| SPARK |
| 2004 |
| February |
SPARK CHANGES EDITORS
FROM: Jim & Sharon Barnes
In case you’re reading this and don’t know me, I’m Jim Barnes. I’m one of the people frequently playing a guitar at the
Ultreya, and began my Cursillo Journey by making a weekend in June of 1990. Any of you who have been attending the
Ultreyas at 58th Street may have noticed that the Lay Director, Phyllis Gogue, has expressed a desire for someone to
take over responsibility for the SPARK and has been strongly hinting that it be me and, by extension, my wife, Sharon.
From 1995 to 2000, we edited and published the SPARK on more or less a monthly basis. When Phyllis was elected to
the position of Lay Director she requested that she be allowed to try her hand at publishing it.
Phyllis has done an admirable job of generating the SPARK (pun intentional, but the statement is true), but having been
asked to take it back, we are overjoyed, and excited about it, and ready to serve.
By way of qualification, aside from our previous 5 years experience with the SPARK, we are both published writers in
Veterans View Magazine, sadly, no longer in print (not our fault!) I have also had articles published in the Dyncorp
Information Technology Quarterly Newsletter. Professionally speaking, Sharon’s ability to closely edit text has led to a
position as a senior editor for a medical transcription company, where one wrong letter changes the entire diagnosis!
Our chief reason for wanting to do this is that we both love the written word and its power to communicate across barriers
of time and space. So we are grateful to the community and to Our Father in Heaven for choosing us to once again have
this opportunity to serve Him by serving you, our Cursillista sisters and brothers.
We see the SPARK as an integral part of the existence of the Cursillo Community. These are dynamic times in the
development of the Roman Catholic Church. It is not the first time the Church has grown to meet a challenge. Other
great movements include the Franciscan movement, which reminded the Church of its roots in poverty and charity, and
the Jesuit movement, which reminded the Church to include rigorous scholarship in its decisions. Now, the Church is
adapting to a growing trend of smaller families and fewer vocations by incorporating lay leadership on an ever-increasing
scale in the parishes. The Cursillo Movement is intended to motivate and train these leaders. The SPARK is one tool that
can help.
Our first goal is to keep the members of the community in touch. We will publish times and places of upcoming events,
such as Ultreyas, Weekends, and social opportunities. We will also publish times and places of opportunities for piety,
such as special devotions. We would like to publish a “personals” column of prayer requests and opportunities for
celebration such as weddings, births, etc. We are a large family, growing all the time. Keeping in touch by the normal
methods is difficult at best. Let the community know how you’re doing through the SPARK. Read the SPARK to find out
how everyone else is.
Our second goal is to continue the training requirement of the Cursillo movement. To that end, we will include articles on
various aspects of the Church. These articles will not come from the Archangel Gabriel; they are going to come from
YOU. What do you know? What do you think? Have you had any unique experiences you would like to share? Have
you been given any insights through your holiness and formation? Do you have a unique approach to your
evangelization? Write an article; write a poem; write an open letter to the community. And bring it to us when you’re
finished. In our first editions, we intend to publish one new article and one from our previous editorial tenure, since so
many of the Cursillista faces have changed in the last few years. We hope that those of you who may remember them will
receive some new insight upon revisiting the subject, and that those who have not will be inspired to add your own talents.
We will be happy to edit your rough draft material, either what you’ve written or even if you wish to dictate a taped
message which we can transcribe into written format, and we will keep you as involved as you wish to be in the
development of the article until it is published.
Again, we can be reached through the following options:
ADDRESS:
Sharon & Jim Barnes
2205 Armadillo Drive
Killeen, Texas 76549.
PHONE NUMBER: (254)634-7251 HOME
E-MAIL: jbarnes1@hot.rr.com
FROM: Jim & Sharon Barnes
In case you’re reading this and don’t know me, I’m Jim Barnes. I’m one of the people frequently playing a guitar at the
Ultreya, and began my Cursillo Journey by making a weekend in June of 1990. Any of you who have been attending the
Ultreyas at 58th Street may have noticed that the Lay Director, Phyllis Gogue, has expressed a desire for someone to
take over responsibility for the SPARK and has been strongly hinting that it be me and, by extension, my wife, Sharon.
From 1995 to 2000, we edited and published the SPARK on more or less a monthly basis. When Phyllis was elected to
the position of Lay Director she requested that she be allowed to try her hand at publishing it.
Phyllis has done an admirable job of generating the SPARK (pun intentional, but the statement is true), but having been
asked to take it back, we are overjoyed, and excited about it, and ready to serve.
