FROM ICCRS DIRECTOR

Abiding Joy and Strength in Jesus

By Oreste Pesare ICCRS Director

A comment on the message from the Holy Father on the occasion of the 40th. Anniversary of the CCR

I want to share with all of our readers and friends the message that our President, Allan Panozza, received from the Vatican State Secretariat, written on behalf of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, regarding the celebration of the 40 th anniversary of the unforgettable eruption of the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church.

“On this happy occasion His Holiness joins you in giving thanks to the Father for the many gifts bestowed upon the Church in the past four decades. It is his hope that an ever richer experience of the Spirit will lead to an increased thirst for holiness, a more convincing witness to the Gospel and an unswerving commitment to the building up of Christ's body in unity and peace.”

As you can appreciate, the Holy Father has entrusted us with a complete programme for our personal growth as people of the Spirit and for our mission as witnesses of the Good News.

Let me underline three fundamental ideas that constitute the treasure of this message, and that inspire us to accomplish our mission, to become protagonists in this flow of grace for a powerful evangelisation in the Holy Spirit.

a) An ever richer experience of the Spirit will lead to an increased thirst for holiness.

Since the beginning of my conversion I have known that the first characteristic of the Holy Spirit is that he is holy and he makes people holy. What the world of the third millennium needs is holiness: to be transformed into a new humanity; for each of us to go from being the “old man” to being the “new man”, the man of beatitudes, the image of Jesus Christ with the power of the Holy Spirit – gentle, pure of heart, patient, hungry for justice, etc. To be holy is to give space in our hearts to God. He is holy and we will become holy if we allow him to reign in our hearts. Let us open the doors of our hearts and invite the Holy Spirit to take his rightful place on the throne.

b) A more convincing witness to the Gospel .

C ertainly our Spirits rejoice when we realise that our Holy Father is inviting us to evangelise by our example rather than by our words. Many years ago Pope Paul VI also said that world of today is more in need of witnesses than of teachers. From the beginning, the strength of the Charismatic Renewal's message has been in the witness of what the Lord is able to bring about in the lives of believers. So, let us spread the Good News of salvation with a new emphasis on how we live our lives rather than on our words.

c) An unswerving commitment to the building up of Christ's body in unity and peace .

I t is clear that our current Pope Benedict XVI puts the unity of the body of Christ as a priority in the life of the Church. As convinced “Charismatics” we have a special responsibility to the whole Church to put into practice and testify to the goodness of St. Paul 's teachings regarding diversity and unity in the body of Christ. How good and exemplary it is to rejoice for the gift of our brothers and sisters; to thank Jesus because he uses others in wonderful ways; to accept the different expressions of the body of Christ that may be manifested in others. We are called to caste aside any envy, any jealousy, any spirit of rivalry, etc. Let us be promoters of a new spirituality, encouraging and giving

value to every life, to every person those who we work and live with, and also those who we only meet occasionally looking for the positive aspects like Jesus did, rather than concentrating on the negative.

Brothers and sisters of the Charismatic Renewal, what do you think? Pope Benedict XVI is challenging us very profoundly on this occasion of our 40 th anniversary. I feel strongly that we should consider this as a new opportunity to reach the Ecclesial maturity that the Church is calling the lay movements to, so that we can be a sign for all people in the third millennium. This challenge guides us in the same direction as the words that Pope John Paul II spoke during his last address to the CCR during the Pentecost Vigil in 2004. “I desire that the spirituality of Pentecost be spread in the Church, as renewed thrust of prayer, holiness, communion and proclamation.”

Thank you Jesus, and thank you Pope Benedict XVI, for your love and your encouragement. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will be faithful.

Oreste Pesare, ICCRS Director.