When Pope Benedict XVI called international representatives of ecclesial movements and new communities (EMNCs) to meet him in Rome for an evening prayer on the eve of the Feast of Pentecost this past June, a Caribbean delegation was there.

Along with over 400 thousand representatives of EMNCs, Living Water Community (LWC) leaders, Rhonda Maingot and Rose Jackman, LWC’s Fr Jason Gordon – Episcopal Vicar for the Northern Vicariate – and 28 LWC pilgrims joined the Holy Father.

Also at evening prayer were Msgr Michael Stewart of St Vincent, currently pursuing studies in Rome, and Eternal Light Community leader, Deborah de Rosia, who was in Rome for that event and to attend meetings of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal in anticipation of the renewal’s 40th anniversary, to be celebrated in 2007.

The Holy Father met with these groups on the occasion of the second World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities (CN, June 11).

Maingot attended the entire May 31 – June 2 event, the theme of which was The Beauty of Being Christian and the Joy of Communicating It, inspired by part of Pope Benedict’s homily during his inaugural Mass when he was newly elected pope.

“This theme,” said the Holy Father to the EMNCs, “is an invitation to reflect on what the essential features of the Christian event are: in fact, we encounter in it the One who in flesh and blood visibly and historically brought to earth the splendour of God's glory.”

Which is precisely what EMNCs strive to do in their life and ministry.
Ecclesial movements and new communities refer to those lay groups which sprang up in the Church during the 20th century. Although varying in charisms, structure and membership requirements, these groups tend to have a common commitment to formation, communal prayer and a particular charism – to the poor, for example, or the unborn – that underscores the sometimes varying strains of their ministry.

Rhonda Maingot with Jean Vanier founder of L'Arche

Rhonda with the English-speaking group at the congress

Crowd shot of the communities meeting in St Peter's Square

The Holy Father showered praise on these movements, calling them, “a luminous sign of the beauty of Christ and of the Church, his Bride. You belong to the living structure of the Church,” he said. “She thanks you for your missionary commitment, for the formative action on behalf of Christian families that you are increasingly developing and for the promotion of vocations to the ministerial priesthood and consecrated life which you nurture among your members.”

The groups represented at the Rome meeting, said Maingot, were at various stages of development, and openly discussed their blessings and challenges. The greatest difficulty they experienced, she reported, was “to continue” – a difficulty shared by many local communities.

“The most difficult thing to accomplish was to continue because people grew tired, people stopped committing themselves, people got bored; the glamour of the Life in the Spirit Seminars had gone,” said Maingot at a meeting of LWC members. But continuity was possible if people allowed the love of God to fuel their commitments.

“This is what God is asking of me; I lay down my life for it! There comes a time when we must make a decision,” Maingot declared. “Christians have to live a life that is radical! We have to make a concerted effort to pray together, to meet with other families to pray!”
The late Pope John Paul II would probably agree, given his position on EMNCs.

“I have been able to see the importance of the fruits of conversion, spiritual rebirth and holiness which the movements bring to the life of the local Churches,” he said at his 2004 meeting with them.

“Thanks to the dynamism of these new ecclesial gatherings, many Christians have rediscovered their vocation rooted in Baptism and have devoted themselves with extraordinary generosity to the Church's evangelising mission.

“For many people this has been an opportunity to rediscover the value of prayer, while the Word of God has become their daily bread and, the Eucharist, the heart of their existence.”