By way of qualification, aside from our previous 5 years experience with the SPARK, we are both published writers in
Veterans View Magazine, sadly, no longer in print (not our fault!) I have also had articles published in the Dyncorp
Information Technology Quarterly Newsletter. Professionally speaking, Sharon’s ability to closely edit text has led to a
position as a senior editor for a medical transcription company, where one wrong letter changes the entire diagnosis!
Our chief reason for wanting to do this is that we both love the written word and its power to communicate across barriers
of time and space. So we are grateful to the community and to Our Father in Heaven for choosing us to once again have
this opportunity to serve Him by serving you, our Cursillista sisters and brothers.
We see the SPARK as an integral part of the existence of the Cursillo Community. These are dynamic times in the
development of the Roman Catholic Church. It is not the first time the Church has grown to meet a challenge. Other
great movements include the Franciscan movement, which reminded the Church of its roots in poverty and charity, and
the Jesuit movement, which reminded the Church to include rigorous scholarship in its decisions. Now, the Church is
adapting to a growing trend of smaller families and fewer vocations by incorporating lay leadership on an ever-increasing
scale in the parishes. The Cursillo Movement is intended to motivate and train these leaders. The SPARK is one tool that
can help.
Our first goal is to keep the members of the community in touch. We will publish times and places of upcoming events,
such as Ultreyas, Weekends, and social opportunities. We will also publish times and places of opportunities for piety,
such as special devotions. We would like to publish a “personals” column of prayer requests and opportunities for
celebration such as weddings, births, etc. We are a large family, growing all the time. Keeping in touch by the normal
methods is difficult at best. Let the community know how you’re doing through the SPARK. Read the SPARK to find out
how everyone else is.
Our second goal is to continue the training requirement of the Cursillo movement. To that end, we will include articles on
various aspects of the Church. These articles will not come from the Archangel Gabriel; they are going to come from
YOU. What do you know? What do you think? Have you had any unique experiences you would like to share? Have
you been given any insights through your holiness and formation? Do you have a unique approach to your
evangelization? Write an article; write a poem; write an open letter to the community. And bring it to us when you’re
finished. In our first editions, we intend to publish one new article and one from our previous editorial tenure, since so
many of the Cursillista faces have changed in the last few years. We hope that those of you who may remember them will
receive some new insight upon revisiting the subject, and that those who have not will be inspired to add your own talents.
We will be happy to edit your rough draft material, either what you’ve written or even if you wish to dictate a taped
message which we can transcribe into written format, and we will keep you as involved as you wish to be in the
development of the article until it is published.
Again, we can be reached through the following options:
ADDRESS:
Sharon & Jim Barnes
2205 Armadillo Drive
Killeen, Texas 76549.
PHONE NUMBER: (254)634-7251 HOME
E-MAIL: jbarnes1@hot.rr.com
Election of New Board Members
At the January Ultreya, there were nominations for several Board of Directors positions. It was announced at that time
that the actual elections would be conducted at the February Ultreya and that additional nominations would be accepted
at that time.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, this task was accomplished.
To learn more about our Board of Directors, click here.
At the January Ultreya, there were nominations for several Board of Directors positions. It was announced at that time
that the actual elections would be conducted at the February Ultreya and that additional nominations would be accepted
at that time.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, this task was accomplished.
To learn more about our Board of Directors, click here.
Be Mindful of those Heartstrings: A Word on St. Valentine's Day
by Sharon Barnes
Hearts. Candy. Flowers. All the trappings of St. Valentine’s Day are in the stores, and we are once again urged to show
our love for someone with a gift and a plea to “be my Valentine.” It’s a measure of the high value our society puts on
romance as a guide to our future lives. We are the first culture in the history of the world where no one is ordered to
marry anyone else – except for love. We are also the culture with the highest divorce rate. How does this happen?
“Love” was not supposed to be a guide to future alliances until the last century or so. Marriages were arranged with an
eye to consolidating holdings, or providing for a family’s security, or even securing treaties. In some places in the world,
parents still arrange their children’s marriages. The young man and woman (who may have only met the day of the
wedding) were expected to get to know each other and work out their differences without the thrill of emotional
attachment, without romance. They were expected to decide to care for one another. They were expected to learn to
love one another.
People felt “love” from the dawn of civilization, and acted on it with more or less disastrous consequences, but romance
didn’t actually enter the cultural presence until the Middle Ages. Romance then was usually unrequited, as the knight was
supposed to worship the far-off lady. The Church frowned heavily on this new development, and even attempted to forbid
romantic love. The compromise that slipped in was that love should lead to marriage, and then the clerics reluctantly
allowed it to be spoken of.
