SoL June 2012

1. School of Leaders (SOL)
Friendship
E. Paul Semmens
June 2012
Cursillistas! Walk the Paths of the world taking with you the divine seal of grace on
your faces with confidence and serenity. May your friendship with Christ blossom
throughout all the world in a thousand colors.“ Pope Paul VI, May 1970
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2. Agenda
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†
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Bible Enthronement & Reflection
Leader’s Prayer
Reflection & Floating Group Reunion
Technique Talk: Friendship
Discussion/Announcements
Closing Prayer
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3. Leader’s 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 spit of failures, assures victory.
† Move away from us the tiny rivalries, sensitivities, discourtesies,
pride, everything which distracts from You, everything which
divides or discourages.
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4. Leader’s Prayer con’t
† 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 task and will rejoice at the good
performed by others, so that all our spirits, united in a common
purpose, will have one single spirit, 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
† Our Lady of Guadelupe, Patron of the Americas, Pray for US.
† St Paul, Patron of the Cursillo, Pray for US.
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6. Definition of Friendship
(Wikipedia)
† Friendship is a relationship between friends, a friendly feeling or attitude.
† Friends care for one another and look out for each other.
† For a deep understanding to occur between friends, they must open up about
personal things, listen carefully, and be loyal to one another.
† Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating
the following on a consistent basis:
– The tendency to desire what is best for the other
– Sympathy and empathy
– Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the
truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
– Mutual understanding and compassion; ability to go to each other for emotional
support
– Enjoyment of each other's company
– Trust in one another
– Positive reciprocity — a relationship is based on equal give-and-take between the
two parties.
– The ability to be oneself, express one's feelings and make mistakes without fear of
judgment.
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7. Initial Thoughts on Friendship
† In Jn 15:9 Jesus said “I Love you”
– 1 Jn 4:10 sent His son as expiation for our sins, the ultimate act of Love
† In Jn 15: 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you
– The Greek root word for friend is love or beloved
† It’s amazing Jesus picked the word, friend; He could have used so
many others
–
–
–
–
–
–
Servant
Disciple or Apostle
Follower
Associate
Companion
Supporter
I Love You
Be My Friend
I Chose You
† In Jn 15:16 Jesus said “I chose you”
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8. Love
† The word Love has many meanings
† We often think of it as an emotional attachment
† The word Love evolves from the Latin word Caritas – to value
† Love in a Christian sense has to do with what I value which
dictates the way I act and behave
Saginaw Michigan White Book, May 15 2012 8

9. Initial Thoughts on Friendship
† In Jn 15: 17 Jesus said “Love one another”
– So that meant not to necessarily to have feelings toward one another
– But to value, appreciate the other person
† In Cursillo, the foundation of our Charism is we love by being
friends -we see God’s love through the love of others
I Love
(Value)
You
I Choose You
Be My Friend
Make a
Friend
Be a
Friend
Bring a
Friend to
Christ
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10. In Order to Love…
† Cursillo is a community of people who
love, who value each other
† We have to feel loved: No one can love if
he is not loved; you can’t give what you
do not have
– When we realize God loves us, His
presence shines in us
– God gives His love unconditionally;
we can’t earn it
– But we can & do gratefully share it in
our groups & with others on our
weekends
† The core idea therefore is friendships are
a reflection of Jesus’ love for us
GOD
US
OTHERS
CURSILLO
COMMUNITY
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11. Friendship
† The Cursillo method believes all true friendships come from God
† When two people are friends and they bring God into their
friendship, God amplifies His graces
† Friendships bring us individually & collectively closer to God; they
are a way for our love to grow
† The Tripod is intended to build our friendship with God, ourselves
and others
– Encounter God; Piety: we learn God loves us
– Encounter our selves; Study: we learn to love ourselves
– Encounter with others; Action: Our love of God enables us to
love (value) others
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12. To Be a Friend
Encounter
With God
Encounter
With Self
Encounter
With Others
To Form Yourself
Friend
With God
Friend
With Self
Friends
With Others
So You can be Friends With:
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13. Cursillo Friendship Organizations
† The Cursillo is a Charism of friendship
† So our Movement emphasizes Friendship
– Friendship Groups
– Ultreyas
† The basis of all we do is friendship, love and respect and when
that is missing, our Charism fails
– Many attend the weekend and fall away because they cannot
find a group that offers them friendship
– They do not feel comfortable; they do not see God’s love
† The School of Leaders is the friendship group for those who have
made Cursillo their apostolate
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14. Summary
† As Cursillistas, we believe the Love of Christ is wielded as the only
force capable of transforming the world [and we are His
instruments]
† The Charism of Cursillo is to feel the intimate experience that God
loves me. [By seeing God through others]
† Then based on the realization that God loves us, the Charism
of Cursillo is to have an apostolic hunger, as being baptized, to
communicate the great news of the Love of God [God’s Love] to the
most people in my environments, with a preference to those
distant, so that all will feel that God loves them.
