Walking into Christ together. Lent's Invitation to Life.

Matthew 3

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'
4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

I remember the season of Lent in the rural Ireland of my childhood. As a child I remember Ash Wednesday when all, even the teachers in school, bore an ashen cross signed on their foreheads. This cross began, what was for us a season of penitance and self denial. We believed our moral reform would help us prepare our souls for Easter. For us children it meant giving up sweets and trying to live as better people for Jesus. But I now ask myself if this self purification and denial served rather to obscure the wonder of faith, the desert encounter with it's temptations and victories, and the Pascal mystery contained in this wonderful season. The ashen sign of the Cross contrasts with the mark of the beast and speaks not of human self-reform but rather of the mystery of our faith as Christians. In His death is our life. In His steps lie the liberating redemptive seasons of our lives. It is in surrender and total passionate abandon to the will of our God that the Christian believer finds the new resurrection life.

Jesus began His approach to the Jordan by living firstly a season of surrender to detachment. I imagine that for some time the Holy Spirit had been speaking to Him of change. Nazareth life was ending for Him. The simple joys of home, family, work, and belonging were about to be replaced by the adventure of stepping into the Father's purpose for His life. The Jordan stands for the powerful waters of Baptism, for the washing of the Word, for the immersion into a place of surrender and death to all that he could control and gain false human security from. The Voice beckoned. The Voice of prophetic revelation. The disturbing Voice of a sent one this time calling not only Israel to repentance and faith, but the Lamb of God Himself to His altar.

John had discovered his mission earlier. He was a man who had entered into the incarnation of his calling. He was a preparer and his instrument was the witness of his own surrender and the giving voice to that which the Father had revealed in secret.So are we as Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in this World. A postmodernistic secular society has no interest in the noise of our theological debate, or in our centuries old lust for power and control over Christ's Sheep. Western Christianity in it's institutional expressions has disgraced itself before Europe. It needs to deeply repent to be credible again. It needs to give back to Caesar what Caesar gave to it, and give to God that which belongs exclusively to God. It's total and unreserved love and allegiance. Two World Wars later a wounded World wanders in search of authenticity & the lived out witness of truth. Such was Palestine 2000 years ago, such is Europe today. Why did the people come out from the comfort of Jerusalem and the Temple to a wild man in a river in the midst of a wilderness? They came because he was the word he proclaimed! They came because he had the Word from God for the present moment! The Voice. They came because it was true and authentic.

Jesus, our Lord, was called to reorder the priorities of a life of 30 years with Mary in Nazareth to embrace the consecration of His vocation. Repentance is not only from sin. It is "Metanoia" - a turning in life. To go from faith to faith and glory to glory, we must leave yesterdays faith and yesterdays anointing and permit ourselves to live in the vulnerability of a spiritual poverty where we need the Voice and the Vocation of God the Father.

So much of western popular Christian thought & piety is pure illusion. We ask God to bless our old tattered lives when He says, "Let it die, and come follow me, and I will make you..." I speak now as a Pastor of twenty years. There is little authentic transformation in modern Christianity. But authentic Christianity is all about transformation. It is never static. It is a dynamic walk into Christlikeness for all eternity.

Jesus was available to the Voice of the Father and He choose to be vulnerable and willing. It led Him to the waters of the Jordan forever separating Him from His past life. It led Him into the anointing for the Messiah / Christ life. A fiery baptism in the will, love, power, and sanctifying fire of the Father. The same Spirit that led Him to the waters and the ecstasy of the anointing brought Him in contact with His own vulnerability and weakness and into direct confrontation with Satan and his real temptations for the Christ. It was the availability of Prayer, the Listening of Contemplation, the soaking and dwelling in the manifest presence, and the radical choice to completely and always obey the living Word that got Jesus through.

Such is your vocation this Lent. To follow in Jesus footsteps....

...From the security and comfort of Nazareth to the disturbing Waters of Consecration.

...From the impotence of self will and effort to communion with the Divine Will and His anointing.

...From the strife of busyness to the peace of availability.

...From the illusion of self autonomy, to the realities of His Lordship.

...From my will and life to His Voice and Destiny.

Now who says Lent and the desert are boring!

I pray that week by week you may come ever deeper into the realities of God and His will for you.

Your brother and servant,

Gerard+

Missionary of the Holy Spirit.

Our Rule for a Consecrated Life

Rule of life and spirituality for the members of the Celtic Christian Order called

“The Missionaries of The Holy Spirit“.

