Go Make A Difference Upcoming Cursillo – Women’s Cursillo #237 October 2014

Go Make A Difference
Erie Diocesan Cursillo Newsletter
Upcoming Cursillo – Women’s Cursillo #237
Women’s #237 will begin on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 8:00 PM at
Our Lady of Mercy Church, 837 Bartlett Road, in Harborcreek, PA.
Closing will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, 2014.
October 2014
WHERE TWO OR MORE
ARE GATHERED IN MY
NAME…
The emergency phone number for the Women’s #237 will be 814-8983306.
Team
Spiritual Directors
Father Richard Allen (Queen of the World – St. Mays)
Msgr. Dan Arnold (St. Mark the Evangelist – Lawrence Park)
Team Leaders
Rector Tina Piotrowicz (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel)
Asst. Rector Cindy Heberlein (St. Lawrence, the Martyr - Albion)
Chief Warden Cheryl Henry (Our Lady of Mercy - Harborcreek)
Wardens
Kris Nelson (Our Lady of the Lake - Edinboro)
Annette Fuhrman (St. Boniface – Erie)
Edie Testa (St. Mark the Evangelist)
Cindy McLaughlin (Our Lady of Peace – Erie)
Auxiliaries
Christine Froess (St. Joseph/Bread of Life)
Shirley Macklenar (St. John/Evangelist – Girard)
Sue Vinca (St. Thomas the Apostle)
Diane Neubert (St. Mary – St. Marys)
Professor
Geri Hadlock
Warden/Troubadour
Michele Garvey (St. George - Erie)
Holy Hour
Holy Hours in support of this Cursillo will occur on Saturday October 18, 2014, throughout the Diocese at the following
locations and times:
Erie County:
Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Harborcreek 9:00 p.m., with Deacon Bill Spinks presiding.
Crawford County:
St. Agatha Parish, Meadville 7:00 p.m.
Elk/Cameron Counties:
St. Mary Parish, St. Marys 7:00 p.m.
Palanca
Palanca must be dropped off by Thursday, October 16, 2014 at all sites by 10:30 a.m. to allow time to take the Cursillo
site. After 10:30 AM on Thursday, Palanca should be taken directly to Our Lady of Mercy.
Please remember there should be no flowers sent to this Cursillo. Have them waiting at home if you so desire.
Erie County
1. The Teacher’s Apple Basket, 9 West Main Street, North East, PA 16428
2. St. Mark the Evangelist Church, 695 Smithson Ave. in Lawrence Park
3. Al’s Awning Shop, 1721 West 26th Street in Erie
4. Kelly’s Sewing Corner, 3330 West 26th St. in Erie, Village West
5. For Art’s Sake Gallery, 7547 West Ridge Rd., Rt. 20, Fairview
6. Hofmann’s Church and Religious Goods, 420 East 26th St. in Erie
7. The Cursillo Office, 429 East Grandview Boulevard in Erie
Cameron County
1. St. Mark Parish, 235 East Fourth Street in Emporium, By 4:00 p.m. Wednesday before the Cursillo
Crawford County
1. St. Brigid Church 383 Arch Street in Meadville, By 12 noon Thursday before the Cursillo.
Elk County
1. St. Mary Church Annex, 325 Church Street in St. Marys, By 4:00 p.m. Wednesday before the Cursillo
Mercer County
1. St. Joseph Parish, 79 Case Avenue in Sharon
2. Notre Dame Parish, 2325 Highland Road in Hermitage
3. St. Michael Parish, 85 North High Street in Greenville
Weekend Schedule
Set up will be Wednesday, October 15, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. Come meet and encourage the team while getting the site
ready for the next Cursillo.
Meals: We are always looking for men to prepare and serve meals. Serving times are listed below. Please come early to
assist in the kitchen, as needed, and stay a little later to help clean up. Come join in the fellowship.
Thursday Night Snack: the assigned committee.
Friday Breakfast: be there at 7:00 a.m.
Friday Luncheon: be there at 12:30 p.m.
