1. Inspiration for the Cenacle Experience
The
inspiration for the cenacle experience is drawn from St. Vincent Pallotti, who
had a filial and tender devotion to Mary as Queen of the Cenacle. The Cenacle
icon of Mary Queen of Apostles was drawn under his direction and it depicts the
descent of the Holy Spirit upon Our Lady and the apostles. Mary overlooked the
failure of the apostles during the passion, crucifixion and death of Jesus and
gathered them in prayer in the cenacle for the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a
result the missionary Church is born from the maternal care of Mary.
The
life of St. Vincent Pallotti was moulded by this icon of the Cenacle. He writes
in his spiritual diary: “Wherever I shall be, I intend to imagine myself to be
together with all creatures in the Cenacle in Jerusalem where the apostles
received the Holy Spirit. I shall remind myself to renew this desire often. As
the apostles were there with Mary, so will I be in spirit with my most beloved
mother Mary and Jesus. As they are special intercessors, I am confident that
they will help me and all other creatures to receive the abundance of the Holy
Spirit.” (cf. OOCC X 86)
2. Gospel Foundation for the Cenacle Experience
The
large upper room which Jesus told Peter and John to prepare for the Passover
meal is referred to as the cenacle (Lk 22:12). It is here in the cenacle that
Jesus expressed his earnest desire to eat the Passover with his disciples,
capturing the warmth of relationship between him and his disciples in love and
friendship (Lk 22:15). During the Passover meal, which was his last supper with
his disciples, he instituted the Eucharist establishing the new covenant of
love. The context of the feast of the Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb
is sacrificed heightens the nuance of Jesus’ own death on the cross for the
salvation of humanity (Lk 22:7). The self-gift of Jesus on the cross is
emphasized in the Gospel according to Luke with the words: “This is my body
which is given for you,” and “This cup which is poured out for you is the new
covenant in my blood.” (Lk 22:19-20). The cenacle is, therefore, the place of
love, intimacy and self-gift in the Eucharist.
According
to Acts 1:13, the disciples continued to stay in the cenacle in Jerusalem in
obedience to the command of Jesus not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the
promise of the Father, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Lk 24:49; Acts
1:4-5). On the one hand, they were continually in the temple praising God (Lk
24:53), and on the other, they gathered in the cenacle together with Mary the
mother of Jesus and devoted themselves to prayer with one accord. Therefore, it
is logical to conclude that Pentecost took place here in the cenacle, although
Acts 2:1 does not explicitly refer to it but only says “they were all together
in one place.”
3. Characteristics of the Cenacle Experience
Acts
1:13 in its context gives us the following characteristics of the cenacle
experience – being gathered by Mary, being Spirit-filled and Spirit-led,
devotion to prayer and living in Fellowship.
3.1 Being Gathered by Mary
The
apostles are gathered, sustained and united in prayer by Mary who is at the
centre of the cenacle. From the cross Jesus had entrusted John to Mary with the
words, “Woman, behold your son” and John was told “Behold your mother” (Jn
19:26-27). From that moment on, Mary became the mother and queen of the
apostles and of the Church. Therefore, the cenacle experience is essentially characterized
by a filial devotion to Mary who as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit became the
mother of Jesus, accompanied Jesus all through his life and gathered the
disciples to receive the gift of the Spirit at the beginning of the Church. To
stand at the foot of the cross with Mary and meditate on the passion of Christ
is thus central to the cenacle experience.
3.2 Being Spirit-filled and Spirit-led
The
apostles are gathered with Mary in the cenacle to be clothed with power from on
High. The “power of the Most High” that overshadowed Mary at the annunciation
and which descended on Jesus in the form of a dove at his baptism, is the same
Holy Spirit who will rest on the disciples as tongues of fire. The effect of
the Spirit on Mary was that she conceived and brought forth Jesus into the
world. Jesus was equipped with the Spirit and carried out his ministry. This
same Spirit is now given to the disciples through the cenacle experience that
they might give birth to Jesus in the world like Mary, and that they might be
equipped with the Spirit in their ministry like Jesus.
3.3 Devotion to Prayer
Another
characteristic of the Cenacle Experience is continuous prayer. After the
ascension of the Lord, the disciples are continuously in the temple blessing
God and the temple is a house of prayer. Acts 1:13 says that they devoted
themselves to prayer in the cenacle. Describing the first Christian community
Acts 2:42 says that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” It was in the cenacle
that Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the cenacle experience is fundamentally
an experience of Eucharistic communion and adoration. A meaningful celebration
of the Eucharist and adequate time spent in Eucharistic adoration are integral
to the cenacle experience.
