Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Antonio Pegon SVD – Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City
Saturday 3rd Week of Easter
As a seminarian, I had my pastoral immersion year in one of the parishes in Occidental Mindoro. This was in the early seventies.
At that time, practically the whole Catholic Philippines was very much involved in the Cursillo Movement. This was a four-day seminar on Catholic life and tenets, which included the sacraments and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Candidates for the seminar came from the adult members of the Christian community. They would later on become the lay leaders of the parishes and eventually serve as lay ministers.
In the parish where I was assigned, it became vibrant and animated because of the movement. For some, the Cursillo was an occasion to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith; for others, it was an opportunity to reform their way of life especially for the male candidates, so the wives hoped.
Unfortunately, among the ‘graduates’ from the seminar, some went back to their former way of life (BSDU, Balik Sa Dating Ugali).
Indeed, it is true that no one can come to Jesus unless it is granted him by the Father. No Cursillo movement would do it except that it comes from God. In other words, faith is a GIFT from God. It is given to those who are open to the grace of God and are willing to make that faith operative in their lives.
Simon Peter himself realized that to stay away from Jesus, after having known him, is to be deprived of eternal life. So, we ask Simon Peter to pray for us so that we will remain in God’s love.
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