What is Palanca?
Palanca is a Spanish word that means, “lever”. Just as a lever
enables a person to move something, which is beyond normal strength,
Palanca empowers the accomplishments of things which would not be
possible without the Grace of God.
Today, perhaps more than ever, it is necessary to remind ourselves
that without God we are nothing, bereft of value, and incapable of
doing anything. We must reaffirm that before anything else, the most
characteristic mark of the Cursillo methodology ties in the whole
concept of Palanca prayers, sacrifices and works of mercy. Palanca
must be genuine and offered by communities and individuals living in
union with Christ and each other if the effectiveness of all other
human efforts in the Movement is to be assured. This is to take
seriously the promise of Christ: “Ask and you shall receive, seek
and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you”(Matt.7:7
NAB)
Cursillo Leaders Manual, 1998; pg. 135
It must be understood that letters are not Palanca. Letters are
merely a vehicle in which we convey the actual Palanca being done.
Keeping this in mind, we must realize that Palanca can be done for a
particular purpose without having to write a letter about it. For
instance, Palanca can be done for efforts of cursillistas in trying
to utilize the Cursillo method. All of us need Palanca of this type,
but it would be impractical to write letters to thousands of
Cursillistas.
Cursillo Leaders Manual, 1998;pg. 136
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