Dedication.


We dedicate this rule to all who have lost themselves in the love of Christ. May we be found faithful in carrying this liberating reality to our generation.

Introduction, Spirituality, and Purpose.

“If you have gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care - then do me a favour: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!
Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honoured him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth - even those long ago dead and buried - will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honour of God the Father.
What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.”

Philippians 2:1-13 “The Message” New Testament .


The Celtic Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit is fruit of the fusion of three Holy Spirit movements in the Body of Christ today.

1) The Celtic Movement with its emphasis on consecrated missionary monastic communities composed of married, celibate, and single vowed members living a holistic spirituality that sanctified every aspect of human life & experience.

2) The Convergence Movement where the Evangelical, the Charismatic, and the Sacramental meet creating a refreshingly complete experience of Christianity.

3) The “New Monasticism” Movement, which drawing from the ancient wells of historic consecrated life, is inspiring a new generation with a fuller understanding & appreciation for the deeply converted and consecrated Christian life.

The Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit exists to delight the heart of the beloved Father through radical and complete abandonment of our lives to his Son Jesus in obedience to the Lordship & guidance of the Holy Spirit. We realise this abandonment through personal and corporate consecration to a spirituality of “availability and vulnerability” in five distinct areas of Christian life.


1) The Contemplative life and Calling: Seeking the Father’s Heart.

2) Meditation and Study: Understanding the Father’s thoughts.

3) Consecration to Community: Loving the Father’s children.

4) Service to Christ’s Body, to the lost, the broken,
& the poor of this World: Serving the Father’s people.

5) Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence and Holy Indifference
towards expression of service: Honouring the Father’s will.




1) The Contemplative life and Calling: Seeking the Father’s Heart.

When Jesus visited his dear friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus he underlined that the attitude of Mary was the heart attitude he sought from us.

In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself?
Please tell her to help me." But the Lord answered, "Martha, Martha," he said, "you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her." Luke 10:38-42


The Missionary of the Holy Spirit understands that they are first called into fellowship with the community of the Divine Trinity above all other communities or relationships.

We understand our own littleness and brokenness and that we of ourselves can do nothing to truly advance the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We can only give what is given to us.

We choose the poverty of spirit that waits in silence upon our Lord, for in Him alone is our salvation. We are called to love; therefore we understand our need to receive love, Divine Agape love. We expose our vulnerability and brokenness to His presence that we may be healed.

We are called to relationships of grace, mercy, and permanent forgiveness with others therefore we confess our sin and receive grace and forgiveness from our Father, through the mediation of Jesus Christ.

We are called to a Ministry and Word of Reconciliation toward our neighbour, therefore we above all know our need to live and nurture a reconciled relationship with God our Father.

We are called to serve our Lord, yet what service has value that is not initiated by Him. God quickens his council in the secret place of the heart. As Missionaries of the Spirit our greatest gift to the Lord and His Bride is to listen to His council and be filled with His presence.
The Spirit quests to find those who will still their souls, listen, and obey without reservation. The vocation and service born from listening and obedience always bear Kingdom fruit.


Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Jn.14:10-12

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Eph.2:10


2) Meditation and Study: Understanding the Father’s thoughts.

The Missionary of the Holy Spirit is willing to ground their lives in God’s Word, the Holy Bible. We give our minds to the service of the Father that He may teach us His ways and thoughts. We are called to embrace a spirit of excellence in all we do for we serve the God of heaven and earth, and He deserves our very best. Because of this truth we do not shy away from any path of formation that may render our service more effective. We do not presume to know more than others, but wish to be teachable and gain from the Church’s wisdom.

Our vocation to love the Lord our God implies a consecration of “all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength”. Through this willingness to “work” at developing all the talents the Lord has given us, we are already preparing our hearts to meet our neighbour in a true spirit of consecrated love. Why give them second best, when we are loving Jesus through loving them.

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you the sure mercies of David.
Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.''

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,'' says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Is.55:1-13

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3



3) Consecration to Community - Loving the Father’s children.

One of the great privileges of our calling is that we do not have to walk alone. Christianity is only for admitted failures. Receiving Christ as Lord and Saviour can only come from the grace of understanding the emptiness of a human life lived in rebellion and autonomy towards God’s government and grace. It is the joy of every prodigal to discover not only the Father’s heart but also His household of faith.

