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All journeys start with one step forward and continue until you reach the destination. The Cursillo community in the Edmonton Diocese took a step in its reconciliation journey on April 26. 

Meeting at St. Augustine ’s-Parkland in Spruce Grove, participants listened, prayed and shared together as we sought to find our place in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

After opening the day with Morning Prayer, led by Rev. Kevin Kraglund, we moved into a time of learning about our conflicting history with residential schools. 

Led by Fiona Brownlee, we walked the length of the Remembering the Children Weaving to experience the gravity of the residential school system on the lives of Indigenous children and families.

That heaviness sat with us as we reflected on the experience through a sharing circle.

In the afternoon, we looked at how we can use a personal land acknowledgement or, our preferred term, “land gratitude” to express our connection to the land and our histories, and gratitude for the land and the people who have cared and shared the land with Canadians.

To close the day, we invited the Ven. Travis Enright, Archdeacon for Reconciliation and Decolonization, to lead a Standing Stones Service. The opportunity to come together in a service grounded in an Indigenous worldview instilled in us a desire to move forward on our personal and collective reconciliation journey.

Of course, all these moments were interspersed with great music, food and fellowship. Andrea Montgomery Di Marco led us to raise our voices in song, and gentle, reflective music. The Cursillo community shared soup, biscuits and sweets. All had an opportunity to listen and be heard in our conversations and were held in prayer.

Thank you to Fiona, Andrea, the Rev. Travis and the Rev. Kevin (Kraglund) for easing us into this uncomfortable space and encouraging us to step out on our personal reconciliation journey. Our hearts and minds have been expanded and grounded.

Curious to learn what Cursillo is all about? Please consider joining a monthly Ultreya (fellowship time) or attending a weekend. 

Upcoming Ultreyas:

  • May 24: St. Timothy’s, Edmonton, 1 to 3 pm
  •  June 28: Year-end BBQ at St. Tim’s, Edmonton 

For information about our upcoming weekend (Friday evening, November 7 to late Sunday afternoon, November 9, 2025), email cursilloedmonton@gmail.com .

Submitted by Rita Stagman, photos by Janie Seguin

 

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