About Us
Now do we
stop here or what. We consulted the LORD in prayer. Abba Teclezghi
used to conduct Bible Studies in Philadelphia Monthly basis. He felt compelled
to move the venue to Baltimore/Washington Area. When he consulted his Prior and
the Head of the Arch-Diocese of Baltimore Cardinal Keeler; they both agreed and
gave Abba a green light. Then we went searching for a suitable church.
When God showed us in a vision where we should go we
made a move. Resurrection of our Lord R. C Church in
We are Part of what is commonly known Catholic
Charismatic
About Catholic Charismatic Renewal:
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal as it exists today is
the outgrowth from a retreat held in February 1967 of several faculty members
and students from
What happened quickly spread to graduate students and
professors at the University of Notre Dame and others serving in campus
ministry in
We recommend An Introduction to the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal by John and Therese Boucher published by Servant
Publications [Servant Publications recently sold its Catholic Charismatic
section to St. Anthony Messenger Press] and also available from LaSalle Company
(formerly Charismatic Renewal Services).
In 1975 Pope Paul VI greeted ten thousand Catholic
charismatic from all over the world at the ninth international conference of
the Renewal, “The Church and the world need more than ever that ‘the miracle of
Pentecost should continue in history’ . . . How could this ‘spiritual renewal’
not be ‘good fortune’ for the Church and the world?” [others
have translated “good fortune” as “a chance”]
Pope John Paul II has been an enthusiastic supporter
of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. In 1979 soon after becoming Pope he said,
“I am convinced that this movement is a sign of the Spirit’s action . . . a
very important component in the total renewal of the Church.” He has met with
the international leaders of the Renewal on a number of occasions, and
regularly sends greetings to National and International Conferences on the
Renewal.
As early as 1969, only two years after the Renewal
started, the
Subsequent statements in 1975, 1984 and 1997 have been
equally affirming.
The 1984 Statement, A Pastoral Statement on the
Catholic Charismatic Renewal, concluded with these words:
We wish those in the charismatic renewal to know that
we make our own the view of Yves Congar: “The
charismatic renewal is a grace for the Church.” We assure those in the
charismatic renewal of the support they enjoy from the bishops of the
The Statement also says:
Echoing the words of Pope John Paul II, we commend the
charismatic renewal to the priests of the United States: “The priest, for his
part, cannot exercise his service on behalf of the renewal unless and until he
adopts a welcoming attitude toward it, based on the desire he shares with every
Christian by baptism to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit” (May 7, 1981).
The priest’s responsibility to give pastoral guidance remains, even though an
individual priest may not be a participant in the renewal. (37)
In 1997 “on the occasion of the Catholic Charismatic
Renewal’s thirtieth anniversary” we, the
The Statement concludes, “Thus, we can say again, with
great thanksgiving and enthusiasm, that in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and
in the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit we see God’s outpouring of a new
Pentecost.”
At the core of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is the
“grace of Pentecost” also known as baptism in the Holy Spirit.
In a key statement issued in 1991 addressed “to the
bishops and pastoral leaders of the Catholic church in the
While not a theological statement the U.S. Bishops Ad
Hoc Committee defines baptism in this way:
As experienced in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
baptism in the Holy Spirit makes Jesus Christ known and loved as Lord and
Savior, establishes or reestablishes an immediacy of relationship with all
those persons on the Trinity, and through inner transformation affects the
whole of the Christian’s life. There is new life and a new conscious awareness
of God’s power and presence. It is a grace experience, which touches every
dimension of the Church’s life: worship, preaching, teaching, ministry,
evangelism, prayer and spirituality, service and community. Because of this, it
is our conviction that baptism in the Holy Spirit, understood as the
reawakening in Christian experience of the presence and action of the Holy
Spirit given in Christian initiation, and manifested in a broad range of
charismas, including those closely associated with the Catholic Charismatic
Renewal, is part of the normal Christian life.
Other Catholic Charismatic Renewal Groups
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the
At the local level, there are prayer
groups that meet weekly, some that meet monthly or occasionally and covenant
communities. Many are in English, but some are in Spanish, Haitian Creole,
Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Polish, and Italian. Our Filipino brothers and
sisters sometimes break out in Tagalog. We hope to
add the capability of searching for prayer groups by location and diocese
sometime this year if funds can be can be found to gather the information.
At the (arch) diocesan level, there are Days of Renewal,
Retreats and Conferences. Most (arch) dioceses have a Liaison [ more details...] appointed by the (arch) bishop. About 70
(arch) dioceses have some type of office that provides services to the Renewal.
We call these offices (some are no more than space in a rectory) Renewal
Centers.
On the national level there are a number of leadership
groups that are concerned for the Renewal. In their Grace for the New
Springtime the U.S. Bishops Ad Hoc Committee wrote in 1997:
Finally, aware of various pastoral concerns and needs,
we want to affirm the National Service Committee and the various ethnic
national service committees that have emerged in recent years; diocesan
liaisons and their Association of Diocesan Liaisons; the various networks of
covenant communities, such as the Fraternity of Catholic Charismatic
Communities and Fellowships; and others in providing leadership for the Renewal
For a number of years now the National Service
Committee and these groups have been meeting every January for the Gathering of
National Leadership Groups: Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
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