Leshock, Joseph C.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 30 | Number 3 Article 3August 1963The Doctor Prescribed a CursilloJoseph C. LeshockFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationLeshock, Joseph C. (1963) "The Doctor Prescribed a Cursillo," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 30 : No. 3 , Article 3.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol30/iss3/3employed. Even the largest hos­pital cannot justify the cost of developing the system, keeping it modern, and renting and op­erating the equipment. While the Commission's computer rent­al exceeds $11,000 per month, an almost equal amount is expend­ed on just the process of keeping the system up to date--deter­mining what to abstract from each clinical record and design­ing the form, working out the most useful report data and for­mat, and writing the necessary computer programs (in 1963 the PAS and MAP programs exceed 250,000 separate machine lan­guage instructions). It is this meticulous attention to detail which makes PAS and MAP simple and effective--and the investment required for the sys­tem is as great for a one-hospital system as for the entire family of PAS hospitals. In addition, PAS and MAP supervise and control the quality of the data, both incoming and outgoing, solve the individual hospital's needs for data with special tabu­lations and studies, and offer instruction to medical staff, ad­ministration and medical records personnel in the use of the new tool. 104 Neither the medical staff nor 1the administration should iew PAS or MAP as entirely pai less solutions to the problems o the evaluation of patient care. hey aren't. The records have t be carefully abstracted (and the abstracts can be no better han 1the records they condense) The information from the abst icts, after it has been compilec and displayed by the computer, nust be conscientiously studied )ack in the hospital. The medic a· 3taff must answer to itself the ues­tions "What quality of can does our record reveal?" and se. cted individual charts will sti re­quire committee review. J llt if the staff and administ ition wish to receive adequate and useful information abou the quantity and quality of F tient care, and they can througl PAS and MAP, then hospitals i 10uld be anxious to particip.: e in these programs. The way to do the jor is to "git thar fustest with the most­est" and this means usin mo· dern business machines. There just isn't any excuse n w to waste the time and effxt of busy doctors and medical �·ecord librarians in futile and O' ,solete methods of evaluation. LmACRE QUARTERLY THE DOCTOR PRESCRIBED A CURSILLO JOSEPH C. LESHOCK, M.D. Since the primary purpose of Catholic Physicians' Guilds is to improve the spirituality of its in­dividual members, it behooves the officers and directors of these groups to appraise any movement which will promote this primary end. The Cursillo Movement magnifies and vivi­fies the basic eternal teachings of the Church and induces a pro­found increase in the life of grace in the soul. Therefore, it is manda tbry that we evaluate this for possible use within the framework of our individual Guilds. Further impetus is giv­en by the fact that a doctor was primarily responsible for its in­ception1 d e v e l o p m e n t  a n d  growth. Specifically, the word Cursmo is Spanish and means a short course of lectures. The CursiUo Christianidad, therefore, means a short course of lectures on Christianity. This, then, is the substance of a Cursillo, a series of lectures on Christianity dur­ing which there is a profound, constant, and overwhelming at­tention to the life of grace in the individual soul. In a limited sense, we Americans may com­pare the Cursillo to a retreat. However, in a retreat the work of the priest is two-fold-to teach the doctrine of the Church and to convince the retreatants that the Catholic way of life is the happiest and best way of life for them. In a Cursillo, the Priest's conferences cover the doctrine, while lay helpers do the convincing for the retreat-ants. Fully two-thirds of the lec­tures are given by lay "profes­sors." Instead of retreat silence prevailing, the "free time" at a Cursillo is filled with stimulat­ing conversation, discus�ion and analysis among the participants, together with happy spirited song. The history of the Cursillo dates back to 1944 on Majorca, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain. Dr. Edward Bon­nin, a practicing psychi�trist on the island, was deeply disturbed by the religious apathy among the people of that area. Throu�h his efforts, a group of some thir­ty laymen and priests were or­ganized to seek a better "'!'ay tobring about a more Christ-cen­tered life among the islanders. In working with the Bishop of Majorca, the Most Reverend Juan Hervas, it was decided that a Cursillo would best achieve their purposes since this would combine both the elements of a retreat with actual lectures