Of course, it was not possible really to put the genie back in the bottle; the excitement of romance was out, and everyone
wanted to share in it. For the next several hundred years, marriages were contracted as usual, but the literature was filled
with stories of thwarted love and tragic consequences, and a new item of faith entered the cultural consciousness: A man
and a woman should only marry if they are in love.
In theory, this is grand; people will look for mates that they are drawn to, mates with whom they can make an entire life
without too much friction. They express undying love, and make promises about endless happiness and unwavering
devotion. The songs are full of the sentiment.
Unfortunately, the romance does leave most relationships eventually. What happens when the “love” is gone from a
marriage? What happens if a husband or wife is suddenly drawn to someone else? The corollary item of faith is
destroying us. It is: A man and a woman should only stay married if they are in love.
In a world shattered by rising divorce rates, we are starting to recognize that there are consequences to this erratic
approach to marriage. Children are in fact harmed when their families are torn apart. Single-parent families more often
live in poverty. The answer, strange as it may sound, is the same as the word that got us into this mess: love. Husbands
and wives must love one another. However, they are expected to love each other in the Christian sense of “being kind”
that Paul speaks of. Love thus becomes a verb, not a noun.
Our feelings are unreliable indicators. A flash of irritation, or even an air of boredom, may take on terrible significance on
a bad day. It is important to remember that we can listen to our feelings, as we look to see which way the wind is blowing;
but we do not need to act on them. We can decide to love each other instead of letting our feelings dictate our future to
us.
So buy the candy and flowers. Give one another gifts. Even if you don’t feel like it at first, you may feel excitement at the
look of pleasure in your mate’s eyes. Oh – and don’t wait for Valentine’s Day. This sort of love can be expressed every
day of the year.
by Sharon Barnes
Hearts. Candy. Flowers. All the trappings of St. Valentine’s Day are in the stores, and we are once again urged to show
our love for someone with a gift and a plea to “be my Valentine.” It’s a measure of the high value our society puts on
romance as a guide to our future lives. We are the first culture in the history of the world where no one is ordered to
marry anyone else – except for love. We are also the culture with the highest divorce rate. How does this happen?
“Love” was not supposed to be a guide to future alliances until the last century or so. Marriages were arranged with an
eye to consolidating holdings, or providing for a family’s security, or even securing treaties. In some places in the world,
parents still arrange their children’s marriages. The young man and woman (who may have only met the day of the
wedding) were expected to get to know each other and work out their differences without the thrill of emotional
attachment, without romance. They were expected to decide to care for one another. They were expected to learn to
love one another.
People felt “love” from the dawn of civilization, and acted on it with more or less disastrous consequences, but romance
didn’t actually enter the cultural presence until the Middle Ages. Romance then was usually unrequited, as the knight was
supposed to worship the far-off lady. The Church frowned heavily on this new development, and even attempted to forbid
romantic love. The compromise that slipped in was that love should lead to marriage, and then the clerics reluctantly
allowed it to be spoken of.
Of course, it was not possible really to put the genie back in the bottle; the excitement of romance was out, and everyone
wanted to share in it. For the next several hundred years, marriages were contracted as usual, but the literature was filled
with stories of thwarted love and tragic consequences, and a new item of faith entered the cultural consciousness: A man
and a woman should only marry if they are in love.
In theory, this is grand; people will look for mates that they are drawn to, mates with whom they can make an entire life
without too much friction. They express undying love, and make promises about endless happiness and unwavering
devotion. The songs are full of the sentiment.
Unfortunately, the romance does leave most relationships eventually. What happens when the “love” is gone from a
marriage? What happens if a husband or wife is suddenly drawn to someone else? The corollary item of faith is
destroying us. It is: A man and a woman should only stay married if they are in love.
In a world shattered by rising divorce rates, we are starting to recognize that there are consequences to this erratic
approach to marriage. Children are in fact harmed when their families are torn apart. Single-parent families more often
live in poverty. The answer, strange as it may sound, is the same as the word that got us into this mess: love. Husbands
and wives must love one another. However, they are expected to love each other in the Christian sense of “being kind”
that Paul speaks of. Love thus becomes a verb, not a noun.
Our feelings are unreliable indicators. A flash of irritation, or even an air of boredom, may take on terrible significance on
a bad day. It is important to remember that we can listen to our feelings, as we look to see which way the wind is blowing;
but we do not need to act on them. We can decide to love each other instead of letting our feelings dictate our future to
us.
So buy the candy and flowers. Give one another gifts. Even if you don’t feel like it at first, you may feel excitement at the
look of pleasure in your mate’s eyes. Oh – and don’t wait for Valentine’s Day. This sort of love can be expressed every
day of the year.
| HOME |
| 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. |