My brothers and sisters in Christ thank you. Thank you for allowing me to help with Men's Cursillo #222. Working in the kitchen is my yearly GR, Ultreya, and Cursillo holy hour. The fellowship with the rest of the guys in the kitchen in essence is a GR. Outside of the picking and joking there is a spirituality that shines through. We wonder why so and so isn't here, because he hasn't missed a Crawford County weekend in years. Come to find out he is sick or going through a rough time in his life. So we pray for his well being and hope that we will see him next year. And there will be a next year! The fellowship with the other Cursillistas from Erie, Clarion, Mercer, Venango, etc is a reminder that there is more to this movement than my little piece of the woods. That I need to go out and spread the word and bring others to Christ by my actions.
I live 180 miles away from what was my piece of the woods, Crawford County, but I will always be a Cursillista from the Diocese of Erie. We are all looking for the same thing, sometimes in different ways, but as we found out this weekend, just as we find out every Cursillo weekend, we are not in control, nor should we be. Did the candidates know we were struggling somewhat because it was a new facility. No. Did they know that there was an issue with condiment placement or the lack of condiments (inside kitchen joke). No. Did they know that the green beans served better out of the other bowls we used to use. No. Did they realize that we finally stepped out of the way and let the Spirit run things. Maybe or maybe not, but from what I saw over the weekend and at the closing the spirit did conquer the Devil from different directions.
I'm sitting 180 miles away writing this and I guess it's easy for me to say. Let's bury the proverbial dishwasher (because 3 men did make sure they were done) and get on with building Christs kingdom here on earth before it's to late. The Devil is at work and he is very well camouflaged.
Decolores Mike McDonald
Very well said. It was good to see you again. Truly, this was the church, the body of Christ as it was intended to be.
I have one correction and one addition. There were three men and one woman (Janet)who washed the dishes.
Also - Much credit has to be given to Jim and Wendy Hess, our county coordinators, for the countless hours over the past year or so making the phone calls, making the arrangements, calling the meetings, gathering supplies, sweating the multitude of details. This weekend would not have happened without them.
All of you men and women who served made the weekend what is was a wonderful and beautiful experience for all. Sometimes we as men and women try to control way too many aspects of our lives. I know I fall into that trap too often. I put several things behind me this past weekend due to letting the Holy Spirit into my heart and I came away a much better man.
My Mom always said "Big things come in small packages." While the number of candidates for this weekend was small, the Spirit was enormous!
The Christian Community that came together to make this weekend such a success absolutely proves that "church" is NOT A BUILDING, it is the people who come together to share God's love.
A big DE COLORES to each and every one of you who helped in any way to make this weekend happen!