in Christianity. For the next five years Dr. Bonnin and his group labored intensely to develop their project into a complete and well-planned program. By 1949 it was established, the lay-professors were well trained and integrated into the proced­ure with the priests, and this first apostolic group was ready to follow the admonition of Christ in going forth and re�lly teaching. The first Cursillo Christianidad was held at the San Honorato Monastery �nd was attended by twenty-nine 105 islanders. Three days later the Cursillo was successfully con­cluded. Catapulted from this in­significant beginning, it was re­peated eighty times during the next three years, inducing a marvelous new religious vitality on Majorca. Under the apostolic direction of Dr. Bonnin who con­stantly emphasized that this Movement was not intended to supplant the work of any Church group or institution but rather to bring a new vigor to all such endeavors, nevertheless, it did spread throughout all Spanish-speaking countries in Europe and South and Central America. In May 1957, two Spanish air force officers, Augustine Polo­mino and Bernard Vadell, both Cursillistas, were assigned to the U. S. Air Force Base in Waco, Texas for training. They were appalled at the religious apathy of the Spanish-speaking resi­dents of the area, and imbued with grace from their Cursillo in Spain, they were moved to effective action. A Cursillo was organized and the Movement immediately spread throughout Texas; soon every diocese in the State was organizing its own group. From this beginning' the Cursillo has reached many sec­tions of our country and in each place has left the tell-tale sign of a vitalized, apostolic laity. The Cursillo itself is usually attended by some forty to sixty men who live together for three davs in an atmosphere of joy, prayer <md brotherhood; the en­tire gro : , is divided into smaller 106 ten groups of approximate· men who work togetl studying the substance lectures. Five lectures an iven each day on specific: to s of Christianity by laymen \\ J are trained for their work ;hese are the professors; the r aain­der are given by the prie� con­ducting the Cursillo. Tl re is complete participation · all men in the study of eve · lec­ture, utilizing all meth ls of learning. There is dail:') Mass and Communion, and fr 1uent recourse to the help of ot Lord in visits to the Blessed acra­ment. in the Much could be said ab magnificent and manifol of the Cursillo, but such ose expressions are inc cast in the role of exagg by the average listener. suffice to say that the grace, joy, enthusiasm, a resembles that of Pentecr day, when "There were a the Church that day 3,0 sons." it the fruits andi­tably ·ation Iay it )W of i. zealSun­led to J per-Detailed information egard­ing the Cursillo Moveme . t �ay be obtained from the fo owmg Cursillo centers: Phoenix Cursillo Cer er 909 E. Washington St.Phoenix 34, Arizona The Ultreya Magaz ne Saginaw Cursillo Center St. Joseph's Church 606 E. 6th St. Saginaw, Michigan . The De Colores Magazine LINACRE QUARTERLY EDITORIAL: "What Kind of a Doctor are You, Jeemie?" Pope John XXIII was interviewing a doctor from Phila­delphia. The great man stepped down from his dais, extended his hand and said in not-too-good English "How are you, Jeemie - He has been telling me about you." "He," an Archbishop, presently Papal Nuncio to England, formerly Bishop of Philadelphia, a poor boy sprung from the coal regions of Pennsylvania, was introducing his mother's doctor to his supreme Pontiff, the son of an Italian hill farmer. What did these three men, surrounded by pomp and treasure talk about on that 1961 afternoon? "Tell me, Jeemie, what kind of a doctor are you?" "I am a cardiologist, your holiness." "No, no. I mean what kind of a doctor? Are you a rich man's doctor or a poor man's doctor like St. Damian?" "I am afraid I am a poor man's doctor. I am a poor man and most of my patients are poor people." "Oh, that is very good! The world needs many, many poor man's doctors." Then, switching to more comfortable Latin, with the Arch­bishop translating, the Pope inquired about the training of doctors and nurses, the state of the hospitals and the medical care of poor people in Philadelphia. He then sent his blessing and best wishes to the doctors, nurses, sisters, patients, and hospitals of Philadelphia. The audience was over. • • "What kind of a doctor are you, Jeernie?" This should have happened to all the new Doctor Jeemies who received diplomas (many still written in Latin), this June. Truly the world needs many, many poor man's doctors. H.R. (Reprinted from Philade!phia Medicine, June 23, 1963, pub­lished weekly by the Philadelphia County Medical Society, with kind permission of the editor.) Aucusr, 1963 107 

The Doctor Prescribed a Cursillo

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The Doctor Prescribed a Cursillo

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