CCR Sweden, Newsletter June 2022
Bengt Malmgren
Dear friends! I have time for this last letter before the summer holiday period begins.
Pentecost of the movements 31 May
As usual in connection with Pentecost, we gathered for Pentecost of the Movements together with Bishop Anders in the Catholic Cathedral. There was a mass, then mingling and conversation in the Cathedral Hall on the theme of the synodal process: communion, participation, mission. [Read report here].
Change in the prayer groups in Stockholm
The prayer group in the Cathedral has had reduced meetings. Bola Richard, the groupleader has been away for a large part of the semester, so Bengt Malmgren has had to step in. Bola will also in the future continue to be abroad for half of the year. The prayer group now has a summer break, but will meet again in August (10 Aug, 24 Aug at 5.30 pm). Judas Taddeo Cardoso, who leads the prayer group in St. Eugenia, has just announced that he needs to quit. He has long advertised about this and searched for a replacement, but no one has been found, so now the prayer group will take a break. We thank Taddeo for his sereving as leader so far. He and I have talked about the situation and we think it is appropriate that the prayer groups in Stockholm cooperate. At present, members from the Eugenia group is of course welcome to the group in the Cathedral.
CHARIS Integral Formation Program
I have previously told about this course to prayer group leaders, contact persons and other officials within the Charismatic Renewal. Bola Richards, I and several others take part. These are lectures via the internet, so there is a flexibility to take part in them when you have the best opportunity. The course gives us exactly the tools we need to be open to the Spirit and develop Charismatic renewal as a service to the whole church. [read about the course here]
Contact persons around Sweden are wanted
We are looking for contact persons in the parishes in Sweden. Even if there is no prayer group in your area, if you are alone in your area or longing for a richer spiritual life in the and do not know how to proceed, consider if you want to become a contact person. Do not think that you are inexperienced and not the right person. [recent contactpersons here]
CHARIS service community for Sweden and the Nordic countries.
The work continues, nothing new to report today.
Thoughts ahead of the fall
It is important to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in how to change and develop our prayer groups and communities to respond to the current situation. Doing exactly what we have done before routinely means wasting, and people get tired. Keywords are communion, participation, mission and openness to the full life of the Holy Spirit, which is the most important task of Charismatic Renewal to proclaim and promote throughout the Church. A well-proven form is to offer [Life in the Spirit seminars].
The whole Church urges us to evangelize
Pope Francis wants the whole church to take a step forward in a new evangelism: [Evangelii gaudium] I recommend everyone to read this document. Stockholm's Catholic diocese is also investing in evangelism. I remind you of the gathering in Vadstena last year [see newsletter sept 2021] which had that theme. Testifying your faith and helping others get to know Jesus and say yes to him as Lord in their lives is a task that applies to all of us, but Catholics have not always been so good at this.
Ulf Ekman's new book on evangelism in evangelism initiatives in the diocese
On behalf of Bishop Anders, the KPN (Catholic Pedagogical Committee) is making a special evangelistic initiative this autumn. Based on Ulf Ekman's new book Vänner emellan - att dela tron i en modern tid (eng: "Between Friends - Sharing the Faith in a Modern Age "), Catholica publishing house, and a study material, Ulf will visit some congregations. I recommend everyone to take part in this when Ulf comes to your parish. Start is on September 1, 2022 at 19.00 at the Catholic Forum in St. Eugenia, Stockholm with Ulf Ekman and Bishop Anders with the release of Ulf's book. [Read more here]
Evangelization in the power of the Holy Spirit
Without the Holy Spirit, evangelism will not work. But becoming a Christian and receiving the Spirit is really very simple, it's more about the heart than the brain. Neither study courses nor Life in the Spirit seminars are needed for this, such are just help structures.
- Open your heart, ask Jesus to come into your life and give you the grace to follow him.
- Ask for forgiveness for your sins.
- Ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
F Raniero Cantalamessa publishes the text on this: [Repentance, penance and the baptism of the Spirit belong together] That is what is at the heart of evangelism, what we need to convey to our fellow human beings. But the simple is often the difficult before we learn not to complicate the whole thing. As a summer reading, I offer you another text on this theme that I wrote on my blog 2020. There are also book tips: [Both the sacrament and the baptism of the Spirit are needed to permeate the world with the gospel]
I wish you all a happy summer.
Bengt Malmgren