25 May 2024 12:00 am Views - 535
A Four-Step Retreat conducted by the Risen Lord Community
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Lalith Perera |
The Risen Lord Community (CRL), a catholic lay community functioning under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka marks its 40th anniversary this year.
Celebrating this long amazing journey filled with God’s love and faithfulness witnessed through many who have been a part of the community, the CRL has organized a prayer and thanksgiving service, a life-transforming experience under the theme of “Remembering with Thanksgiving and Moving Forward with Praise” today, May 25 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at St. Joseph’s College Auditorium, Colombo 10.
A member of the Catholic National Commission for Laity, the CRL is known for its retreats and prayer meetings that have led many people to have powerful life-changing experiences. Many have been freed from addictions, broken families have been restored and others have found new meaning to their lives through a renewed relationship with God. It has inspired Catholics to have a deeper love and reverence for the Holy Mass and other sacraments.
The Risen Lord Community was originally called “Community of the Risen Lord” and continues to use the acronym CRL in popular usage. The CRL traces its origins to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of the late 70’s and 80’s known in Sri Lanka as the “Kithu Dana Pubuduwa” founded by Rev. Fr. Oscar Abayaratne who invited lay people to radical conversion and discipleship. He also made the lay faithful aware of their call to mission in the Church and in the world according to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
It is in this background that the Community of the Risen Lord came into existence in 1984 as a Covenant Community within the Pubuduwa. The initial membership was limited to a small number of people who signed a covenant to share their lives and minister together.
The Early Days
In Lalith and Mercia Perera’s home at Dharmapala Mawatha the Community grew in numbers and then moved to a building at Rheinland Place, Colombo 3, which was given by the Sisters of Charity.
The country went through the challenges of the time including, the unrest in the 1980’s and the brewing civil war. The prayer meeting then moved to St. Paul’s Milagiriya. From 1996 the CRL together with several other communities began to function together and support each other. The then Archbishop of Colombo His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando permitted the CRL to function within the Archdiocese of Colombo.
National Ministry
The ministry of the CRL spread to all parts of the country with thousands of people having spiritual conversions and experiences through the Four Step Retreat. The CRL carried out special missions during the latter part of the civil war that gripped the country.
In 2007 and 2008 the CRL was invited by the Dioceses of Jaffna and Mannar to conduct the Four Step Retreat. It was truly a work of God to see Sinhalese and Tamils working together as brothers and sisters in the midst of the war. In 2009 members of the Community were given the opportunity to pray with war victims in the Mannar hospital and witness the wonder of how God healed people’s hearts torn apart by suffering and death. In 2010 Lalith and Mercia Perera together with several other team members joined two priests from the Jaffna diocese to conduct joint services of reconciliation in London.
In 2015, on his visit to Sri Lanka, His Holiness Pope Francis called on the Blessed Mother to accompany the Tamils and the Sinhalese on their journey towards reconciliation. Based on the inspiration and guidance received by the message of His Holiness, the CRL coordinated a night vigil at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu in May 2015 under the banner “Father, make us one”, guided by the then Bishop of Mannar Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph and the Bishop of Galle Rt. Rev. Dr. Raymond Wickremasinghe. More than 30,000 people came together to pray for reconciliation together with several bishops, priests and religious sisters. As a sign of their reconciliation people exchanged their rosaries and prayed for one another.
International Ministry
The CRL received invitations to conduct the Four Step Retreat in many parts of the world and the Community began to be established in several countries such as Australia, Canada, England, Singapore and the United States.
In 2011 the CRL was invited to conduct the Catholic Charismatic Conference of British Columbia. In 2013 the Community conducted the Pentecost vigil of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Toronto. From 2014-2016 the Community was a part of the National Charismatic Renewal Convention in Walsingham, England.
In 2020 the community spearheaded the prayer campaign “Strength in Weakness” together with the Archbishop of Canberra Most Rev. Dr. Christopher Prowse, to support the Catholic Church which was facing a crisis at the time. More than 3000 people were in attendance.
The Vision and Mission of the Community
The vision of the Community is to grow in holiness and return one day to the heart of God the Father.
The mission of the Community is to renew the experience of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of people.
The CRL currently serves in all 12 Catholic dioceses of Sri Lanka with many volunteers coming together to facilitate the activities of the CRL. Its coordinating office known as “Tabor” is situated in Dehiwala.
The CRL community invites anyone interested to come and experience the love and power of God through Holy Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sharing of the Word and an anointing service for the renewal of the Holy Spirit on May 25 at the St Joseph’s College.