Friday Supper: be there at 6:15 p.m.
Saturday Breakfast: be there at 7:00 a.m.
Saturday Luncheon: be there at 12:45 p.m.
Saturday Supper: be there at 6:45 p.m.
Sunday Breakfast: be there at 7:00 a.m.
Sunday Luncheon: be there at 11:30 a.m.
A special thank you to all those who bring food to the closing luncheon. We would like to encourage everyone to please
bring a dish to share to insure there is plenty of food for all. Please use disposable containers and drop your food off at
the kitchen before the closing.
Thank You in advance for your support!
Updates and Information
Call the Cursillo office at 814-824-1118
Check the web site at http://www.eriecursillo.org
CALL A FRIEND – Great things can happen when we talk with each other!
Ultreyas
Upcoming Ultreyas will occur at the following locations and times:
Erie County:
November 7th at St. Mark the Evangelist in Lawrence Park at 7:00 p.m.
Crawford County:
October 10th at St. Agatha Parish in Meadville at 7:00 p.m.
Elk/Cameron County:
October 23rd at Queen of the World in St. Marys at 7:00 p.m.
Prayer Department
If you know of someone who has passed away, someone who is ill or serving in the military, please notify the office so
their names can be placed on the prayer list.
Our recently deceased:
Our deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the loved ones and friends of Msgr. John Lucas, Fr. Tom
Dugan, Mary Duncan, Ken Skladanowski, Diane Allegretto’s father, as well as all those of whom we are
unaware of their illness.
Our sick and recovering
Best wishes and recovery for Fr. Tom Brown, Sister Anna Mae Kuzma, Ben Bauer, Dick DeLong, Terrance
Geary, Linda Jacquel, Josh Miller, Nicole Olin and Woody Combs, John Matson’s and Sue Brown’s sister,
Bob Matthews, Jan McInchak, Kim Rowe, Babe Chick Marcella Singer, Phyllis Zack, Lori and Josh Miller’s two sons, Paul
Tettis’s father, Cyndi Schloder’s father, Sister Rose Kuzma’s brother, Joe Gruesu’s grandson, Rayetta Lindberg’s brotherin-law, along with all those of whom we are unaware.
Our troops and military
Joey Garvey, Matthew Gredler, Andrew Nelson and Stefan Treacle and, as always, keep our seminarians, women and
men religious candidates, as well as our deacon candidates and their wives in your prayers.
Our Religious
As always, keep our seminarians, women and men religious candidates, as well as our deacon candidates and their wives
in your prayers.
Gifts
Dorie McAlee by Rachel Fitch, Becky Bloam, Robert and Maria Grumley
For the Good of the Movement
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Give God a second thought… What good is God? Where am I going? Why don’t prayers work? Let Paulist
Father John Collins help you discover your personal faith story and learn the importance of taking your story
beyond the walls of the church.
3 DAY MISSION, St. Leo Magnus Church, 111 Depot Street, Ridgway, PA 15853, October 13, 14, 15, 2014,
starting @ 7:00PM nightly. For more information call 814.772.3135
Congratulations to Brother John Paul Kuzma who made his perpetual vows as a Capuchin Franciscan on
August 23, 2014. He was ordained a deacon on September 6, 2014. He is the son of Mike & Linda Kuzma
and a nephew of Glenn, Paul, Sr Rose, Sr Anna Mae, Marilyn Moore and Mary Ellen Haynes.
The Inaugural Father Peterson Golf Tournament benefiting Maria House Project was held Saturday,
September 20, 2014 at the Union City County Club. Many people called and invited a friend. The
Tournament was completely full with 140 people “hitting the little white ball”. Some more often than
others. A special thank you to all of those that helped make the event a tremendous success. The planning
has already begun for next year.
