Cursillo/Ultreya

The aim of Cursillo is to awaken the moral conscience and ignite in us the desire to be in God's grace, as a result of a careful self-examination. What exactly is a Cursillo? You yourself will be able to say what it is on the last of the three days, for in order to know it, you must live it! "Cursillo" means, in Spanish, a short, intense, concentrated course. In general we can say that a Cursillo is a means for studying and focusing on the problems which confront people today, and for finding a true solution, the Christian one. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. St Paul calls the Church, the "Mystical Body of Christ." Hence, the work of Cursillo in Christianity is based on the doctrine of the Mystical Body, and therefore, on Jesus Christ Who is the Head, on Divine Grace which is its life's blood and on the action of the Holy Spirit, which is the soul of the Church giving it life and governing it. The Cursillo technique is also based on the knowledge of man, and the realities of the environment in which he develops; on adapting the teaching of Christ's Church to the faithful. The true knowledge of Jesus, intimate and personal friendship with Him, with all of its consequences, is the goalthat we try to reach in the Cursillo, and which we seek to preserve and increase during the entire life of the Christian. Because we can only make one Cursillo weekend in a lifetime, we ask that you come as prepared and open to grace as possible. Primarily, the candidate, yourself- must be able to receive the Sacraments of the Church, the Holy Eucharist and Holy Confession. Without being able to receive these Sacraments would cripple the full experience of the candidate during the weekend, which relies heavily on the graces which pour into our souls from these Sacraments and thus the supernatural transformation desired. We do not come to Cursillo to be "fixed" or to have answers to "all" our problems. We experience Jesus Christ, Crucified, during the Cursillo weekend to give meaning to the things we suffer, to embrace our Cross under the appearance of problems and trials - and most importantly, to give meaning and purpose to our life on earth. In short, we all seek to be holy to the praise and glory of God our Father.

One of the key elements of Cursillo is to build up the Church in the world through groupings of people in their environments. One form of this grouping is Ultreyas, a Spanish word meaning Onward. This is where members of the small friendship groups (group reunions) come together as a larger community to pray together, read the Word of God, have access to spiritual direction, share, inspire and encourage one another to persevere in our Fourth Day. For those Cursillistas that have not yet joined or formed a small friendship group it enables them to connect with other Cursillistas to form these groups that meet weekly. Ultreyas are a vital part of our Cursillo movement.