DECEMBER SCHOOL OF LEADERS IS COMING by Ronnie Martella, Assistant Lay Director

Blessed Advent!  This wonderful season of preparation is upon us and how blessed are we to be loved by God, loved so much that he sent his Son to be with us, to be one of us.  As you take time this Advent to reflect on your relationship with God and others, remember that on your journey there are others to encourage and help us.

One of the points from Pope Paul's encyclical that Father Jay brought out was the fact that we all need to be well and properly informed in order to instruct others.  School of Leaders is a great place to do get that instruction from the talks, from the sharing and from the literature available.  School in December is on the 16th and will be at Holy Family in Lakewood .  Father Ed will complete the study of "On Evangelization in the Modern World" and the technique talk on Ultreya will be given by Janet Moscuzza.  What a great way to enrich our Advent time as we continue to respond to Jesus challenge to go out and make disciples of all.

At School of Leaders in November, Father Jay's talk on the methods and beneficiaries of Evangelization, from Pope Paul VI's encyclical, had both the spiritual and practical.  This document is as relevant today as it ever was because, as Father Jay reminded us, evangelization means bringing the Good News to all strata.  And the primary way to do that is to be a witness of an authentic life given to God and neighbor.  What a powerful affirmation that Cursillo, through the weekend talks, group reunion and ultreya are right in step with the Church's teachings.  The beneficiaries of evangelization cover every aspect of life and type of person from the "far away", non-Christians, & non-believers to believers and small faith communities--there is no doubt, all peoples benefit from being evangelized. 

John DiStefano spoke about group reunion and the impact it has on our journey.  He asked "How do you keep going in the face of troubles, challenges and struggles?"  The answer is to share your journey with others in group reunion.  John encouraged us all to continue as group reunions or if we are not in group-to put one together because the group manifests the friendship we have in God.  In The Study of the Charism it is put this way-"The Method of Cursillo is based on this relationship of friendship to bring to life the essence and purpose of its Charism."!  No wonder John emphasized friendship.  In addition, The Study of the Charism reminds us that group reunion has four steps; invocation of the Holy Spirit to start, sharing by each members on the card, personal and collective apostolic plans and prayer to end.  For the full text, you can find the Study of the Charism on the website of World Organization of Cursillo at www.orgmcc.org. 

Wishing you the peace and joy of the Advent season,

Ronnie Martella 

A MESSAGE FROM OUR LAY DIRECTOR

Beloved Cursillistas,

A final chapter in the book recounting the Charism of Cursillo is Eduardo Bonnin's Spiritual Testament.  He talks of how the Holy Spirit Blessed and preserved our movement from the time of his youth until his 90's.  He considered the Cursillo in Christianity the greatest gift he could pass on to future Christians in love and fellowship.  

This Thanksgiving in the Diocese of Trenton we have much  for which to be grateful to God; both individually and as a community.  As I count my blessings, you will all be present among them as will those three blessed days of God's Grace poured out as Love.  May the Lord bless you and keep you may He make HIS Face Shine upon you and give you His Peace.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Forever DeColores!

Mary Ann Dowd xo

STUDY OF "ON EVANGELIZATION IN THE MODERN WORLD" CONTINUES

At our last School of Leaders, Father Jay Bowden covered Sections 40 to 58 of On Evangelization in the Modern World focusing on the methods and beneficiaries of evangelization. If you would like to read Paul Paul VI's Encyclical, it can be found at this link. At the December School of Leaders on December 16 at Holy Family Church in Lakewood, NJ, Sections 59 to 82 will be covered.

OUR BELOVED FATHER MALACHY HIGGISTON

Father Malachy J. Higgiston went home to the Lord on Tuesday, November 15, 2011.

Visitation will be in St. Thomas More Church on Friday, November 18, 2011 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. immediately followed by Mass of Jesus Christ High Priest. 

Visitation will resume on Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. followed by a Funeral Mass at 11AM.

Interment will follow at St. Joseph's Cemetery Toms River, New Jersey.

Directions to St. Thomas More can be found at http://www.moremercy.org/directions.html.

To read Father Malachy's obituary, go to http://manalapan.patch.com/articles/obituary-fr-malachy-higgiston-88

A MESSAGE FROM JOHN AND ROE DiSTEFANO

On behalf of Roe and me and our entire family, we wish to thank our Cursillo family for the tremendous outpouring of love which you have shown to us in our time of deepest sorrow. As each of you came up to us to express your individual condolences on our daughter going home to the Lord, the glow of the Holy Spirit was around you and surrounded us with love and healing. Each of you came as individuals but formed one in the Spirit and in the Lord. In your being present to all of us, your caring, sharing, and genuine love, our family was lifted to bear the unbearable. To comfort those who are sorrowful is an act of Mercy and it was greatly felt and appreciated by every member of our family.

