Conference 2005: May 2005 in Prince George - Cancelled

Conference 2003: August 1-3, 2003 in Vancouver

Go Deeper

There were about 55 Cursillistas, literally from across the country, who came to participate and ‘Go Deeper’ into their understanding of our movement. The material used for the Conference was taken from the ‘Structure of Ideas’ book that was written by Eduardo Bonnín, Francisco Forteza, and Bernardo Vadell. The rollos were based on a series of rollos that were developed and intended to be presented to new Cursillistas, the ones who were really keen, about a month after their weekend. The Conference was very aptly named ‘Go Deeper’ as we really had no idea how deep we would be challenged to go in preparing the outlines and the rollos themselves.

The seven rollos took us on a journey from the weekend experience to a far deeper understanding of what it means to live and walk as a Christian and as a Cursillista in today’s world. After hearing a recap of the weekend messages, each of the subsequent rollos challenged us to look deeper within ourselves to know and understand what stands in our way of being everything that God wants us to be. They were very inspiring messages that evoked a lot of good discussion at the tables.

It wasn’t all work, though. We had a wonderful Ultreya on the Friday night and I think that everyone there came away very inspired after hearing Marguerite share a bit of her journey with us and how God has been changing her and challenging her to grow as she works with the Agape Street Ministry. Saturday night was Fiesta time, and each group was assigned to come up with a skit or a song that captured the message of the rollos heard so far. All I can say is that, as a movement, we are blessed with some incredibly talented people who are extremely resourceful. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house by the time it was over…we all laughed so hard that tears were running down our faces.

Conference 2002: September 2002 in Grande Prairie

Centred In Christ

No report.

Conference 2001: June 1-3, 2001 in Kelowna

Evangelization in Cursillo: To Whom is it Directed & What is its message?

Our 3rd Annual Conference has already come and gone! I'm sure that all those who participated this year would agree that, once again, it was time well spent. Our host community, Kelowna, did a wonderful job putting together the whole conference. They were responsible for the theme, all the talk outlines, the conference location, billeting, registration, and all the on-site meals, etc. 

There were about 45 participants this year, with representation from all our Western Region communities. Friday night we listened to the opening address by Bishop Cooney on 'the Church as Jesus in the World'. He challenged us to develop a new springtime of faith in our efforts to evangelize others. Later on we enjoyed a social to help us get to know each other better.

On Saturday we heard 4 talks that were very informative and offered us some new insights in regards to our mission as evangelizers in the Cursillo movement. The first talk on 'Laypersons with the Message'  reminded us that the Cursillo movement gave us a unique opportunity to say 'yes' to God and helped us to moved the Gospel message from our heads to our hearts. In the second talk on 'Empowered Messengers' we learned that prayer is a spiritual barometer for our relationship with God and that we need to be prepared to listen to God in prayer. The presentation on 'To Whom is it Directed?' was given in 2 parts. The talk gave us some very good background on the history of the movement. We were also presented with an  interesting concept that Cursillo is more about being than doing and a reminder that we must become the Good News to other. 

We had some free time after lunch and several people took advantage of the beautiful walk along the Mission Greenway. In the evening we were treated to some entertainment and those crazy people from Vancouver and Victoria were at it again...something involving butterfly wings made from magazine pages and a cruel Kitchen Rectora making them work, work, work! Some of the other entertainment included a thoughtful skit on communication presented by the people from Prince George, and a local group, Eden Grove, entertained us with some wonderful music. The evening ended with a preview of the theme song for this year's National.

Sunday morning we regathered bright and early for breakfast and the final 2 talks of the weekend. In the talk on "The Message" of Cursillo we heard that we are called to do amazing things in the lives of others. In the final talk on 'Recognizing Family' we heard that we have already been transformed and empowered because the Spirit of God has come upon us; and that Cursillo is a movement of the Spirit within our society. Throughout the weekend we also heard some very moving meditations presented by people from various Cursillo communities. Throughout the weekend we had been invited to write on a chalkboard the names of people we knew that needed prayer. At the end of the morning, we gathered around the board and the room and offered up all these prayer intentions with personal prayer and a decade of the rosary. Both Saturday night and Sunday morning we celebrated Mass with the local parish community. The message of the homily was very thought provoking - "if we don't come away from Mass transformed, it is but an empty ritual". 

The timing of this year's conference coincided with Pentecost Sunday and the Spirit was very evident throughout the weekend. What a blessing to us as the Cursillo movement in Western Canada!

Conference 2000: June 2-4, 2000 in Victoria

Beyond Jubilee - One Body, Many Gifts

We held our second annual conference at Holy Cross Parish in Victoria last June. There were over 75 Cursillistas gathered together from all over BC and Alberta to enjoy the hospitality offered by the Victoria community.

The theme for the conference was 'Beyond Jubilee - One Body, Many Gifts'. The first letters of the seven topics spelled out the word JUBILEE. The rollos presented were Justice, Understanding, Body (Formation), Integrity, Love, Eucharist, and Evangelization. The theme was chosen to reflect on our journey over the past three years of preparation for the new millenium and our call to take these gifts out into the world. Each group within the Western Region was asked to prepare and present either one of the rollos or a prayer oasis.  

