A testimony by Tom Mangan, NSC member

There are miracles and then there are signs, more precisely signings. I was honored to be part of a signing ceremony that not only was moving, but also exciting and made me proud to be part of the Charismatic Renewal. In January, in Jacksonville, Florida, about fifty national leaders gathered in order to celebrate our year of unity by signing a Covenant of Understanding, a document that is meant to unite all of us under the one experience we share in common: Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Prayer group leaders, people from national and local ministries, covenant community heads, diocesan liaisons, and young adult leaders gathered to exalt Jesus by expressing our solidarity under the banner of this great charism. We may come from different cultures, speak different languages and may have heard a different call to build the Kingdom of God, but we all acknowledge our beginnings with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Reverence, solemnity and joy marked this signing ceremony. Imagine this: we are in a chapel worshipping the Lord; we are in a time of robust adoration with Jesus exposed on the covenant altar. There we are – singing, praying in tongues, at various times kneeling, standing and sitting – but always adoring Christ on the altar. Then Monsignor Malagreca, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, goes from pew to pew and individual to individual with the Monstrance so we can see and touch Our Lord at will.

It was still. Silence and smoke from the incense filled this small place and, as adoration ended, we each, one by one, approached the altar, signed the Covenant and lit a candle to signify our brother- and sisterhood as having been baptized in the Holy Spirit. I have to think that the Father was pleased with us.

(For more information on the Covenant of Understanding click here)