Deacon, family man, passionate outdoorsman to keynote Cursillo Grand Reunion in Columbia

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Deacon Shane Voyles says he’s living proof that “the light from the smallest candle can guide someone out of the darkest cave.”

“I have been to the top of the American dream, I have been to the bottom, and then I started that slow process of climbing back up that hill of hope,” said Deacon Voyles, spiritual advisor to the Cursillo movement in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Deacon Voyles will be the keynote presenter at this year’s Cursillo Grand Reunion on Saturday, Feb. 26, at Fr. Tolton Regional Catholic High School, 3351 E. Gans Road in Columbia.

Organizers describe this event as “as a tool to inspire, to encourage, and to replenish us spiritually for the work the Holy Spirit intends for us.”

All in the diocese who have attended a Cursillo weekend or hope to do so in the near future are invited and encouraged to attend.

Registration will start at 9:30 a.m., with a welcome and overview of the day beginning at 10 a.m. The closing Mass will be at 3 p.m.

Cursillo is a worldwide Catholic movement in which participants start with a three-day communal weekend experience and then share in the ongoing “fourth day” experience of growing in discipleship.

“Cursillo is an encounter that brings out the grace we receive in our baptism,” said Deacon Voyles. “Nothing brings you peace like being close with Christ.”

He’s taken part in many activities and movements that help build the Church and Christ’s relationship with His people, “but I’ve never seen more miracles, more people changes, than the closing of a Cursillo weekend. It’s truly a gift from Christ,” he said.

An avid outdoorsman, Deacon Voyles achieved substantial success on the professional bass fishing circuit and as a local TV/radio personality. But it came at a deep cost.

“I fished over 200 days out of the year some years, all over the country, from Florida to Texas to Michigan to Louisiana,” he said.

In the process, he basically left Patricia, his wife, alone to manage their household and raise their four children alone.

“And you know how the devil is,” he said. “If a strong man leaves his house vulnerable, the devil is going to attack it.”

But through fellowship with fellow Catholic men who are engaged in Godly pursuits, Christ brought Deacon Voyles back home to his family.

“That’s our first calling as husbands: to lead and take care of our families,” he said. “I had to go the long way and the hard way to figure that out.”

Once was lost

In imitation of St. Joseph, Deacon Voyles believes every Catholic family man should want to have just three phrases carved onto his headstone: “Faithful Christian. Loving Husband. Caring Father.”

He plans to share the story of how the Holy Spirit’s ongoing inspiration, his wife’s unfailing fidelity and all the people he has met through Cursillo and the Diaconate helped save his marriage.

“I was a pretty broken man going into my Cursillo weekend,” he said. “And it turned out to be one of the most profound experiences of my life. And I knew from that time forward that Cursillo would be an important part of my life for the rest of my life.”

Mrs. Voyles plans to attend the Grand Reunion to back up his testimony.

He described Mrs. Voyles, to whom he has been married for almost 27 years, as “the single greatest miracle to happen.”

“She has been serving people her entire life with being the anchor of our house, and also teaching prep class at our parish for over half of her life,” said Deacon Voyles. “She has impacted hundreds of kids by teaching them about Christ, our Church and the Sacraments.”

They have four children and two grandchildren, one of whom has yet to be born.

“When I was out chasing my fishing dream,” said Deacon Voyles, “it was my wife who took the children to church, who took them to the doctors, who got them ready for school, who managed the household, and she did all those things alone while I was driving all over the country to chase ‘my dream.’”

The turning point came when he thought he was having a heart attack.

He spent three days in the hospital, and she did not leave his bedside.

“She said she loved me and that it was time to come home and that she and the children needed me,” he recalled. “We both were in tears and her words went straight to my heart.”

“So through the working of the Holy Spirit, I can truly share stories of where I failed but persevered,” he said. “I can share stories of where I failed but turned my life around. I can share stories of where I wasn’t the prophet and protector of my household but I am now.”

A brand-new day

Deacon Voyles’s goal and prayer for the Grand Reunion is that everyone who attends will “share in the passion of Jesus Christ, participate in the circle of grace and experience with ever-greater love and reverence the single greatest miracle of our lifetime: the Eucharist.”

He noted that Cursillistas throughout the world are praying specifically for the people of this diocese and for those who will attend this event.

He’s convinced that now more than ever, the Church and the entire world need a robust, active Fourth Day Cursillo community.

“And all we have to do as members of that community is to be the instruments that God calls us to be and let the Holy Spirit do His job,” he said.

“We don’t have to reinvent anything or be great orators or great theologians,” he stated. “We just have to humble ourselves, be authentic and come together as one family, and the Holy Spirit will take care of everything else.”

He has seen firsthand the effectiveness of authentic Christian communities that lift people up and hold one another accountable in growing the Church and building-up each member’s faith.

“It’s not reinventing the wheel,” he insisted. “It’s going back to what the first Christians of The Way did. They had passion and purpose and let nothing stop them from delivering the Good News.

“And that’s our job!” he said. “We’re transcendent witnesses to the Good News. And we give that witness every day by the way we live our lives.”

Deacon Voyles pointed to his favorite five-syllable word.

“Equanimity!” he said. “It means what happens when somebody walks into a room and lights it up just by the way they carry themselves.

“People are drawn to that person,” he said. “They want to know that person and be a part of what they see as special about that person.”

For authentic Christians, that equanimity comes from Christ. Upon the pillars of piety, study and action, Cursillo has been drawing that charism out of people all over the world for over 60 years.

 “We’re all on a pilgrimage,” Deacon Voyles noted. “And unfortunately, because we’re human beings, we let pride get in the way.

“But every day, you get renewed,” he stated. “Every day, we encounter Christ again and begin anew. We begin and end each day with prayer, and our main job is to become a living prayer with everyone we encounter throughout the day.

“It’s not the words we say,” he said. “It’s the way we give witness to Christ in our everyday living.”

An uplifting day

Other presenters will include Susan Stolwyk, diocesan lay director for Cursillo; Father Greg Oligschlaeger, diocesan spiritual director for Cursillo; Beth Schrader, sharing powerful aspects of Cursillo’s history; Deacon Justin McMenamy, who led the Cursillo movement in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese through many challenges.

The day will also include a potluck lunch and Mass.

A $10-per-person donation is recommended.

Please bring a main dish, salad or dessert to share at the potluck lunch.

For more information about the Cursillo Grand Reunion, visit:

diojeffcity.org/cursillo/

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