Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
I met Jose a few years ago during a Spanish Cursillo (a spiritual retreat experience). He had come to California from Nicaragua, was a University professor and a politician. He had enjoyed a «good» life until he was forced to flee the country for serious reasons. Visiting his family in California, Jose was invited to take part in a three day Cursillo. Jose «had no choice» because his brother-in-law was going to be the Coordinator of the retreat. The only reason he said «yes» was because he felt embarrassed to decline his brother-in-law’s invitation. Jose had no faith at all. His last time in church and his last Communion had taken place 40 years before.
The first day of the Cursillo was a struggling and painful journey. Then he felt something different. He discovered a «different God». He discovered that «his» God whom he had left behind was not the God of Jesus. On the second day of the Cursillo Jose was uncontrollably in love with «his new God», the God of the Bible, the God of Jesus, the God of the Lost Sheep and of the Prodigal Son. Jose was fascinated by the person of Jesus. I heard his first Confession in 40 years and gave him absolution in the name of God. He felt loved and forgiven and I had the privilege of giving him his First Holy Communion after forty years of absence.
During one of the breaks he confided to me that the «hardest thing for him to understand was that during these 40 years, God performed so many miracles in his life, and he didn’t even believe in Him».
I put my hand on his shoulder, looked in his eyes, and also confided to him:
– Jose… a mother never asks permission from her baby to love him… to help him…to feed him.
God will never ask your permission to love you and to help you. God will never ask «May I love you, please? ». That’s free. The blessing and the tragedy is that we have the power to say “yes” or “no”. The religion of Jesus is a religion of the YES.
Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino
A “Cursillo” is a spiritual retreat experience. It was born in Spain, and that’s why even in the English-speaking countries they are still faithful to the name “Cursillo”. We also have it here in Madeira. In June there is one for men and in August there is one for ladies. It starts on a Wednesday night and ends on a Saturday night. In Madeira, the place where the Cursillo takes place is in Terreiro da Luta (Monte). It is excellent and it is in almost every country of the world
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