“Have you ever made a Cursillo?” Those six words are enough to make some people run screaming from the room. Even those who have made a Cursillo know they can be a little over-enthusiastic when it comes to convincing others to give it a try. Funny thing is, many of them used to run screaming from the room, too. “It blew me away.” These are actual comments made by some of the men who’ve made Cursillo in the Erie Diocese. What is it about this movement that is so compelling? And why does it seem to be shrouded in secrecy? “A Cursillo weekend is an experience,” the late Father Tex Hilbert, who oversaw Cursillo in the Erie Diocese for more than forty years, explained in an essay on the Cursillo Web site (www.ErieCursillo.org — click on What is a Cursillo? in the left-hand column). Acknowledging that a straightforward telling of the details could not capture the full scope of the experience, he went on to explain, step-by-step, exactly what happens on a Cursillo weekend. But the impact it’s had on two men who made Cursillo—one ten years ago and one last March—as well as the insights of Father Dennis Veltri who has led a number of the weekends, will also fill in some of the blanks. No pressure, no sales pitch. No application stapled into the middle of the magazine. Just the personal testimonies of three men who understand the meaning of...
Referring to himself as “a pretty hard-headed Croatian,” Ed Derrick says he turned down the invitation to make a Cursillo three different times in 18 months. Even as he did so, he says, something was tugging at his heart.
Eventually, Ed accepted his friend’s invitation. “Thank God Vern is persistent,” he says with a laugh. “I’m a CPA by profession, so when he asked me to go in the middle of tax season, it was the worst possible time. I’m not sure why, but I finally said yes.” Ed, who made Men’s Cursillo # 156 ten years ago, looks back on the experience as a time when he learned about the richness of his faith. “As Catholics, we have so many traditions we take for granted,” he says.
Father Dennis Veltri, pastor at St. Hippolyte Parish in Frenchtown, agrees. “So many things get in the way in the world,” he says. “At Cursillo, everything is stripped away except an experience of love and Christian community. In that environment, people awaken to their deep and true need for a genuine encounter with Christ.” Even those who hunger for something more in their lives can feel a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of such an experience. But Father Dennis continues to be involved with Cursillo because of the freedom he witnesses time and time again.
Father Dennis’ initial experience with Cursillo was as a lay person who had studied for the priesthood but left before ordination to pursue a marketing career in the Cleveland area. “After about four years, just as I was wondering if it was time to move on again, I received a letter from a friend inviting me to make a Cursillo,” he remembers. “What struck me most that weekend was how hungry people were for an authentic experience of Christian living. A number of things happened,” he acknowledges, “but Cursillo definitely played a pivotal role in helping me know God was calling me to the priesthood.”
Like all candidates, Jeff Gibbens, who made Cursillo # 197 last March, came to a Cursillo from his own, unique situation. Employed by the Streets Department of the City of Erie, he coaches football on the side. “I wasn’t a practicing Catholic,” he says, “but I was jut trying to get back into it. A friend of mine congratulated me for deciding to get confirmed and I told him I had wanted to make a Cursillo as well, but had missed the deadline for March.” As it happened, that friend was scheduled to work the March Cursillo and was able to get Jeff in at the last second. “No one had to talk me into it,” he says. “I just thought it would give me a better outlook, a better understanding of what Mass means.” Now a member of St. Andrew Parish in Erie, he struggles to find the words to describe his experience, finally saying, “I just felt grace come over me.” For Jeff, it was also an encounter with unconditional love. Jeff was also impressed with the range of men in attendance.
For Ed Derrick, making Cursillo also meant a deeper understanding of the importance of his marriage and an awareness of what he calls the “awesomeness of the gift of children.” “Providing we don’t cure cancer or start a new religious order,” he says, “our children are the legacy my wife and I will leave.” Saying they still have a long way to go in raising their four young charges, Ed feels grateful to God for who they are becoming. “Our parents have had a great impact on our children’s lives,” he says. “But a lot of what influences their lives wouldn’t have happened without Cursillo. Cursillo changed us and in turn, influences the way we are raising our children." He shakes his head at his own words. “I still wrestle with the whole thing myself sometimes,” he says. “I think, ‘What was that?’ But ten years later, I’m sitting here saying Cursillo changed my life like nothing else.” Not that his life is perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. “But no matter what’s going on externally, there’s a part of me deep down inside I know I’ll always have. I know the Spirit of Jesus is dwelling in me. And that brings true peace.” Cover story from the Jan./Feb. 2007 issue of Faith magazine, Erie, Pa. Written by Anne-Marie Welsh |
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