This Order is a Fellowship of those who share the same charism and calling. It is Covenant Brotherhood and Sisterhood. It is the grace gifting of a specific family of companions for our earthly pilgrimage bound together by common love, vows, and calling. We will serve many in our lives, have many acquaintances and contacts, but heart fellowship & covenant relationship is a rare gift conceded by a loving and understanding Father to His children.

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

Missionaries of the Holy Spirit understand that all of Christianity is relational. Redemption itself was worked to realise reconciled relationships toward God and man. There is no greater delight for God than to see His children living together in unity. We cannot preach it to others until we are willing to live it ourselves. Our spirituality is evaluated through our relationships. We give our lives to creating Kingdom relationships and communities wherever we go. This begins in our personal relationship circle, is manifest in the brotherhood and sisterhood of the Order, and represents the heart of our ministry to the Universal Church and in our mission to the World.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.
Psalm 133:1-2

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Jn.13:34-35

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

These things I command you, that you love one another. Jn.15:10-17

That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Jn.17:21-23

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honour
Romans 12:9-10

Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did.

Dear brothers, I am not writing out a new rule for you to obey, for it is an old one you have always had, right from the start. You have heard it all before. Yet it is always new, and works for you just as it did for Christ; and as we obey this commandment, to love one another, the darkness in our lives disappears and the new light of life in Christ shines in.

Anyone who says he is walking in the light of Christ but dislikes his fellow man, is still in darkness. L V B 1 John 2:6-9







4) Service to Christ’s Body, to the lost, the broken, and the poor
of this World. - Serving the Father’s people.

The Missionary of the Holy Spirit is above all a servant. A servant of the servants of God. A servant of the poorest of the poor. There is no greater privilege than to serve another. To serve another is to be given the privilege of touching Christ. When a Christian’s ministry is too important to serve the least of the world’s broken and wounded, then that ministry has ceased to be Christ’s! In the Body of Christ as in Society there are many wounded and broken who go unseen. Some are in the pulpit, some are in the pews, and some have been wounded and lost to the fellowship of local churches. We must look beyond a mentality of “our ministry” and beg God that we may become His voice and hands to touch the unseen. There is no greater honour than to hear the Master say “Well done good and faithful servant…”

I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor and destitute. Clothe those who are cold and don't hide from relatives who need your help.

If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, and goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. ``Yes, I am here,'' he will quickly reply. All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak, and to stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumours!

Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day.
And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

Your sons will rebuild the long-deserted ruins of your cities, and you will be known as ``The People Who Rebuild Their Walls and Cities.''

If you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath and speaking of it with delight as the Lord's holy day, and honouring the Lord in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasure, nor talking idly-- then the Lord will be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high, and get your full share of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.
L.V.B. Isaiah 58:7-14

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

`For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
`I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, `Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
`When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
`Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.
Matthew 25:31-40

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?''
Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.''
Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!'' Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.''
Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!''
Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.''

For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean.''
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?

"You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
"For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
"If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.”

John 13:1-17





By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:16-18













5) Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence and Holy Indifference towards
all types of service. - Honouring the Father’s will.

The Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit is composed of Brothers and Sisters who have chosen to trust their heavenly Father.

We believe that God is love and in Him is no darkness or deceit.

Therefore we abandon our lives to His will above our own. This is our greatest gift to God, our trust. “Not my will, but yours be done”. We allow ourselves to be inspired by faithful brethren of the past who lived and died in this abandonment. They are our heroes. In particular we draw inspiration from the spirituality of St. Benedict, Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi and Charles de Foucauld.
We could just as well have chosen Andrew Murray, George Fox, Hudson Taylor, George Muller, and William and Catherine Booth from the evangelical protestant traditions. There are millions who have walked this walk before us, and many who will follow after we are gone.

These are chosen for their particular testimony of abandonment within the context of pioneering a Religious Order that embraces the charism which the Holy Spirit has also entrusted to us.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console:
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis of Assisi
Co-Founder with St. Clare of the Franciscan Movement.



Self-Abandonment to Divine Care or Providence applies for all areas of our lives. If we are willing to trust God for our eternal future why not trust Him with the same abandon in our present moment.

It is essentially a surrender of our will, our fears and cares, our anxieties and worries on a daily basis. When we focus our lives around His will, we are in the securest place in the World. We cannot and will not conceive of saying “No” and “Lord” at the same time. Our only valid response is “Yes Lord”.

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands.
Do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you.
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul.
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart.
For I love you , Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands without reserve and with boundless confidence.
For you are my Father.

