The vision of the Covenant Communities has always been to establish centers where an environment of faith would shape the lives and ensure that the mission of Jesus of building His Kingdom could be carried out effectively. It is this two fold aspect that is common to all the Covenant Communities throughout the world-the Way of Life and the Mission of Jesus. The Way of Life embraces prayer, personal and individual. The charismatic spirituality embraces charismatic forms of worship along with Eucharist and other forms of Catholic devotion. Pastoral care and spiritual direction have become an essential element as there is a recognition that without genuine spiritual growth our activities will soon become barren and the early fruit will not prove to be lasting. As our Holy Father has repeated many times in his writing, we are called to bear fruit that will last. If effective ministry is to be truly productive it must always flow from stable bases of Christian commitment and Christian life-style.
We have never been able to unify the total work of the Movement of Communities due to a variety of reasons, including culture and different theological and other orientations. Nevertheless there are grouping that are significant in size, like the Catholic Fraternity, that are succeeding in a more international cooperative work of the mission of the Gospel.
It is wise for whatever Communities are present in the world to take seriously John Paul's guiding principles for the new Movements as listed in Christifideles Laici, Articles 29 and 30. In Article 29 he speaks of the phenomena of lay people forming new associations, the character of which is varied and vital. He says we can speak of a new era of group endeavors of the lay faithful. Article 30 sets out the criteria of ecclesiality for such groups, namely the primacy given to the call of every Christian to holiness, the responsibility of professing the Catholic faith, the communion with the Pope and Bishops, conformity to and participation in the Church's apostolic goals, commitment to a presence in human society, being associations of lay faithful that must become fruitful outlets for participation and solidarity in bringing about conditions that are more just and loving within society, and many other aspects that he lists within this section.
The challenge for Covenant Communities will be to remain faithful to the charismatic graces that God has given them and to ensure the full and mature use of the gifts of the Spirit as a means of building the Church and of enabling it to be a more authentic sign to a world grievously in need of redemption and abundant life. In order for them to remain in this grace, their close association with the Bishops of the Church and the See of Rome is an essential element of discernment of the particular leadings of the Spirit in the respective Communities. It is only when each individual part of the body is faithfully listening to the Lord that when we gather together we hear in a true and real sense what the Spirit is saying to the Communities and what the Spirit is saying through them to the wider Church.
Covenant Communities can learn from the history of the Religious Orders in the Church because through their journeys then have travelled the pathway that has been well tested and offer to these new Movements of the Spirit wisdom for a lasting, fruitful journey.
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