“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes.”

by Jane Guenther and Sr. Mary Anne Schaenzer

We experienced the power of the Holy Spirit at the Fall National Leaders’ and Ministries’ Conference. Power from on high came as Walter Matthews, Executive Director for the National Service Committee welcomed all and informed us of the many cloistered religious orders praying for us and for the Holy Spirit to surround us. The beginning of the conference exposed us to the charm of southern hospitality with Johnny and Leslie Bertucci of New Orleans, Louisiana as the Emcee’s for the weekend. Their invitation to enter in and receive power from on high was enhanced by the music ministry, a combination of NET (National Evangelization Team), SPO (Saint Paul’s Outreach), and TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) ministers.

Hometown Minnesotan, Peter Herbeck, gave his testimony and challenged us with our mission as Catholic Christians. The Lord opened doors and healed Peter’s family. We are to trust and walk with the Lord as he calls us forth to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ, even if that means traveling to Lithuania. The evening concluded with Wall Ministry provided by the National Service Committee and NSC Council members.

Saturday morning began with Eucharist at which Archbishop John Nienstedt presided.

He opened his homily by singing Breathe on me Holy Spirit, and the thrust of his homily was to encourage us to receive the Breath of the Spirit in all we do.

The keynote speaker on Saturday morning was Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa who spoke about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Power from on High. He expressed the importance of the Renewal keeping alive the great treasure of baptism in the Spirit. He said that there are two ways of speaking: the first is theological, which defines; the second is concrete and shows the effects. In the afternoon he shared his testimony. He came to America in 1977 and received baptism in the Spirit at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. He personally experienced resistance from within to receive. Although he surrendered to the Spirit and likened this to giving God the reins of his life, he admitted that at times he wanted to “take the reins back.” He had seen his spiritual father as Francis having taken vows in the Franciscan order: however, through baptism in the Spirit he came to know his Father through the Lordship of Jesus. Many in Milan spoke of his transformation, “We sent to America Saul and he came back Paul.” The key to surrender is acceptance and obedience to the will of God. He spoke of personal consent to the power of Jesus. Thirty one years as the Preacher to the Papal Household, a position held longer than any other, allows us a glimpse into the providential placement by God in this time, of a man imbued with the Holy Spirit at the very heart of the Church.

The midday on Saturday was filled with Workshops and a Young Adult Track for those 18-36. Representatives of NET and SPO coordinated this vibrant track. The Young Adults had talks geared to them from Caroline Gambale-Dirkes on evangelization, Fr. Rainero Cantalamessa on purity and Peter Herbeck on mission territory. Ten workshops were offered attendees with a number covering charisms and the fruits brought forth by a life in the Holy Spirit: Bob Canton on Healing, Tammie Stevens on Praise and Worship, Chuck Hornsby on Prophecy, Virginia King on Intercession, Sr. Mary Anne Schaenzer on the fruit of the Spirit, Peter Herbeck on Mission, and Caroline Gambale-Dirkes on Evangelization, and Fr. Bob Hogan on the Full Role of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout Saturday healing teams from the Twin Cities Renewal and the NSC and NSC Council Members and prayer partners offered prayer in the healing room.

On Saturday evening it was powerful to have the Young Adults with us in the main ballroom to praise and worship. Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR shared, in his style of humor and soberness, the freedom the Lord desires for each of us. He does not want us to be held bound by anything. As we praised and worshipped the veil between heaven and earth seemed to thin and healings were proclaimed.

Sunday morning began with a beautiful reunion on Reformation Sunday of the Lutheran Renewal and our Catholic Renewal. Rev. Paul Anderson and his wife sang, A Mighty Fortress and he went on to passionately express his delight in being with us. He said “Success needs a successor” and so we needed to pass the baton on to the next generation. They are crying out for spiritual mothers and fathers. Don’t be intimidated by their enthusiasm. Revival seldom reached the third generation but Renewal does. Three things are important, the authority of the Word of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the empowering presence of the Spirit.

Caroline Gambale Dirkes then gave her testimony and challenged us to not do “Renewal Light” but to stay true to delivering the full message of the Gospel and to call upon the full role of the Holy Spirit. She encouraged multi-generational events in order that parents might be able to come.

Sunday morning concluded with the celebration of the Eucharist with Bishop Sam Jacobs presiding. We heard that we are called and that it is God’s plan that his people be renewed by the Holy Spirit. “Everybody is part of the plan of God. Go do your part.”

We were sent forth with words of comfort and exhortation: “Be glad and rejoice.” “I am always with you.” “Be prepared, for a new outpouring of my Spirit is beginning, even now.”

Readers are invited to share their testimony (100 words or less) of God’s blessings received through the Conference. With your permission we will be happy to publish it in Pentecost Today or on our website as opportunity permits. As it says in the Book of Tobit: “…the works of God are to be declared and made known.”

Testimony from Sandi Le Bel

Dear NSC,

There are four from our prayer group (Sharon Medina, Paula Solomone, Janice Valvano, and I) that have been blessed to be able to attend the past 3 years of NSC Conferences. Each year we receive such an a fresh outpouring of grace and also very "portable" teaching material which we spend the next 6-8 weeks sharing in 15 min segments at our weekly prayer meeting (Friends of God Prayer Community at St. Bernadette Parish in Hollywood, Florida.)

We wanted to especially thank you for bringing Fr. Cantalamessa to theOctober 2010 conference. Listening to him, was like listening in person to Jesus' words in scripture! The call/mission to bring back the conference to our dioceses (shared by Fr. Bob Hogan) really resonated within us as well. We began at the airport to pray and discern how the 4 of us could bring this back to our entire diocese. We wrote up our notes and the prophetic words we'd each recordedand presented them to our prayer group director and the diocesan asst. spiritual director, Fr. John Fink. From there we were sent to our local liasons, Jim and Mary Horvath, who gave the green light for us to coordinatea Leaders' Gathering of all prayer group leaders in the archdiocese to come and hear on March 5th, from 9am-4pm, a distilled version of the 2010 Conference content from the General Sessions and key Workshops we had attended.

This Leader's Gathering agenda and purpose was communicated to our Aux Bishop and was held in the center of the Archdiocese of Miami. By the grace of Godover 85 leaders attended includingliasons and core team members of the Spanish and Haitan Charismatic offices of Miami. There was an exceptionally strong, positive reaction tohearingin Fr. Cantalamessa's DVD the need to focus on the unique charism of renewal which is the baptism in the Spirit. There wasgreat response to the message of focusing onreaching the next generation (we are in our early 40s ourselves!), and to the practical ideas we shared throughout the day based on the workshops we had attended (Peter Herbeck's, Caroline G, etc.) Copies of the 2011 conference registrationform were given to the leaders and we hope many from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale will be able to attend this year's NSC conference!

In all things we give thanks to God for His Divine Providence. Wewrite this email today to also give Him thanks for providing the church with Charismatic Renewal, forthe National Steering Committee, and these wonderful annual conferences which carry the power to unite us, to make holy, and to equip us for the mission to go and make disciples! May God continue to pour out His abundance of grace on your office and bring to completionthe good work He has begun in each of you.

Blessings in Christ through Our Lady,

Sandi Le Bel

Pembroke Pines, FL