Brother Charles de Foucauld
Martyr & founder of the Little Brothers and Sisters of Jesus.

Holy Indifference implies a chosen detachment from all preferred forms of service and lifestyles so as to be available exclusively to His will & chosen service for us. It is not for us to tell God what we will do for Him.

Our service is simply the obedient outworking of our inner life with Him. The Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit is primarily a Contemplative Order who will undertake any service or vocation the Master wishes. However, as soon as another can do it better, or are available to serve, we will relinquish our role, support them in theirs, and eventually if we are successful, “put ourselves out of a job”. We are never to fall into the trap of taking our worth or identity from what we do or from a title. Our worth and dignity comes from being loved by God and surrendered to His will. Our only passion is to live in availability and vulnerability before Him. This was a powerful spiritual characteristic of those Celtic monks and spiritual pioneers of ages past.


O Lord,
Wherever your glory be best served, whenever, however, there, then, and in that state let me your servant be only hide not from me your Divine love.
Help me to trust you to the uttermost.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
To give, and not to count the cost;
To fight, and not to heed the wounds;
To toil, and not to look for rest;
To labour, and not ask for any reward,
Save that of knowing that I am doing your will.

St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Founder of the Society of Jesus.




Daily life as a Missionary of the Holy Spirit.

“Preach the Gospel on all occasions and if necessary use words” - Francis of Assisi

A person’s life speaks far more eloquently than their words. Missionaries of the Holy Spirit understand their absolute need for God’s person and presence. Therefore we hold it to be our highest calling to honour our daily appointment with God.

Prayer and devotional life.

The Daily Office. Members are to consecrate time so as to pray some form of morning and evening prayer daily.

Suggested resources for the Offices:
The Divine Office. Official Catholic 3 Volume Set.
The Anglican Breviary.
Divine Hours. A three-volume set by Phyllis Tickle.
The Book of Common Prayer - 1928 or 1979 editions.
Celebrating Common Prayer (Society of Saint Francis).
Celtic Daily Prayer - The Northumbria Community.

Lectio Divina.
A four-fold method of listening to God speak through the Holy Word and Christian writings.
a) READ: Read the text slowly two or three times.
b) LISTEN & CONTEMPLATE: Allow the Holy Spirit to quicken a portion, phrase, or even a word to you. Remain with this, and allow it to speak into your heart.
c) MEDITATE & STUDY: Meditate on the text or book you are reading. Use your imagination to place yourself in the context of the Scripture and live it out from different perspectives. Listen to your heart and emotions and how you are encountering God’s Truth and Person.
d) APPLY TO YOUR LIFE & WALK: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you apply what you have meditated and contemplated to your life today. Write it down in your prayer journal and seek opportunities to put it into Practice.
This is one way to facilitate “the Word becoming flesh” daily in your life.


The Eucharist.
The Eucharist or Lord’s Supper is at the heart of the contemplative’s life. Here is our most intimate moment of communion with Jesus. Here we contemplate the redemptive mystery of the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus and His eternal presence with the Church in the midst of “the breaking of bread”. Here too we contemplate both the mystery of the oneness of Christ’s Body, The Church; our oneness relationship to all His children, and the mystery of Christ’s presence in us, as individuals. Each communion service calls us to deeper oneness and unity with God and our brother.

Priest members of the Order should seek to celebrate regularly the Eucharist.

All Missionaries should receive communion at least once a week.

Evangelical & Anabaptist members should have weekly celebration of their communion services to unite again in the mystery of the completed redemptive sacrifice of Christ and to reaffirm their consecration to the walk of reconciliation and unity with all Christ’s children. When we partake of the bread and wine we partake of our brother & sister, as well as celebrating our Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross.

Personal Prayer.
The heart of a contemplative is the heart of a worshiper. Praise, Worship, and Adoration should play a large part in our personal prayer life. As the Royal Priesthood of Jesus we stand in the gap on earth under the direction of Christ’s heavenly intercessory ministry. We stand in the gap for the Church in her humanity; we stand in the gap for the nations who live in ignorance of their Creator. We offer training to all members in their noviciate and consecrated life in the ways of prayer and our sincerest desire is that we may be a people whose greatest joy is contemplative union through communion with our God.

Silence.
Silence is the contemplative’s friend. Whether we feel God’s presence and anointing or not, He is there. We still the clamour of our souls so as to rest in the pregnant silence of His presence. This is our home, our place of encounter. At times it will expose us in our nudity and helplessness, at times it will console us, but He is always there beyond the clamour of our soul, there awaiting our availability and presence.