A retirement asset like an IRA account makes an excellent bequest to charity. By designating the Diocese of
Erie Cursillo Movement as a beneficiary for part or all of your unused IRA, the value of the IRA gift is
transferred tax free at your death and your estate receives a charitable deduction. Even if you wish to leave
your IRA to your spouse at your death, you may also designate the Diocese of Erie Cursillo Movement as the
secondary beneficiary to your account. To do this, contact your IRA custodian to obtain a beneficiary
designation form. Fill in the required information and mail it off. It really is that simple.
Heard at the Last Closing
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“I know that God is always with me!”
“After Confession, I had the strength to go through this weekend!”
“I didn’t know how far off the path I was!”
“Sometimes God has to put us on our back to look up to Him!”
“The best thing that happened to me was that I got a kick in the a- -!”
A President’s Perspective
I’d like to expand on last month’s topic about “listening”. During each of our Cursillo’s one of
the items we learned about was how important our Christian Community is. For me it was perhaps the
biggest lesson I had to learn. Before Cursillo I wondered why I couldn’t hear God. After Cursillo I realized
God speaks to us every day through our Christian Community. I just needed to “listen”. For me the
message is like a great big puzzle and each and every person has a small piece of God’s intended
message for me. In fact I believe anyone who has been around Cursillo for any length of time comes to
Jeff Rzepka,
this same realization. This realization causes you to seek opportunities to interact with your Christian
President
Community because you desire another piece of the puzzle. You also realize you can’t do it on your own.
Anyone who received a hug from Phyllis at last month’s Ultreya will understand what I mean.
During the Cursillo in Linesville last month another small chunk of the puzzle became clear enough for me to
verbalize, after months of receiving little pieces from each of you. It’s not some earth shattering concept that I’d never
heard before but instead it’s the stories from people’s lives that made the words so real and personal that it becomes
more than just a concept. Instead they become words to live by because you remember the stories.
“If I looked for faults and failures in the world that is exactly what I would see, but if I woke up expecting God to
surprise me with some blessing then a blessing I would see. It was my choice.”
Let God surprise you with a Blessing today.
Ask me for the rest of the story when you see me and I’ll tell you how you all helped me step out in faith and
make a new friend.
Share your story with someone today, someone needs their next piece of the puzzle, God is counting on you. I
hope to see you all soon.
Your Servant,
Jeff
Fr. Dan’s Comments: Who Moved?
THE WAY RELIGION WORKS
Part One of Three Parts
The way religion works was brought home to me again recently when two Cursillistas,
independent of each other, asked to talk with me about a concern each had. One said that since making
her Cursillo, she now hates her job. The other said that since making his Cursillo, he feels anxiety about
his teenage children growing estranged from the Church. Both associate these feelings with their
respective post-Cursillo outcomes. Their experiences may be described as “grace-fallout.” That is my
term and not some fancy new theological theory. Here is what it means.
Rev. Msgr. Dan
Both of these Cursillistas began to see things differently after their respective Cursillos. The
Arnold
woman reported that her job always had some unpleasantness about it, but since making her Cursillo,
she was clearly aware that her coping mechanism was immature and unchristian. She and her coworkers would always
complain about their supervisors and how inconsiderate they were of the employees. The complaints made for a toxic
workplace. Since making her Cursillo, however, she tries, usually successfully, to avoid getting drawn into the hostility.
She said she has to work at avoiding the renewal of her membership in the Toxic Tessie Club. It’s hard to do, and that is
why she now has to work at work to change her coping mechanism.
The male Cursillista gained a perspective at his Cursillo that made its appearance during the post-Cursillo
months. He began to feel regret (remorse?) for wandering away from the practice of his religion for a long time. During
his Cursillo, he felt the revival of a Holy Spirit in him. He relished it. He was unsettled by the possibility that his children
may make the same mistake. He asked how he can guide his children so they don’t wander away from grace. Both of
these Cursillistas were knowing and feeling (mind and heart) the fallout that comes from grace.
