The following description is the work of Sonya Fujan, a member of St John Vianney Church in Fairmont and supporter of Cursillo across southern Minnesota.

“What is Cursillo? It is a gift of the Holy Spirit given to the Catholic church in 1941. Today, it is worldwide, and has aided men and women in their life and love of the Lord. In March it will be nine years since my husband and I experienced a Cursillo weekend. It impacted our lives so much that we are still excited to share our experiences and invite others to a weekend as well.

Although each Cursillo weekend is different, and each person has their own unique experience in a weekend, we can almost certainly guarantee you will experience an encounter with Christ.

One of beautiful differences between Cursillo and other retreats is that after your weekend you are not left to go home and wait for your next retreat.

Since that weekend, I have met once a week with a small group of ladies over my lunch hour.  Before, our paths would have never crossed because in our social environments we had very little in common. Now, they have become my closest friends.  We accept each other just the way we are.  We acknowledge each of our individual strengths and help each other discern our calls. We encourage each other to do better, to stay involved and support each other wherever needed.  We pray for each other and with each other.  We lift each other up in our dark days.  When one of us cannot see Christ, the others brings us right back, where we can see Him in action. We are not there to judge anyone. We are not trying to be holier than the next person. We just want to be authentic Christians, supporting each other.

We are there in good times and in bad.  In the past few years, my groupies and I have shared graduations, engagements, weddings, the joys of parenting, grandparenting, the loss of family members, and family divorces.  We also share very private and intimate joys and struggles, with complete trust in confidentiality.  It is only natural that if we stay focused on Christ, we can gracefully overcome the obstacles of each day. I have grown to discover that we are all on our journey together as Christians and the necessity for me to have this support.

It can be quite a challenge to live as Christians in today’s world.  Our public environments are suppressing Christian community. Cursillo helps us to be Christians in our individual environments of work, play and family, so the secular life may be given a Christian backbone.  Cursillo provides us with the tools and support we need to be a light to the people we encounter in our everyday lives. Our hope is that we will live what we speak, and desire the gospel truths to embody our daily lives.”

 

If you would like more information about Cursillo you are welcome to email sonyafujan@gmail.com or visit their website here.