Highlights from The School of Leaders - January 5, 2010

Every month, the Twin City Cursillo sponsors a School of Leaders on the first Tuesday of the Month. The School of Leaders provides a place for new and time-tested Cursillista’s where they can 1) Learn more about Cursillo, 2) grow in spirituality, and 3) grow in Cursillo leadership knowledge and skill. Jesus says “Come follow me”. We say: “‘Yes Yes Lord’, because we have been to Leader School”.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

In January, Fr. Glen Jensen spoke to us on “Purgatory, and the pursuit of Prayer and Holiness”. Fr. Glen pointed us to two quotes that sent the tone for the talk. In 1 Peter 1: 16, we read “for it is written, ‘Be Holy because I am Holy’”, and Revelation 21: 27 which reads “but nothing unclean will enter it [the New Jerusalem], nor anyone who does abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. These are just two of about 40 places where “Holy” or “holiness” appears in the Bible.

When we think of holiness, we often picture folded hands held high in a quiet church (or your private prayer circle. We might even add chanting or speaking in old tongues (Latin). And sometimes, we even pass these images onto to our God when we envision His Holiness. But Fr. Glen left us with a different vision: Our Father, who is in Heaven, is perfectly Holy. He could be sitting, standing, hands behind His back and He is still perfectly Holy. The bible maybe unclear on this point but we are built to that same image.

If you read Mathew, the main message you get from Jesus is to not be like the Pharisees. Pray unceasingly but do it privately, with no grimaces and no sack cloth.

Purgatory, then, since we are not perfect like Jesus, is our Purification after death. Since we are not perfect, even our “lies” need to be perfectly purged from our past. Purgatory, then, becomes something we desire, not something that we just have to put up with. Yes we want to be heaven, but since everything is in the open and 100% in the light, we won’t want to be in heaven if we don’t feel like we belong there”.

As we use our Prayer and study, fueling our actions transformed into Evangelization, we are also reminded of Paul’s cautionary note in 1 Corinthians 3: 10 which reads “According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I Laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely Jesus Christ.. This leads us into the mortification of our souls in Purgatory as Paul mentions in verse 15 that if our work on this foundation is lost (lost thru sin) that we would be saved “through fire”. This verse 15 if often connected to discussions on Purgatory. This mortification of our soul is not coming from encyclical from Rome; this is coming from “Our Lord’s Word” to us.

Fr. Glen then led us to another interesting read in 1 Maccabees 12: 38-46 which speaks of a time in the Jewish history where they were trying to kick the pagans out of the temple and return Holiness to the Temple and Jerusalem around 180 BC to 161 BC. Judas Maccabees is leading God’s army and in verse 39 went out onto the battlefield “to gather up the bodies of the slain and bury them…” Upon further examination, they found that the slain and in verse 40 had “under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia”, which of course their law forbids. Now what happens in verse 42-46 is most interesting, and sending a message to the Jews then and to us today. What happened next was that Judas Maccabees did the following: First, Judas and his army “turned to supplication” and prayed that the “sinful deed might be blotted out”, second, Judas asked his people to avoid this kind of sin, third, he took up a collection of dollars (drachmas) and sent to Jerusalem for an “expiatory sacrifice”. In verse 43 we are told “In doing this, he acted in a very excellent noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view”. This extraordinary story ends with verse 46 “Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.”

After going thru the nuances of this biblical story, including the use of this term resurrection hundreds of years before Jesus, one is left with a clear message hear of the a) need to purge all our sins before entering heaven so that we are worthy to be there and b) the value of praying to those that precede us.

In conclusion, Purgatory does not mean cold and nasty. It is a place where our soul is purified and we are freed from thongs entanglements that prevent us from “hugging our God”. Here on earth, Godliness, Holiness, and sin co-mingle in many parts of our planet, community, and maybe even in our own life. But once our soul and body separate, “only that which is holy exists in heaven. Then we can hear, with our holy ears, “Welcome, good and faithful servant”.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

At our February Leader School, our evening will be full with current announcements from our Leadership Team, Grouping, Action Evangelization Learning’s, and section meetings.

Apostolate without Prayer is empty; Prayer without Apostolate is a lie.

Jim Harasyn WE#007, Your School of Leaders servant

Upcoming School of Leader Events

February – TBD

March -- Commissioning