Work.
All work is sacred when it is consecrated to God. We should never continue work that contradicts His council or grieves His Spirit. But having said that, we need to understand that our daily work is also prayer. We work not only for ourselves, but also for His Kingdom. We work to have resources to share with our local Church. We work to bless our families and loved ones. We work to meet our brother’s needs. We work to have the liberty to touch our neighbour’s need. We work to enable the mission of the Order and the Universal Church to continue. We work to gain stewardship for Christ over the worlds resources, to play our part in the wealth transference from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. We work as Jesus worked at Nazareth, often hidden, bringing the Father’s presence to the heart of society. We work because Christ also sends us into factories, offices, schools, garages, prisons etc.

Ancient contemplatives divided their day between prayer, work, and relating to their immediate community, we too walk this path. It is one whole expression of our calling.


The Home - Our Monastery.
The home of a Missionary of the Holy Spirit is their Monastery. Each house or apartment is a centre of the Kingdom presence in our neighbourhood. It is the location of our first service to God and others. We recognize that it belongs to God. Those who are married accept their loved ones as their first community and congregation. We lay down our lives for their welfare and sanctification. There will be times when we will need to give more of our hearts to them than to outer ministry. This is wholesome and good. But at all times Jesus is first.

We hope that as the Order develops God may grace us with those who are called to a consecrated common life expression and that we may see the birth of extended family homes in neighbourhoods composed of celibates, married, and singles or consecrated monasteries of male or female celibates.

Hospitality
Our homes must always be places of genuine welcome and hospitality for those the Father sends. This is our greatest joy to become a hub of love and spiritual life in our neighbourhood. Let us see lives changed at our kitchen tables, the hungry fed, the lonely consoled, and the broken healed. Let us always be willing to reach out to our neighbours. Let there always be an extra place set at table for Christ’s guest.

Personal Ministry / Service.
While we are above all a contemplative order, we embrace under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to make Disciples of Nations (social groupings), baptising them into Christ and His Body in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We therefore believe that each believer is called firstly to reconciled communion with their God, and secondly to His service through a ministry of reconciliation in both the Church and the World.

We will seek to encourage and equip all to enter into their true place in the Body of Christ. The Order respects the autonomy of the ministries of its members and seeks only to give encouragement, fellowship, and service to them. We recognise that the Body of Christ is one; therefore service to any single part is service to all.

Personal Retreat
Each member of the Order shall make a personal retreat once a year. As Christ our Lord withdrew into the quiet places to be alone so must we if we are to taste and renew our personal intimacy with Him. At this retreat each member shall write a spiritual account of their year of life and service and send it to the Community Abbé (Father).


Body life in the Order.

Retreats
Each year the Order shall hold its annual spiritual retreat. The purpose of this is to gather as a specific community of people to wait upon God, hear His voice, renew our vision, and deepen our fellowship.

New Novices shall be accepted into the Order officially at this time.
Professions of vowed consecrated life may be made and lifetime vows renewed.

At the conclusion of our yearly Retreat we shall hold our General Chapter Meeting to discuss and arrive at decisions together concerning the Orders spiritual and temporal life.

Local Fellowship.
All members of the Order, as true Disciples, should be active servants in a local expression of Church Community. However where members live close to each other they should seek each other out at least once a month to enjoy fellowship and prayer.

Your Novice Master or Formation Director.
The Novice Master (Formation Director) is the traditional term for the spiritual servant and director of the Novices. Their role is to act as a mentor and friend as the novice enters and matures through the spiritual formation and help offered by the Order.

Your “Anaim Cara” or “Soul Friend”
The “Anaim Cara” or soul friend is a vocational companion in the tradition of the Celtic Church, a brother for a newly professed male, and a sister for a newly professed female. They are not your formational directors but rather a friend and companion to accompany and encourage you on your journey. In time you too may be assigned as an “Anaim Cara” to another. Members shall receive their “Anaim Cara” at first profession of vows after the completion of their noviciate.

The Internet.
The Internet is a wonderful place of meeting where distance is easily bridged. Our site needs to be a point of encounter and spiritual nourishment much as the “Daily Chapter Meeting” was for the ancient monks in common life monasteries of old. The Internet may serve as a forum and as a place to ask intercessory prayer from the Order membership.
How our Order is structured and lead.

