As Kristina told you in the last edition she is away on Sabbatical until May. In her absence, the editorial committee have produced this edition of Goodnews and will produce the next one too. Obviously nobody can fill Kristina’s shoes, indeed since I have temporarily taken over some of her responsibilities I realise more fully what an excellent Job she has done over all these years, but I must say that looking over this issue we seem to have done quite a good job!

It is one thing to write a feature article for GoodNews as I have done in this edition on Parish Evangelisation but quite another to come up with an editorial. It feels strange.I am reminded of priest friend from Uganda who once told me that we must always be ready for the surprises of the Holy Spirit. When I became Chairman of the NSC in 2006, I also became the ‘managing editor’ of Goodnews. I guess I thought that involved being available to Kristina and the office staff and being part of the editorial committee. Little did I know that it would lead me to be sitting, albeit temporarily, in the Editor’s chair.

I guess like me many of you will have been slightly jolted by the early on-set of Lent. We had barely munched our way through the Christmas biscuits and chocolates before the dawning of Ash Wednesday. It’s only March and yet Easter draws near. All this leaves me with the desire to live each day to the full by being rooted in the themes and moods of each liturgical season. This year, Easter without the usual Celebrate Conference seems little strange. However, having a break may allow the Lord the opportunity to show us new things. Do take a look at the programme of Celebrate Weekends on page 33. These will create a wonderful opening for new people to be involved in leadership as each weekend has its own core team who will work alongside the invited guests and speakers. It is also a great opportunity for us to invite some of our Parish friends who have not experienced Celebrate before to ‘Come and See’.

The period between between Easter and Pentecost is often a good time for Life in the Spirit seminars. So maybe it is not so unusual for us to see in this edition details about the ICCRS Pentecost of the Nations project or the exciting news that Emily Davis from CASE shares about a planned Pentecost Event in London linking in with the Global Day of Prayer. Before the moment of opportunity passes, perhaps it is good to spend some time reflecting on what Pope Benedict XVI has called the ‘Culture of Pentecost’. How can we in Charismatic Renewal be more effective in living and promoting this within our Church and World?

Undoubtedly, one of the fruits of Pentecost is seeing the need and having the desire to evangelise and realising that this is only possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this issue we read about how, in different circumstances, Jackie Pullinger and Peter Hutley were called to respond to the call to evangelise in specific ways. The Church constantly reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the evangeliser. So it is interesting in Fr Pat Collins and Fr Chris Thomas’s articles to link the use of Charisms in the Church, from the 18th century through to the present day. Indeed as Dominic Meigh reminds us in his piece on ‘Ancient Wisdom’ the Spirit has always been active in the Church and there is much wisdom from the past that still has relevance for us today in the Charismatic Renewal.

Pope John Paul II taught that as evangelisers we are in need of constant conversion and renewal. I always find that inspiring testimonies give me encouragement or challenge and so, build up my faith. Fr John Bashibora in his testimony about ‘good news to the poor’ provides the encouragement. Then, Fr Emile Lafranz in his article on faith that can move mountains provides the challenge.

In this issue we begin a new series; ‘your word is a lamp to my feet’. We felt that as the theme of the 12th Synod of Bishops (5th-26th October 2008) is, ‘the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church’ we should have an on-going focus on Scripture in Goodnews. So if any of you would like to write about a favourite scripture passage, we would love hear from you. Obviously, we can’t promise to print everything we get but we’d love to hear about how the Word has become alive and active in your lives.

Finally, please keep Kristina in your prayers during her Sabbatical. We ask the Lord to give her rest and peace and to speak to her heart. Also please pray for the staff of Goodnews and the editorial committee that we may continue to keep the ship sailing whilst the captain is away.

Michelle Moran