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2023 Secretariat and Event Updates

February 2023

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De Colores brothers and sisters!

 

You all have been in my prayers, as I have been meaning to send out a letter to the community and provide some updates to our ongoing schedule for 2023. Firstly, I hope all of you have started your year in great strides.

 

Secondly, the Secretariat has been working on some changes, some of which were driven community suggestions. In 2022, we sent our community some surveys with regards to various Cursillo events. This allowed us to evaluate the best available venue that is accessible to all for this coming year. We also adjusted our venue location, based on availability. Some locations were closed for renovations or the dates did not work. Some good came out of these changes as we trust in Jesus guiding us every step of the way.  If you haven’t noticed, one change we have done is regarding our Ultreya. The Secretariat has decided to host one Ultreya a month and moving them to Saturdays. We had an opportunity to centralize the venue so all in the community can gather- no longer separating the north and the south- in hopes of unifying our community.  A thriving Christian Catholic community aspiring to bring our friends closer to Christ should matter to us as we all have taken our oath to Christ. He is counting on us…

 

We have also made other great strides with our website. We encourage you to continue visiting our website.  We activated our blog page this past year, will continue to add to it in 2023 and have received a lot of positive feedback. We have been able to update the blog consistently with recaps of events and powerful witness talks for those who missed a reunion. Some talks have been shared on the Witness Corner page to inspire and encourage all. Please take a moment to explore our blog and get inspired by our Cursillista actions to bring our world closer to Christ.

 

Thirdly, we will continue to work on pushing our Cursillo community forward. We, the secretariat, have started out 2023 with the preparation, coordination and scheduling of the Men’s and Women’s Cursillo weekends. We are working with our incoming Rectors as they prepare to discern their teams and schedules.  We are also working with Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center (OLoF).  As some of you know Father Junesh has stepped down as Director of OLoF and we are sad to see him go. We can’t thank him enough for allowing us the use of the Passionist’s home to hold our Cursillo weekends, after the inability to host weekends for two years.  The Secretariat is planning on meeting with the new interim director, Father Lucian Clark, to continue to build our relationship with OLoF and to confirm this year’s weekend fees and logistics of the weekends.

The Secretariat will be updating the Candidate Application Forms within the next couple of weeks, including the confirmed weekend fees. The scheduled 2023 weekend dates have been confirmed:

• Men’s Cursillo Weekend: Thursday, July 27th through Sunday, July 30th

  • Men’s Rector is Eric Gardener and Assistant Rector is Bill Mallette.

• Women’s Cursillo Weekend: Thursday, August 10th through Sunday, August 13th

  • Women’s Rector is Tracy Mallette and Assistant Rector is Amy Del Valle.

 

With that said, we are reaching out to you, my brothers and sisters. We need your help and service in getting us qualified candidates. That’s where you can help us: let’s start discerning about friends and family that should be making their weekends. For those that have surveyed their environments and identified potential candidates, continue to build that friendship and invite them to the weekend. This is the most important part, developing friendships builds community and, in turn, we get them closer to Christ. For some that want to invite friends and family to meet the community, please take the opportunity to look for venues that candidates can be invited to get to know our community (please note, candidates cannot attend School of Leaders). A perfect example is our upcoming Mardi Gras Dinner and Dance on February 18th.  It’s an opportunity for potential candidates to meet the larger community. So, let’s get our action going and remember to work on some much needed palanca for the coming Cursillo weekends.

 

Lastly, I would like to update you on the Secretariat team.  This past year we have started our transition of rotating our Secretariat members.  In September 2022, we said a farewell to two of our servants that reached their term, Dennis Marquez and Maria Waddle. We cannot thank them enough for their service and commitment to our Cursillo Movement. Also, this past December we said goodbye to Tracy Mallette, who extended her term and is now focused on preparing for Women’s Rector of the 2023 Weekend in August. We will miss Tracy, as I can attest her joy and smile is infectious. She kept the Secretariat smiling, in spite of the obstacles and attacks that constantly kept coming our way. Her leadership has been instrumental in the changes in our movement, and we cannot thank her enough for her sacrifice, time and talents.

The Secretariat will continue to transition this coming year, as we continue our rotations. That includes myself, as my time, brothers and sisters, is coming to an end. As my former predecessor taught me, it is important that these rotations happen for the health and the future of this movement. So please keep the Secretariat in your prayers as it discerns a new Lay Director. And with God’s trust and will, we can be sure that this movement will be in good health and in trusting hands moving forward as it continues to build the kingdom of heaven.

The good news is our incoming Secretariat members, after long discernment and discussions, we identified future Christian leaders to continue to lead our movement forward.  I would like to welcome to the Secretariat starting this coming year for their three-year term, Amy Del Valle and Bill Mallette. We are thankful for saying yes to serve our Cursillo Community. Their talents and leadership will be intricate in moving us forward. We are still discerning and praying on bringing on board additional Christian leaders. Moving forward our current Secretariat members are listed (also on the Secretariat page):

• Mike Arena

• Merlys Bolduc

• Amy Del Valle

• Eric Gardner

• Donna Holmstrom

• Bill Mallette

• Jaimee Perez

• Deacon Joe O’Connell (Spiritual Adviser)

• Jorge Garcia

 

My brothers and sisters, keep these servants in your prayers, as they devote their time and talents to the Cursillo community.

 

May God continue to bless our Community.  I have all of you in my prayers.

Jorge Garcia

Lay Director

Palm Beach Cursillo

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For more information about the Cursillo Weekends or any upcoming Cursillo event, you can email us at PalmBeachCursillo@gmail.com, or contact a member of the Secretariat with questions.  

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