It’s hard to believe that another Advent and Christmas is almost upon us. Fr Chris Thomas, inspired by Jean Vanier, reflects on the essence of what it means to be prophetic. He suggests that the writings of the Old Testament prophets we hear at Mass during Advent can be food for reflection about God’s call to us to be prophetic to the world around us.

We always take the opportunity at this time of the year to encourage our regular readers to think about taking out a gift subscription for friends or family members, as it is a wonderful way to spread the good news of what God is doing and a real antidote to the bad news that seems to dominate the media. Eileen O’Kane tells how a gift subscription that she took out for a friend in Brazil had amazing results that brought a whole new ministry into his life.

I always find it interesting to see how each issue shapes up, both in the subject matter and the balance between teaching articles and testimony pieces. At this year’s New Dawn conference I was very inspired by some of the people I met and the conversations I had with people working on the ground. It brought home to me the wonderful things that are happening and this issue has lots of simple stories of people doing God’s work in their parishes and every day lives. Laurence Brassill OSA and Pauline Edwards, for example, regularly go into parishes and run healing weekends. These have resulted not only in some wonderful individual healings but often the setting up of parish healing teams as a result of their visit. It might be worth inviting them to come and visit your parish! Then we have three testimonies of people who have been healed. Cath Lennon tells how she was healed of a terrible back condition at the London Day of Renewal in June, Mike Davidson tells how he was also healed of back trouble through prayer at his local prayer group, and Angela Jordan shares how she received both a physical and inner healing at the New Dawn conference this summer. Interestingly in all, the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was key, as well as the prayers of others.

In the area of healing, however, it is important that as Christians supernatural healing is rooted and related to our relationship with Jesus. Jacques Verlinde, now a priest, as a young man was led into becoming involved in occult healing without realising what he was doing. He tells us about his personal faith journey and how the Lord revealed to him that his apparent healing gifts were not from the Holy Spirit but from an evil spirit. Fr Peter Hocken continues his reflections on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and its significance. In this article he reflects on its link to the Sacraments of initiation. Fr Pat Collins CM has been researching St Thomas Aquinas’s teaching on the charisms and he gives us a quick summary of the main things he has discovered, showing that the charisms are not some recent phenomenon!

One of the key ways that people come into the experience of Baptism in the Holy Spirit is through attending a Life in the Spirit seminar. The seminars in their various formats continue to be used effectively and Goodnews readers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales share their experiences of these and what they have found effective, from seminars done in one day, a weekend or over several weeks. We also hear about those in people’s homes and how in Ireland they have felt called to do them for huge numbers in the context of the Mass. The difference that baptism in the Holy Spirit makes to someone’s life is apparent in the vivid testimonies we have from three young people, who after being filled with the Holy Spirit are now serving the Lord with all the dynamism of youth. Dominic and Robert, are two Poles in their 20s who have set up their own TV station on the internet, and Marie Acheampong, aged 29, a Catholic RE teacher, brought 40 of her pupils from an inner city school in London to New Dawn for the first time this year.

We also have all the usual regular features – Sue’s Other Half reflections and the CaFE page which keeps us up to date with what Catholic Evangelisation Services are up to, Agape Tapes and Good News Books resources and our news and coming events pages. One of the priorities that emerged from the Newman Consultation was the call to reconciliation and Christian unity. In the light of this I would like to highlight two wonderful initiatives mentioned in the news pages. One is a statue of Our Lady of Reconciliation which for the last ten years has been sent on tour round the UK and Ireland to act as focus of prayer and reconciliation. The other is a small pilgrimage of reconciliation initiated by Margaret Thomas from Wales, in response to Fr Pat Collins’s word at the Newman Consultation that there might be a pilgrimage to Assisi by representatives from the four nations of the isles as a symbol and act of reconciliation between our four countries. We also have news of the ICCRS European Leaders meeting in Warsaw and the City Evangelisation Congress in Budapest in September.

Kristina Cooper