Group Reunion

Preamble

Jesus said, "When two or three are gathered together for my sake, there I am in the midst of them."

We are called to the Cursillo to make Group Re-unions. As Eduardo Bonnin, one of the founders of the Cursillo Movement said, "We must bear in mind that Group Reunions are not held so that there may be people to attend Cursillo but the Cursillos are held so that there are people to make a Group Reunion."

Purpose/Goal

The real gift of Cursillo is Group Reunion, which emphasizes the value of personal contact and sharing with other Christians after the weekend. The purpose of a Group Reunion is to help each one in it to reach his or her full potential in Christ. In company with sympathetic, caring, loving people we are able to share and talk about our hang-ups and fears as well as our hopes and dreams.

Characteristics Of A Group

1. Size:
   Three to five people is ideal. A group works best when it is made up of people who are already friends, or who want to be friends.
2. Regularity:
   Weekly group reunion assures continuity and steady progress in Christian growth. First, there is personal growth, which is discovering who you are - your unique gifts, strengths and weaknesses, your spiritual and intellectual formation into a whole per-son. Second, there is group building, becoming members of a team. A group does not be-come a group just by sitting down together to talk. It takes time and it takes caring, sharing, forgiving and affirming. Third, there is individual and collective action.
3. Seriousness:
   Meeting and sharing is of great importance to each member in fulfilling his or her vocation. Essential to living the group reunion is the desire to be a saint and an apostle. Saints are people who know God's love and grace, and who live their lives from this relationship. Apostles are saints who have a mission to share that same knowledge with others.
4. Sincerity:
   Each member seeks to build authentic relationships by being open and honest. It is important that each person does some history giving. This means giving each person a chance to share personal concerns, fears, significant events, places and people in his or her life, as well as present hurts and joys. Affirmation grows out of history giving, where the members respond as a community of love, trust and acceptance to the particular needs that are brought out in the sharing.
5. Discretion:
   Whatever is shared in the group must be kept in confidence.
6. Leading:
   No one in the group is the leader; each person contributes and takes responsibility for the life of the group.

The Order Of Group Reunion

Group Reunion opens and closes with prayer. The Group Reunion card is the guide to a successful Group Reunion.

Each item in Piety, Study and Action should be taken separately. Unless the items are taken one at a time, the reunion will become mechanical. By following the Rule of Life one should grow in depth of spirituality.

Guidelines For Effective Sharing

There are three levels of sharing:

1. Mouth to mouth sharing is simply conversational doodling.

2. Head to head sharing is more serious in that it is exchanging ideas and concepts, but the ex-change is strictly of ideas, detached from the person.

3. Heart to heart sharing lets the other person know where you stand in relation to ideas and how you feel about them; it is the communing from which community is born.

When one person in a group takes that leap of faith and lets the others in on his or her life, the group is under a real obligation as the Body of Christ to be ministering servants to that person.

Don't interrupt. Our greatest gift is to listen and this could be all the person wants or needs.

Don't probe. There is a thin line between listening and probing. To listen is to enable a person to say all that he or she wants to say. To probe is to make a person share what he or she does not want to share.

Don't give advice. If someone in the group has had a similar experience, he or she can share the experience without telling the other person what to do.

Don't judge. We are all different. Some sensitive areas of disagreement in lifestyle, theology and outlook will arise. Love will be put to the test in accepting people where they are and for what they believe.

Remember, to be an enabler means to call forth the best in another person, to see the best in him or her.

Sometimes Group Reunions do not work out successfully, and it may be necessary to move on. This should not be considered a failure. Group Reunions do not last forever, they change and grow, just as people do.

Conclusion

The Group Reunion provides the forum and the impetus to actively engage in Piety, Study and Action in a Cursillista's everyday life. We will never outgrow our need for Group Reunion, be-cause we need to share our Christian life deeply in order to keep it growing. The Group Reunions are done for Jesus' sake. He is present at them and they should be done prayerfully that we might know, love, and serve Him better.