursillo has meant a lot to me and I have missed the involvement I was afforded with the Quincy Cursillo Movement. We spanned three states – Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, and the people came monthly, sometimes twice a month to participate. We had the Cursillo weekend activities, and there was a Buddy Mass for the team’s prayer buddies, and anyone else who was giving prayer Palanca. At the weekend site, there is a Palanca Chapel that is manned 24 hours during the weekend. The speakers had prayer buddies that would prayer before, during and after the speakers’ talk. I was honored to be asked to be a prayer buddy, it’s a wonderful duty. The community was allowed to serve meals to the opposite sex and that provided an opportunity for us to begin showing that this was more than just a retreat, or some other religious experience. Cursillo is very spiritual; it was also social. While I lived in Illinois, I didn’t miss many of the Cursillo activities. Cursillo in Virginia is different, and I am adapting. God has given me close proximity to the Dominican Retreat House and I serve meals and clean the dishes at least once a month there. That helps fill some of the void for me. I also join some people in twice monthly centering activities – we pray, sit quietly and listen to God, focusing on Him. Well, as Mary Kay has said, “God isn’t finished with me yet!”, and the only thoughts that have woken me from sleep for my witness, are these. God has brought me to a point where now I have been asked and can accept being part of a Cursillo team. In the past, either my business conflicted with the team meeting schedule or my recent relocation kept me from joining the team. At last. My prayer: |
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