DeColores! John & Roe & Family of Susanne Opdyke

NOVEMBER SCHOOL OF LEADERS IS COMING by Ronnie Martella, Assistant Lay Director

I love mornings.  I love to be up before daylight, especially in the winter, to see the sky.  One day I went out and looked at the sky from one side of my house-there were no stars to see.  Oh I thought -it must be overcast.  Then I went out front to get the newspapers and there they were--the moon and stars!  From one perspective I made one observation and came to one conclusion about something.  If I hadn’t gone to the other side of the house, I would have stayed with that conclusion which, while not wrong for what I could see, wasn’t complete.  I also would have missed God’s beautiful creation on this particular day, in this particular way-which would never be seen this way again.

Perhaps there are things, maybe even people, that you have seen from one vantage point and you’ve made decisions or came to conclusions about that something or someone. Could you consider a different vantage point or perhaps try another time to look at something or someone?  Are you ready to move to a place where you can get a different, a more complete perspective from which you can make decisions? 

This Friday November 18^th is School of Leaders at 8 pm in the Parish Hall (little white church) at Epiphany in Brick.  Perhaps you’ve never been to School of Leaders and aren’t quite sure what it is about or what to expect.  Maybe you haven’t been in a while or maybe you are able to join us each month but no matter-come, see & learn with a new perspective.  School of Leaders is a place to learn about Cursillo, the Movement overall and Trenton Cursillo in particular.  There you will hear two talks and share with others.  The learning and sharing experienced at School of Leaders is at the core of the Cursillo Movement-friendship in Christ as we journey together as pilgrims.  Each time you join us we are all richer and the community grows in love.

Ultreya!

Ronnie Martella

MEMORIAL MASS FOR ROGER WEBSTER

We have been told that the Memorial Mass for Roger Webster will be held on Saturday, November 19th at St. Catherine in Middletown (on Bray Avenue) @ 11AM. This is an update of the information we were originally given. Directions to St. Catherine's can be found at this link.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR LAY DIRECTOR

Beloved Cursillistas,

On Friday night the Trenton Cursillo Community gathered to remember our deceased Cursillistas. Those dear friends and relatives who have gone home and are out of our sight but not out of our hearts and minds.  In fact, the memories of those we love so dearly seem to get sharper each year--this year--a wonderful new demension in "hearing" these rememberances.  If you would like to "hear" the complete list of remembrances go to our website and click on "We Remember" at the top right side of the page.  Thanks to everyone who made this Mass beautiful, memorable, and holy.

Forever DeColores!
Mary Ann xo

THIS AND THAT

THE LITTLE FLOWER AND ME

Pat Burke and Fran Romeo recommended this article from the October "Word Among Us" about St.Thérèse of Lisieux and the author's Cursillo experience. The author is Brenda Kindelan, Lay Director for the Cursillo Movement in Memphis, Tennessee.

PALANCA

Please remember the following dioceses having weekends from November 10 to 13:

Women's Cursillo Wichita, KS
Men's #148 (Spanish) - Hartford, CT
Women's #73 - Montreal, CANADA
Men's #84 - South Bend, IN
Women's #22 (Spanish) - Oregon, IL
Women's #169 (Spanish) - Uniondale, NY
Women's #34 - East Helena, MT
Women's #106 - Little Rock, AR
Women's Cursillo - Derry, N. IRELAND
Women's #74 (Spanish) - Abasolo, GTO, MEXICO
Women's #312 - Oakland,CA
Women's #8 (Spanish) - Los Cabos, BS, MEXICO
Men's Cursillo (Spanish) - Dodge City, KS
Men's Cursillo - Kingston, JAMAICA
Women's #200 - Peekskill, NY
Men's Cursillo (Spanish) - Cd. Acuña, CU, MEXICO
Men's #263 - Hammond, IN
Women's #109 (Spanish) - El Paso, TX
Women's #205 - Buffalo, NY
Women's #7 - KwaZulu-Natal, SOUTH AFRICA

NAME TAGS PLEASE!

Mary Ann Dowd asks for all to please wear your name tags on Friday night and pretty much from now on so that the babechicks and new cursillistas can get better acquainted with the community.