The
Burning Bush: an Initiative in Charismatic Renewal for the Church
The spirituality of Pentecost
belongs to the whole church. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal exemplifies this
spirituality in it life and expressions. Pope John Paul II further confirmed
this at the, Solemn Vespers of Pentecost 2004 in his homily to all the church,
“Thanks to the Charismatic Movement, many Christians, men and women, youths
and adults, have rediscovered Pentecost as a living and present reality in their
daily life. I desire that the spirituality of Pentecost be spread in the Church,
as a renewed thrust of prayer, holiness, communion and proclamation In this
regard, I encourage the initiative known as "Burning Bush", promoted
by Renewal in the Spirit. This involves incessant adoration, day and night,
before the Blessed Sacrament; it is an invitation to the faithful to "return
to the Upper Room", so that, united in contemplation of the Eucharistic
Mystery, they may intercede for full Christian unity and for the conversion
of sinners. I warmly hope that this initiative will lead many to rediscover
the gifts of the Spirit, whose original source is Pentecost”. (see ICCRS
newsletter, special issue July/August 2004).
The Burning Bush Initiative affords the chance to respond to the call of New
Evangelization, enabling the Church to encounter anew an outpouring of the Holy
Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, thereby helping the “culture of
Pentecost” to take shape. The first well-spring of renewing action is
prayer, which connects us with the Spirit of Christ who is “He who renews
the face of the earth”. (Blessed Elena Guerra)
The Burning Bush Initiative
desires to help the people of God experience a Pentecost not only of a moment
or a day, but a permanent Pentecost, according to the intuition of Blessed Elena
Guerra who, at the end of the nineteenth century, urged Pope Leo XIII to lead
the Church back to the Cenacle/Upper Room of Jerusalem, for the Church to be
enlightened again and again and burn like a Burning Bush. In the first of Elena’s
twelve confidential letters to Pope Leo the XIII she wrote :
“Holy Father, the world is evil, the spirit of Satan triumphs in our perverted
society and tears away from the Heart of Jesus a multitude of souls; and in
this dreadful state of things Christians lend no thought to addressing unanimous
supplications to He Who can “renew the face of the earth”. People
recommend all sorts of devotions, but they are silent about that one devotion
which, according to the Holy Spirit of the Church, should be first and foremost.
People recite so many Novenas, but that one Novena, which by order of Our Savior
in person, was recited even by the most Holy Mary and by all the Apostles, is
now almost forgotten. Preachers praise all the Saints, but when do we ever hear
a sermon in honor of the Holy Spirit, He who shapes the Saints? …Therefore,
oh Holy Father, you alone can make Christians return to the Holy Spirit, so
that the Holy Spirit may return to us; defeat the evil reign of the devil, and
grant us the long sought renewal of the face of the earth ” (April 17th,
1895, Elena Guerra (1835-1914) was beatified by John XXIII under the title of
“apostle of the devotion to the Holy Spirit”)
The Burning Bush Initiative
is a response to Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio
Ineunte, “Our Christian communities must become genuine “schools”
of Prayer, where the meeting with Christ is expressed not just in imploring
help but also in thanksgiving, praise, adoration, comtemplation, listening and
ardent devotion, until the hearer truly “falls in love”…It
was Peter who spoke the word of faith: “At your word I will let down the
nets” As this millennium begins, allow the successor of Peter to invite
the whole Church to make this act of faith, which expresses itself in a renewed
commitment to prayer. “Duc in Altum” (Lk5.4). Furthermore to the
CCR, the Holy Father said, “put out into the deep of prayer” in
order to “put out into the deep of mission.”
In the last century, hundreds of millions in every part of Christianity have
encountered God in an Upper Room experience of a personal Pentecost, “baptism
in the Spirit”; a concrete experience of the “grace of Pentecost”
in which the working of the Holy Spirit has become an experienced reality in
our lives and in the faith community. The Burning Bush Initiative helps to continue
to fan the flame of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the
service of the Church. We are in a time where God is calling his people to return
anew to the Upper Room not in nostalgia, not looking for the beginning experiences
of the renewal but with a servant’s heart, a heart of knowing what it
is to experience the power of God and His gifts in prayer.
Let each of us be ambassadors of the Holy Spirit and of the spirituality of
Pentecost. Let us live out of the wellspring of prayer in adoration and intercession
for the whole Church according to the grace we have received in our personal
Pentecost experience.
(ICCRS newsletter, May/June
2005, see http://iccrs.org)
Kim Catherine-Marie Kollins
( © Holy Week 2005
)