Scattering Seeds on the Plains

Today Elizabeth and I are going to Omaha Nebraska.  We have two Covenant Companions there now, and one new covenant group member.  They want to see how to become a local community of CMA, how to deepen as a face-to-face community, and they want to know us more.  We are so excited to watch this seed grow.  I hope their story may inspire something in you.

It began with Dario, who attended one of  Elizabeth's retreats in 2015.  He then joined the second covenant group, and became a Candidate for Covenant Companionship in 2016 and a Companion in 2017.   With the priest and the deacon on his church, Dario tried to start a community in Omaha, but they didn't really find the way to get off the ground.  Dario told them about CMA.  Ernesto, his priest, joined the covenant group in 2018, and after six months he asked to become a Candidate.  The third covenant group member, Kaity, is a parishioner at St. Martha's who also wants a community for prayer and exploration.  So now they are three.  That's plenty to start something.

Without our commitment to online communication, this wouldn't be happening in this way.  We know that many people hear "online" and they think distant or lacking, but we have seen differently.  Another covenant group member, who will soon become a Candidate, told us last night of how surprised and pleased she has been with the depth of sharing and intimacy we can achieve.  "It's like we're in the same room," she said.

That's true, but it's still even better to be together in person.  Our hope is that over time other local communities will sprout, carrying and living the Charism in their own way in that place.  We've learned that it's the Charism, more than the details of the Covenant, that bind us to one another.  So we are letting the Spirit lead us, and them, into new paths.

We expect to begin another covenant group sometime this spring.  Prior to that we will have a "virtual open house" to let you see how easy and powerful the Zoom technology is.  Stay tuned for that, and pray for the Omaha seed to sprout in new and wonderful ways.  May you be blessed in all your communities, and all your searching for community.