Cursillo is a movement that helps its members enjoy a greater vibrancy in living out their Christian faith. Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe speaks with national leaders of Cursillo who explain how Cursillistas bring others to Christ through friendship.
Cursillos for 2025
UTAH — Two Cursillo weekend retreats, one for men and the other one for women, have been scheduled for July.
The men’s Cursillo weekend will be July 10-13; the women’s Cursillo weekend is July 24-27.
The Cursillo is an apostolic movement within the Catholic Church that began in the 1940s in Spain. Its name is a Spanish word meaning short course. The three-day weekend, one aspect of the Cursillo Movement, is meant to deepen participants’ faith.
These retreats are an opportunity for participants “to develop a closer relationship with Christ to know yourself better, because from knowing yourself better you can know Christ better,” said Christine Benavento-Christiansen, who is helping to organize the weekends.
People who have attended the retreats “go out into the community to be that example of Christianity in action to all the people,” she added.
Benavento-Christiansen is one of five lay people who will make presentations during the weekends. The others are Rita Stelmach, Veronica Dominguez, Frank Lujan and Jose Rodriguez.
The Cursillo Movement is divided into three basic steps: the pre-cursillo, the cursillo itself, and the post-cursillo. During the pre-cursillo, a person is searching for Christ. To participate in the Cursillo, this potential candidate must have a sponsor to share the Cursillo.
“Usually the sponsors (called cursillistas) approach the person and invite them to participate in the retreats,” Benavento-Christiansen said. “in the Cursillo we have the slogan ‘be a friend, bring a friend to Christ,’ so we have a personal relationship with them.”
The message that Cursillo offers is important these days because “it is an uncertain world, and it is important to be rooted in Christ,” Benavento-Christiansen said. “Christ is an example, he shows us the way on how to treat his people. He was Christianity in action and we want to be Christianity in action.”
By the end of each of the weekend retreats, candidates typically have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and a better understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit, she added.
PRAYER TO ST. RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
Glorious Archangel St. Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners.I beg you, assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the “medicine of God” I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor (here mention your special intention), and the great grace of purity to prepare me to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
For more information about St. Raphael and healing resources check out the Archangel St. Raphael Healing Oil Ministry site.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
on your own intelligence rely not;In all your ways be mindful of Him,
and He will make straight your paths.
Fall in Love
by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. (1907–1991)
Nothing is more practical
than finding God,
than falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
School of Leaders 2023
The School of Leaders for 2023 has begun! The meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 10 AM to Noon MT on-line via Zoom. Contact Jose Rodriquez or Rita Stelmach at UtahCatholicCursillo@gmail.com for more information
Diocesan Ultreyas 2023
The Diocesan Ultreyas are being held on the fourth Saturday of every month starting at Noon and concluding around 1:30 PM MST. Contact Rita Stelmach at UtahCatholicCursillo@gmail.com for parish locations or more information.
New Testament – Catholic Study Bible
Catholic Study Bible based on the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament brings together all of the books of the New Testament and the penetrating study tools developed by renowned Bible teachers Dr. Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing.
Fulton Sheen
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online for free at the Vatican website.
There are also a variety of copies available at Amazon.
The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn
Pope John Paul II described the Mass as “Heaven on Earth,” explaining that what “we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy.”
The Lamb’s Supper reveals a long-lost secret of the Church: The early Christians’ key to understanding the mysteries of the Mass was the New Testament Book of Revelation. With its bizarre imagery, its mystic visions of heaven, and its end-of-time prophecies, Revelation mirrors the sacrifice and celebration of the Eucharist.
Utah Catholic Cursillo 