Thursday, December 12, 2013

At the Moment


Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!  Now, I am coming to dwell in your midst—oracle of the LORD.  Zechariah 2:14

And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?   For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Luke 1:43-45

Piety
Cursillo Leaders' 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.
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 tasks and will rejoice at the good performed by others so that all our spirits united in a common purpose will have one single sprit, 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
St. Paul, Patron of Cursillo - Pray for us.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patron of the Americas - Pray for us.


Study
Fr. Joe often writes about the Sacrament of the Present Moment reminding us of a long tradition of Catholic thought.  Despite this tradition and these reminders, we still spend a long time wishing we were elsewhere and otherwise.  We want a new job, a new house, a new car.  The future images may cause us to miss out on what is happening here and now.
Not Elizabeth.  Elizabeth has a close moment with the Lord and He is not even born yet.  But his presence as the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb caused the baby in Elizabeth to stir. 
In this season of “busy-ness,” our rushing around maybe is even more pronounced.  For the time being, we have to put our to-do lists, shopping lists, wish lists, and lists of lists aside in order to leave space for the reason we celebrate this season. 
It’s easy to fall into the culture trap of sweetness.  But the arrival of Jesus was the farthest we can get from sweet.  He was born in a stinky cave to an unwed teenage mother, in the middle of land occupied by a belligerent foreign army.  From the minute of his birth, Jesus was surrounded by outsiders (shepherds and Magi) and threatened the status quo so much that the King had every boy under two years old killed. 
Mary was greatly troubled by what she heard from the angel – so much so that she hastened to see her cousin.  And through it all, was still able to say:  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”
Wow.  She has no idea what she is in for. Wow.  If she does know and can still say that, she is even more amazingly awesome.

Action
On this feast day of the Cursillo patron saint, reflect upon how you put into practice the humility of Mary and embody that in your Fourth Day at the moment.  Like Elizabeth, we can all wonder how does this gift happen to me?
As Cursillo leaders, we need to pray this Leaders prayer regularly and live the words of this prayer. We need to believe the words, believe in ourselves and believe in the Cursillo vision.
As the Leader’s Prayer reminds us, we need to pray about, study and act upon the Cursillo principles so we can apply the Tripod of piety-study-action to our daily lives.
We are at an in-between time for our movement:  the Fall weekends are over and the Spring weekends will begin formation soon.  But this is when we can focus on our journey and how we support others.
We also are at an in-between moment in our liturgy.  The savior has not yet come but we are flooded with stories and images of what times will be like when he does.  Yet witnesses like Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and John the Baptist are not living a life of waiting.  They are putting their faith into action while they prepare. 
During this season of preparation, we can live and witness the Cursillo vision by living the Cursillo Weekend talks and make them come alive by our everyday Catholic Action. 

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