Stephen Fox
National Secretary:
Cursillos in Christianity England and Wales
My relationship with God used to be very personal and private, and the very idea of talking about it to someone else would have filled me with horror! Fortunately, that has changed, but it took many years for that to happen.
I was brought up a Catholic and had an outstanding Catholic education with 10 years at Stonyhurst, the Jesuit boarding school. At the age of 18 I was a speaker for the Catholic Evidence Guild and spoke at Pier Head in Liverpool and Deansgate in Manchester. My talks were of dogma and doctrine. We were positively discouraged from including any personal testimony!
Looking back I can see that I developed a very private relationship with God, but as was appropriate in those days I was taught to suppress emotion and be very self reliant. I was excellent material for the army where I was to spend some years both in the Regular Army and the TA.
Later married with four children, my Jesuit and army discipline ensured that without fail the family paraded for Mass (five minutes early) each Sunday. My faith was somewhat in a closed box and like many of my generation the thought of talking about one’s relationship with God was unthinkable. It was private.
My civilian job led us to live and work in Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. As we spent time with the exuberant and lively Christians of Asia, I was challenged by “the dreaded sharing” at the lively home groups. God seemed to be so much more active in their lives!
A Cursillo (Spanish for short course) in Christianity in Hong Kong challenged my isolation. My wife Judy undertook a three-day fast as she did not think I would survive it! The participants were all men and it was during those three days that I came to see the real value, in fact the need to share with others. I realised that an isolated Christian is a paralysed Christian. I saw that by remaining so private my faith had made little progress since leaving school. It was my Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The benefits of this Cursillo Weekend were sustained by continuing to meet in small groups of four to six men. At each meeting we have three key subjects to review - our prayer life, what we are doing to improve our own spiritual formation, and what we are doing to evangelise others. The review of prayer life considers our spiritual progress, while formation covers what we are doing to grow in our faith.
But I have learnt that it is the third subject, evangelisation that really should be put first. What are my plans for evangelisation? How successful were they last week? As National Secretary of the Catholic Cursillo in this country I have learnt that the groups that thrive are the ones that consider evangelisation the key task.
I have also learnt the power of prayer to give each other personal support. At these meetings I have learnt that prayer is answered. How else would I know?
22/01/11