Servant Leadership.
The purpose of leadership is:

To serve the desires of God for the Order.
To promote fidelity to the Order’s charisms and calling.
To facilitate each member and the whole Body of the Order in their common walk towards Christ.

The ministry of the following brethren shall serve the day to day running of the Order.

Extraordinary decisions or amendments to the Rule and Constitution of the Order shall be made at the General Chapter of the Order.


The Community Father or Abbé.
The Abbé (French for spiritual father) presides over and cares for the Order as an Abbot or Abbess cared for the consecrated brethren in ancient historic Eastern and Celtic monasticism. The emphasis is on care and nurturing rather than ecclesiastical authority.

The Abbé is always under the oversight and pastoral care of an Archbishop or Bishop. The Abbé provides leadership, guidance, and spiritual direction to the Order. Unless he is ordained a bishop, the Abbé does not exercise episcopal functions within the Order. The Abbé must be an ordained Priest in historic apostolic succession.

The present Abbé is the founder of our Order Fr. Gerard O’ Flaherty.

The fully professed members of the Order of The Missionaries of the Holy Spirit may elect a future Abbé with their choice pending approval by the Founder, or the retiring Abbé, & the Episcopal Overseer. This election shall be held once every five years after the first lifetime professions for the Order have been made. No individual may hold this office for more than two consecutive five-year periods.

While the founder lives and is a faithful Christian, his role shall be to guide and council the Order in the interpretation of it’s guiding charisms. The founder does not necessarily need to be in an office of government in the Order. All authority is an act of love and service to the brethren for their edification and growth.
No one must ever lord over another. Jesus in John 13 has set us the example of servant leadership and we must follow in His footsteps. The greatest among you must be the servant of all.


The Prior
The Prior assists the Abbé in the overseeing of the Order and serves as a spiritual advisor and counsellor to the Abbé. The Prior may or may not be a member of the ordained Priesthood. The Abbé, with the approval of the Episcopal Overseer, appoints the Prior.


Regional Pastoral Servants
Given the nature of our Order and the globality of the Internet, Regional Pastoral Servants are local extensions of the fatherly and fraternal care of the Abbé and the Prior. They may or may not be ordained Priests / Ministers. As with all service roles brothers or sisters may occupy them. Their role is to humbly care for the needs of Order Members in their State, Province, or City. The Abbé appoints Regional Pastoral Servants as needed. They will share monthly with both the Abbé and the Prior concerning their service and are accountable to the presiding Episcopal Overseer.

The Spiritual Director for Novices or “Novice Master”
The Novice Master is the appointed Spiritual Director and Mentor for the Novices and Postulants of the Order. Their function is to mentor and care for those in their charge guiding them through the Spiritual Formation provided by the Order.

The Treasurer or Bursar.
The Bursar of the Order shall take care that all the Orders financial dealings shall be conducted according to good order and the laws of the state. An annual report shall be prepared by the Bursar and presented to the Abbé, the Prior, and the Episcopal Overseer. A general report shall be presented to all professed members of the Order at the General Chapter Meeting held after the Annual Retreat.

The Secretary.
The Secretary is an administrative servant of the Order. They will aid the Abbé and the Prior in their service and keep exact minutes at all assemblies and business meetings for the Order.




An Ecumenical Order

Membership of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit is open to all baptised Christians in the Evangelical, Charismatic, and Sacramental streams. We draw our identity and inspiration from the monastic life & charism of the apostolic ancient Churches. As an Order, our life and community are directly under the spiritual authority of our Abbé & our overseeing Episcopal Visitor. The desire of the Order is to birth a people of true consecration and abandonment to the service of our Lord Jesus. All members of the Order may continue faithfully in their respective Churches while enjoying full membership. May the intercession of Jesus in John 17 become the dearest aspiration of our hearts.

Understanding our Vows

Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, whether Married, Single, or Celibate express their consecration of their lives to Jesus through the taking and living out of the evangelical councils of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. Given the diversity of our vocational paths it is important that we understand how these historic vows of consecration are expressed in our community family

The Vow of Poverty.

There is a difference between voluntary and involuntary poverty. The one is a chosen spiritual path, the other an imposed and degrading system that dims the humanity of its victims.

