A Gift that Continues to Inspire
Like so many before me, experiencing a “Cursillo” Weekend was a formative part
of my own spiritual journey. And I believe that I am not alone in describing
what happens after Cursillo (a Spanish word which means “short course”)
to be just as important as the weekend itself. As incredible as praying and
sharing is by itself, being connected with a small group provides a whole other
dimension—that of mutual learning and essential community. It takes me
immediately back to the Gospel’s charge of being sent in pairs. Something
powerful happens when we grow and share in the context of community in addition
to the work we do by ourselves.
This truth was made even clearer almost ten years ago when I was invited to be part of team to host a special kind of Cursillo weekend—in a federal penitentiary. The Kairos Prison ministry takes a Cursillo weekend literally behind bars for the prison population. Let me tell you, it is an amazing and transformative experience and one never looks at the penal system quite the same way afterward. Like Cursillo, Kairos (a Greek word which means “God’s time”), equips the weekend participants with the means to create a small group community spiritual experience afterwards. Each participant receives a small book and a simple card to use in their small group. One side of the card contains a short prayer. It is this prayer that has remained with me ten years now and has been a part of my own small group that I participate in. To me, the words are quite direct and capture the essence of what it means to discern—prayerfully consider God’s call to us and grow into our discipleship. This year, with our Vision Process, these words are even more powerful to me and I commend them to you as the basis of what I would like our collective prayer to be around all the work we are doing as a community.
Jesus, come join us in our journey
as we seek your will for this community in this environment.
Teach us to love each other as you love us,
to give ourselves as you give yourself
that the kingdom of God might be made present to all. Amen.
Kairos Community Prayer
Our Vision Team has now met twice and we had our first Community Gathering Sunday last month in which we explored the importance and aspects involved with gathering spaces. You can see a reflection on that learning from our consultant, Christine Reinhard within this edition of The Messenger. In this next month we will be exploring Baptism, one of our two fundamental sacraments and the basis of the faith and tradition we all share. Plan to join us October 15th for this next Community Gathering Sunday. After the 10:30am service, we share a pot-luck meal and then pray, share, learn, and imagine – exploring what our Baptism means in terms of architecture, furnishings, programs and relationships. Last month we had almost fifty people be part of the conversation and there is always room for more. I would like to see you there.
Blessings,
Darren Elin+