| SPARK |
| 2004 |
| APRIL |
Will the Real Jesus Stand Up?
By Frank A. Squitteri
So much has been written about Jesus over 2000 years that one is tempted to ask, “Will the real Jesus stand
up?” Perhaps the best way to understand Jesus is not through our minds but through our imagination. In
literature we read of kings and princes who disguise themselves as nobodies so that they can mingle among
ordinary people and find the love of their lives who will love them, not because of their position in life, but
truly for themselves. In some ways, Jesus is like these royal characters. But the big difference is that these
fictional personages had deliberately chosen to disguise their identity. For Jesus, there was no make-
believe. Jesus had to search for his identity. Jesus had to become a man of radical (extraordinary) faith, hope
and love.
Radical Faith. Let us recall that the same Spirit Who brought creation out of chaos was the same One who
empowered Mary to conceive Jesus. But the Spirit wasn’t finished with his work of bringing about Jesus. As a
truly human person, Jesus was a work in progress. He had to undergo the same developmental process of
any human being. He had to develop his body, his mind, human imagination and human feelings. We read in
the gospels that Jesus grew in age, wisdom and grace. Much would be hidden from him as he went through
this process of growth. It was the Spirit who led Jesus to develop his innate belief in God’s love for him and
in God’s mission for him. Jesus’ evolving faith was an extraordinary power. For Jesus’ faith empowered him
to reach an intelligence that no human reasoning could provide. His radical faith would give him a vision of
God, himself, others and life as God sees them. But still it was through the “eyes of faith” that Jesus saw his
relationship to God and his mission for God.
Radical Hope. Now let us return to the Spirit’s role in the development of Jesus and ask ourselves: What kind
of a person did Jesus need to be to accomplish his mission? Remember the purpose of Jesus’ Incarnation: to
reveal God’s vision of reality to mankind and to reconcile humanity to God. In one sense, Jesus’ mission was
Mission Impossible. Jesus would carry out his mission in a political environment in which Israel was an
occupied land of the Roman Empire and his people were under the subjugation of Roman officials. In this
environment, new ideas were unwelcome, even considered dangerous, that could lead to insurrection
against the overpowering might of the Roman Empire. Again, the Spirit led Jesus to grow his innate power of
hope. Jesus’ radical faith gave him God’s vision of reality and his radical hope gave him the certainty that his
mission would be accomplished and the energy to fulfill his mission.
Radical Love. When the Spirit brought forth the powers of radical faith and radical hope in the personhood of
Jesus, the Spirit set in motion a dynamic process within him that could only result in giving Jesus the power
of radical love for God and others. It was this dynamic process within Jesus that empowered Him to
understand that he was to accomplish Mission Impossible by his death, and that empowered him to respond
with radical love. “This is why I came—so that I might go through this hour of suffering.” Jn:12:27. “The
greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them.” Jn:15:13. Radical love had made
Jesus a generous giver beyond any human measure.
Jesus has taught us that the fully human life is one of radical faith, hope and love. The goal of our spiritual
lives must be to allow the Spirit to accomplish this in us. The means are clearly the Cursillo growth process of
holiness, formation and evangelization. Pursuing holiness is pursuing growth in radical faith in the Christian
Vision. Pursuing spiritual formation is pursuing growth in radical hope that the Spirit will give us the means to
live the Christian Vision. Pursuing evangelization is radical love in action
By Frank A. Squitteri
So much has been written about Jesus over 2000 years that one is tempted to ask, “Will the real Jesus stand
up?” Perhaps the best way to understand Jesus is not through our minds but through our imagination. In
literature we read of kings and princes who disguise themselves as nobodies so that they can mingle among
ordinary people and find the love of their lives who will love them, not because of their position in life, but
truly for themselves. In some ways, Jesus is like these royal characters. But the big difference is that these
fictional personages had deliberately chosen to disguise their identity. For Jesus, there was no make-
believe. Jesus had to search for his identity. Jesus had to become a man of radical (extraordinary) faith, hope
and love.
