FC #627: 5/19/13: the Solemnity of Pentecost, 4th week of Psalms.
Sunday, May 19: the Solemnity of Pentecost: Gloria, Sequence and Creed: Acts 2:1-11 (They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages.); Ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34 (Lord, send out Your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.); 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 (In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.) Or Romans 8:8-17 (Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.); Alleluia, alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Alleluia, alleluia! John 20:19-23 (As the Father sent Me, so I send you: Receive the Holy Spirit.) Or John 14:15-16, 23b-26 (The Holy Spirit will teach you everything.)
Theme: Lord please set us on fire as You did with Your first disciples. Alleluia!
Last Monday I spoke to a prayer group about the joys and blessings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Early Tuesday morning as my mind began to think, I kept hearing the words, “Give us joys that never end.” The thoughts continue to "float" into my mind as those thoughts developed. I thought of the texts that I sent you the last few weeks about the major work of the Holy Spirit found in John’s Gospel in chapters 14 to 16. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is a person not a thing. He is holy and the love between the Father and the Son was placed into us at our Baptism. He is making us more aware of what they want to share with us now if we are open to listen in some degree of peace and quiet.Read more about Friars Corner: Pentecost Scriptures and Teaching
To mark its 40th anniversary, Dallas Bishop Kevin J. Farrell recently celebrated Mass with members from the Christian Community of God's Delight — a lay, covenant, Catholic charismatic organization started in 1973 by the late Bobbie Cavnar.
Bishop Farrell praised the group for its efforts to spread the faith in its own families and throughout the diocese.
"The fruits of your 40 years of ministry are very evident," Bishop Farrell said. "I think of the great programs of formation of catechetical teaching, of how your members have studied the Scriptures and how they have studied the doctrine and the teaching of the Catholic Church, and how you live it."
I'm Dolores Love, Joe Love's wife, who was one of the twelve coordinators that founded our Community. Today he's here only in spirit, but eager to applaud you in your faithfulness of the last 40 years. The most significant way the Community has influenced our family's spiritual life was to encourage us to spend our time and resources with the poor. This action took on radical twists and turns as it matured in our lives.
The struggle began in Joe's troubled youth after he lost his Dad when he was just one year old. Thanks to his saintly mother and the GI Bill, he earned a degree from the Jesuit University of Holy Cross. Eager to express his gratitude to Almighty God, he searched for ways to serve the less fortunate around him.Read more about 40th Anniversary: Live Simply by Dolores Love
Some of you may have heard of the story of an eagle being raised from a baby with a group of baby turkeys. As the eagle grew the only life he knew was that of a turkey, even though he looked like an eagle. Because The eagle ate the same things, lived in pens with them, and kept the turkey’s schedule. In essence his life was that of a turkey. So he thought like a turkey and acted like a turkey, even though he did not look like one. He did not live the life of an eagle, soaring above the trees and mountains. I am sure you are wondering what this has to do with the blessings Cathy, myself, and the family has experienced being in the Community.
“And this is the first word that I want to tell you: 'Joy!' Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement!
“Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but it comes from having encountered a Person, Jesus, who is among us. It comes from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them! This is the moment when the enemy comes, when the devil, often times dressed as an angel, comes and insidiously tells us his word. Don't listen to him!Read more about Joy: The Joy of Pope Francis by Nancy Ward
We were blessed to be one of those who made the first covenant. Then in July 1975, Neil, I, and our 4 children moved to the Community property. This was located in the country close to Bonham approximately 75 miles northeast of Dallas. Neil traveled 100 miles round-trip to Texas Instruments daily for work.
There were a total of 4 families living together. We shared our lives together for 4 years. We grew through the many trials that you can imagine would happen when sharing your lives closely together. I have come to understand that was an initial boot camp for training to come to trust God in all things as it says in Romans 8:28, “All things work for good of those that love him.” I thought we would live and die there, but the Lord had other plans.
I want to give you a glimpse of my own “faith walk” with God.
Personally I’m much more comfortable with facts than dealing with my feelings – or those of other persons in my life. That part of me was atrophied in growing up due to my relative age in school, working with my hands, technical education, career, etc. My introvert personality was happy just being on my own to read, study and play. So I have great difficulty getting in touch with feelings. That’s why this sharing is a major challenge for me, to talk about how I feel about my faith, even for 5 minutes! So pray that I’ll get through this.
