As the psalmists often remind us, it is important to look back and recall the many blessings we have received from God. Anniversaries afford us the opportunity to do just that. The Catholic Charismatic Prayer Community that meets at St. John the Evangelist church in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, is celebrating 50 years of Life in the Spirit in 2021. Our hearts are filled with gratitude and praise for all that God has done for us and through us in the past 50 years, and for what He will continue to do in the future.
The Spirit of God was already at work in discussion groups being held at at St. John’s in 1968. One of the groups, an ecumenical one, decided to study the forgotten member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. During their time together they received a visit from a priest who taught them about , and prayed over them for, a renewed infilling of the Spirit of God, known as the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in tongues and prophesy. They continued to seek ways to grow in the life of the Spirit. Some members learned of a Catholic charismatic prayer meeting being held at the Cenacle in Brighton, Massachusetts. Several of them attended weekly and participated in the Life in the Spirit seminar. In October 1971 the group began meeting an extra night of the week in a member’s home to further growth in the gifts of the Spirit.
As they grew in the Spirit, they also grew in size. In 1972 the Lord blessed the community with a covenant, which was later discovered to be a simplified version of the covenant established for the Ann Arbor, Michigan prayer community. The community also established a powerful prayer line, that remains alive and active. After a time the community attended a retreat led by Russell Kirk of the Cenacle prayer group in Brighton, Ma.. During the retreat, he stressed the importance of authority and submission and making agreements. When the community returned to St. John’s, the pastoral team asked the pastor, if the group could be under his authority. He accepted and asked that the group meet in the church rather than in a home. Next, the group took seriously the idea of making agreements to help them live out their covenant. One of the main agreements stated that when problems arose, the focus would be on how to resolve them; not on could the group resolve them. In the 1990’s the National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (now Pentecost Today USA) stressed the importance of having a vision for each prayer group. After prayer and discernment a vision statement was ratified by the entire community. Our vision statement is that we be a people united in love and committed to bringing others into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
While the community has grown and waned over the years, God has continued to bless us and use our gifts of the Spirit. The community has prepared and hosted many Life in the Spirit seminars. God has answered so many prayer petitions and brought healing and hope to His people through the prayer warriors in the prayer ministry. God’s word spoken to us in prophecy is cherished and published in the form of a bookmark. A group of dedicated servants pray and discern the prophecies given at prayer meetings, and compile a synopsis of the word for all to have and use in daily prayer. God continues to bless us with the gift of praise, especially the gift of tongues.
We thank God for technology and Zoom. Zoom meetings during Covid 19 allowed members from other states to join us, and kept us alive and faithful to our charismatic spirituality.
We hope to continue to follow the Lord’s leading in the future as we go forward in the Holy Rood collaborative , consisting of St. Mary’s and St. John the Evangelist churches in Chelmsford, Ma., and St. Margaret of Scotland church in Lowell, Ma.. And we recall His word given to us through the prophet Jeremiah:
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jer. 29:11)
As we recall fifty years of living Life in the Spirit of God; filled with mercy, graces, forgiveness, challenges, losses and difficulties; we proclaim once again:
YOU JESUS, are our hope, our life , our love and we give YOU THANKS
– Submitted by Louise Larose, Leadership Team Member
Louise Larose has been active in Catholic Charismatic Renewal since 1977. She serves in the Word Gift Ministry for CRS Boston conferences. Presently she is serving as a member of the leadership team for the charismatic community that meets at St. John the Evangelist church , ( a member of the Holy Rood collaborative ), in N. Chelmsford, MA.
