Hello, my name is Rose Nadeau.
Has someone approached you to make a Cursillo weekend? Are you uncertain and hesitating to say yes? Well this is exactly why I have taken the time to share my journey on this web site.
The main purpose for me writing this is to help people who are struggling to make a decision on whether or not they should go on a Cursillo weekend. you are not alone you are quite normal to feel this anxiety we have all been there and know how you feel.
You may have had an invitation from a friend, family member a co-worker or perhaps from someone in your Parish.
Where ever the invitation came from or who ever it was that has approached you about making a weekend it doesn't matter, the fact is that God is calling , it id God who is using these people to invite you to come and receive his love and mercy . God wants to bless you and fill you with His graces and blessing. God has chosen you and wants you to bare fruit for him.
In John 15 it quotes You did not choose me I chose you to go and bare fruit that will last.
God uses people to experience and explore and unlock the secrets and mysteries of Gods love for us.
God want to use our time and talents for his greater honor and glory. You have a choice of saying yes to God or no. You may have a lot of uncertainty and fears that maybe hindering you or blocking your way. Fear is usually the instrument the evil one uses to keep us from getting close to God.
You may be struggling to decide whether or not you should attend and sign that registration form but please trust that God would not call you to give you anything but his abundant blessings.
Many people question this movement called Cursillo and wonder what it is all about.
Listening to me sharing my personal experience hopefully will take some of those walls of fear down . My personal story will not tell you the exact details of every thing that will happen on the weekend because we like to keep an element of surprises for you. We do with hold some information because it is like telling you the end of a good story before you have a chance to experience the beginning of it yourself. To make a long story short we do not want to spoil the fun for you.
One thing I promise and I am willing to guarantee that you will walk away from this once in a life time experience with a deeper knowledge of the Catholic Faith and the love God has for you. You will never forget your encounter with God you will have on this weekend , for the rest of your life. It is a once in a life time experience that will change your life for the better forever.
Why do I say this it is because Cursillo has changed my life and brought me so much faith hope and love peace and joy . It has been thirty years ago and still I am receiving blessings after blessings. God never stops pouring down his graces from on high.
I do not want any one to miss this opportunity to attend a weekend. But one thing I have noticed is that many people say no ,many people make excuses out of the fear.
They do not want to attend because fear grips the hearts of so many people and they miss out on an opportunity to receive so much. Another thing that often stops people is the almighty dollar . So many do not want to take the time off of their heavy schedules and work load because of money. Well let me tell you money can't , does not and will not buy happiness. The joy you will receive after your cursillo weekend a joy that will see you through the good times and the bad times through thick, through the mountains and valley's of your life through the sunshine and rain yes through every trial and temptation every through everything, this joy you will receive is a joy that will be with you forever. Not lie the things in this life that binds you temporary joy that is here today and gone tomorrow.
This joy from your cursillo weekend I guarantee and promise will be worth every dollars you may lose from taking a few days off of work.
I desire to share my experience with you to help remove your fears and your excuses what every other thing that may be a stumbling block in your way. Today is the only day you can be sure you have so please “say yes to God “ who loves you so much and wants to give you his graces and blessings.
I wanted to share with you so much because I feel more people would say yes to attending a weekend if they could only hear one persons story and the blessings that person got out of their encounter with God on the cursillo weekend. That person is me and I am one of thousands upon thousands that have made a weekend and have been blessed and graced more than words can express. It is no secret what God has done what he'' do for others he'll do for you.
This sharing of my experience may take a load off of your shoulders, remove a Few fears, open a few eyes, and hopefully plant a desire in your heart to go on a weekend to experience your own personal encounter with Christ who loves you so very much..
Some other fears people have about the weekend are these , they don't know who is going to be there, they don't know what will happen, they are afraid what they may have to say or do. The list goes on. That is exactly why I have been wanting to make this video for a long time. Too many people have turned down the blessings of God out of fear of the unknown. They don't know what it is all about so they say no before giving God a chance to come into their life and bestow hos graces and blessings upon them.
Many of the people I have asked in the past say they don't have time, they are involved in too many organizations or movements, they are not interested in making a Cursillo weekend or even knowing anything about it. There answer is no,no,no.