The keynote address was given by Bishop Ray Roussin on Friday night. Saturday morning Fr. Rolf Hasenack gave an awesome talk on Justice that called us to create a right relationship between God and ourselves and between ourselves and our neighbours. The Vancouver group's presentation on Understanding challenged us to continue to strive to seek the Truth. The presentation on Body (Formation) was a unique experience - 4 people sat around a table with their favourite coffee mugs and took turns equating the significance of their choice with the theme of one body, many gifts. In the talk on Integrity the group from Edmonton reminded us that we can only witness to what we believe and are already living - walking the talk. The speaker on Love, from Victoria, reminded us that we are to reach in and touch the hearts of others as Christ would. On Sunday morning another speaker from Victoria shared in the talk on Eucharist how other member of the Christian community were Eucharist for her during times of trial. In the final talk on Evangelization, given by a member of the Calgary community, we were reminded that as individuals and as a community we are called to give witness to the Gospel message in our lives and to be God's agents for change, so that we may have a world of peace, justice, and love.

In addition to all the wonderful talks, we were treated to a lot of fun as well. On the Saturday night, there was a dance in the Church with music by a local band, 'On Fire'. After the dance, about 15 of us worked together to knock down and put away all the tables and then set up all the chairs for Sunday's mass. The teamwork involved was like poetry in motion...we had everything cleaned up and put back together within about 15 minutes!

Conference 1999: June 11-13, 1999 in Prince George

Come to the Father

The First Conference held by the recently formed Western Region was a great success. About 70 Cursillistas from Western Canada were in attendance. Thank you to the Prince George Cursillo Community for a job well done!

The first evening opened with a meditation by the Edmonton community. Bishop Gerald Weisner, bishop of Prince George, gave the Keynote address entitled "Opening Our Hearts to the Father". Some thoughts from his talk were: we all need to trust and feel welcome; we need to create a friendly environment where no one feels forced to change; God speaks to us in and through Jesus; in faith and trust, we open our hearts to the Father unconditionally. We need to surrender completely to the Father and allow Him to give us a great big hug!

Following the address by Bishop Weisner there was a social to give everyone an opportunity to mingle and to get to know one another. We all wearily headed off to our billets and motels to rest up for the next day.

Saturday morning opened with a meditation given by the Vancouver community. After the meditation, Fr. Erik Reichers gave the first talk of the day entitled "Called by the Father". The theme of this talk was the Father's love is free and unconditional. The second talk by Fr. Reichers was "Journeying With the Father - a Pilgrimage to the House of the Father". In this talk, based on the Parable of the Merciful Father (aka the Parable of the Prodigal Son) there were five lessons: 1. Love of the Father for His own sake. 2. Use our gifts with the intentions of the Giver, 3. Recognize the greatness of the Giver, 4. Draw benefit from the self-revelation of the Father, and 5. Be conscious that all people live under the benevolent grace of the Father.

We began the afternoon with a meditation by the Native community. Fr. Reichers then gave the final talk of the day entitled "Bringing Others to the Father - Through Christ". Some highlights of the talk were: the Father sets no preconditions to the encounter with Christ, who died for us; Cursillo was never meant to be a retreat but rather to be a weekend of evangelization for the 'far away'; Christ welcomes us with joy; God is not to be outdone in generosity - therefore, neither must we.

Saturday evening there was an Ultreya and social with the Prince George Cursillo Community - with about 100 Cursillistas in attendance! Entertainment was provided by the Native Community sharing a sacred tradition with us - a 'gotcha' ending with the singing of "One little, two little, three little Indians..."; a variation on 'Sister Act' put on by the Vancouver Community that had all 10 of them wearing nun's outfits (including Fr. Patrick and the other guys) and singing "Poor Little Bug on the Wall"; and a skit by the Prince George Community about Noah's Ark using the song "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory, Glory". Noah was great with his huge top hat (with 'NOAH" on the front) and his big gumboots on. After the Ultreya there was a procession out to the statue of Our Lady and we prayed a decade of the Rosary.

Sunday morning started with a meditation by the Victoria community. Then, Fr. Patrick Chisholm gave us a talk on "Friendship". Some highlights of his talk were: Love your neighbour as yourself, since God loved us even when we were sinners; how do we earn the right to reach out to the far away?... by knowing God's love in our lives, experiencing it, and sharing it with others; do everything for the love of God; Christianity isn't 'pie in the sky when you die' it's "living here in love, in relationships with Christ and with each other".

The final address of the conference was given by Bishop Weisner on "It's Good to be With You, Father". The theme of this talk was that God is the source of unity, community, and family. We must imitate this in our lives. God desires to be with each of us.

Following the last talk, mass was concelebrated by Bishop Weisner and Fr. Patrick Chisholm. The conference was closed with a barbecue lunch.

Updated 02/27/2005