Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFMCap, preacher to the papal household, calls on Charismatic Renewal to rediscover its original awe of God and not to miss the new springtime for the Church that the Pope talks about in Novo Millennio Ineunte

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth, do younot perceive it?" (Isaiah 43.19) The "new thing" Isaiah had in mind was the new exodus, the coming back from the exile in Babylon. But all these events - exodus, coming back from the exile - were "new" in a relative and provisional sense. One day there would be an absolutely "new" thing, after which there could not be other new things: the "new and eternal covenant" that god was going to make in the fullness of time, in "those days" (see Jeremiah 31.31-33).

The kingdom of God preached by Jesus is the absolutely new thing on earth. Throughout all his life, and especially at the beginning of his pubic ministry, Jesus seems to be proclaiming those words of Isaiah: "Do not remember the former things… Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" "Now" is the typical adverb of the gospel; it resounds silently in all the parables of the Kingdom". Now is the appointed time, now is the hour of decision.

After Easter this "new thing" has a proper name, it's no longer an event but a person: Jesus, the risen Lord! He is the new man, the new Adam, who has given the new commandment, established the new Covenant and made everything new. From now on God the Father has nothing new to say (in a certain sense, he has become "dumb", says St John of the Cross); neither has he anything new to do.

But this newness has a special quality in itself; it never becomes old, outdated. It's a perennially new newness. Like the sun rising every morning, fresh and new. The early Jesus was subject to the passing of time: 12 years old, 20 years old, 33 years old, he could grow old. The risen Jesus no, he lives "according to the Spirit". It is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus always new. The Holy Spirit does not make new things in the church (new sacraments, new revelations.) he makes things new!

For every sign of a new spring time that we may discover two or three signs of a new wintertime!

That is why in its feasts the liturgy says Hodie, today: today Jesus dies, today he rises from the dead, today he ascends into heaven… We should not therefore confine ourselves to looking for concrete and historical signs of a new springtime in the church. (For every sign of a new springtime that we may discover around us, others will always be able to discover two or three signs of a new wintertime!) In his letter Novo millennio ineunte the Pope speaks of a "new spring time" and launches the Churches into the new millennium with the bold cry, "put out into the deep!" but then he dedicates the central part of his letter to "starting afresh from Christ" (n.29f). He invites us to contemplate "the face of Christ" - the face of sorrow, the face of glory, the Son's face.

What, then, depends on us if the new springtime is already here? The answer is: to become aware of it. We have a beautiful word in Italian to say this, accorgersi which means to perceive with the heart, to bring something anew into the heart (ad-cor) to become attentive. In English you say to realise, to make something real, to conceive as real.

What, then, depends on us if the new springtime is already here? The answer is: to become aware of it.

"Do you not perceive it?" To be able to perceive, this is the problem; to help others to do the same, this is the task. The same was true when Jesus first preached the Kingdom, "Blessed are the eyes that see…" (Luke 10:23f) The only problem with the light is whether or not there are eyes to see, the only problem with music is whether or not there are ears to listen.

Now the prerogative of the Charismatic Renewal in its beginnings was precisely this sense of amazement, astonishment at seeing God acting among his people. The same as on the day of Pentecost: "Each one was bewildered… they were amazed and astonish.. and said to one another, ""What is this?" (Acts 2:6-12). You have a special word in English to express this feeling stirred by the presence of God, AWE.

I was very much impressed by the account left by one of the students present at the first Duquesne charismatic r etreat back in 1967: "Fear of the Lord weeled up within us; a fearful awe kept us from looking up. He was personally present and we feared being loved too much. We worshipped him, knowing for the first time the meaning of worship. We knew a burning experience of the terrible reality and presence of the Lord that has since caused us to understand, at first hand, the images of Yahweh on Mount Sinai as it rumbles and explodes with the fire of his Being and the experience of Isaiah 6:1-5, and the statement that our God is a consuming fire. This holy fear was somehow the same as love, or evoked love as we really beheld him. He was altogether lovely and beautiful, yet we saw no visual image. It was as though the splendorous, brilliant, personal God had come into the room and filled both it and us."

