RESPONSE TO DIOCESAN ULTREYA WITNESS TALK – So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Thank you, Noel, for sharing your Cursillo journey with us today. It was lovely to hear the name of our dear departed friend, Max Youman, mentioned. He and Ann have certainly been a valued part of Cursillo over the years.
Early on you shared with us that both Elwyne and you were at a crossroads in your faith and that you were prepared to try anything to move forward in a positive way in your faith. GOD wishes to transform us into the people He would have us become.
Our Parish Bible Study groups at Raymond Terrace have been studying CS Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” – and near the end of the book, Lewis talks about the need for us to be open to be transformed by GOD. Many people are content with their lot in life – not wanting to rock the boat as it were – not wanting to change – [we’ve had that light bulb for the last 53 years, 4 months and 8 days and it’s perfectly OK!]
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Lewis gives us an example about the way we change even prior to birth. He says this: “We were once rather like vegetables, and once rather like fish: it was only at a later stage that we became like human babies”. And if we had been quite conscious at those earlier stages, I daresay we should have been quite contented to stay as vegetables or fish – (and) we should not have wanted to be made into babies. But all the time GOD knew His plan for us and was determined to carry it out.
Something the same is now happening at a higher level. We may be content to remain at what we call ‘ordinary people’: but He – GOD – is determined to carry out a different plan. To shrink back from that plan is not humility – it is laziness and cowardice. To submit to it is not conceit or megalomania – it is obedience.
I give thanks to GOD, Noel, that Elwyne and you made the decision to OBEY GOD’s call on your lives so that He could continue the process of transformation in your lives – and that Cursillo was a tool that GOD deployed in this process.
Here are some steps we need to take in this process:
1. God Needs His Word in Us Before He Can Start transforming us.
Just as a potter needs enough water mixed in with the clay in order to begin fashioning the clay into the shape he desires, so GOD needs His Word in us before He can begin to transform us.
Just like our physical bodies need water in order to be able to live and survive in this world, in the same way our souls need God’s Word flowing through us in order to feed us on the inside.
In Ephesians 5:26 we are told” … that Christ might sanctify and cleanse His Church with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
2. We Have to Be Properly “Centered” in Jesus Christ – the potter must have the clay properly centred on the wheel
before beginning to shape the clay; otherwise, the pottery vessel will not turn out properly. In order for us to become the people GOD desires us to be, we must be centred on JESUS. So, how do we become centred on JESUS? By completely surrendering our lives to Him. Jesus has to become both Lord and Saviour of our life, not just our Saviour. Too many Christians do not have Jesus as the real Lord in their lives.
3. Sanctification is a Slow, Steady, and Progressive Process.
Our journey of transformation, of sanctification, is not something that happens overnight. The bottom line is that we have to enter into God’s perfect will for our lives before He will start to guide us in the direction we need to take.
God will not fully guide us to our divine destiny in Him, nor fully sanctify us to the degree that He would really like in this life unless we first fully surrender to Him. It must be OUR all for HIS all.
We have to have patient with Him in regard to how He wants to work and build up our lives up in Him. In our fast-paced, self-centered world, we are used to instant everything. But in God’s realm, He usually works things out in a much gentler time frame than we are used too. And if we do not learn how to go with His gentler flows and time frames, we could end up becoming very frustrated and impatient, and then eventually end up losing our peace and joy in Him, not to mention our possible calls in Him.
Just as a good potter has to take his time when molding and forming out a piece of clay into pottery as it is spinning on the wheel – GOD, in the same way, has to mold, shape, and transform all of us in this same, slow, and steady manner. This is why one of the 9 fruits of the Spirit is the fruit of patience.
We all need the patience of the Holy Spirit operating within us to keep in sync with God’s timing – especially in our fast-paced world. Finally,
4. God’s Hand Will Personally Mold, Shape, and Transform Us.
The next thing in our transformation process is that it is literally the hand of God Himself, operating through the Holy Spirit within us, that will supernaturally transform and sanctify us. Removing toxic qualities such as pride, arrogance, bad temper, and lust can all be very painful due to our flesh wanting to keep these negative qualities operating in our personalities. But by letting God do this inner surgery work in us through the Holy Spirit, we will eventually be molded and shaped
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into the godly saint that He is calling us to become in Him – and true joy, happiness, and fulfillment will be all ours in this life.
Again, if I may use an example from CS Lewis: “Imagine yourself as a living house. GOD comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house around in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – building a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to made into a decent little cottage: but GOD is building a palace. HE INTENDS TO COME AND LIVE IN IT HIMSELF!
Our Cursillo 3-day experience introduced us to a dynamic community of like-minded people and then as we begin to live our 4th day, gives the opportunity to allow GOD to lead us in His way and bless us with His abundance as He transforms us into the people He intends for us to become. We need to become more humble in ourselves, to spend more time in the Word and in prayer, and to learn to increasingly trust Him as we journey with Him.
Noel – thank you for your message to us today – reminding us that we go through good and tough times – both personally but more importantly – with the support of each other.
May GOD continue to bless you abundantly.
This will be my last article for The Encourager. I would like to thank GOD for the privilege of this ministry of Diocesan Spiritual Director over the last 7 years. May GOD continue to bless the people of this Diocese and beyond; and call more people into a relationship with Him through the Cursillo method. I encourage you to keep connected with each other 
through Group Reunion and Ultreya, and always remember
to “make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend gently to JESUS”.
Blessings
Fr Steve
Diocesan Ultreya
01 November 2021