To vow voluntary poverty is to choose to follow Jesus in His inner choice of a dependent life upon the Father. It is to rid oneself of all things that hinder loving, serving and having time for God and neighbour. Any thing or person, which comes before Christ or love in our hearts, is idolatrous and harmful. To voluntarily vow poverty is not to reject earthly goods but rather it is to choose a simplicity of life and lifestyle which allows us to overcome our fears and liberates us to become channels of God’s abundant provisions to all whom the Father leads us to, especially to those of our own household. [Isaiah 58:6-12]. It is to choose to believe in the Father’s love and provision for our lives. It is a walk of faith and obedience to His will.
It is to acknowledge God as the ultimate source of your spiritual, mental, physical, and relational life.

To vow holy poverty is to desire to emulate the kenosis [self emptying] of Jesus as described in Philippians chapter two. Each Christian must choose who is the source of their well-being, God or human effort. Embracing the abandonment of Christ is an entering into His faith in the Father’s providential care. Walking in Divine Providence may be defined as having all that you need to obey God and touch human need as He has lead you to do. It is that state of heart called Poverty of Spirit that allows you to walk in harmony with God’s Word, Wisdom, and Spirit.

The Father has explained to us what He desires from us as His children.

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly. To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. [Micah 6:8]

Love of brother means voluntary poverty, stripping one’s self, putting off the old man, denying one’s self, etc. It also means non-participation in those comforts and luxuries, which have been manufactured by the exploitation of others. While our brothers suffer from lack of necessities, we will refuse to enjoy comforts…And we must keep this vision in mind, recognize the truth of it, the necessity for it, even though we do not, cannot, live up to it. [From On Pilgrimage quoted by Dorothy Day, Meditations pp. 58-59].


The Vow of Chastity.

The Vow of Chastity is the Vow to love in a pure and selfless manner. It is not a denial of our sexuality but it’s fulfilment through chaste, integral, and faithful relationships. It is the choice to love and not to use God or others for self-gratification or self-fulfilment. It is for married, single, and celibate Christians alike. Christian chastity contrasts the spirit of our age, which is deeply wounding humanity. It is to repent from an obsession with self to open to the true life of the heart and to the well being of others. Sometimes it helps to see the truth contrasted against the error.


Max Stirner in his book The Individual and His Property expresses honestly the worldview we desire to repent from.

“My dealings with the world - what is their purpose? I want to enjoy the world; therefore it must be mine. All I want is to have power over the world. I want to make it my property; that is, I want to be able to enjoy it. I take advantage of the world and the people in it. My enjoyment and my happiness consist in refreshing myself at the cost of their happiness and their enjoyment. But as for me, I never sacrifice myself; I remain an egotist and relish it! I am not one ego among others: I am the sole ego. I am unique….I exist only for myself. Everything I see and enjoy, everything I take in hand and carry out, is all for myself. Whether I love a person in order to enjoy him, or whether I hate a person in order to eliminate him, I do it to expand and protect my sphere of influence. Either I am “good” to the “loved” person because it enables me to take pleasure in him and because I need a larger support group to help me assert myself and increase my power - or I wrong those who might hinder, disturb, or restrain me, who stand in the way of my enjoying life. I live for myself and my power alone, for myself and for nothing else”.

Jesus gave us all two commandments, to love God and to love each other as He has loved us. When we seek to understand the Vow of Chastity we need only look at how Jesus loved and choose to love in like manner [Rom.5:5]. This is open to all.


The Vow of Obedience.

To trust and obey the Lord is the way to true inner life and blessing in relationship and ministry. We vow obedience because we vow to place our lives at the service of the Father’s desires. We hold the Lordship of Jesus to be our greatest treasure. We set ourselves to never deliberately or consciously grieve the Holy Spirit.

The consecrated brother or sister is invited to surrender self-will to live the Divine will through the instrumentality of their lives. Submission to authority should follow an order of priority:

God’s Person and Word.
Our Conscience.
And in the case of the Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, Your Episcopal Overseer, The Abbé and Prior, the agreed consensus of the Community and its Rule of Life, our Novice Master, etc.

We do not ask anyone to vow obedience to us as they do to God. We are here as servants of God and equippers and carers of His children for his glory and their welfare. If someone is joined to this work they will be willing to allow themselves to be formed, edified, discipled, and cared for by its ministers. Again I state as founder that authority is a service to Christ and his Church. We must always respect the conscience of our brother or sister.

We all vow obedience to Jesus because it is only in the consecration of the human will that it is liberated from the old man to serve the new.


Our Formational Process.

The Formational Process is divided into four phases. However all Missionaries will be nurtured and equipped during all their life in the Order.

The Postulant.