Radical Faith. Let us recall that the same Spirit Who brought creation out of chaos was the same One who
empowered Mary to conceive Jesus. But the Spirit wasn’t finished with his work of bringing about Jesus. As a
truly human person, Jesus was a work in progress. He had to undergo the same developmental process of
any human being. He had to develop his body, his mind, human imagination and human feelings. We read in
the gospels that Jesus grew in age, wisdom and grace. Much would be hidden from him as he went through
this process of growth. It was the Spirit who led Jesus to develop his innate belief in God’s love for him and
in God’s mission for him. Jesus’ evolving faith was an extraordinary power. For Jesus’ faith empowered him
to reach an intelligence that no human reasoning could provide. His radical faith would give him a vision of
God, himself, others and life as God sees them. But still it was through the “eyes of faith” that Jesus saw his
relationship to God and his mission for God.
Radical Hope. Now let us return to the Spirit’s role in the development of Jesus and ask ourselves: What kind
of a person did Jesus need to be to accomplish his mission? Remember the purpose of Jesus’ Incarnation: to
reveal God’s vision of reality to mankind and to reconcile humanity to God. In one sense, Jesus’ mission was
Mission Impossible. Jesus would carry out his mission in a political environment in which Israel was an
occupied land of the Roman Empire and his people were under the subjugation of Roman officials. In this
environment, new ideas were unwelcome, even considered dangerous, that could lead to insurrection
against the overpowering might of the Roman Empire. Again, the Spirit led Jesus to grow his innate power of
hope. Jesus’ radical faith gave him God’s vision of reality and his radical hope gave him the certainty that his
mission would be accomplished and the energy to fulfill his mission.
Radical Love. When the Spirit brought forth the powers of radical faith and radical hope in the personhood of
Jesus, the Spirit set in motion a dynamic process within him that could only result in giving Jesus the power
of radical love for God and others. It was this dynamic process within Jesus that empowered Him to
understand that he was to accomplish Mission Impossible by his death, and that empowered him to respond
with radical love. “This is why I came—so that I might go through this hour of suffering.” Jn:12:27. “The
greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them.” Jn:15:13. Radical love had made
Jesus a generous giver beyond any human measure.
Jesus has taught us that the fully human life is one of radical faith, hope and love. The goal of our spiritual
lives must be to allow the Spirit to accomplish this in us. The means are clearly the Cursillo growth process of
holiness, formation and evangelization. Pursuing holiness is pursuing growth in radical faith in the Christian
Vision. Pursuing spiritual formation is pursuing growth in radical hope that the Spirit will give us the means to
live the Christian Vision. Pursuing evangelization is radical love in action
The Passion of the Film Critics
Sharon & Jim Barnes
Every time I look at you
I don’t understand
Why you let the things you did
Get so out of hand!
Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
Our culture likes Jesus Christ carefully arranged in the comfortable niche of “Church,” carefully separated
from the business of “State.” His platitudes are taught – those that are politically correct, anyway – although
without reference to him, if possible. He is given equal time with Santa Claus, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the
Winter Solstice celebrations at Christmas (which still, by the way, bears his name), but Ebenezer Scrooge gets
more air time. He has been edged almost completely out of Easter. Even the history books are starting to
bear this new preoccupation with social responsibility – the era ushered in by his birth is now known as the
“Common Era,” or C.E., and not “Anno Domini” or A.D. (The Year of our Lord). Time is still divided by his
coming; but we are led to believe that it is a cultural thing kept up by convenience, not a result of anything
this religious leader might have done.
Now comes Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and again, nearly 2000 years after his life, the debate is
starting up again. Who was this man? (Jesus, not Mel.) And why do people insist on disturbing us again with
his death?
That’s what the film critics are objecting to the most – it’s a violent picture. People are shocked at the
violence of a man being beaten nearly to death, forced to carry his own cross along a road lined with hecklers,
and then nailed up in an excruciating position and left to die.
It is the clearest measure of Jesus’ teaching permeating society like yeast through good bread dough. Once
upon a time, not so long ago, public executions were a fact of life. Present day executions take place in back
rooms, with drugs going intravenously and acting within minutes, after years of trials and appeal processes
and with the possibility of last-minute interventions from sympathetic officials.
Tell me what you think about your friends at the top!
Who’d you think besides yourself was the pick of the crop?
Buddha was he where it’s at, is he where you are?
Could Muhammad move a mountain or was that just PR?
– Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
No other religion forces us through violence like this; truth to tell, no other religion could. Other founders of
major religions died old and respected, from Abraham and Moses to Mohammed. Gautama Buddha and Lao-
Tzu were revered during their lifetimes, as was Confucius. Only Jesus died young, horribly, in a public
spectacle, one that he seemed to know was coming, one that he seemed to even court.
