The Grouand Mclennan Cursillo Movement Women's Weekend

Women’s Cursillo Thursday March 27th – Sunday March 30 2008 his is the 110th Cursillo being held in our Archdiocese of Grouard McLennan!! Below are the candidates and team for the weekend. As Cursillistas, our greatest gift to this weekend is our Palanca of Sacrifice and Prayer. Please begin your prayers and writing of Palanca NOW! To e-mail a Palanca click on the name of the person. Please put the name of the person in subject line. E-palanca will be printed (but not read) by our Palanca chair, and delivered to the weekend.

ALLERGY ALERT!!

Please do not use any NUTS or NUT PRODUCTS in baking or food donated to Cursillo.

Thank you for your consideration and generosity!!!

Come and celebrate with these new Cursillistas at the FINAL MASS, on Sunday March 30th, at 5:00 p.m. at

ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL located at 10520 68th Avenue, Grande Prairie, AB.

Musicians and singers are always needed and welcome!

A reminder to us all - “it is the responsibility of us all to present candidates for the weekend. It is not the rector/rectora’s responsibility. It is not solely the responsibility of the team for that weekend.” Now is the time to begin praying for the upcoming men’s and women’s weekends in the fall. Pray for the next rector and rectora, teams, those who will become candidates and their sponsors.

MAKE A FRIEND, BE A FRIEND, BRING A FRIEND TO CHRIST!

FROM OUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

Dear Cursillistas – sisters and brothers in Christ!

“You did not choose me but I chose you.” (Jn 15.16) In a word, what has Jesus chosen you for? Friendship “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends.” (Jn 15.15)

Jesus says we are no longer servants. This is not to say that being a servant is a bad thing. In fact to be a servant for Christ is indeed an honour and privilege. But at the mid point of the gospel according to John we hear Jesus calling us His friends. Not because servant-hood is dishonorable, but because of the positive value of friendship, that is, intimacy. Jesus draws us close to Himself. He embraces us, speaks to us, accepts us.

My wife Monique and I, and our children, have had the ongoing opportunity these last several days to reflect upon the meaning of friendship in the context of life that is ever-changing. The catalyst for this family reflection was news from the bishop that this upcoming summer we are being moved to Lethbridge. Among other things, this has reminded us of two important aspects of the intimacy of friendship: hello and goodbye.

Goodbye in so many ways is a dying. A time of tears, anxiety, feelings of being overwhelmed. It is a Good Friday feeling. But we also know that hello always follows goodbye as Easter Sunday follows Good Friday. There is, or can be, new life, although it will be different from the life we knew before. The resurrection of Jesus and the promises of God are too strong to have it be any other way. Jesus draws us close to Himself in intimacy. He embraces us, speaks to us, accepts us.

As we prepare to celebrate the glorious and bright feast of Easter; as we prepare to say hello to the new Cursillistas from the upcoming Women’s Cursillo; and as some of us prepare to move on down the road; we give glory to God in all things. And we say thank you. Thank you for the joy of friendship, the gift of intimacy, the time to hang around. Monique and I, and our family, together with the early Church, commend you all to the friendship of our Lord as we pray “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph 3.14-21)

Fr Gary Sedgwick

Spiritual Director

Many of you are currently receiving this rooster via email and we thank you as this helps keep our postage costs down. We are continuing to update our email addresses in order to send the Rooster via email to as many Cursillistas as possible. So if you or someone you know is currently not receiving the rooster via email and wishes to be added to our list, please send in the email address to 6villigers@telus.net.

Are you or someone you know interested in working on the next Cursillo Team? If so, please call Kevin Walker (780-539-8519) or Fr. Gary Sedgwick (780-532-2351)

Set-up is Wednesday March 26th beginning at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic High School.Take-down is Sunday March 30th beginning at 3:00 p.m., same place!

CURSILLO UPDATE #4
From: Grouard McLennan Cursillo Board
To: All Cursillistas in Grouard McLennan - The Secretariat

One of the key improvements requested in 2004, when Cursillo was struggling a bit in our diocese, was improved communications from the Board to the secretariat (and vice-versa) so that more people would understand how the movement is doing and what issues are ahead of us. This update is in keeping with the commitment of the Board to improve communications.

You can see that three terms are expiring this spring, and that one position is vacant – Tracey Romancewicz was forced to leave the board for health reasons. Janne, Miroslaw and René are not eligible to serve on the board again having served two consecutive terms, so we need four new people to step forward. The board is actively recruiting cursillistas to serve for the next two years on the board - if you are interested, please contact the Director, Kevin Walker at 539-8519.

Please take the time to thank Janne, Miro, Tracey and René for their service – they have truly been a blessing to the cursillo movement and have done much to improve the logistics, communications and financial reporting that supports the whole cursillo movement. In addition, their ideas and contributions to the general direction of cursillo and specific issues that the board has had to deal with have been astute, thoughtful and inspirational.

This year’s AGM will be held in Grande Prairie at the new Parish Offices (Ligouri Room) at 8:00pm on Thursday May 8. The meeting should be complete by 9:00pm at the latest.

Besides the appointment/election of board members, the following items are on the AGM agenda:

1. Finances: Donations continue to be very, very generous, resulting in continued healthy finances. Thank you to all who trust us with stewardship of your gifts. A full report will be made at the AGM