Archbishop George H. Niederauer, Celebrant, Opening Mass
Rev. John F. Campoli, I.V. Dei (Institute Voluntas Dei), Brick, NJ
Rev. Michael Barry, SSCC, San Bernardino, CA
Rev. Msgr. James T. Tarantino, SF, CA
Rev. Raymund Reyes, SF, CA
Jesse Romero, Sylmar, CA
Rev. Dan Nascimento, SF, CA
Carolyn Suty, San Jose, CA
Deacon Bill Brennan, Stockton, CA
Rev. Paul Gawlowski, OFM Conv., SF, CA
PRE-REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Don't hesitate to come and register on-site at the Convention Center. View Complete Schedule and there's still time to obtain discounted Hotel Rooms.
There is no on-site registration available for Children/Youth.
NEW DISCOUNT HOTEL OFFERING!!! Book your Hotel rooms NOW.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD
Celebrating Pentecost & Preparing for the 26th Annual Northern California Charismatic Convention
In Jewish liturgy Pentecost was the feast of Mount Sinai. It celebrated the giving of the ten commandments to Moses and the sealing of the covenant of God with his people. A mighty wind and fire swept the slopes of Sinai evoking the awesomeness of the moment The wind was the breath of God and the source of all life. The fire was his glory manifesting his presence to people. The Exodus was the first decisive act of love of God for Israel. A testing period of forty years, during which the people made a pilgrimage from the waters of the Red Sea to the foot of Sinai, preceded this second critical deed of love. Now in the transcendent ceremony of Sinai, God finalized the pledge of his love for Israel.
The Upper Room of the Christian Pentecost is a new Sinai. Once again the mighty breath of God and the fire of his presence sweeps tlirough the human community. Just as Easter had been a new Exodus illustrating a decisive act of love, not just for one people, but for all mankind, so now Pentecost is a new Sinai in which the Spirit of God is set as a seal on the whole universe-a declaration of irrevocable love for all people.
They were filled with enthusiasm (a word which means the God within) and experienced ecstasy (a word which means standing outside oneself)...
... One hundred and twenty people were gathered in that Upper Room at Pentecost. According to the official liturgical gathering. It was a classical number for the ideal worshipping community. It was in the midst of their prayer and worship that they knew decisively the power of God's Spirit.
They began speaking in tongues (glossalalia) a language phenomenon that sometimes accompanies profound spiritual experience. Armed with the fire of the Spirit, and with ecstatic speech on their lips, they flowed out of the Upper Room into the square where pilgrims from over fifteen nations were gathered for religious observance. The crowd responded with positive astonishment, negative cynicism and finally honest truth searching.
In wonder, the crowd vibrated happily with the contagious enthusiasm and excitement of the Spirit-filled community and they identified with the linguistic miracle. There was a fleeting moment when the nations of the earth paused from their strife and profound community took place.
Excerpted from The Gospel of the Holy Spirit, Chapter Two "A Mighty Wind & Fire" by Alfred McBride, O.Praem. – Copyright 1975 – Arena Lettres
As we celebrate "Pentecost Sunday" today and throughout this coming week, we too can gather together in our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His Love, giving us a new enthusiasm and experience of His Mighty power to transform us, no matter what particular daily circumstances we find ourselves in. Let us not hesitate to call on Him – begging Him even, to come and within us, "make all things new."
For those who are planning to attend the Convention next weekend (May 24-26th), please know that many people, with God's help and grace, not only are putting the final touches on all the necessary preparations, but all the while are praying for you, your families, your needs. Come with a great expectancy. Believe that God has a personal message for you this coming weekend. If you have come in the past, don't think this weekend will be like any other. Believe that HE always makes "all things new." He will do infinitely more than you can even hope or pray for. He is limitless...His love and mercy knows no end. Prepare for your personal miracle – whatever that may be. Give everything to Him and expect to be personally blessed. As a community - a "people of God", when we gather together, there will be more than 120 of us (as there was in the upper room). Let us plan on being astonished when we see all that God will do.
To our on-line community and first-time visitors to this site who are not planning to attend, please know also, that we regularly keep you in our prayers. During the upcoming Convention, we take you with us in our hearts.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Convention weekend, we plan to have CD's available. Check back with us soon - and take advantage of the ability to hear/witness and experience the talks/teachings from the Convention Weekend.
Our desire and goal is to serve the Lord in all ways and we aim to be a blessing and pray that you too will be "blessed!"
The Charismatic Renewal and the Catholic Church
A look at the history and future of the sometimes-controversial movement
Alessandra Nucci
When the newly elected Pope Francis appeared at the window before the cheering crowd in St Peter’s Square, and promptly bowed down asking the people to pray for him, most of the public at large was charmed, but puzzled. Pope Benedict too had asked the people to pray for him from the outset, but without the bowed head. To some spectators, however—including the members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and their counterparts in the Protestant and Orthodox worlds—the gesture came as something surprisingly familiar. In the "charismatic" galaxy, prayer is offered and asked for in this way by people of all levels—specifically, prayer for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
There is a photograph available on the Internet that shows Pope Francis, while still archbishop of Buenos Aires, on his knees with head bowed as a group of evangelical pastors and Catholic priests and laymen pray over him. As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Pope would celebrate Mass on a monthly basis for the Charismatic Renewal of Buenos Aires. And despite the conflicts between Catholics and Pentecostals in Latin America, word has it that Pentecostal pastors rejoiced at the election of the new Catholic pope.
Pope Francis’ frequent mentions of the Holy Spirit—whom he has described as someone who "annoys us" and "moves us, makes us walk, pushes the Church to move forward"—as well as his unprecedentedly frequent references to the devil (rather than to a generic "evil"), indicate his affinity for the Charismatic Renewal. The election of such a back-to-basics man as Supreme Pontiff provides us with an opportunity to look at the road traveled by the Charismatic Renewal and to "hold on to what is good" (1 Thess 5:21).
Despite the openness of its approach, for many the Charismatic Renewal is either undecipherable or a clear-cut deviation into "modernism." Having made its appearance in the Catholic world after Vatican Council II, with spectacular aspects such as prophecies and miracle-healings, it was obviously lumped in with the many other challenging and controversial novelties that surfaced at the time under the banner of "renewal." Yet the Charismatic Renewal in its Catholic expression is generally painstaking in its strict adherence to the Church and to Catholic doctrine, [emphasis added] a fact which, in itself, can cause controversy and sometimes alienates Pentecostal, Evangelical, non-denominational, or other ecumenical counterparts. (continue reading)
