Weekend teaches God’s love, need for people
Glenn E. Pfluger Jr. vividly remembers the impact a Cursillo (pronounced Ker See O) weekend had on his father.
“In the late ‘70s, my dad, who was very conservative, was talked into going on a Cursillo weekend,” Pfluger said. “I didn’t know anything about it. He didn’t know anything about it. But when he came back, my pre-Vatican II, conservative dad was a very much different person.”
Pfluger, a member of the Church of the Epiphany, Richmond, felt that impact when he made his Cursillo in 1992.
“It cannot not affect you because the people that are putting it on are all spiritual, they all have life stories, whether it was a struggle in their life or a victory in their life, they are all inspirational to the candidates, stories that say, ‘OK, there is more to just working and raising a family. What can I do to help?’” he said. “And God wants us to help. That’s a huge realization during Cursillo — God is calling us to help each other, and we can, and we should.”
Established in Spain in 1944, the Cursillo movement came to the United States in 1957, and to Richmond in 1972. Cursillo in central Virginia will mark its 50th anniversary, Sunday, Sept. 18. (See related story)
Cursillo is a one-time, Thursday night to Sunday afternoon weekend in which a team of 12 people presents talks and spiritual reflections to participants, called candidates. When they complete the weekend, they are known as Cursillistas. Separate weekends are held for men and women. Cost for the weekend is $250, with some financial assistance for those who cannot afford the entire fee.
The content of a Cursillo weekend is “all stuff” Catholics have heard before, according to Pfluger, who has served on nine teams.
“If you’ve paid attention being a Catholic, all of this is all stuff that you’ve heard before but never in such a coordinated, concentrated and powerful messaging weekend,” he said.
For those concerned about the length of the weekend, Pfluger has an answer.
“I respond by saying, ‘This isn’t for somebody else, this is for you.’ There’s so much noise, so much responsibility through society, work and family pressures, it’s not easy to be one-on-one with your faith in God,” he said. “So, you really deserve to take the time with God and your faith. On another level: Eternity is a really long time, and what you do on this earth happens with eternity.”
‘Spark I needed’
During a Sunday Mass at Church of the Epiphany in 2015, Deacon Steve Haut announced that registration for the men’s Cursillo was underway.
“We were sitting next to some friends. The woman is blind has but has exceptional hearing,” Russell Titone recalled. “My wife turned to me and said in almost a whisper, ‘That might be something you’d be interested in.’ This friend of ours heard that, and she’s very, very persuasive. Before we left the church, I was signed up to go on the weekend.”
Titone said that when he and his family moved to Richmond in 1980, they were active in the parish as lectors, religious educators and extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. However, when he took a job that required him to travel, he couldn’t do those things, but following his retirement in 2014, he wanted to return to them.
“I was in a searching mode. (Cursillo) came up at the time I was looking for something to do,” he said. “It turned out to be the spark I needed. Since then, I’ve been back into different ministries. It was just the right time of where I was at in my life.”
Describing himself as a “cradle, pre-Vatican II Catholic,” Titone cited the benefits of Cursillo.
“Since making a Cursillo, Scriptures became richer to me and my Catholic experience,” he said. The biggest thing is it not only helped me in my Catholicism, but it’s helped me be a better spouse, a better father, grandfather and really helped me reorient my life in a more meaningful direction. My only regret? I wish I had done it earlier.”
Show people God loves them
Dick Commander, a Central Virginia Cursillo lay leader from 2001 to 2015 and a Cursillo team member, noted that “’bloom where you are planted’ is one of the catchphrases” of the movement.
“If you go to a parish, especially back in the ‘80s and ‘90s and since then, most of the people in the parish who are really the doers — the ones who are involved in the ministries and the administrative duties of a parish — have been on a Cursillo weekend,” he said. “They go back and want to serve, bloom where they are planted. Serving is what they do.”
Commander, a member of St. James, Hopewell, said that through the nine talks by laypeople and 10 given by spiritual directors, participants will hear a consistent message.
“We teach and show candidates that God loves them and needs them.… Some people don’t understand God loves them. They don’t understand what God’s love looks like. The weekend is not to fix anybody; the weekend is to show them God loves them,” he said.
Another guiding phrase for Cursillistas, according to Commander, is, “Be a friend, make a friend, bring a friend to Christ.”
“If you’re excited about the weekend, look around your parish and in your family. You continue to interact with them in a spiritual way and invite them to come on the weekend,” he said, adding, “People who see a person come home from a Cursillo weekend feel the person has changed for the good.”
Editor’s note: Two Cursillo weekends are planned for 2023. For further information, contact Kaitlin Cox at [email protected] or 804-516-4704, or Joanna Haliday at [email protected].
50th anniversary celebration
Cursillo of Central Virginia will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2-6 p.m., at the Abbey, 12829 River Road, Richmond.
According to Dick Commander, a lay leader of the Cursillo Community of Central Virginia from 2001-2015, more than 3,000 people have attended a Cursillo in central Virginia during the past 50 years.
Those wishing to participate in the anniversary potluck can RSVP at https://bit.ly/CursilloPotluck before Sunday, Sept. 11.
Questions? Contact Adria Hogan at [email protected].