This is one aspect of Jesus’ ministry that this film does bring out. Twice during the movie, once before the
Sanhedrin and once in Pilate’s court, the actor playing Jesus does everything but roll his eyes and click his
tongue as the Council dithers and Pilate wrings his hands. I’ll have to do this myself, he seems to say, and he
comes out with just the lines needed to convince the people to kill him. When asked if he was the Son of God,
he simply answers, “I am.”
Did you mean to die like that?
Was that a mistake or
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record-breaker?
– Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
In any place where there is this much pain, the common human reaction is to attempt to lay blame. So, to whom
do we assign this blame?...To the Jews? To Pontius Pilate? To Caiaphas? To Judas? To Peter? To Satan? To
God?
Who could have prevented this from happening? The Jews? Which Jews? The average Jewish citizen had
no place in doling out justice. Most of them didn’t care! They only knew that the Romans had come and
occupied their cities and taxed their purses, and applied Roman law to their lives. The only Jews connected
with the death of Christ were the religious leaders of the time; Caiaphas and the chief priests. They could
possibly have prevented it. It seems likely, however, that had they not forced the issue, sooner or later
Jesus’ following would have gotten big enough to be a threat to Rome and the Roman authorities would have
eventually done something anyway.
How about Pilate? Yes, Pilate could have prevented Jesus’ death with the mere word. Had he done so, the
Jews, pressured by the Religious Leaders, would have rioted and many more people would have become
casualties in the resulting melee. Including, probably, Jesus, whose death would then have been unnoticed;
just one of the rabble.
Did Judas or Peter kill Christ? The single major difference in Judas and Peter was Peter’s ability to realize he
was wrong and ask forgiveness and turn his life around, while Judas believed that forgiveness was
impossible and turned his life off. We have no way of knowing for sure that Judas knew that Christ would be
executed. No defense of Judas’ actions is implied! We just don’t know if he knew death was in store for
Christ. What about Peter? He certainly didn’t stand by idly while Jesus was arrested. He drew a sword, ready
to defend Christ and die with him if necessary. It wasn’t until Jesus ordered him to abandon the sword that
doubt and despair filled Peter who later denied any association with Jesus. Did he kill Jesus? No.
Ah! Here’s a good one! “The devil made me do it!” as Flip Wilson used to always claim. Actually, Satan has no
power but what we give him. Perhaps if Satan had realized the effect Jesus’ death would have on the world,
he would have done all he could to prevent it!
God certainly didn’t kill Jesus, his own Son, but… he did stand by and let it happen!! Of course, God, having
given free will to people, doesn’t interfere in the affairs of men. Well…rarely. There was the Great Flood, and
the devices which he used to aid Moses and the Hebrews while they were fleeing Pharaoh’s army. But
consider; he did nothing to stop the slaughter of the innocents done by Herod’s order! No blame on God; he
just allows us to make choices and then eventually holds us responsible for the consequences of those
choices.
Let’s see…Of all those involved in Jesus’ death, who’s left… Only Jesus?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you, what have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you, what have you sacrificed?
– Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
Could Jesus have stopped his own death? Of course he could have. He had already demonstrated that he
could not only stop death, as with Jairus’ daughter, but reverse its effects as he did by raising Lazarus from
the dead. But why would Jesus want to die?
From the earliest days of the Church, his death was not mourned but celebrated. It forms the central part of
the first sermons, reported in the Acts of the Apostles. It is celebrated at least once a year in all Christian
churches. In some way, as one of the mysteries of our faith, his death was responsible for our salvation. No
other religion puts its followers through such a bloody event on a regular basis; but no other religion can
make that claim, either.
The only reason for Jesus to die was because it was necessary. Jesus’ extraordinary suffering at the hands of
the Palace and Roman guards, the horrendous brutality of the scourging at the hands of Roman soldiers, the
agonizing final journey from Jerusalem up to the hill to where his death awaited him, and finally the
excruciating pain of the crucifixion, were all statements in his final witness to what he had been preaching for
3 years: Love your enemies, be ready to lay down your life for your friends, and Forgive, Forgive, Forgive.
Those film critics that wanted more of an emphasis on his life and teaching should have noticed: This was the
Passion of the Christ. His great Passion was his love for all of the people of the earth; all of God’s children
whether they acknowledged his Fatherhood or not. When he died for the sins of all mankind, it may have
been possible that for an infinitesimal period of time, because of his sacrifice, the entire world was in a state
of Grace.
