Sep 27, 2020 | Archives, Msgr. Al Kirk
– From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Hilary, bishop
LITURGY OF THE HOURS – Office of Readings for Saturday in the 25th week of Ordinary Time or Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Mm or Blessed Virgin Mary
Point to Ponder:
An early mention of the Holy Spirit is cited in the below readings by St. Hilary as early as the mid-5th Century as he references back to the Book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel the prophet was born in 3327 (434BCE). After a time a group of 120 Jewish prophets and sages accepted the task of compiling the Book of Ezekiel where it is first said that flowing water wells up and leads to eternal life (making early reference to the Holy Spirit).
RESPONSORY See Ezekiel 47:1, 9; see John 4:14
I saw water flowing eastward from beneath the threshold of the temple.
— Wherever this water flows, everything shall live.
The water I shall give you will become in you a spring welling up to eternal life.
— Wherever this water flows, everything shall live.
Second reading
From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Hilary, bishop
The river whose streams gladden the city of God
The river of God is brimming with water. You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them. There can be no doubt about the river referred to, for the prophet says: There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God; and in the gospel the Lord himself says: Streams of living water welling up to eternal life will flow from the heart of anyone who drinks the water I shall give him. He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in full flood.
We also have food prepared for us. And who is this food? It is he in whom we are prepared for life with God, for by receiving his holy body we receive a place in the communion of his holy body. This is what is meant by the words of the psalm: You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them. For as well as refreshing us now, that food also prepares us for the life to come.
We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit. We begin to have an insight into the mysteries of faith, we are able to prophesy and to speak with wisdom. We become steadfast in hope and receive the gift of healing. Demons are made subject to our authority. These gifts enter us like a gentle rain, and once having done so, little by little, they bring forth fruit in abundance.
Sep 17, 2020 | Archives
OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE THE CCRMD CORE TEAM
Ad Hoc Member At Large (Anglo) Sits on the Core Team as a voting member. Benefits are Out of this world. Experience and exposure to CR Leadership opportunities.
Ad Hoc Member At Large (Hispanic) Sits on the Core Team as a voting member. Benefits are out of this world. Experience and exposure to CR Leadership opportunities.
Website Caretaker – Benefits are out of this world. Experience in Word Press preferred. Will train anyone interested.
If you or anyone you may know (especially young people) are interested in any of the above opportunities to serve the Charismatic Renewal Ministry at the diocesan level, please contact the below at once:
Deacon Werner Rose,
email: dcnwerner@gmail.com, Cell No.: 901-647-4204
Sharon Reiter
email: sacreiter@gmail.com, Cell No.: 731-415-0133
Sep 16, 2020 | Archives
Association of Diocesan Liaisons Newsletter Spring and Summer 2020
Newsletter Spring and Summer 2020
The Chair’s Corner
By: Fr. Anthony Ouellette, Chair, ADL Steering Committee
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings from Kansas City. Well, we survived moving our 2020 Convocation from Kansas City to the World Wide Web. With all the normal bumps along the waynew technology for registration and for the convocation itself—we successfully met and were able to spend time together in prayer, learning, and fellowship. Being able to meet virtually has opened up the possibility of other virtual meetings throughout the year, simply to continue praying together and to fellowship nationally and perhaps regionally. Virtual meetings have great potential for growing the active participation of liaisons throughout the US and Canada. Honestly, I’m confident this new virtual dimension can only help stir up greater interest in liaisons’ personal participation in our annual convocation and joint NSC/ADL conferences.
Fr. Ouellette
Photograph of the Virtual ADL Convocation 2020.
tives. “Thank you,” to everyone who helped in these efforts to stabilize our finances.
Our new US National Service of Communion is progressing; a recent CHARIS document gave greater
Our annual financial report will be done by June 30, 2020. It appears we will finish the year in the black for the first time I can remember. We can only attribute this to increased dues payments and to the Steering Committee’s successful money-saving initia-
guidelines for its creation and formation. This new entity’s name is CHARIS National Service of Communion USA of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
We will call it “CNSC,” which should be clear enough to prevent confusing it with the NSC or other US Charismatic entities. Three of your ADL Steering Committee members, Chuck Hornsby, Jane Guenther, and myself, have been chosen or elected to serve for three years on the CNSC. Its members elected Msgr. Joseph Malagreca of New York as Coordinator. With many years as Planning Committee Facilitator for the Gathering of Charismatic Leadership meetings, he will provide great continuity as the CNSC moves forward, broadening its engagement.
