Diocese of Gary

VALPARAISO – Catholic men from the Diocese of Gary have the opportunity for a life-changing faith experience by attending this year’s Men’s Cursillo Weekend, set for Nov. 5-8 at Camp Lawrence.
    
There is a team of Cursillistas – as those who have completed a Cursillo are known – diligently planning to provide just that kind of journey, and they are convinced it will have a transformative effect on those who participate with an open heart.

Having attended a Dynamic Catholic Welcome Retreat (formerly known as Christ Renews His Parish) while attending St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center in Valparaiso, Jon McGinty continued as a lector and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion when he moved to Portage and Nativity of Our Savior Parish. “But I was searching for more, and Cursillo gave me a method to live out my faith every day in an extremely different way,” he said. “I am a cradle Catholic, but I didn’t know anything about the Cursillo movement,” McGinty added.
    
He admits that as a young man, “I left my faith behind when I left the city,” referring to his move from Chicago at age 20. He lived in Ohio and New York, met his wife in 2006, and returned to Northwest Indiana when he took a job in Portage in 2014. “My wife reawakened my Catholic faith and got me going back to church,” McGinty recalled. “When we had our first child, I saw there was much more to life, and we now have three daughters, which reinforces that belief.”
    
McGinty attended his first Cursillo weekend in 2018 and is thankful for his reunion group, which continues to meet every Thursday at St. Teresa to recite a Rosary and “share our faith formation.” While Cursillistas are encouraged to join a reunion group of 3 to 5 that meets regularly, McGinty said his group numbers 10 men, and welcomes others to join them for the Rosary nights.
    
He credits his Cursillo experience to a friend, Dan Sweet, who “put a Cursillo application in front of me and became my sponsor. He continues to assist me behind the scenes and keep me on schedule.”
    
Each man attending a Cursillo weekend, which begins between 5 and 6 p.m. Thursday and ends at 4 p.m. Sunday after Mass and a closing session, must have a sponsor, but if someone wants to apply independently, the weekend planning team will find them a sponsor to prepare them for the experience. “You just need to bring your clothes, a pillow and blanket, and your toiletries,” said McGinty. All meals are provided, and participants stay overnight in the campground cabins.
    
At a recent team meeting, Cursillistas opened with prayer and each shared “a Moment of Closeness (to God)” that they experienced during the past week. Several rehearsed their “royos,” which are personalized witness talks on a specific topic that they will share at the Cursillo, and received support and suggestions from fellow team members. They end each meeting with a Chapel Circle of prayers in the church.
    
“As we grow as Christians, we need progressive and continued change,” said John Stahura in presenting his royo on addressing “environments – family life, work, friends, church, etc.” He explained that the mission of a Cursillista “is to transform our lives” by studying their environments and learning to “win” them.
    
“A Cursillo gets us talking about our faith, which men are not used to doing,” said Father Thomas Mischler, the spiritual director of the Cursillo movement for the Diocese of Gary. “The schedule of a Cursillo is exactly the same for men and women, but the experiences can be different. In general, women are more engaging, share more freely and jump right in to make posters that is an assignment after a royo.
    
“Men tend to be more reflective, but a Cursillo gives them a safe environment to be open to that reflection,” he added. “The ultimate goals of a Cursillo are to learn to know Christ more deeply and bring others to God and, through our experience, create an apostolic mission to carry out as we go forward.”
    
The Cursillo movement started for men only in the early 1940s in Mallorca, Spain, and later added separate weekend courses for women. The movement came to the U.S. in 1957 in Waco, Texas, where it was conducted entirely in Spanish. The first Cursillo in Indiana was held in Gary in 1961, one of the first English-language Cursillos in the U.S.

For more information about attending the Men’s Cursillo Weekend in November or obtaining an application, contact Jon McGinty at jonmcginty@gmail.com or (773) 818-8210.

Caption: The Men's Cursillo Team closes every meeting by sharing a moment of praise and thanksgiving to God with each other. Forming a chapel circle in front of the altar at Nativity of Our Savior on Oct. 11 are (from left) Jon McGinty, Darren Farha, John Stahura, John Cox, Rob Pastore, Louie Gonzalez, Phil Page, Jose Flores (obscured) and Father Thomas Mischler. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)