This question is often on the minds of people who are working a Cursillo for the first time – as well as people who just haven’t thought about it of quite awhile. Palanca is an important part of our Piety, Study and Action as team members and as members of the Cursillo community at large. Hopefully, the following will help clarify this important concept.
Our mission is to evangelize the world. To do this we must pray, we must study and we must act.
First, we must pray. There are many forms of prayer – one of which is sacrifice.
Palanca – the witness we show that we truly love – IS that prayer and sacrifice.
There are three primary purposes for that palanca.
- To make reparation for our own sins. (Hairshirts were on the lists of
items to bring to the original weekends!) - To strengthen our will to answer the Lord’s call.
- To intercede for others. This intercession is for our community, for
candidates who are called to the Weekends, and for those environments
which we and our fellow Christians are trying to evangelize.
Palanca should be a normal part of our lives, not something unusual. Our
movement is “countercultural”. We are “in the world, but not of it”. Our ideal is the whole human race living here and now in Jesus’ Kingdom. We set as the goal for all our actions this evangelization of all our environments. We want all of our work to be done in God’s grace and by His will. The only way we can assure that this will be so is through Palanca.
The Official Palanca Day for Cursillo in the Diocese of Orange is the First Friday of Each Month. Why not plan to dedicate this day to doing palanca as part of your personal devotions?
Pray and sacrifice for the intentions and the success of the Cursillo movements. Your prayers and sacrifices make up the lever that moves the world towards God.
Take a moment each month to complete the Palanca Gathering Form enclosed (make additional copies). Please return it to our Palanca Chair as noted on the sheet or go to the online palanca form to report your palanca now.
The time is NOW!