Catholic Fraternity Conference by David Peterman, Jr.
From April 17th through 19th I had the privilege to represent you at a meeting of the North American leaders of Catholic Fraternity communities. I was joined this time by my dad, Neil and Cathy Coward. The meeting was hosted by our sister Community City of the Lord in Tempe Arizona. Many members of the City of the Lord served us throughout the weekend and were a significant blessing and witness. I was particularly blessed by the hospitality of Bob and Kathy Carmody who welcomed me into their lovely home and shuttled me to and from the airport and various meetings.
We had a few special guests at this meeting:
- Miky Torres who is on the Fraternity Executive representing the Spanish Speaking North American Communities from Mexico.
- Paul Dinolfo the leader of Work of Christ Community and the national leader of the Sword of the Spirit association of communities.
- Steve Boykewich from the Community of God's Love in Rutherford, New Jersey who are discerning membership in the Fraternity.
The meeting began Friday evening with each community sharing highlights from their community, including Word Gifts that they were hearing from the Holy Spirit. When it was my turn to share I explained that the Holy Spirit had been speaking a strong message of His love for us balanced by a warning of difficult times coming. I shared the scripture that we received at the last gathering before Easter (03/29/15) from John 12:27 (“My soul is troubled now, yet what should I say ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this that I came. Father, glorify your name.”) Here Jesus shows His love for the Father by realizing that His responsibility in the face of trial is not to be saved from the situation but rather to surrender to the Father’s will. I think this is a particularly strong message for many of our members who are facing significant health and family challenges. I also shared about two exhortations that we have received: 1) To say “Yes” to what God is calling us to, personally and communally, and 2) To witness who we are as His Delight. He is asking for the surrender of our “Yes” and asking us to live our founding charism of being a people known as God’s Delight.
Several of the other communities shared about very active efforts to serve their local parishes or the dioceses where they reside. Some were investing in ecumenical collaborations. Many are prioritizing their young people trying to become more multigenerational. There was also a strong call to more outreach using the theme ”Called out to boldness.”
On Saturday we discussed our identify and mission as a Catholic Fraternity; heard a testimony from Paul Dinolfo about the life of the Sword of the Spirit communities; heard an update on a collaboration of efforts to generate multi-media Catholic teachings; heard a witness from the City of the Lord team called Simply Ready who are investing in Simplicity (ready to do His work) and Readiness (in case of a natural disaster); and finally, we discussed a document “Fostering Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Covenant of Understanding,” which is an effort of the National Service Committee (NSC) to promote unity among the various expressions of the Charismatic Renewal in the United States. This NSC initiative is part of this year’s theme of Unity as we move toward the Renewal’s 50th anniversary in 2017.
As leaders, the CCGD coordinators have read and studied the Covenant of Understanding document and individually and collectively discerned that our Community should participate. At the Pentecost Mass on Sunday, May 24th, we affirmed our support for this Covenant of Understanding. By signing this document we agreed to be united by embracing Baptism in the Holy Spirit – as defined by the ICCRS Theological Consultation in which we participated. At the Pentecost Mass the Coordinators signed on behalf of the Community and each attendee had an opportunity to sign a copy of the document signifying his or her own desire for unity in this fundamental covenant.