In reflecting on the book I have just read about St. Edmund Campion, a martyr under Queen Elizabeth’s persecution of Catholics in England in 1570’s, I cannot help but see the ground work for Cursillo. Edmund was a serious student first.  As a young man, he studied hard to further his own glory.  He was at Oxford, a brilliant mind at a Catholic university. The government of Queen Elizabeth took over the university and threw out all things Catholic. To remain, Edmund had to take the Oath of Supremacy, which recognized Queen Elizabeth as the head of the church in England.

In taking the oath, Edmund secured his place at the university and became a deacon in the Church of England. Yet, all was not well.  Even as a lukewarm and now fallen-away Catholic, Edmund still pursued truth. He developed friends and acquaintances and his views still remained more Catholic than Protestant.  These views required him to move to Dublin, Ireland and away from the risk associated with always being more Catholic than Protestant.

He did return to England, and when he did he had to quickly shuffle off to Douai in Flanders (Catholic Spanish Netherlands), because there, Dr William Allen was establishing a university for the education of the English fugitives. Still thinking he just wanted to pursue study, it was here that he became a real Catholic, returned via confession of his apostasy by his oath. Here he studied with a small focused group of men, six priests and seven seminarians, preparing to return to England for a sure martyrdom.

This is like Cursillo, in that he arrived at Douai a fallen-away Catholic and became the Catholic that Jesus wants all his followers to be. He, and a small group of five, eventually returned to England, not to convert the Protestants or to establish political unrest (the returning priests were expressly ordered NOT to work against the authority of the ruler of England). Their mission was to bring the sacraments and the Mass to the remaining faithful Catholics.

Cursillo is a lay movement working in the Church to help its members become “what Jesus meant each of them to be.” It attempts to do that by establishing the intermingling of people in small groups supporting each other in their journey. Going through the Cursillo does not make one a political tool for any purpose other than the purpose Jesus has for that individual. A weekend is much more than working to support each other in their Catholic faith in this world, but that is a big part of it.

The diocese of Salina is coming together to put a team in place for a Men’s Cursillo Weekend March 4, 5, 6, and 7^th in Victoria and a Women’s Cursillo Weekend March 18, 19, 20, and 21^st, also in Victoria. It is always our goal to have a men’s and a women’s cursillo approximating each other. If your Catholic faith is a central part in your life, pray and consider the Cursillo. If the Catholic faith is not central in your life, but you would like it to be, consider the Cursillo. Contact numbers can be found on the parish website at sacredheartcolby.com, or you can call the rectory at 462-2179.  God Bless.

Tom Barlow

Lay Director

Diocese of Salina