I grew up in a good Catholic home, went to Catholic school and then struggled as a young adult to actually believe the faith content I’d been taught. Thus I’ve learned that it’s the verb form of faith that’s essential, no matter how much we know the facts or noun form of faith. We’ve all learned that there’s a big difference between knowing Jesus Christ as “our personal Lord and Savior” and only knowing about him. We have to embrace the fullness of who he is, the Son of God.Read more about 40th Anniversary: Personal Faith Walk by David Peterman, Sr.
EDS recruited me to work for Ross Perot’s company in 1970. Bobbie and I along with two small children moved from Mobile, AL, to Dallas. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the Lord was moving several other families to Dallas, all to be a part of a work to build Christian community. Bob and Margaret Cavnar moved from Colorado, Peter Darby and his family moved from Kansas. The Phibbs moved from Oklahoma, The Wagners, Loves and many others moved to Dallas.
Bobbie and I attended our first prayer meeting in January of 1972. We attended a Life in the Spirit Seminar led by Peter Darby. Sister Monica Marie was my discussion group leader. Shortly after receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we began to attend the leader’s meeting and quickly found ourselves heavily involved with the Charismatic Renewal, attending two meetings a week and teaching Life in the Spirit Seminars and Foundation Courses.
There is no question that God called us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to form a Charismatic Covenant Community 40 years ago. Recently I was re-listening to the Restoration talks that Bobbie Cavnar gave us, where he spoke of the deterioration of our culture. As I listened to his examples I came to the quick realization that even though he was emotionally moved by the poor leadership of the time and the many temptations that we were falling into, I strongly believe that our culture is in worse shape now than at the time of his talk. Ecclesiastes, chapter 2:1-11 well describes our current pleasure seeking, self-centered culture. The mass media and especially the internet have opened vast new portals for the enemy to destroy our families and distract us with ungodly uses of our time, talent and treasure. God called us, poured his Spirit upon us, and raised us up as a people who would confront sin, be obedient to him, and that he could use for His purposes. It seems to me this is even more vital today than 40 years ago.Read more about God Is Not Finished with Us by David Peterman, Jr.
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, first of all I wish to express my sincere gratitude to each one of you for your kind invitation to celebrate with you this important occasion, as you celebrate the 40th Anniversary as a Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community here in the Diocese of Dallas. The Holy Spirit was certainly present in that small prayer group, that first prayer group that began in 1970 at St. Rita’s Parish here in Dallas. It was certainly the Holy Spirit who led you to form a Covenant Community in 1973; and we can truly say that the Holy Spirit has never ceased to guide you all during these forty years. Here you have responded to God’s call; that you live out, in a practical way, the Word of God that we meet and encounter in the Scriptures; that you live as a true Christian Community, modeled after the first original Christian communities that were formed by Jesus Christ and the Apostles as they preached the Word.Read more about CCGD 40th Anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop Farrell
FC #627: 5/19/13: the Solemnity of Pentecost, 4th week of Psalms.
To mark its 40th anniversary, Dallas Bishop Kevin J. Farrell recently celebrated Mass with members from the Christian Community of God's Delight — a lay, covenant, Catholic charismatic organization started in 1973 by the late Bobbie Cavnar.
Live Simple that Others Can Simply Live
Some of you may have heard of the story of an eagle being raised from a baby with a group of baby turkeys. As the eagle grew the only life he knew was that of a turkey, even though he looked like an eagle. Because The eagle ate the same things, lived in pens with them, and kept the turkey’s schedule. In essence his life was that of a turkey. So he thought like a turkey and acted like a turkey, even though he did not look like one. He did not live the life of an eagle, soaring above the trees and mountains. I am sure you are wondering what this has to do with the blessings Cathy, myself, and the family has experienced being in the Community. 
“And this is the first word that I want to tell you: 'Joy!' Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement!
We were blessed to be one of those who made the first covenant. Then in July 1975, Neil, I, and our 4 children moved to the Community property. This was located in the country close to Bonham approximately 75 miles northeast of Dallas. Neil traveled 100 miles round-trip to Texas Instruments daily for work. 
EDS recruited me to work for Ross Perot’s company in 1970. Bobbie and I along with two small children moved from Mobile, AL, to Dallas. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the Lord was moving several other families to Dallas, all to be a part of a work to build Christian community. Bob and Margaret Cavnar moved from Colorado, Peter Darby and his family moved from Kansas. The Phibbs moved from Oklahoma, The Wagners, Loves and many others moved to Dallas.
