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Dear Family,

Welcome to August and the return to traditional Cursillo activities. Ultreyas to attend, teams to assemble, formations to plan, and candidates to pray about. This is always a great season of anticipation. Jon and Krissie have been praying, planning, and letting God place your names on the team rosters. You can still submit an application, but please do it now. Team Applications.

I am hesitant to run headlong into a new set of weekends. Not out of any concern; rather, I feel I have not stopped long enough to thank God for all He has done for us. To consider the past year and all the changes and challenges. He is faithful! To look back across the 53 years He has sustained this great ministry of spiritual renewal. He is able! To count our blessings will take a minute, but it seems proper. Candidate and team lists have been filled more easily in recent years. The same can be said of prayer and serving charts. Attendance at Ultreyas, Candlelight, and Closings has been such a blessing. He is an encourager! Faithfulness to reunion groups and giving remains steady. He is a God of provision.

This past Wednesday I had a long call with Barbara Quick, who worked side by side with Spencer for the first 27 years of the Cursillo. We have had these calls for the past several years, and she has shared many stories. This call was especially encouraging as she seemed to know just what my soul needed. I could feel her 97-year-young heart rise as we talked about this past year. She and Spencer had been through much, and she could see God's faithfulness again for His Cursillo. We made each other happy. It was joy. It’s always my desire to be an encouragement, but on that call, God used Barbara to encourage and remind me of His goodness.

She also reminded me that every generation will stand at a crossroads. If we forget His faithful works, we can soon doubt the plans He has for us. Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Fourth Day, you are the 3rd generation of this movement. We should look back with gratitude, remembering the faithful ones who showed us the way. Let’s also look ahead with hope, as God is writing your story in the same great tradition of the Cursillo. I am convinced there is valuable encouragement in remembering and telling of His great works - not simply to preserve history but to shape our hearts to be just what God is calling us to become.

God has entrusted this generation with its own chapter in His Cursillo story. May future generations of the Fourth Day look back at your season and say, “They honored God’s faithfulness, they loved well, they remained true to the calling, they taught me well and passed it on as good as they received it.”

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” — Psalm 145:4

Born in the Church, the Cursillo had a God-inspired beginning. Nourished by the wisdom of the Church, it continues to serve a beautiful and noble destiny. We can trust the One who inspired our beginning, sustained us along the way, will continue to make a path for us through every challenge ahead.

We have work to do, family. Let us spend our time well.

With all my Love and Gratitude.
De Colores!
Lay Director
Kenny Quinton