Bishop Michael Martin celebrates the annual Grand Ultreya Mass under a picnic shelter at Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury with Cursillo members from across the Diocese of Charlotte. SALISBURY — Cursillo members from across the Diocese of Charlotte came together for the annual Grand Ultreya, ending the day of fellowship and reflection with a Mass offered by Bishop Michael Martin at Dan Nicholas Park.
“You are a gift to the Church, not just locally here in our diocese and parishes, but in the universal Church, and a powerful one,” Bishop Martin noted. “Our world, our Church, is richer, is holier, because of how you commit to living the Good News each and every day.”
Cursillo is a worldwide lay spiritual movement focused on helping people live their faith in secular world. Upon joining, participants attend an intensive three-day retreat. Afterward, on “the fourth day,” they put what they learned into action.
Cursillo members then meet weekly to pray, study and reflect on how they are evangelizing their workplaces, homes and communities. Ultreya is a monthly gathering where they come together in community to share their evangelism stories.
Call to evangelize
The annual Grand Ultreya began with group talks and testimonials. Speaker Erin Hudak, a St. Pius X parishioner, shared her interaction with a woman she felt called to speak with during the Eucharistic Congress.
“The Lord kept saying, ‘Spend time with her; you are a witness, go and talk to her, see where she is at,’” she said. “And all these doors opened up.”
During Mass, Bishop Martin emphasized the power of prayer and evangelism in a world of doubting Thomases.
“Our readings call us tonight to remember who we really are and what we are really called to be, rather than what we are putting out here for the world to see,” he said.
In Luke’s Gospel about the dishonest steward, who reduces debts to cash in future favors, God applauded the man’s shrewdness, but not his motivations, he said.
“Jesus applauds the clever, but what He asks us is: are we bringing that kind of mentality to the proclamation of the Gospel?” the bishop said.
The world, as described in the first reading from the prophet Amos, takes advantage of the lesser, Bishop Martin emphasized.
“That’s the way the world works; the world doesn’t care about who is on the margins; the world cares about one person, ‘me,’” he said. “Justice isn’t found in the world, because the ultimate direction of the world is … self-satisfaction.”
Reaching those on the margins
Instead of focusing on self, Catholics are called to be concerned for others, he said. He urged them to pursue lives of daily prayer, the sacraments and the support of a like-minded community – and then carry those blessings forward.
“Take the creative energy that is being given to all of us and put it towards building the Kingdom,” the bishop said.
For St. Therese parishioner Andrew Robson, a two-year Cursillo veteran, the movement has brought Christ to the front and center of his daily life.
“Christianity was just a casual thing in my life,” he said. “I would go to Sunday Mass and engage in it, check the box, but now it is really becoming integrated in my life. The powerful thing about
Cursillo is it gets you engaged with a group of people who are all working on the same journey together.”
— Lisa M. Geraci
More online
At www.charlottecursillo.com: Learn more about Cursillo and its local retreats
Ben and Diane Smith of St. Leo the Great Parish in Winston-Salem were married for 36 years. Diane was always Catholic, while Ben was Methodist until, through prayer, he embraced the Catholic faith. He completed OCIA and was welcomed into the Church at this past Easter Vigil. Now united in faith, the couple joined Cursillo this summer. (Troy C. Hull | Catholic News Herald)