Perhaps people may have a change of heart and respond with a yes, a change of attitude , a removal of any doubts or fear that may be stopping them from receiving Gods blessings upon their life. You may be thinking right now why do I need Gods blessings he has blessed me already, But God is never out done in generosity he always wants to give his children more and more, always wants to bring us to a new and deeper level, always wants to give us the best he has to offer. To Grace us more and empower us more with the gifts of his Holy spirit. God always wants to experience a deeper love, a greater hope more joy more peace, more faith.
After hearing my story about how God has blessed my life on my weekend and what he has done for me and what he continues to do on a daily basis you may just change your mind and say yes to Gods and accept that next invitation and attend a weekend to see what he desires to bless you with. He does not call and leave us empty handed, he wants to give you many graces and blessings.
I hope this video will encourage you make He calls to bless to grace to give abundantly more than we can dream or imagine. Now here is my story.
Now after hearing about all of that lets get down to business and listen to my story.
Sit back relax, you are about to hear my personal encounter my experience and hopefully when this video is over it will not only help you to say yes to Gods invitation but fill your heart with a burning desire to experience your own personal encounter at the next Cursillo weekend in your area.
I made my Cursillo weekend in 1982 in Timmins, Ontario and my table was St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The organizers of the weekend set up several table for the candidates to sit at and they give each table a name of a saint on their table .
When the weekend was introduced to me I was in dire need of finding something or someone in my life to fill the emptiness and brokenness I was feeling. I had just gone through the pain of a shattered marriage that ended in divorce. So my invitation to attend a weekend couldn't have come at a better time for me. I was searching and scripture says : ask and you shall receive , seek and you will find knock and the door will open . For every one who asks receives and everyone who seeks will find and everyone who knocks the door will open.
I guess that meant every one included me, a broken and divorced women like me. I was searching for meaning and purpose in my life there was something missing deep down in my heart and I found it on my Cursillo weekend when life for me was falling apart.
I had lots of problems getting ready to leave that weekend. It seemed like everything was getting in my way causing me to be late and in fact coming close enough to canceling out completely at the last minute call it a cold feet experience. I was hoping to find a good excuse not to go. Why ? Because I too was afraid of the unknown and doubt filled my mind and heart too. And lets not forget how the evil one plays a role in our decision making. He does not want us to be free, he does not want us to be blessed by God. The evil one would much rather us stay put and die in our brokenness and grief , he would much rather us quit and give up on life he does not want us to grow in the knowledge of God that would take all of his power of fear and doubt away . He comes to steal kill and destroy in John 9-10 but Jesus came that we may have life life to the fullest . And that is what Cursillo did for me it gave me it allowed me to grow so I could live my life more abundantly.
When Jesus invites us to come and receive his blessing we had better get ready for a counter attack from the evil one because the fight is on . But we all know that Jesus wins in the end. When God calls he gives us the grace to persevere to the end.
I couldn't let my sponsor down so I put aside all of the obstacles and away I went. I finished packing my over night bag placed them in the trunk of my car and off I went.
What did Cursillo do for me ?
Well to make a long story short Cursillo did two things for me #1- I found a flower with in my soul that was hidden under the sin in my life that was hiding the beauty God created it to become. #2 I Found a hidden treasure and that treasure is Jesus Christ who lived in me since my baptism an I didn't even know it.
Let me explain:
My heart was so filled with the love and peace and joy of the Lord I could only describe it in a poem which flowed out of me after my weekend when I got home. I had never written a poem in my life this was the first and and the beginning of over 90 songs I have written and hundreds of poems written since my Cursillo in 1987.
I will read the poem to you once then explain it to you line by line so you will be able to understand what I experienced and lived on my weekend.
Then you will be able to have a clear understand what my soul experienced.
