Vision for the year 2000
by Charles Whitehead
All of us need a personal vision from the Lord. Perhaps we are called to
some special ministry or service in the Church, or are part of a prayer
group or community with clear priorities which guide everything we do. I
cannot tell you what vision the Lord has given you and your group as we
approach the year 2000, but I can perhaps offer some thoughts which will
help us make sure that all our visions are fulfilled.
As I travel around I meet christians of all types and backgrounds. Some
firmly believe God is doing something new today, and they are seeing clear
signs of the life and power of the Holy Spirit in their meetings. Others
are earnestly praying for a new move of the Holy Spirit, convinced that
this is the time for something to happen, even if they have not seen
anything yet. Some are excited by new programmes and courses, seeing
them as answers to the needs of their groups and parishes - certain
to bring renewal and new life. All this excites me and encourages me
to hold onto my own vision, hopes, and dreams. It's christian hope in
action "placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our
own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit", as the
Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it in section 1817.
UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS
But I'm also aware as I look around that I and many others expected much
more would already have happened. I believed the grace and transforming
power of renewal in the Holy Spirit would be as important to others as
it was to me, and that everyone would be reaching out for it as eagerly
as I had done. But so often it just didn't happen like this. The truth is
there have been many disappointments for all of us. Yes, there are great
things for which I am thankful, but many of us have found it difficult to
accept that many things we expected God to do never happened. For all of
us there have been unfulfilled expectations, disappointments, failures,
and discouragements. Visions have not been fulfilled, hope has grown,
struggled, withered, and died. If this has been our experience we're in
good company - even those whom Jesus personally taught often lost hope.
SO SLOW TO BELIEVE
How many of us can identify with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus,
as they spoke to the risen but unrecognised Jesus about their unfulfilled
expectations? Their words are very touching: "Our own hope had been that
he would be the one to...."(Lk 24:21). They felt disappointed, let down,
and hurt. I can certainly identify with the way they felt. Why are our
visions and hopes often not realised? Are we wrong to hope that the Lord
will do the things he seems to have promised. I think we have a lot to
learn from those two disciples. They had somehow missed the point - they
were hoping for the wrong things. Even after three years in his company
they didn't understand Jesus and his mission. They were expecting him
to set Israel free, but his mission was much greater than that. So often
we, like them, are hoping for too little and therefore missing the main
vision - we deserve to be rebuked by Jesus, too: "Foolish men! So slow
to believe the full message of the prophets!" (Lk 24:25). The Lord's
vision and plans are always greater than ours. If God is your partner,
make your plans large!
A SURE HOPE
If I want to serve the Lord I have to learn that all my resources are
contained in him. "Cut off from me you can do nothing" Jesus reminds
us in John 15:5. It's a lesson he will teach me in his time and in his
way, I cannot serve him on my own terms. His grace and power can begin
to work effectively in me only when I stop trusting in my own adequacy
and efficiency and realise that I must turn to him. Many of us have to
learn this lesson the hard way - through our failures. We learn it when
our visions die, our hopes are crushed, and our dreams perish. That's
the time to turn back to Jesus, when he is there we need nothing more,
for he is enough. He and he alone is the one to give us vision. In the
words of Peter: "We have a sure hope and the promise of an inheritance
that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away" (1 Pt 1:3-4). How
will we inherit it? Through our faith (v. 5). Faith and hope go together
(Catechism of the Catholic Church sections 1814-1819) and will lead to
the vision the Lord wants to give us. Unlike the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus we have already experienced the grace of Pentecost, the
challenge is to live in it! In the words of the letter to the Hebrews:
"Let us keep firm in the hope we profess because the one who made the
promise is faithful" (Heb. 10: 23-24).
So this is my vision for the year 2000 - that the men and women of the
Catholic Charismatic Renewal will put our hope into practice, placing
our trust in Christ's promises, and relying not on our own strength,
but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Then we will have a
charismatic renewal with the Lord's vision, and one which can change
the world. Come, Holy Spirit!
Sep-Oct 1999
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