† The Charism of Cursillo is to live "DeColores" (filled with grace),
giving testimony in the movable square meter that surrounds us by
the best means that is friendship.”
•
Juan Ruiz, Former President--OMCC
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16. SoL News
† Telecom for all Rectors in late June to discuss July SOL topic,
flow of the weekend. Details soon.
– Candidates should not anticipate, but teams should!
† Remote SoL is third Thursday of each month at 7PM.
Attendance information is at cursillo.org/birmingham
† Next SoL is 2d Saturday of July in Cullman, 0930 (July 14)
† New Cursillo Products:
– Team Survey
– Qualifications to serve on a team
– New Team Member Orientation
† Cursillo Summer Social, Our Lady of the Angels Monastery,
Hanceville, 1130-3:30PM
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17. SoL Six Month Schedule
Jan
Feb
Mar
Ap
May
June
[Ultreyas]
[Ultreyas]
[Cullman]
[Cullman]
[Cullman]
Doctrine
Role of
the SoL
Ultreya Role
Ultreya Role
Sister Anne
Marie
Sister Anne
Marie
Theology
of
Friendship
Technique
Bylaw
Revision
Ultreya
Conduct
Sponsorship
Palanca
New Team
Member
Orientation
Being a
Friend
Jul
Aug
Doctrine
Technique
1/3/2014
TBD
Weekend
Flow
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
No SoL
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18. SoL Action Log
ISSUE
POC
STATUS
Revise By Laws-last updated 2004
SoL
Approved Secretariat Mtg 10
March; posted on Website
Develop a list of potential alternate sites for
the weekend
March
Secretariat
agenda item
Working; having trouble
identifying alternate locations
Need to update Ultreya Facilitators
Post Cursillo
Working
Need to identify all groups on Cursillo website
Post Cursillo
Working
Need to share information with Cursillistas via
email and twitter etc.
Post Cursillo
Working
Need to send Ultreyas note on Palanca
SoL
Complete
1/3/2014
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20. Closing Prayer
† Dear Lord, we must have fraternal charity, or we can accomplish
nothing for you.
† In loving you, help us to have a genuine concern for one another, a
generosity in sharing one another’s burdens, a gallantry in
defending the reputation of our group, a sincere sympathy in
sharing one another’s suffering and sorrows, and a joy in sharing
their spiritual growth.
† By this shall all men know that we are your Apostles. Amen.
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23. How to be a Friend
† Being a friend requires us to be contemplative which is a product
of our faith and God’s graces
– Contemplation is the pause before acting; discerning what we
are about to do and deciding if what we are about to do is our
will or God’s will
– Contemplation is the ability to see things as they are; the truth
– To be contemplative, we must liberate ourselves from
ourselves
– Contemplation lets us see virtue in everything, especially the
goodness of each person
– We desire friendship for no selfish purpose
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