Chair Joan Sheppard
PreCursillo Committee Members:
Anne Biedscheid
Tom Jones
Helene Mullaney
The PreCursillo committee processes applications for Cursillo Weekends, keeps the team informed about the candidate applications, and supports sponsors by helping them understand their role and connecting them to information. Following is information about how to apply, what happens once your application is received, and what the responsibilities are for the sponsor.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
I want to know more about:
How to Submit an Application for Cursillo Weekend
1. DOWNLOAD and PRINT an application from the Cursillo website. It’s helpful to download from the website so you’re sure to have the most recent version. Things do change – contact information, address for submittal, and sometimes fees – so using an older version of the application could result in some delays or other glitches in getting your candidate signed up for the weekend.
2. Ask your candidate to complete his/her section of the application. Here’s where you can be of great assistance to our team. Please review your candidate’s information for completeness and readability. We want to be in close contact with you and your candidate, and the application is our only source of contact information. Unfortunately, we all get in a hurry when filling in ‘routine’ information such as address, phone and email, and those 7s and 1st start looking alike, and the words run together.
3. Complete your Sponsor Page of the application. Again, as in #2, please be careful to print clearly and legibly.
4. Submit application and deposit to PreCursillo Chair.
Contact information:
a. Mail applications to: Joan Sheppard, PreCursillo Committee, 8156 Ships Curve Lane, Springfield, VA 22153
b. You may also contact me at 703-622-2475 or moc.liamgnull@90drappehsj.
PreCursillo Team Application Processing
1. As applications are received, we will email a confirmation of receipt to the sponsor and/or candidate. (If we know that your candidate is going to be placed on the waiting list, we will let you know at that time.)
2. The candidate’s name is then added to the listing on the webpage for the upcoming Cursillo. If you do not see your candidate’s name on the webpage after a reasonable amount of time, please call or email me to find out if the application was received.
3. Once you see your candidate’s name posted on the Cursillo webpage, that is your assurance that their application was received and ensures their status on the Weekend. If your candidate’s application was received after the Weekend is already full, his or her name will appear in the waiting list section. In that case, they will move into a confirmed slot if there are other candidates unable to attend the Cursillo.
4. Approximately 3 weeks prior to the Weekend, a detailed confirmation letter is sent to the candidate (with a copy to the sponsor). This letter is sent via email if an email address was provided; otherwise, it is sent via snail mail. This letter provides a reminder of the dates, time of arrival, what to pack, payment status, etc.
Sponsorship Guidelines
“Make a friend. Be a friend. Bring your friend to Christ.”
In order for candidates to attend a Cursillo weekend, they MUST have at least one sponsor. To be a sponsor is a privilege as well as a serious Christian responsibility. Sponsoring someone for a Cursillo in Christianity is not a haphazard circumstance. It should be a deliberate act, the result of making Jesus Christ part of our daily life. Therefore, you must know your candidates very well. Before sponsoring, consider the following…
How to be a “good sponsor”?
- A good sponsor is a witness
- You are actively attending Group Reunion, Ultreyas, and Cursillo activities (such as Closings) to grow in Christ with the community
- You are expressing the gospel messages through actions and words within your environments
- You prayerfully select candidates who will lead in the transformation of their environments to Christ
Whom to sponsor – the candidate
- Cursillo is a movement of the Catholic Church, for Catholics only
- Candidates should be those who will lead in the transformation of their environments to Christ
- Candidates are willing to make a commitment to the Cursillo Movement’s Fourth Day of life, i.e., Group Reunion and Ultreyas to help them persevere in their efforts to live as Christians in the best possible way
What the Cursillo is NOT:
- It is NOT just a weekend experience
- It is not for someone who is looking for a retreat
- It is not group therapy for emotional problems **
- It is not a cure-all for personal problems **
** Out of love for and fairness to those having problems, they should be referred to people with the proper training. Whom to sponsor should always be a result of discerning prayer.
How To Sponsor? What Should Potential Candidates Be Told?
- Prior to giving your candidate an application:
- Explain the Cursillo method of Piety, Study, and Action
- Stress the beauty and importance of living the Fourth Day
- Take them to Ultreya gatherings before you give them an application
- Invite them to join your Group Reunion
- Explain the 3-day Weekend:
- Several talks and meditations by lay people and spiritual directors,
- Discussions and sharing after each talk,
- Daily Mass
- Reconciliation
- Time with the Blessed Sacrament
Important: The Cursillo is not a secret!
How do I support my candidate BEFORE the weekend?
- Ensure that your candidate is a Catholic
- Accompany your candidate to Group Reunion
- Offer prayer and sacrifice for your candidate
- If necessary, help the candidate shoulder the cost of the Weekend experience
How do I support my candidate DURING the weekend?
- Ensure your candidate has had dinner before arrival at the Weekend center
- Transport your candidate to the Cursillo site and introduce your candidate to a weekend team leader or member. At this point, your candidate becomes a Cursillista
- Send Palanca so they know you are supporting them through prayer and sacrifice offered for their Cursilliso
- Attend the Cursillo Closing on Sunday evening
- Provide transportation home for your Cursillista
How do I support my candidate AFTER the weekend?
- Accompany your Cursillista to Group Reunion
- Offer prayer and sacrifice for your Cursillista
- Accompany your Cursillista to the next Diocesan Ultreya, and local Ultreya
- Actively support your Cursillista in the Fourth Day for at least 6 months, through prayer, frequent contact, encouragement to attend Cursillo activities, etc.
Co-Sponsors Are Encouraged
The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement, the basic book of the worldwide Cursillo Movement, says:
“It really should be a group or a community that sponsors and supports the candidate, because the living witness of community life adds so much to the effectiveness of the preparation.
- The ideal would be for the candidate to be already a part of a community conducive to his or her union with other Cursillistas in the post-Cursillo.”
- If you plan to sponsor a candidate who is not from within your parish or Ultreya community, a co-sponsor from the candidate’s local community will help with the necessary Fourth day contacts after the weekend.
- New Cursillistas should be active in Group Reunion and Ultreya for at least 6 months after your Cursillo weekend before taking on this responsibility as an individual. It is highly recommended that you co-sponsor with a Cursillista who has been following the Fourth Day life for a number of years.
Cost of the weekend
A Cursillo costs $250 for meals, lodging, and all materials. $50 should accompany the application. The remainder is due at the time of the weekend.
Applications
The application is in two parts:
- Your candidate completes their side of the application,
- You complete the Sponsor side
When both sides are complete, forward the application with a $50 deposit to:
Arlington Diocese Precursillo Team
c/o Joan Sheppard
8156 Ships Curve Lane
Springfield, VA 22153
Spouses
If you have discussed Cursillo with both spouses, and both wish to make a Cursillo, applications should be submitted at the same time.
Although applicants are called to be candidates based on the dates their applications were received, every effort is made to get the spouses on the two closest available weekends when applications are received together.
If you have any questions regarding sponsorship, contact Joan Sheppard at (703) 622-2475.