Integrity

The Movement Of The Holy Spirit - Part 2

(Also posted at Peguy)

Continuing the theme I began  yesterday, today I would like to talk about how those of us involved in CL can deepen our understanding of our own charism by examining the witness of our brother ecclesial movements and the way that they are living out the charisms entrusted to them by God.

As I previously stated, the phrase "The Movement" has, for me, come to be far more appropriate as a moniker not for CL only, but for the activity of the Holy Spirit that is being witnessed within the Church.  It is difficult for me to look at the birth of so many ecclesial movements, with their commonalities, and to think otherwise.  Consider these words of Pope John Paul II:

"They [the movements] represent one of the most significant fruits of that springtime in the Church which was foretold by the Second Vatican Council, but unfortunately has often been hampered by the spread of secularization. These movements are marked by a common awareness of the “newness” which baptismal grace brings to life, through a remarkable longing to reflect on the mystery of communion with Christ and with their brethren, through sound fidelity to the patrimony of the faith passed on by the living stream of Tradition."

Yet, I have discovered to my surprise that many involved with CL are unaware of the other ecclesial movements, sometimes not even knowing the names of the other large movements.  To an extent, this is to be forgiven.  After all, how many Catholics respond with a confused look when we try to explain our life to them?  Still,  I had mistakenly assumed that those in an ecclesial movement, knowing of the existence of one, would have sought to learn about others.  In some ways, this is a consequence of the different path I followed to CL.  As I mentioned in this post, I became interested in the ecclesial movements in general long before I knew of CL, and have had some experience with other movements. Returning to our late Holy Father's words again, we see that he defines the crux of what an ecclesial movement's charism is all about:

" The charism’s own originality, which gives life to a movement, neither claims nor could claim to add anything to the richness of the depositum fidei, safeguarded by the Church with passionate fidelity. Nonetheless, it represents a powerful support, a moving and convincing reminder to live the Christian experience fully, with intelligence and creativity. Therein lies the basis for finding adequate responses to the challenges and needs of ever-changing times and historical circumstances.  In this light, the charisms recognized by the Church are ways to deepen one’s knowledge of Christ and to give oneself more generously to Him, while rooting oneself more and more deeply in communion with the entire Christian people."

It is my contention that my following of Christ through the charism of CL can be aided by seeing how other movement's follow Christ through their charisms.  There should be nothing shocking about this idea.  It is the same principle that rests behind why the Church offers the lives of the Saints to us as models of the Christian life.  Just as one might be more drawn to the lives of Saints who shared similar life experience, it seems natural that an ecclesial movement might look to other ecclesial movements for edification.

The Movement Of The Holy Spirit - Part 1

(Also posted over at Peguy)

In an earlier post on Peguy  ("Being Led") about how I found myself led by God to CL, I made the following comment:

"More than once I have had some difficulty getting across to others in CL the fact that I knew Christ outside of CL, that fact being foreign to their experience. (In fact, this is a subject I intend to write on later because I think my story necessarily impacts my understanding of CL and why I'm troubled at times by how some use "the movement" and "the road" phrases.)"

Given that I'm "hosting" this week at Peguy, I thought I would expand on the thought.

Although it has barely been four months since Pope Benedict XVI was elected, I already sense that he is a wondrous gift to the Church. One area in which that is being displayed, in my opinion, is in the understanding our new Pope brings to the ecclesial movements. Much has been made of the then-Cardinal Ratzinger's references to "creative minorities" that he believes will be a source of renewal in the Church. The lay ecclesial movements are a clear example of a "creative minority" whose life is what attracts others to Christ. I think the election of Pope Benedict is an opportunity for those of us involved with the movements to re-examine our movements. For us in CL, this task has an even greater significance given the recent death of our founder, Monsignor Giussani. As Fr. Giussani has told us (and Fr. Carron repeated during the Spiritual Exercises this year):

"Each one has the responsibility of the charism; each one is the cause of the decline or the increase of the charism’s effectiveness; everyone is either a stretch of land in which the charism wastes away or a stretch of land in which it bears fruit. So we have reached a very serious moment, which urgently requires everyone, as a matter of loyalty and fidelity, to become aware of his own responsibility. It is the moment for each of us to take up his own responsibility for the charism."

As much as Pope Benedict is supportive of the ecclesial movements and other new expressions of the faith, he has offered some words of caution. In an interview with EWTN, Cardinal Ratzinger :

Peguy

This next week I am the "host" blogger over at Peguy, a collaborative blog of a number of individuals involved in CL.

My first entry is some reflections on some comments made by Cardinal George at a recent dinner event.  Click here to read the post.