| Community of Nazareth Eanna Johnson, the senior co-ordinator of the Community of Nazareth, shares about his faith and how the community came about, as a fruit of Charismatic renewal and a small group of married couples involved in Teams of Our lady
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Although my parents were both from Dublin, I was born in India, where I spent my early life. Later, when my parents split up, we moved to Australia, but after my dad^s death, my mother and we children returned to Ireland. My mother had a strong faith and I had a good Catholic schooling all the way from kindergarten, and so I got a thorough grounding in the Faith from an early age. I can remember making a definite decision for God when I was about six. My faith never disappeared, even though I was challenged and at times my fervour waned, especially at university. Teams of Our Lady and the early years of Charismatic Renewal
All the members of our Team were involved in the renewal so we functioned like a small charismatic community. We had read and heard about the new covenant communities that had grown from the renewal in the USA and elsewhere, and began to wonder if this was the way the Lord would call us to go. We were very conscious that the Teams catered for married couples only, and therefore had no place for single people. By the early 80s this was of particular personal interest to us because our children were then approaching their late teens. Meeting the People of Hope It was around that time that we were introduced to a group from the People of Hope, a charismatic covenant community based in New Jersey. These young men and women had been led through a remarkable set of circumstances to an outreach in County Cork. In the summer of ''82 my wife and I, along with our four children, were invited to visit the People of Hope in New Jersey, where we were received with great love and hospitality. This was an opportunity to personally experience the lived reality of this concept of charismatic covenant community. The response of each and every member of the family was very positive, so I began to think that maybe this was indeed the way the Lord was calling us. Community of Nazareth is born On returning to Dublin we shared our experience with the members of our Team and with some other friends from our prayer meeting. The response varied from instant when-do-we-start enthusiasm to cautious interest. The next two years were a time of prayer, discernment, discussion and finally decision. On 8th September 1984, at a retreat in Ballyvalloo, Co. Wexford, 25 people (nine married couples, six single adults, and a priest, Fr. Cyril Byrne, CSSp) each made their covenant commitment to God and to one another in the Community of Nazareth. Since that time we have been greatly blessed with new members and the community now numbers some 90 adults, with 60 children under 18 years of age. I currently serve as 'Senior Coordinator', chosen by the members to be the principal leader and to chair the Council which governs the Community. In the course of the years a small number of members have chosen to leave but it has always been our policy to maintain contact and good relationship with these and to invite them to our celebratory occasions. Participation in the Sword of the Spirit Through the People of Hope we were introduced to the Sword of the Spirit, an international ecumenical grouping of some seventy charismatic covenant communities. The Sword of the Spirit is best described as a community of communities; each member community is self-governing, but we share a common vision and mission, and build supportive relationships through international meetings and other contacts. Our closest sister communities in Sword of the Spirit are in Belfast, Glasgow and London. Most members of the Nazareth community reside in south Co. Dublin, many within easy reach of one another, thus making it easy to attend meetings and fellowship . A small group live in west Dublin, requiring for them a deal of travel to attend community events. The community's relationships with local parishes have generally been good, but with occasional tensions when community activities were, incorrectly, perceived to be taking precedence over parish. In reality, a considerable number of community members are actively involved in their parish ministries and services. The mission of the community The mission of the Community of Nazareth may be best summed up as a Christian community whose members are open to the action of the Holy Spirit through the charismatic gifts and who are committed to loving and serving Jesus Christ, one another and those around them. The life of community members has four main aspects: life with God; life with one another; life of witness/evangelisation, and life of service in society. While not living in common, the community aims to establish a way of life where individuals are not isolated, where marriage and family life are strengthened, where young men and women grow in brotherhood and sisterhood, and are helped in living the single life or in preparing for marriage, where children can grow up among people who are striving to live Christ's commandment of love. Our community has a strong programme for 7-17 year olds, involving a weekly meeting during term time where we do bible study, catechetics and prayer using methods which are lively, enjoyable and instructive. We also try to foster good Christian personal relationships, creating a positive peer pressure. Belonging to an international community network also gives them many opportunities to meet with other young people from overseas, which is very beneficial. The Covenant of the community, which every new member is invited to accept publicly, states in its opening words: God our Father, has called us to be his people. He has sent his son Jesus as our model, as the source of new life in the Holy Spirit. We desire to respond to that call, to follow Jesus and to be guided at all times by his Holy Spirit. The Covenant ends: In short, we desire to take responsibility for the brothers and sisters whom the Lord has given us in our new family and to work together in Christian fellowship for the fulfilment of the mission be has entrusted to us as his beloved people. Goodnews connection Earlier this year we were asked by Patricia Mitchell, who chairs
the National Service Committee in Ireland, to handle the Irish distribution
of Goodnews magazine. We felt privileged to be asked and as a community
we are delighted to serve Catholic charismatic renewal in Ireland
in this way. We were saddened when New Creation had to cease publication,
but we trust that God can turn all situations for the good. Goodnews
is a fine publication, and creates a great opportunity to bind Christians
together in our two neighbouring islands; we have so much in common
through a shared spiritual heritage. I have a sense that God wants
to work through us, to heal past divisions and bring about a new flowering
of the Spirit, responding to the Pope's call for the Third Christian
Millennium to "launch out into the deep".
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met my wife Pat while we were students at University College Dublin.
After graduation we both served as mission volunteers in Nigeria,
got married on return to Ireland and became very active in our parish,
in marriage counseling and in Concern (Third World relief agency).
By the early 1970s, however, we felt a crying need to build our own
life as a Catholic married couple. A priest friend introduced us to
Equipes Notre Dame (Teams of Our Lady). This is a movement made up
of small groups of married couples who encourage each other in living
out the vocation of Christian marriage. We found the Teams a great
blessing, a real experience of Christian community. Around the same
time we met Charismatic Renewal. Pat had an initial personal baptism
in the Spirit experience while on a visit to Cobh and then we were
introduced by another priest friend Fr. Richard Loehrlein to one of
the earliest prayer meetings in Dublin. Charismatic Renewal and baptism
in the Spirit were the greatest and most surprising blessings I have
ever received from God. My faith was deepened, it was like falling
in love with God all over again, and the Scriptures really came alive
for the first time. Charismatic renewal in Ireland was very ecumenical
in its early years, and this too was an exciting, sometimes challenging,
experience. 
