Postcursillo, group reunions and Ultreya
Everything that is done in the terms of the cursillo methodology and purpose has it’s end objective in the Postcursillo.
The precursillo and the 3-day weekend are only the preliminary steps toward the Postcursillo. As with all things in our lives, it involves a process. The Postcursillo is the means, in terms of community, which has been designed to increase and continue the conversation and the living out of what is fundamental for our being Christian, a process that begins in the precursillo and the cursillo weekend.
Within the structures of the Postcursillo the individual and the group restlessness that was brought to life on the weekend are kept stimulated so that the church and human community in which the individual and their groups are immersed and continually leavened with the gospel spirit.
If the purpose of the cursillo movement is to find, lead to conversion and sustain evangelizers in their task of evangelizing the world, then the biggest task we face is to sustain them in this task.
So, the question is, how do we sustain our cursillo community in the task of Evangelizing? We can find the answer in two of our Rollo’s, Study the environment and Total Security. Both Rollo’s led us to making a friend, being a friend and bring a friend to Christ, but they also lead us into post cursillo and the two methods there that help us sustain our movement Which is the group reunion and the Ultreya. Let us look at these two a little further.
Group reunion’s, the definition of this is, an act by which the community comes together and engages in the sharing process. As we learned on the 3-day weekend it is necessary to find a small group or 4th day group of friends, by which we share and deepen our friendship with Christ. By participating in these groups, we are forming the deepest form of living together and that is friendship. By doing this we are raising our friendships to a sanctifying level by means of grace, we then have the best way possible to achieve the Christian community. In these group reunions we live the cursillo motto- Make a friend, be a friend and bring a friend to Christ. We also live and share our piety, study, and action to build and grow our Christian faith and community.
Many of our failures in these small group reunions are due to placing too great a importance on the mechanics of our reunions and in reciting of commitments or reports to each other, as friends, we need to rely less on commitments and focus on the essentials, namely sharing our piety, study and action. If we do not do this then our groups, community and movement are going to fail.
Now let us look at the next level of our group reunions- The Ultreya. The Ultreya is a community to the degree that the permanent small friendship groups together make-up this community and are willing and able to draw new members into the living community.
The Ultreya is the driving force to the groups in the environment. The permanent groups are the driving force to the individual, both together ought to be the driving force to the work of evangelization in the world. So, as we can see the groups satisfy the basic needs and growth of the individuals in the community and the Ultreya satisfies the need for growth in the community and in the church and world.
So, for the individual the group reunion is the most important aspect of the cursillo method, but for the community the Ultreya is the most important. So, both are equally important to achieve our ongoing work of evangelization of our environments in the world.
So, let’s all make a friend, be a friend and bring a friend to Christ and keep our community growing and moving forward.