Thus, the question mutates from “Who is to blame?” to “Who is responsible?”
All of us were responsible for this sacrifice, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The
best depictions of the sacrifice acknowledge this; the best poetry and the best art represent their creators in
awe over their part of this brutality. Rembrandt painted himself as one of those putting the cross up. This film
lives up to that standard; Mel Gibson only appears through his hands, nailing the Christ to the cross.
Ultimately, we can see that Christ recognized and accepted his responsibility to die for us and for our
forgiveness.
The problem with forgiveness is that it has to be accepted and acted upon. Most of the world didn’t
acknowledge a need for forgiveness, so they didn’t realize that they’d been instantly forgiven and didn’t act
upon it by a radical change of heart. That took (and is taking) much more time, and has and will cost the
sacrifice of many more of God’s faithful ones.
So,
Did you mean to die like that? …
Yes, he meant to. He himself knew it was coming and acknowledged that it was his purpose for being born.
Was that a mistake or …
No, it was not a mistake. Jesus did not make mistakes nor did he go needlessly to the Cross. Needless were
none of the deeds of…..Jesus.
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record-breaker? …
Yes! He did know his death would be a record breaker. What record? The record of our sins.
In the forword to his book, “The Passion” which captures some of the best moments in the film, Gibson says
that we need to be reminded of the awful price of our freedom from death which Christ paid.
And so, even though the outcry (both good and bad) may have been more than Gibson expected, the film
critics should be thanked. Because of their outrage, the world is talking about Jesus Christ’s sacrifice again
during the Easter Season. The focus of the season has been re-oriented toward Christ, and that cannot be a
bad thing. They have once again proven – after 2,000 years, that this brutal event can still move the hearts of
humanity.
Sharon & Jim Barnes
Every time I look at you
I don’t understand
Why you let the things you did
Get so out of hand!
Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
Our culture likes Jesus Christ carefully arranged in the comfortable niche of “Church,” carefully separated
from the business of “State.” His platitudes are taught – those that are politically correct, anyway – although
without reference to him, if possible. He is given equal time with Santa Claus, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the
Winter Solstice celebrations at Christmas (which still, by the way, bears his name), but Ebenezer Scrooge gets
more air time. He has been edged almost completely out of Easter. Even the history books are starting to
bear this new preoccupation with social responsibility – the era ushered in by his birth is now known as the
“Common Era,” or C.E., and not “Anno Domini” or A.D. (The Year of our Lord). Time is still divided by his
coming; but we are led to believe that it is a cultural thing kept up by convenience, not a result of anything
this religious leader might have done.
Now comes Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and again, nearly 2000 years after his life, the debate is
starting up again. Who was this man? (Jesus, not Mel.) And why do people insist on disturbing us again with
his death?
That’s what the film critics are objecting to the most – it’s a violent picture. People are shocked at the
violence of a man being beaten nearly to death, forced to carry his own cross along a road lined with hecklers,
and then nailed up in an excruciating position and left to die.
It is the clearest measure of Jesus’ teaching permeating society like yeast through good bread dough. Once
upon a time, not so long ago, public executions were a fact of life. Present day executions take place in back
rooms, with drugs going intravenously and acting within minutes, after years of trials and appeal processes
and with the possibility of last-minute interventions from sympathetic officials.
Tell me what you think about your friends at the top!
Who’d you think besides yourself was the pick of the crop?
Buddha was he where it’s at, is he where you are?
Could Muhammad move a mountain or was that just PR?
– Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
No other religion forces us through violence like this; truth to tell, no other religion could. Other founders of
major religions died old and respected, from Abraham and Moses to Mohammed. Gautama Buddha and Lao-
Tzu were revered during their lifetimes, as was Confucius. Only Jesus died young, horribly, in a public
spectacle, one that he seemed to know was coming, one that he seemed to even court.
This is one aspect of Jesus’ ministry that this film does bring out. Twice during the movie, once before the
Sanhedrin and once in Pilate’s court, the actor playing Jesus does everything but roll his eyes and click his
tongue as the Council dithers and Pilate wrings his hands. I’ll have to do this myself, he seems to say, and he
comes out with just the lines needed to convince the people to kill him. When asked if he was the Son of God,
he simply answers, “I am.”
Did you mean to die like that?
Was that a mistake or
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record-breaker?
– Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
In any place where there is this much pain, the common human reaction is to attempt to lay blame. So, to whom
do we assign this blame?...To the Jews? To Pontius Pilate? To Caiaphas? To Judas? To Peter? To Satan? To
God?
Who could have prevented this from happening? The Jews? Which Jews? The average Jewish citizen had
no place in doling out justice. Most of them didn’t care! They only knew that the Romans had come and
occupied their cities and taxed their purses, and applied Roman law to their lives. The only Jews connected
with the death of Christ were the religious leaders of the time; Caiaphas and the chief priests. They could
possibly have prevented it. It seems likely, however, that had they not forced the issue, sooner or later
Jesus’ following would have gotten big enough to be a threat to Rome and the Roman authorities would have
eventually done something anyway.
How about Pilate? Yes, Pilate could have prevented Jesus’ death with the mere word. Had he done so, the
Jews, pressured by the Religious Leaders, would have rioted and many more people would have become
casualties in the resulting melee. Including, probably, Jesus, whose death would then have been unnoticed;
just one of the rabble.
Did Judas or Peter kill Christ? The single major difference in Judas and Peter was Peter’s ability to realize he
was wrong and ask forgiveness and turn his life around, while Judas believed that forgiveness was
impossible and turned his life off. We have no way of knowing for sure that Judas knew that Christ would be
executed. No defense of Judas’ actions is implied! We just don’t know if he knew death was in store for
Christ. What about Peter? He certainly didn’t stand by idly while Jesus was arrested. He drew a sword, ready
to defend Christ and die with him if necessary. It wasn’t until Jesus ordered him to abandon the sword that
doubt and despair filled Peter who later denied any association with Jesus. Did he kill Jesus? No.
Ah! Here’s a good one! “The devil made me do it!” as Flip Wilson used to always claim. Actually, Satan has no
power but what we give him. Perhaps if Satan had realized the effect Jesus’ death would have on the world,
he would have done all he could to prevent it!
God certainly didn’t kill Jesus, his own Son, but… he did stand by and let it happen!! Of course, God, having
given free will to people, doesn’t interfere in the affairs of men. Well…rarely. There was the Great Flood, and
the devices which he used to aid Moses and the Hebrews while they were fleeing Pharaoh’s army. But
consider; he did nothing to stop the slaughter of the innocents done by Herod’s order! No blame on God; he
just allows us to make choices and then eventually holds us responsible for the consequences of those
choices.
Let’s see…Of all those involved in Jesus’ death, who’s left… Only Jesus?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you, what have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you, what have you sacrificed?
– Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar
Could Jesus have stopped his own death? Of course he could have. He had already demonstrated that he
could not only stop death, as with Jairus’ daughter, but reverse its effects as he did by raising Lazarus from
the dead. But why would Jesus want to die?
From the earliest days of the Church, his death was not mourned but celebrated. It forms the central part of
the first sermons, reported in the Acts of the Apostles. It is celebrated at least once a year in all Christian
churches. In some way, as one of the mysteries of our faith, his death was responsible for our salvation. No
other religion puts its followers through such a bloody event on a regular basis; but no other religion can
make that claim, either.
The only reason for Jesus to die was because it was necessary. Jesus’ extraordinary suffering at the hands of
the Palace and Roman guards, the horrendous brutality of the scourging at the hands of Roman soldiers, the
agonizing final journey from Jerusalem up to the hill to where his death awaited him, and finally the
excruciating pain of the crucifixion, were all statements in his final witness to what he had been preaching for
3 years: Love your enemies, be ready to lay down your life for your friends, and Forgive, Forgive, Forgive.
Those film critics that wanted more of an emphasis on his life and teaching should have noticed: This was the
Passion of the Christ. His great Passion was his love for all of the people of the earth; all of God’s children
whether they acknowledged his Fatherhood or not. When he died for the sins of all mankind, it may have
been possible that for an infinitesimal period of time, because of his sacrifice, the entire world was in a state
of Grace.
Thus, the question mutates from “Who is to blame?” to “Who is responsible?”
All of us were responsible for this sacrifice, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The
best depictions of the sacrifice acknowledge this; the best poetry and the best art represent their creators in
awe over their part of this brutality. Rembrandt painted himself as one of those putting the cross up. This film
lives up to that standard; Mel Gibson only appears through his hands, nailing the Christ to the cross.
Ultimately, we can see that Christ recognized and accepted his responsibility to die for us and for our
forgiveness.