I understand that, as of now, Msgr. Malagreca is to make a personal presentation on the CNSC at the US Bishop’s upcoming Baltimore meeting. This could only be an ADL “win-win,” as, hopefully, it inspires bishops to appoint new liaisons to help them in this mission. We as ADL must be ready with all the resources we can muster to support our bishops in making this happen.
Please be assured of my prayers for you all during these days of national uncertainty. God bless.
+m Fr. Anthony G. Ouellette
Fr. Anthony Ouellette is the Chair, ADL Steering Committee and the Ecclesial Assistant to the Charismatic Renewal in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS. He is Pastor of All Saints Catholic Parish, Kansas City, KS.
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Come Holy Spirit!
By: Sandy Seidel, Co-Liaison, Diocese of San Angelo, TX
As I write this article, the ninth week of Shelter-in-Place where I live begins. It gives us much to ponder: where we have been, where we are, where we are going.
Where We Have Been
This time last year, the Service Committee for the Charismatic ReSandy Seidel newal in the San Angelo Diocese was determining the number of prayer groups here. This was not easy, as our diocese encompasses 37,433 square miles and is divided into three deaneries which all have English–speaking and Spanish–speaking prayer groups. One motivation for counting groups was our 2019 Diocesan Charismatic conference in June. This annual conference is in San Angelo, TX with the local Heart of Mercy prayer group as sponsor. We invited prayer groups from the different deaneries to participate, and it was well attended.
For several years, San Angelo Bishop Michael Sis has been a presenter, as well as our chaplain, Fr. Albert Ezeanya, and Fr. Ed Wade, a member of the Compan-
Spirit.” (Find information about our conferences at www.catholiccharismatic.com.)
Our community also uses the gifts in ministries outside of prayer groups. For instance, our Unbound team had just finished a weekend seminar before the pandemic became apparent.
Fr. Albert Ezeanya and Participants at the Diocesan Conference, San Angelo, TX
In addition to our conferences, we have been blessed with good teaching over the course of diocesan participation in the Renewal since its beginnings fifty years ago, with many testimonies of healing and lives changed and/or restored. My husband and I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit for thirty years. We have been liaisons to Bishop Mike Sis and his predecessor Bishop Michael Pfeifer, who received the Baptism in the Spirit when Patti Mansfield prayed over him. Both bishops have been cheerful supporters of the Renewal.
Where We Are
Life in the Spirit Seminar, Christ the King Retreat Center, San Angelo, TX
ions of the Cross. The conference is always a spiritual boost for the prayer groups, who receive encouragement to use the gifts of the Spirit for building up the community. To encourage growth and prayer after the conferences, we pick themes that we hope can inspire teachings all year; last year’s theme was “Come, Holy
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Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been striving to stay faithful to the calling and the spirit of the Charismatic Renewal, but routines have changed. Normally, we’d have two Life in the Spirit seminars yearly in the deaneries. Our first one would have been in February or March, but we had to cancel.
“New Normal” is, along with many domestic shifts, prayer group interaction is limited to phone calls, emails, text, and Zoom. Prayer meetings are virtual, and prayer group members pray for each other via Facetime and/or Zoom. Thank God for the technology we have today! It definitely is not the same as gathering in person, but as this year’s Convocation showed us, you cannot limit the Holy Spirit.
As I write, we are still waiting to see how we’ll handle our June Conference. For me personally, “keeping the fire burning” during these troubling times has been a stretch as a liaison and prayer group leader. But then I think of what a family in the prayer group said when I asked, “How has this pandemic affected your relationship with God?”
“It makes me think about different ways to pray to him and what to ask for. To pray about things I have not thought about before. It also makes me talk to him differently for the needs of others.”
Carl and Amy, Parents
“This time has created an even deeper longing and appreciation for the Sacraments and community. We have grown in gratitude for our family and our time together at home. We have been moved to speak boldly and encouragingly to others about leaning into faith in God and not fear.”
Where We Are Going
Where are we going? Only God knows for sure. But from all indications, I would quote St. Catherine of Siena: “All the way to heaven is heaven!” May God set us ablaze for many more years to come.
Joseph, age 14
“The pandemic has brought me closer to God. It has given me more [time] to pray for the people in the hospital and those that are dying. It has made my faith stronger.”
Sandy Seidel is Co-Liaison, with her husband, Deacon Daniel Seidel, for the Diocese of San Angelo, TX. She is also a mother and grandmother who strives “to build the Kingdom through prayer groups, the diocesan CCR Service Committee, ADL membership, and through retreat ministry and Life in the Spirit Seminars.”
