| Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter |
By Diane Bayne
“When they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, ‘We should like to hear you on this some other time.’ And so Paul left them. But some did join him and became believers.” Acts 22: 32-34
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will speak on his own. . . and will declare to you the things that are coming.” John 16:13
In today's reading from Acts we are presented with Paul's mighty oration to the Athenians. And then we see three different kinds of reactions from those present: there are those who instantly reject Paul's teaching; there are those who take a “rain check” (talk to us about this later); and there are those who become believers. The same dynamic plays itself out when a person is asked to make a Cursillo weekend. When we wonder why a certain person cannot respond as we would like him/her to, we might consider the words of the Lord in today's Gospel: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” The Lord is patient and waits for each of us, until that time comes when we are able to bear His truth and His love.
Piety
The theme of the Diocesan Ultreya this past Saturday was one of thanksgiving to God for the gift of Cursillo. Two speakers emphasized what makes Cursillo so special: the experience of the Holy Spirit and the self transcendence that follows in our lives as a result of that experience.
When we try to describe the experience of the Holy Spirit on our weekend, words fail us. We know we arrived on Thursday night as our usual self-focused selves, and left on Sunday afternoon with a new focus and a new awareness. And we knew we did not bring about the change.
It is as if we were given a new pair of eyes with which to see the world, ourselves, and others. We did not quite understand how this change occurred – but no matter. All that matters is to live out our life with this new pair of eyes and to find ways to spread the incredible joy we had received.
Spend a little time today reflecting on “God's timing” that brought you to your Cursillo weekend.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/051607.shtml
It has been said that in the first half of the twentieth century,
In his book, The Desiring Self, Walter Conn traces the development of the meaning of “self-realization” in the Pastoral Counseling movement. (But all he says applies to all Christians everywhere):
The realization of the true self. . . rejects any self-centered striving for happiness through fulfillment, requiring that one empty oneself (even losing one's life) in the loving service of the neighbor. Self-transcendence then insists on the paradoxical view that authentic self-realization results not from an attempt to fulfill one's wishes, but from a movement beyond oneself in an effort to bring about the good of others.
How have your ideas of “self fulfillment” changed since making your Cursillo? How have you experienced self-transcendence?
Action
On our Cursillo weekend we fell in love with the Lord. Now, powered by this love (otherwise known as the Holy Spirit), the Gospel calls us to lives of self-transcendence--the transformation of ourselves into dependable, life-giving springs of decisions and deeds.
To ramp up the joy you experienced on your Cursillo weekend, you need only increase the amount of time you spend today contributing in a material and concrete way to the welfare of others. What have you done for the other today?
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