My first experience being on team was even better than my weekend because of the ten terrific women and one terrific man with whom I enjoyed ten weeks of formation. The Cursillo experience has been so invigorating for me that I want to share it with everyone I meet. Yet I’ve talked about it to a number of people who told me that they’d made a weekend years before, but had never grouped or attended Ultreyas. A Cursillo weekend without the fourth day is like preparing a wonderful feast and not eating it. Isn’t there something we can do to prevent that from happening?
I’ve been told by some Cursillistas that they felt rather let down after their weekend when no one on the team ever got in touch with them. All that loving and caring and then not another word! I was blessed with a sponsor who invited me into her group, but not everyone is so fortunate.
There should be a back up system in place. Shortly after the weekend, a team member from his or her table should contact the new Cursillista just to see how he/she’s doing and to make sure a group has been found. Our Rectora asked us to do this, but apparently it hasn’t always happened.
Ideally, veteran Cursillistas from the babe chick’s parish would also make a point of seeking out the new ones and making sure they’re in groups. The responsibility is ultimately that of the sponsor, but he/she should be backed up by the team and the community.
While I’m at it, I’d like to bring up something else I feel very strongly about. I don’t think there should be any such thing as a “closed” group. All groups should be welcoming to newcomers at all times. I know that some groups have been meeting for many years and have a great dynamic and very close relationships established. However the idea of a group not actively welcoming newcomers seems to me to be opposed to the very heart of Cursillo.
Group size is often the reason for not welcoming new blood. Perhaps there should be a number at which the group would split. If a group feels that seven is enough, then when an eighth joins they should split into two groups of four, which would also welcome newcomers and grow over time. When one of the new groups reaches eight, it too would split.
It would be great if every fourth day group in the diocese would post the time and place of their meeting on the web page.
Someone may have a better idea of how to handle this, but I think it’s really important that no new Cursillista ever get the idea that any group would not extend a warm welcome.
Betty Mills
