February 2008

    In Spanish it's La Esperanza, in English it's hope--a confident expectation.

    It's what everybody wants--all around Central Florida and all around the world. It's what gets us out of bed in the morning and keeps us plugging away until we get back in at night. 

      If hope is established on personal drive and ambition, or say, on the economy, it waxes and wanes.  If hope is founded on the person of Jesus Christ, nothing has caused it to dim in 2,000 years.

      The last Cursillo Commission meeting of 2007 was a lovely example and exercise of hope in Christ Jesus.  Maggie Thompson, who's been and done most every Diocesan leadership position available, watched her worthy Cursillo Commission Chair successor Joe Welch surrender his gavel to a willing and capable Pam Kirk. 

It's a hope filled experience to take up leadership when there are good people stepping up to fill vacancies, and that's what Pam was seeing--motivated Cursillistas stepping up to fill all the open Cursillo Commission leadership positions.

      There's confident expectation in the Central Florida Cursillista leaders as they prepare to host the National Episcopal Cursillo Seminar at Daytona Beach in October, 2008. There's confident expectation in the Rectors and Rectoras who will lead three Cursillos at Canterbury Conference Center in Oviedo in 2008.  That hope brings fresh energy to the Cursillo Commission as they address the ministry opportunities that have made Cursillo the backbone of the Diocese of Central Florida for over 30 years.

      There's real esperanza in Milton Malespin, a young man born in New York, who grew up and went to college in the Dominican Republic, as he took his seat on the Cursillo Commission.  With a mind of understanding, and a heart of affection, for two languages and two cultures, he has been chosen to succeed the years of effective and sacrificial ministry of Edgar Spalding as Chair of the Hispanic Ministry Commission.  Like other quality young men, he's immersed in the challenge to be life-giving to his wife and family, and in his career.  Yet he has accepted the further challenge of taking steps to renew our Episcopal Cursillo ministry to the burgeoning Central Florida Hispanic community.

      There's perseverant hope in Bishop Hugo Pina-Lopez.  Having discovered Cursillo in the early 70's, in God's Grace and Providence he was able to take it to Honduras and see it completely transform and energize a tiny and struggling church.  With his fork in the pocket of his purple shirt, he is "ready to rumble!" for the Gospel through the Cursillo Movement in both the Hispanic and Anglo communities of our diocese.  In spite of the many personal challenges he has faced in recent years, his esperanza is in the person of Jesus Christ communicated through the Cursillo ministry has not wavered.

      There's some hope and Good News.  A group of 20, or so, Cursillistas taking time on one of the last remaining Saturdays in 2007, to come together to share their confident expectation in the person of Jesus Christ, and the sharing of their hope in Him through Cursillo.  It's just the sort of thing that our Diocese of Central Florida needs as it faces extraordinary challenges in our near future.  Ultreya! Onward in hope!