A Rose In The Garden
Of Life
I met a flower as I was searching one day
By the help of God the gardener needless to say
The Father and Son worked hard to sow
Along with the Spirit for the garden to grow
Then the day came to hand in the key
He opened the gates to the garden for me
The warm wind whispered to the Rose and said
“Come follow me, I will make you a bed”
Many kinds of flowers were there
All sizes, shades and colors of hair
My grace to you I send from above
To smile and to share with the ones that you love
Bundles of Joy I’ll give to you
To spread to all your brothers too
Slip out of your bud and follow my way
To blossom and bloom with your sisters I say
Tears running down off your petals are many
Give from the heart not only the penny
Gather first the tulips and daisies
Fear not the work and do not be lazy
The Garden and the flowers are here
It is part of this life so precious and dear
For God is the gardener and you are the flower
He was watching from His heavenly tour
Turn away from sin and do good
He forgave you so come if you would
Open your heart, let Me into your garden
I want to come in if your heart you don’t harden
Along with the wind the rain and the sun
The Rose I will nourish with laughter and fun
I know now where the garden is and who is the Rose
It is you my child from your head to your toes
Go now in peace in God's mercy and pardon
Help others bloom in God's beautiful garden
By Rose Nadeau
Now let me explain the words to this poem for you as I go through it line by line. It will help you get a better sense of graces and blessings I received from my weekend.
A Rose In The Garden
Of Life
I met a flower as I was searching one day... this line ,means I found myself . I am a child of God. Divorce or no divorce God loves me I am his and he is mine. This is what Cursillo did it helped me find myself who I was .. A child of God. loved precious and special in his sight. I am created in his image and likeness. I met a flower when I was searching one day . If you are searching Cursillo is where to find the flower in you.
Next line of the poem '
By the help of God the gardener needless to say.. the Priest who spear headed the weekend to me was like the Gardner God used Him to help me find myself my purpose and meaning for my life.
The Father and Son worked hard to sow...the trinity working through the hands and heart of the Priest and the team and the candidates all working together to help each other grow,
Along with the Spirit for the garden to grow.. the all worked tirelessly for weeks and months leading up to the weekend much prayer and palanka goes into the success of this weekend . The Spirit working together through the hearts and hands of the team members . The Cursillo movement is in many countries all over the world and may people pray in unity for the success of every weekend which is held. The power of prayer is what makes it work and is why so many people are blessed by making a weekend.
Then the day came to hand in the key... On the day I arrived and seen all of the people there at this weekend it was like heaven opened up for me and the flood gates to Gods garden blew open and I could see the beauty of the people my brothers and sisters in Christ which reinforced my faith like you wouldn't believe. I had the faith but I thought I was on a lonely deserted Island journey on my own but when God opened the gates for me I seen many other people who believed in God like me and the joy of knowing I did not have o travel this journey alone on this in this desert land I was now sitting in Gods beautiful Garden with his children. Not on a a deserted island alone .
a Heaven on earth opened up for me when I made my Cursillo weekend.
He opened the gates to the garden for me...
The warm wind whispered to the Rose and said
“Come follow me, I will make you a bed”... I felt the spirit of God inviting me to come in that he had a place prepared for me in his garden and it isn't a garden in heaven that I will see when I die no this garden is her now it begins on earth with all of his other children who are baptized and I was privileged to become a part of Gods big family.
Many kinds of flowers were there.... the flowers to me were the beautiful people God brought into my life on this weekend. People whom I knew would be there for me in good times and in bad times. People who I bonded with for eternity. These are my forever friends not just the ones who come around when I have something to give them something they are trying to take from me. Not friends who are only friends when you are rich and famous but the friends I made on my Cursillo weekend became friends who loved me for who I am. It did not matter to them whether I was rich or poor, divorced or married , broken and rejected , strong or healthy, weak and frail, these friends I met became my family we became one in the family of God brothers and sisters in Christ. That made them even more than just friends to me. Just that fact alone made my Cursillo worth making even though there were much more blessings and grace s to come.
All sizes, shades and colors of hair.... I seen beauty in all of the people the size or gender of a person religion color nothing separated us all the walls to prejudice all came down the young the old we became a family , all one loved and precious to God.
My grace to you I send from above... God poured down his amazing grace upon me that weekend just like the song says that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I am found was blind but Now I see. Every thing was grace from beginning to end. From God who opened my heart by his grace to attend the weekend to the person who was kind to invite me. And grace who worked through all of the people there who blessed my life. It was all grace sent from above.
To smile and to share with the ones that you love.... the fellowship I received and the love that was shared from every one was over whelming. From people who I thought were strangers one minute and who became the next. It was love at firsts sight. We just all bonded like the song says they will know we are Christians by our love by our love for one another. I found love on my Cursillo Weekend. I found my love for God and for my neighbour and for myself. Isn't just that alone worth making a weekend and that does not count all the other blessings and graces he wants to give you.
