ENCOURAGER 88 MAY 2014
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Now that we are in the season of Easter, we think about new life and transformation. One of the things that fascinates me is the differences between Organisations and Movements. The way these two things operate in our world can sometimes look so similar and yet at their heart is something very different.
Organisations work on rules and regulations, they’re about following the manual and the correct procedure, anyone can do the job as long as they follow the instructions. A Movement focuses on values and passing these on to those who come next, anyone can be involved but they must learn the values and the culture.
It is a trend in our society at the moment to be more of an Organisation than a Movement. We see this in how everything must have rules and regulations, but no one stops to correct poor manners. A society that has movement values, will together correct poor manners, or poor values in those around it.
It is interesting that the Christian Church always seems to go through the struggle between being Movement and Organisation. When in times of trouble, an Organisation aims for more rules, more regulations, and more reports. When a Movement encounters times of trouble, it goes back to its values: it goes back to who it is.
I believe that Jesus started a Movement, not an Organisation. It is interesting that when you build the church you sometimes get disciples of Jesus, but when we make disciples we always get the church.
Cursillo as a renewal movement of the church is, at the heart of it, about discipleship, about values. Yes, we have manuals and regulations, but who we are is about the values we hold dear. Cursillo is about the discipleship that we have been taught by those who went before us and called us to pass on. It is not just about our experience but about ‘who do we now pass this on to?’.                         Download…
ENCOURAGER 88 MAY 2014

February 2014 edition: As we start a new year, I am highly aware of starting a new adventure with you as the new Diocesan Spiritual Director, I have long held that life is an adventure and that part of living life is enjoying and discovering the adventure. Life is indeed more of that because we are called to know God’s love and forgiveness and to know those who go on adventure with us.
Knowing who is on that adventure with us I think is one of the strengths of the Cursillo movement. It is in knowing those who go the adventure with us, those who encourage us on the journey that gives us strength. This is why Group Reunions are so important, that we are sharing life with each other and encouraging each other to make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Jesus. It is interesting to ask yourself when was the last time someone asked how you were going with that task, when was the last time someone prayed with you about your success, your failures in seeking to answer this call. All of these things and more happen when we attend a Group Reunion.
I believe that in being part of a Group Reunion we might be able to answer St. Pauls prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 for us:
“To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
De Colores
Rev. Stephen – Diocesan Spiritual Director

Encourager 87 February 2014 (Final)