3.4 Living in Fellowship
Prayer
leads to fellowship among the members of the cenacle community. Despite the
varied backgrounds of the apostles and the varying degrees of their denial of
Jesus, they now with one accord devote themselves to prayer. Mary is the
reconciling and bonding agent among them who through her maternal care keeps
them united in fellowship with a common focus on Jesus. Therefore on the day of
Pentecost they are all together in one place (Acts 2:1) to receive the power of
the Holy Spirit. The example of service and mutual self-gift that Jesus gave
them in the cenacle also binds them together as one family.
4. Concrete Expressions of the Cenacle Experience
Inspired
by the spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti who imagined himself to be always
in the cenacle, Fr. Tomy Churathil SAC began to realize that priests and
religious can lose their power and effectiveness in their sacred ministry
unless they are clothed with power from on high as a result of having gone
through a cenacle experience with Mary and the apostles. They will not be able
to reawaken the faith of Catholics or enkindle charity if they themselves are
not empowered. Involved as they are with various administrative and social
responsibilities they can enter into various types of crisis. In fact, Ecclesia
in Asia says: “People in Asia need to see the clergy not just as charity
workers and institutional administrators but as men whose minds and hearts are
set on the deep things of the Spirit” (EA 43). Therefore, reaching out in
compassion for the renewal of priests and religious and wanting to take on the
role of Mary who kept the apostles in prayer in the cenacle, Fr. Tomy started
the cenacle experience retreat for them in 1996. Those who have gone through
the cenacle retreat began to experience greater commitment to their vocation
and ministry as Spirit-filled leaders in the Church.
Fr.
Tomy was also inspired to found the pious association of the Cenacle Sisters of
the Sacred Heart (CSSH) together with Sr. Chandrika in September 2002. The
charism of the members is to strive towards one’s own renewal and to work for
the renewal of the people of God, especially the clergy and the religious after
the example of Mary, Queen of the Cenacle, who remained in the cenacle and
gathered others also in the cenacle building up the community of faith and love
to continue the mission of Christ. They become signs of God’s love poured out
in the cenacle as they live the motto “Burning with love to heal the broken
hearted” with the tender loving touch of St. Vincent Pallotti.
5. The Transforming Effect of the Cenacle Experience in New
Evanglization
In
Redemptoris Missio the late Bl. Pope
John Paul II invited the entire Church to new evangelization. "The moment has
come to commit all of the Church's energies to a new evangelization and to the
mission ad gentes. No believer in Christ, no institution
of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all
peoples." (RM 3) New evangelization is essentially Christo-centric. The
basis of sharing the life of Christ with others is life in Christ. We are
called to know Christ and to make Him known. The fundamental activity,
therefore, of those called to be missionaries is receptivity to God, of
complete docility to the Holy Spirit. "It is not possible," John Paul
II states, "to bear witness to Christ without reflecting his image, which
is made alive in us by grace and the power of the Spirit" (RM 87). An
essential characteristic of this missionary spirituality is intimate communion
with Christ. For this every Christian must be renewed in holiness and mission
(RM 90). "Missionary activity”, declares the pope, “renews the Church,
revitalizes faith and Christian identity, and offers fresh enthusiasm and new
incentive. Faith is strengthened when it is given to others!" (RM 2).
The
pope also explains that in today's world from the viewpoint of evangelization
we can distinguish three situations that need to be addressed differently. The
first is the situation of the mission ad
gentes in the proper sense of the term. Bringing the Gospel to peoples,
groups and socio-cultural contexts in which Christ and his Gospel are not known
(RM 34). Secondly, there are healthy mature Christian communities that are
fervent in their faith who need to be cared for pastorally. Thirdly, there is
what the pope calls an intermediate situation, where there are entire groups of
the baptized who have lost a living sense of the faith, or no longer consider
themselves members of the Church. "ln this case what is needed is a
"new evangelization" or a "re-evangelization." (RM 33) In
this third situation people need to be brought into situations of vibrant faith
(RM 51). Some need their faith to be renewed and enlivened. Others have had
little or no training in the Christian faith and essentially need to be
evangelized with the basic Gospel and receive formation in the faith. He
believes that this new evangelization is very much tied up with "entering
a new missionary age, which will become a radiant day bearing an abundant
harvest, if all Christians, and missionaries and young Churches in particular,
respond with generosity and holiness to the calls and challenges of our
time" (RM 92).
In
the above context of new evangelization, the cenacle experience has a very
important role to play and has a transforming effect for the Church. The
cenacle experience, with its emphasis on being empowered by the Spirit as a
result of prayer and contemplation in the company of Mary, the mother of Jesus,
is certainly an agent of renewal in the Church and a way of fulfilling in
today’s world the Church’s call to new evangelization.
Sr. Chandrika cssh, Cenacle Sisters, India.
____________________________________________________
Segretariato Generale, Unione dell’Apostolato
Cattolico
Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, Roma, Italia uac@uniopal.org
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