Bundles of Joy I’ll give to you.. the joy I experienced from finding all of this love and acceptance from every one was overwhelming.
To spread to all your brothers too.. I was so full of joy I just wanted to shout from the mountain tops , hey everyone go tell on the mountains over the hills and very where go tell it on the mountains that Jesus Christ was born. God is love and love was born in my heart after my Cursillo weekend.
Slip out of your bud and follow my way.. Follow my way would you not want to follow Jesus the truth the life and the way, After all the love and joy you experienced on the weekend . No one else ever in my life has given me this much peace love and joy I would be a fool not to follow. And I have followed him ever since because my dear people listening to this video, you can say no you can follow all the ways of this world and God bless you for searching but you will never find God in material things or the empty promises this world will try to make you believe you can find it in. The only way to find the truth the life and the way by making Jesus a part of your life.
To blossom and bloom with your sisters I say..Cursillo is a place where you can find truth and lasting friends. I always quoted a motto and it goes like this we have two kinds of friends in life friends that lead us closer to to Jesus and friends that bring us farther from Jesus where are we going to go to find and make true friends that we can blossom with and bloom and grow with. Is the friend who invited you leading you closer to Jesus by asking you to make a Cursillo weekend well if you have a friend like this best you hang on to him and follow where he wants to lead you, you will never regret friendships like this.
Cursillo has a motto make a friend be a friend and bring a friend to JESUS.
We all need true friends that we can talk to and share our faith with the rest of the world do not understand what we have experienced they will laugh at us and make fun of us call us crazy but our Cursillo friends are the friends who will be with us through thick and thin in mind heart and soul.
Tears running down off your petals are many...I cried on my weekend tears of joy tears of healing acceptance and love peace and hope that I have found the God my soul was longing for.
Give from the heart not only the penny... I have learnt the true giving was not just on putting funds in the collection plate on Sunday Mornings but what we give to each other from the heart matters also. Which is out time and talent helping each other in need.
Gather first the tulips and daisies.. I learn all of these blessings I received on my weekend was meant to be shared . That I must also gather others into this garden of life which I found so we can all grow together in peace hope love and harmony to make our world a better place to live in it because of our contribution of love we left behind.
Fear not the work and do not be lazy.. I knew that the work was going to be hard there was going to be sacrifices to make like helping others on a day that I had something planned with my family but that I would have to be called sometimes to give up my plans to help others more in need of me. I knew that I could no longer waste my life watching TV. All day when we have a world out there filled with hurting people who need our help. Who need to find Jesus in their life .I learned that we must do everything with moderation and balance our time money and talents. In a world filled with darkness and sin I knew I could no longer be lazy but work as hard as I can to help Jesus save the lost soul.
The Garden and the flowers are here... I learned that eternal life is not something I will receive only after I die for all of eternity, eternal life begins here on earth, I can experience a taste of heaven right here right now I can experience God joy hope peace love happiness perhaps not in its fullest but at least a taste. We will still have our trials like very one else but we will have a personal relationship with Jesus who will help us carry our burdens and make them light for us . Come to me all you who are heavenly burdened I will give you rest.
It is part of this life so precious and dear.. yes heaven is part of this life and life e is precious we are can all become beautiful flowers in in this garden of life. Making my Curscillo weekend proved that to me . My life has never been more beautiful . Even though I went through my battles with breast cancer my struggles with divorce I can and will say life is beautiful it is what you make of it. God gave you life as a gift and what you make out of your life is your gift back to God are you going to be a bitter person and remain angry because of your trials or grow from them accept them and became a better person grow more beautiful through your pain and struggles in life. Are you going to choose life or death through it all.
For God is the gardener and you are the flower..I began to realize that God created me to grow in this garden and I was his flower and I made up my mind that weekend that noting no heartache no pain no distress or sorrow I endure in life is going to separate me from is lobe Romans 8
He was watching from His heavenly tour...I read the poem about the foot prince in the sand that when we thing God is not with us that God does not care about what happens in our life that he does the truth is he is always watching over us from his tower in heaven sending us his angels to keep us and guard us .