When John the Baptist’s disciples asked Jesus where He lived, He replied with an invitation to “Come and see”. The postulancy is a season of exploration, searching and inquiry, which may last from six to 12 months. During this time the inquirer will receive a basic formation in the directions that their consecrated life might take, which is in Prayer, Community, and Service. The Postulant has special access to the Order while not being an official member of the Order.



The Novice.

The Novitiate is a period of between one and two years where the individual may live the life of a Missionary of the Holy Spirit before taking first vows. It is a wonderful season of personal spiritual formation and care under the ministry of the Community
Abbé, Prior, and Novice Master. The novitiate follows a step-by-step preparation and equipping process to enable the candidate to consecrate with full knowledge and full consent into the mission and purpose of the Order. The novice may attend the annual private retreat of the Order. The governing Council of the Order, on behalf of all members, must approve & receive each Novice before they may proceed to first, second, or third vows.

First, second, and third Vows.

These are brothers and sisters who have entered the Order taking their Vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience on a yearly basis for three years. They are given full rights as voting members at the General Chapter of the Order, but may not hold such positions of governing service as Community Abbé, Prior, or Novice Master before taking final Vows.

Each phase of Vowing needs the approval of the governing Council representing all fully vowed members of the Order. In this process the individual discerns their walk to be with the Order and the Order confirms or disavows their discernment through its council. Thus each individual is welcomed by the entire order and each individual vocation is affirmed by all.

Final or lifetime Vows.
Having been approved by the mature Order these candidates may proceed to make a lifetime profession of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience to Jesus to be lived out within the context of the Celtic Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.

Discipline & Expulsion.

The purpose of all Christian discipline must be restoration to Christ & full fellowship with His Church. All of us may at one time or another fall. When we do, we need restoration. The Order will always act in humility and charity toward those who fall into Satan’s temptations and traps. We must love and restore as we are daily loved and restored by our Lord Jesus.

It may be necessary to discipline a brother or sister in order to restore them to Christ and full fellowship with His children. This is the choice of the individual who must ask for restoration and discipline. It is the duty of the Order to offer restoration to it’s fallen. Such a request by an individual is in itself a sign that the Holy Spirit has preceded our ministry. It is our most sacred and joyous privilege to collaborate in the restoration of another.

Pastoral discipline & restoration is in the parameters of the ministry of the Abbé, the Prior, and the Episcopal Overseer.

In the case of hardness of heart and stubborn refusal to repent, then the Order is forced by the individual’s choice of position to proceed in accord with the Gospel council in Matthew 18:12-20.

Expulsion from the Missionaries of The Holy Spirit should only occur where the nature of the sin is serious and where discipline & restoration have been refused consistently. It is for love of the rest of the brethren that we must exclude those who choose the way of rebellion above the way of love. All division and strife should be seen as serious sin, and the lowest form of self-idolatry.

The decision to exclude a professed member must be made by the entire Council of the Order.


Re-admission to the Order.
The excluded brother or sister, showing evidence of repentance, may request to be readmitted to the Order. Their re-admittance is subject to the councils ruling.
























On Habits, Emblems, and Symbols.

At present the only habit offered is the Monastic Alb.

This Alb reminds us of our calling to consecration, to our vows, and the new creation nature that already resides within our hearts.

We are reminded that we stand by privileged adoption into the ancient stream of monastic spirituality begun by St. Anthony and the Desert Fathers in Egypt. It also reminds us that each day we need to be conscious that we have put off the old man and put on the new made in the image of Christ.

It foreshadows the day when we shall be mystically clothed in our blood washed garments of righteousness in heaven.

When to ware our Alb.
It is appropriate to wear the Alb when in private prayer and when we participate in liturgical functions.

Who may ware the Alb?
All novices, and vowed members of the Order may wear the Monastic Alb.

Our Order’s Cross.
Our Community wears a distinctive Cross with the Monastic Alb.
Professed members of the Order may wear this Cross. It symbolises both our love for and identification with Christ and our acceptance of the vowed life as an instrumental vocation chosen by Jesus for us personally.

Clerical Attire.
Vowed members of the Order may wear a white clerical shirt / blouse where they deem it appropriate.
Outward symbols are only useful where they serve to communicate inner reality.

Our Symbol, The Pelican.
The Pelican is an ancient Christian symbol for self-less love. It is based on the story that the pelican will wound itself sacrificially to feed its young in times of famine. This speaks of Christ’s selfless love for us, and our desire to love Him and others selflessly following His example.