Oh, how we enjoy hearing the witnessing at Cursillo closings! The new Cursillistas announce their initial awe at
what God has revealed to them. The Holy Spirit is palpable in those moments. Hearts and souls are transformed. Victims
give up victimhood (woman Cursillista) and prodigal sons (male Cursillista) come home again. Then the realization of
what this change means to them unsettles them. Some Cursillistas are so unsettled by the realization that they simply go
back to well- established behaviors because they feel too much is at risk in conversion. Indeed, change is difficult. There
is an element of grieving the death of the young pre-Cursillo disciple as Cursillistas grow in grace. Much of what happens
in GR’s after Cursillos is the processing of this grief.
What each of these Cursillistas discovered, although they are far from using these words about their discovery,
is that religion is prescriptive. That means (take a deep breath here) that religion concerns relating to the imposition or
enforcement of a rule or method. It is not in our nature to easily embrace other’s perception of reality, their culture. Put
positively, it is only in a graced relationship that trust exists in sufficient supply to enable one to assent to the other’s
grasp of reality. An example here should help you grasp the idea: only a VERY graced child will ever be heard to say,
“Please, please, please daddy, may I clean my bedroom, wash the dishes in the sink, mow the lawn and weed the garden
now?” Only one Person who is so convinced of the trustworthiness of the other will ever give themselves so completely.
As Jesus put it, “Greater love has no man than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15: 13).
This idea, this understanding of the way religion works is deep enough to warrant a “part two” to this article –
which will appear in the next (November 2014) Cursillo newsletter. I hope you’ll give it a read.
De Colores!
Candidates for Women’s Cursillo #237
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Olivia “Nikki” (Borgia) Balczon, Blessed Sacrament – Erie (Stephen Balczon)
Tracy (Martone) Balczon, St. Joseph/Bread of Life – Erie (Stephen Balczon)
Mary Jo (Lamari) Brunecz, St. Elizabeth – Corry (Nick Brunecz)
Beverly “Bev” (Johnson) Check, St. Joseph – Warren (Patricia Rickert)
Teresa Cieslikowski, St. Luke – Erie (Kathy Anysz)
Denise (Prenatt) Curry, St. Agatha – Meadville (Fr. Mike DeMartinis)
Valerie Fuhrman, St. Luke – Erie (Kurt Haibach)
Jessica “Jess” Galus, St. Michael – Greenville (Nancy Szewczyk)
Maripat Grant, St. Mark the Evangelist – Erie (Pat Marshall, Kathy Crotty and Geri Hadlock)
Renee (Frantz) Gwinn, Our Lady of the Lake – Edinboro (Bob Gwinn)
Ann (O’Leary) Howard, St. Ann – Marienville (Louise Bauer)
Susan “Sue” (Zaczkiewicz) Johnston, St. Elizabeth – Corry (Gary Johnston)
Kelley Kerr, St. Mark the Evangelist – Erie (Maggie Santiago)
Anne (Giles) Kondrlik, St. Elizabeth – Corry (Jeanne Saborsky)
Darlene (McKimm) Krivonyak, St. Mark – Emporium, (Beverly Schatz)
Rhonda (Plybell) McGovern, St. Mary – Frenchville (Sr. Theresa Dush)
Gretchen Morrison, St. Joseph – Warren (Patty Rickert)
Joann (Carniewski) Nuber, All Saints – Waterford (Cindy McLaughlin)
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Pamela “Pam” (Benigni) Pauline, Sacred Heart – St. Marys (John Pauline)
Rebecca “Becky” (Bleggi) Secco, St. Joseph – Force (Jerry Secco)
Sheila Walsh, St. Thomas the Apostle – Corry (Jeanne Saborsky)
Lisa Werneth, St. Mary – St. Marys (Michael Werneth)
Jean Wingard, St. Mary – St. Marys (Steve Wingard)
Janet Wolfe, St. Mary – St. Marys (Ken Wolfe)
Erie Cursillo Office
429 East Grandview Boulevard
P.O. Box 10397
Erie, PA 16514-0397
Phone: 814-824-1118
Fax: 814-824-1128
E-mail: office@eriecursillo.org
Web site: www.eriecursillo.org