SCHOOL OF LEADERS by KATHY TUCKER, ASSISTANT LAY DIRECTOR

Saturday we had a wonderful SOL, with an inspirational spiritual talk about Surrender from Deacon Tony Martucci. Mary Weis gave the technique talk on Beautiful Hope. If you have Hope you have Faith. 

Please take the time to read the talks below, they are truly inspiring. Come to the next SOL on November 17, 2018 for your Spiritual fulfillment!

Kathy 

+++++

"Prayer of Surrender" by Deacon Tony Martucci

Mk 10:17-30: "As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother."

He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words.

So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." 

This gospel touches all of us. This young man is seeking the way to eternal life. He is a good man, keeping all the commandments but he wants MORE. Christ asks him to give up all that he owns tn to follow Jesus. He finds that too difficult.

We often look at this story and ask what it is that we must give up to follow Christ. Our possessions? Our treasures? 

+++++

BEAUTIFUL HOPE by MARY WEIS

Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint.

And hope does not disappoint. That was from Paul to the Romans Chapter 5. I’m here to talk about hope. That’s really a tough subject. Why? Because it’s so hard, so hard to have hope! Firsthand I can tell you that these past few weeks I have had to call upon the Holy Spirit for strength and hope in dealing with the upcoming Cursillo weekend. 

I have also read and reread this book to sustain me and keep in line with God’s plan for me. It’s a wonderful book and it’s titled, of course, Beautiful Hope.  And it is beautiful and encouraging. Has anyone read it? It will definitely satisfy your Study of the tripod.

It’s an uplifting book comprised of personal stories of hope.

Kelly has enlisted the help of several people, some well known, and others who have never written anything before. All of them are American Catholics trying to live the gospel. Matthew has asked these people a few thought provoking questions as to their contributions to the book: 

What gives you hope?
What sustains your hope?
Where does your hope for the Catholic Church come from?
What are your hopes for the Catholic Church and humanity?
How do you bring hope to others?

Kelly only writes the prelude. Matthew Kelly says we need hope now more than ever before. Hope is the one thing people cannot live without. Matthew Kelly feels strong about the virtue of hope because he has based his mission of Dynamic Catholic on it. The mission of Dynamic Catholic is to re-energize the Catholic Church in America by developing world class resources that inspire people to rediscover the genius of Catholicism. That sounds like a lot of hope to me. 
The book is divided into four parts: Choosing Hope, Hope in the Church, Hope in Action, and Becoming Hope. In the first part, Choosing Hope, Sister Miriam Heidland, a sister of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity, who has written books and speaks publicly, states that for people of faith, the truest meaning of hope is not ultimately a feeling or longing toward a vague temporal goal, but rather a gift from God that orders us toward eternal goodness, truth, and beauty. For a long time she thought that hope was just wishing for something to happen or not occur. Aren’t many of our hopes like that? I hope that God will hear my prayer and I can live long enough to dance at my granddaughter’s wedding, or have good weather for my vacation or get that better job I applied for.

These are all good intentions but that’s not what hope really is. Hope is the surrender of ourselves to God’s will, accepting that realization through everything we do, knowing full well that through Him, the promise of eternal salvation will be ours. Sister Miriam talks about cracks in our foundation, cracks in our lives. Does anybody here have any cracks in their lives? Yes, we all have plenty: deceit, jealousy, shame, envy, whatever they may be, and we must face what they are. We face them in front of Jesus. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can fix these cracks. It is only through complete acceptance into God that our lives begin to build and take on structure. And we can only accept what He gives us through hope. It only occurs with hope. Hope for us is in living our lives with Christ. We must look into ourselves first before we can begin to know what hope is and bring hope to others.

What about hope in the church? Can we find hope there? We can, in so many ways: in our times at mass, sharing and making friends with our fellow parishioners, praying with our men’s or women’s groups, coming to the aid of others through Catholic Charities, a giving tree at Christmas and the unborn who have no one to speak for them. What about our exceptional priests who never ever tire of listening to our ills, problems and issues? It is only through the church and in our own methodology of Cursillo, where we survive spiritually. And it is in the church that we associate hope with generosity. I can tell you personally, it brings tears to my eyes seeing the donations pour in whenever we ask, no matter what. 

Hope comes from people such as yourselves doing extraordinary things through your charity, good will and love! None of this would happen without our church. Why shouldn’t we have hope through our church? We would certainly be lost without it. 

Having hope within ourselves and gaining hope from the Church enables us to bring hope to others. I’d like to share one of the stories that stands out for me and touches my heart.

It’s from a priest who receives a call at 9:30 at night from a young man who wants to speak with him. The priest doesn’t know the person on the line at all, but agrees to meet with him the next day at the Catholic high school nearby. When they meet, the boy could only cry. The priest, Father Meyer, told him ‘You need to talk to somebody. I don’t know what you’re going through, but people can help you. I don’t know what church you belong to but I’m available.” The young man, Will, met with Father Meyer every day for two weeks after that, finally breaking down and talking about his anxiety and frustrations of life. Encouraged by Father Meyer, Will eventually joins the youth group at the parish and starts to attend mass. He gains hope in his life to carry him into the future. But it doesn’t end there. Five years later those moments are still felt.

We can become hope in action. We can change the world by our small actions but it has to start with ourselves. As Saint John Paul II said, “I plead with you – never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.” 

So now I ask you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, how are we to be hope in action? How can we be the beacons of light God has made us to be? For God wants us to be joyful and hopeful.

Again, I quote from Saint John Paul II, “It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal…the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society…” Sound like something you heard in Cursillo? 

De Colores

A NOTE FROM MARY WEIS, LAY DIRECTOR

My felllow cursillistas, once again I am asking for donations to fund our upcoming Men’s Weekend December 6-9 2018 at San Alfonso Retreat House, Long Branch. Only through your contributions is this possible. We have increased the weekend fee to $225 but we must add an additional $60 for each and every person attending. San Alfonso charges us $285 per person for the weekend (and that’s at a discount!) We also don’t turn anyone away who cannot pay.

Considering that we only had two diocesan masses this year with collections, your donations are the prime support of Cursillo. Monies we collect at School of Leaders go to food and drink.

We incur both National and Regional dues as well as a stipend to Epiphany for the use of their venue. Please be as generous as you can, anything is appreciated.  Thank you again and may God bless you abundantly! You can send your donations to our Treasurer:

JoAnne Henderson 
48 Berkshire Rd
Whiting NJ 08759

Also, Our Diocesan Mass/Team Send Off  will be Friday, November 30 2018 at 8pm at Saint John’s Church, 619 Chestnut St, Lakehurst NJ, Off Route 70. 

DeColores, Mary

GOOD NEWS FROM MARY WEIS ABOUT TRENTON 127

Mary Weis, Lay Director writes: "We are pleased to announce that Trenton will be having a Men’s Weekend in December from December 6-9 2018 at San Alfonso Retreat House, Long Branch, New Jersey.

We only have 5 candidates so we’re praying that God will provide us with more. Candidates are: 

James Monks  (Sponsor - David Riggio)
Luis Quinto  (Sponsor - Adelaide Sangiorgi)
James Walsh  (Sponsor - Dean Boturla)
Brian Morgan  (Sponsor - Marisel Kemper)
Anthony Cecala (Sponsor - George and Mary Weis)

Please pray for these candidates and for the team of Trenton 127.