St Gregory of Nyssa calls all this "the awareness of a presence". In those early days, this awareness filled the meetings, the prayers, the songs, everything. "The Lord is present in his sanctuary, let us praise the Lord. The Lord is present in his people gathered here, let us rejoice in the Lord." Anytime this song was sung in a prayer meeting I was moved to tears. We could feel that the Lord was really there; what we sang, was what we experienced.

Will we be able to renew the miracle? Or will God have to raise up new people, new currents with the same kind of charism? New "waves" of the Spirit? Remember the words of Jesus, "if these keep silent the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40)

The greatest danger with God is for us to become accustomed to him, to fall from awe into routine

The greatest danger with God is for us to become accustomed to him, to fall from awe into routine. I recently received a lesson from an unbelieving woman in Rome, a lesson which I will not easily forget. I had given her my book on the Eucharist to read, seeing that she was earnestly in search of the truth about Christianity. She came back a week later saying, "Father, you didn't put a book into my hands, you put a bomb. Do you realise what you have written in these pages? You say that inside our human history a different history is going on, that we are all saved by the blood of a man who died twenty centuries ago.. My legs were trembling while reading. If this is true, everything changes."

While she was speaking, I felt ashamed. I had received Holy Communion a few moments earlier but my legs were not trembling. She reminded me of the words of an atheistic person: "If I could believe that in this Host the Son of God is truly present, as you Christians say, I think I would fall on my knees and never stand up again."

The special contribution of the Charismatic Renewal in view of the new springtime could well be in this field: renewing and keeping alive the wonder of a sense of being in the presence of God and his manifestations (in the sacraments, the charisms, the lives of persons). It's a prophetic contribution. What was the main task of the prophets in Israel, if not this one? They obliged the people to live amidst "a devouring fire and everlasting flames" (see Isaiah 33:14). They were men of, "Behold!", their favourite exclamation right up until John the Baptist, the greatest of prophets, who one day exclaimed , "Behold, the Lamb of God, Among you stands someone you do not know" (John 1.26,29)

The special contribution of the Charismatic Renewal is renewing and keeping alive the wonder of a sense of being in the presence of God and his manifestations.

The same exclamation should resound every time we get up to speak. A sense of wonder, of being deeply moved, this is the best way of saying "thank you" to somebody. After listening to someone sharing a great pain or a great joy with you, you can react by uttering nice words, but nothing will be as eloquent as a silent tear in your eyes. In front of God there can be no more appropriate sentiment than an overwhelming gratitude.

Where shall we find the resources to achieve this task? To whom shall we go for strength? Certainly not to ourselves. Remember what happened on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal thought they could bring fire down on their sacrifice by shouting louder, dancing more wildly, and gashing themselves with swords and spears, but nothing happened. Elijah prayed to God with faith and fire came from heaven. (see 1 Kings 18:20 ff)

This means that we cannot rely on our past charismatic expertise, on our own enthusiasm or willingness. We need a real, not an artificial, springtime. Faith, faith, faith, is the answer. Expectant faith, like the faith Elijah showed ont hat occasion. Marvelling is the mother of faith and her daughter at the same tiem: she generates faith and is generated by faith. We can pray with Psalm 119:18) "Open my eyes so that I can see the marvels of your law". Open our eyes so that we can see the marvel of marvels, your son Jesus Christ!

Sociologists speak of the "nascent state". The nascent state, the moment of birthing, is the magic moment when a relationship first appears and blossoms, as in a new social grouping, an institution, a religious order, a love between two people. It is usually the moment of greatest strength, novelty, hope, joy and charm. Pentecost was the church in its nascent state!

The Charismatic Renewal has had its nascent state and many among us remember it. There was a popular song years ago: "Those were the days". How tempting the tune! But then we remember the words of Isaiah (and of Jesus), "Do not remember the former things.." Our hope is that in faith also there is room for a new nascent state, a new budding, a state always newly emerging, a revival, a reawakening of faith. "Is there anything impossible to God?"

This is a slightly edited transcript of a talk given by Fr Raniero Cantalamess OFM Cap at the USA National Charismatic Conference in Huston, Texas last year.