Turn away from sin and do good.... I learned on my weekend what sin was and that I had to turn away from wrong doing if I wanted to experience once his life to the fullest I learned about sanctifying grace about confession and Gods mercy for all sinners. God came that we may have life abundantly and we need to repent , turn around and start over again Jesus died on Calvary and shed his blood to save sinners not the righteous. We all make mistakes and need to get back on the right track. Cursillo helped me to see I was not on the right road and needed to make some changes in my life style . It opened my eyes and showed me the Garden , I wanted to grow in the garden and not among the weeds of sin that was choking me and kill me. Not in the weeds of bitterness and unforgiven. Cursillo showed me the Rose with in myself that my sins were killing me and God wants us to live in full bloom not die in his garden. It is never Gods will to see any of his children die. He created us beautiful and wants us all to live a beautiful life on this earth and after we leave this earth to continue growing in Beauty with Him in his heavenly garden for all eternity.
On the seventh day God rested after finishing designing his creation and he looked down and saw the it was good. He saw his earth, the garden he made for me and you to live in and he wanted us to be happy in it in this life and for eternity.
He forgave you so come if you would.... my weekend was a call from God to bring me back to to Him who created me show me how much he loved me no matter how far away i was. It was an invitation to come to His garden
Open your heart, let Me into your garden....He showed me that I needed to open up my heart and let God in with Him in my life I could live in peace in the garden of my soul
I want to come in if your heart you don’t harden.... We all have choices to make . We can say say yes to making your Cursorily or no . Yes to turning your life around or no life or death because with out Jesus in our life the seed God planted begins to die.
Along with the wind the rain and the sun.... I learned that no mater what we are going through rain or sun good times or bad times God is with us and he will see us through he will be faithful to us. He will not leave us or abandon us , he will never desert us.
The Rose I will nourish with laughter and fun.... he will bring us the books the friends the prayers he will bring every thing we will need to help us grow.
I know now where the garden is and who is the Rose.... I then knew where the garden is it is earth and I knew I was the Rose in Gods Garden and that is what God wanted me to help me grow to become fully human and fully alive in him. God wants to work in us and through us and with us. He thirsts for all of us to come to him.
It is you my child from your head to your toes.... God desires so much to make us realize we are the Roses in his garden and he wants to help us grow beautiful.
Go now in peace in God's mercy and pardon...God wants us to know his mercy and pardon and unconditional love for us. I especially felt that when he used my sponsor to call me to this weekend that to me was an invitation to come and experience his love in a way never known to me before. When you are a sinner and God calls you to give you his mercy love and forgiveness especially being as broken as I was . We are all broken in different ways but in my case it was my struggling with a divorced I was having a hard time living with so Gods love couldn't have come to me at a better time in life for me.
Help others bloom in God's beautiful garden....
After you the weekend I was so filled with joy and Gods unconditional love for me I just wanted to every one I knew to make a cursillo weekend and experience this love I found these friends I found , the treasure in Jesus I found the blessings and graces I found. This new life filled with hope peace love and joy. I found. I just wanted to spend the rests of my life in his garden helping others to bloom .
So now you have my story. My Cursillo experience. Every one who makes a weekend experiences something different but I can promise you that you will leave blessed and graced with what God brought you here to receive . You will leave a changed person and for the better.
We do not choose to come to God chooses us to go and bear fruit that will last. God want to bless you with the fruits of his spirit his peace hope love joy are going to say no to these gifts that all the gold and money in this worked can't buy. I hope not because God loves you and wants to bless you abundantly . Consider changing your mind and sign that application form that has been lying around.
Give that sponsor that true friend who has been trying to call you to make a weekend and tell them yes .
God loves you .
You have just heard me tell my story in in a sense who have met me indirectly and if you forget me and my story and throw this video away you have lost nothing but if you say no to Jesus when he calls you have lost everything. say yes to God today and accept his invitation to make a Cursillo you will never regret it. It will be the most important decision in your life you could ever make . And the blessings you receive you will never forget.
God bless thank you for listening
As you read my story I am just sharing with you what I experienced on my weekend. Thirty years has passed since then and if you are not convinced yet to make a weekend then listen to my second video perhaps hat may help you say yes to God. When you here me sharing the fruits of what God has done in my life since then, In part two you will hear me share my forth day which is every day after you leave your weekend. Listen to how Jesus has blessed my life and the work he has done through me.