The problem with forgiveness is that it has to be accepted and acted upon. Most of the world didn’t
acknowledge a need for forgiveness, so they didn’t realize that they’d been instantly forgiven and didn’t act
upon it by a radical change of heart. That took (and is taking) much more time, and has and will cost the
sacrifice of many more of God’s faithful ones.
So,
Did you mean to die like that? …
Yes, he meant to. He himself knew it was coming and acknowledged that it was his purpose for being born.
Was that a mistake or …
No, it was not a mistake. Jesus did not make mistakes nor did he go needlessly to the Cross. Needless were
none of the deeds of…..Jesus.
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record-breaker? …
Yes! He did know his death would be a record breaker. What record? The record of our sins.
In the forword to his book, “The Passion” which captures some of the best moments in the film, Gibson says
that we need to be reminded of the awful price of our freedom from death which Christ paid.
And so, even though the outcry (both good and bad) may have been more than Gibson expected, the film
critics should be thanked. Because of their outrage, the world is talking about Jesus Christ’s sacrifice again
during the Easter Season. The focus of the season has been re-oriented toward Christ, and that cannot be a
bad thing. They have once again proven – after 2,000 years, that this brutal event can still move the hearts of
humanity.
ULTREYA HASN'T BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT YOU
Greg Ganslen, Lay Director
Was it something we said? Was it something we did? Please let us know; it wasn’t intentional. Ultreya
hasn't been the same without you. Sometimes you may think, “I won't get anything out of Ultreya, so I just
won't go.” But have you stopped to think what you might bring to another person with your presence?
Each of us brings something unique to Ultreya when we come. It may be your smile, your echo, your private
word with another, your particular bit of sharing in the floating group reunion, your neediness, or a million
other things. Each of us is one of a kind; each of us God's special handiwork, and what we take to Ultreya
and to the world no one else can bring. We miss you, come back.
Perhaps you’ve made excuses for not going to Ultreya, such as “I’m too tired from the job, or from working
in the yard or house” or “I really didn't want to miss that special TV program.” But stop to think: on that
afternoon you were “too tired,” your smile and hug might have lifted up someone who was about to lose a
job. On the afternoon of that special TV program, your words might have made a big difference to someone
feeling alone from a death in the family or feeling separated from everyone.
We still pray together, learn from witness speakers, and share our life journeys during our discussion
groups. We still support each other (as only Cursillistas can), enjoy each others’ company, and learn from
each other. Ultreya helps us feel more united with our larger Cursillo community. Come back. We miss you.
Every month each of us tries to invite someone back to Ultreya. If you made the invitation, we hope it was
successful. If not, we hope you'll try again. If you were the recipient of an invitation, know that you are
blessed and loved and don’t just consider coming back...do it! The Ultreya really hasn't been the same
without you.
Greg Ganslen, Lay Director
Was it something we said? Was it something we did? Please let us know; it wasn’t intentional. Ultreya
hasn't been the same without you. Sometimes you may think, “I won't get anything out of Ultreya, so I just
won't go.” But have you stopped to think what you might bring to another person with your presence?
Each of us brings something unique to Ultreya when we come. It may be your smile, your echo, your private
word with another, your particular bit of sharing in the floating group reunion, your neediness, or a million
other things. Each of us is one of a kind; each of us God's special handiwork, and what we take to Ultreya
and to the world no one else can bring. We miss you, come back.
Perhaps you’ve made excuses for not going to Ultreya, such as “I’m too tired from the job, or from working
in the yard or house” or “I really didn't want to miss that special TV program.” But stop to think: on that
afternoon you were “too tired,” your smile and hug might have lifted up someone who was about to lose a
job. On the afternoon of that special TV program, your words might have made a big difference to someone
feeling alone from a death in the family or feeling separated from everyone.
We still pray together, learn from witness speakers, and share our life journeys during our discussion
groups. We still support each other (as only Cursillistas can), enjoy each others’ company, and learn from
each other. Ultreya helps us feel more united with our larger Cursillo community. Come back. We miss you.
Every month each of us tries to invite someone back to Ultreya. If you made the invitation, we hope it was
successful. If not, we hope you'll try again. If you were the recipient of an invitation, know that you are
blessed and loved and don’t just consider coming back...do it! The Ultreya really hasn't been the same
without you.
| The Spark is the Newsletter of the Fort Hood / Heart of Texas Cursillo. It is published by the Cursillo Community for the Cursillo Community and does not reflect the opinion of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. |