The Shalom Catholic Community is still celebrating its 40 years. Last September, we went to Rome to renew our Life offering at the feet of Peter – our beloved Pope Francis – as we do every five-year jubilee. I was fortunate enough to have participated in my first Shalom Convention five years ago, for the 35-year anniversary of the Community.
I was a vocational discerner at the time, praying to discern whether I was called to become a Shalom Missionary.
I remember one of the talks at the Convention back then. It was about the internationalization of the Community. The Shalom Catholic Community was born in the North-East of Brazil in 1982, but since its foundation, God has given us prophecies, saying that we needed to “widen our nets”, to go abroad to evangelize. In that Convention talk, Barbara Tavares, our sister from the Life Community, was invited to give her testimony on how she felt a calling to connect online with young people from all over the world to evangelize them. That was in 2017. One year later, the first Alive in Christ Prayer Group was born, destined for young adults who did not have a Shalom mission nearby, or/and did not have access to the Catholic faith, living in places where Christians are a minority.
On-line Shepherdship
Barbara started in 2018 with an English group, of which I am now a shepherd. Today, there are many groups divided by languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German. The people get connected at home and go through the same Community Prayer and formation itinerary as all Shalom groups worldwide, called the Way of Peace.
We always start the group with a welcoming moment, followed by a deep, Shalom-style Community prayer, that is charismatic, open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit (words of wisdom, prophecies, praying in tongues, etc.). After the prayer, there is a sharing moment. The second half of the group is dedicated to formation, usually a brother or sister from the Community who preaches about a determined theme, according to the scale of the Way of Peace.
Just like in-person Shalom groups, the Alive in Christ groups progress into the different phases of the Way of Peace, starting with the Kerigma (which means “announcement” in Greek), followed by the other phases: Filoteia, Metanoia, Koinonia and Martiria. So far, most groups don’t get past the Metanoia phase, as they are relatively recent, the oldest one being the English group.
Life in Spirit Seminar
Every few months, the groups are reinforced by online Life in Spirit Seminars, during which those who have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit can receive that grace. At least once a year, in Pentecost and during the International Gathering of the Work, we reunite participants from the different AIC groups to pray and celebrate together.
In the English group, there are participants from: Canada, Colombia, Australia, India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia, just to name a few. Meera, from Trinidad and Tobago, testifies :”The Alive in Christ Prayer group is a space in which I am given the opportunity to feel personal closeness to God.” As she also mentions, it can feel “weird” to pray online, in front of a screen. But as God has allowed us to experience so many times during the pandemic in which all evangelization events were online, He is transcendent. He manifests himself regardless of the means. He still talks, He still heals, He stills spreads His gifts among those who invoke and praise Him, even online.
A few months back, during the Shalom 40 years Convention in Rome, we had the grace to have a small reunion in person with two shepherds (former shepherd Faby Izunza and I) and three participants of the AIC English Group. It was a blessing to be able to see and touch the people that we usually just see on a screen!
Fruits of evangelization
To conclude, we have seen so many wonderful things happen through the AIC prayer groups: young people participating in international online events with our founder Moysés, getting to meet him in person, young people from the AIC groups becoming vocational discerners, just like I was a couple of years ago… and God will do so much more!
I invite you all to pray for the internationalization of our Charism. May God inspire us more ways to reach out to more and more people from remote places, so that they can see what we have seen and hear what we have heard, just like the disciples saw and heard Jesus, the Risen One who went through the Cross, and spread his Word until the ends of the Earth.
Amen!
Mylene Otou
Shalom Covenant Community
Alive in Christ Prayer Group
To learn more about Alive in Christ and how to get involved, email us at: aliveinchrist@comshalom.org or go to the Instagram page @aliveinchrist.sh.
I am an old lady, it sounds like you are mostly young people, but I am interested in the Charismatic Movement, and the gifts of the Spirt. I have lived many years in solitude and have received interesting gifts, and not knowing much about the Charismatic Gifts, like a child I just accepted them, but didn’t fully understand what had happened. For twenty some years God has met me in my daily life, and I have written the “light.” My husband and I recently moved to Idaho and I look forward to what God has in store for me for the last chapter of my life. I will look forward to the news letters.