“When I have Jesus Christ, I have everything!” (Cuando yo tengo a Jesucristo, yo lo tengo todo!) Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat exclaimed during a special Mass for the Cursillo de Cristiandad in New York.

“Everything!” (Todo!) the more than 2,000 people who attended the April 21 Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral replied.

The Mass celebrated the 400th Cursillo (weekend course) for men within the Archdiocese of New York, which was held the weekend ending Sunday April 14 at Holy Cross Church in the Bronx, where the New York archdiocesan Cursillo Movement is based.

Cursillo de Cristiandad (Cursillo in Christianity; short courses in Christianity), was founded in Spain in 1944. It focuses on the friendly testimony of dialogue among friends, and being loyal witnesses of the faith.                            

“Brothers and sisters, we are here with great joy today,” Bishop Espaillat also said during welcoming remarks at the afternoon Mass. “Thousands of lives have been changed, transformed. And there is nothing more important than to continue the mission that Christ has given us, the mission to evangelize.”            

In his homily, the bishop talked about the significance of mercy, vocations, and that day being Good Shepherd Sunday. He also spoke of Christ conquering the tomb, “and that is why you and I have life in abundance. Amen?” And the faithful said “Amen.” He spoke of the importance of one obtaining spiritual healing before setting out to help heal others. And he told the faithful that “the Lord is reminding us that we still have much work to do as we move forward…How are we looking for new sheep (to evangelize)?…Let us walk in the power of the Risen Christ.”  

Bishop Espaillat informed the congregation that he too took the Cursillo course here in the Archdiocese of New York (Cursillo # 330), as well as his parents, who were present, and some priestly colleagues who were serving as Mass concelebrants. “I am a Cursillista. Cursillo has done a lot for me,” he noted.  

“What mercy do I have if I don’t accept new people, if I don’t open the doors?  Pope Francis said ‘the Church is a hospital in the field’…We need to be men and women of action.” The bishop cited immigrant advocacy as a very good way to engage in outreach, evangelization and service. In making these points, Bishop Espaillat was advising members of the Cursillo Movement in New York to venture beyond the group – and to join efforts with other Church groups in the various important missions of the Church. It would be great, he said, if this Cursillo renewal began here in the Archdiocese of New York, “not for itself, but for the glory of God,” Bishop Espaillat noted.

Cursillo de Cristiandad was founded in 1944 in Majorca, Spain, by a group of laymen led by Eduardo Bonnin Aguiló, who died in 2008 at age 90. A cause was opened in 2015 for Bonnin’s beatification and canonization.       

Cursillo leaders encourage members to “pray that we might lead others to Jesus Christ by the way we live our lives—ultreya, ‘onward,’ as we say in Cursillo,” the movement’s national website states. It remains a mostly Spanish-speaking apostolic movement of the Church that attempts to give life to the essential Christian truths in the “singularity, originality and creativity of the person.” The Cursillo offers spiritual renewal or rebirth, through a three-day Cursillo course to begin membership.

In addition to “ultreya,” also popular in Cursillo is the phrase “de colores,’ (in colors), a reminder of joyful times when God’s unparalleled and unconditional love is especially vivid.   

Father John Higgins, pastor of Holy Cross, is spiritual director of the archdiocesan Cursillo Movement. He served as a concelebrant during the April 21 Mass. In closing words of gratitude, he told Bishop Espaillat, “Thank you, and we have heard you,” indicating he and other New York Cursillo leaders will heed the bishop’s call. (The number of women’s Cursillos stands at 379). 

Among the attendees was Emiliano Mejia, 57, a parishioner of Holy Spirit Church in the Bronx. He told The Good Newsroom before Mass that when he joined the Cursillo de Cristiandad in 1996 (Men’s Cursillo #282) “it was a great change in my life, and for my family – one must be spiritually prepared for what comes one’s way…And the future is with the youth, the young people; we must prepare them to carry on with the Cursillo.”  

Mejia was with his wife Glenda Lee Mejia, who is also a Cursillista (Women’s Cursillo #246). After Mass, both said they welcomed the bishop’s call for a Cursillo renewal.