Mother of God Community

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Mother of God Community is a Catholic and ecumenical charismatic community based in the Washington, DC region of the United States. It stands in a long tradition of spiritual renewal movements within the Catholic Church. The Community is located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Movements, as described for this community, are "less structured" than Religious Orders in the Church and are volunteer organizations where members unite to grow more deeply in prayer, discipleship, worship or study of Scripture and apostolic works of charity. The Mother of God Community believes it is called to live out the Gospel of Jeus Christ and to grow in the knowledge of God daily through prayer, fellowship within the membership, evangelization of those who are not Christian and service to the Church and with the Church to the world. Members include Christians from all walks of life – families, couples, priests, and singles, college students, seminarians, and retired people. Its members and people with a wide variety of professions and backgrounds. There are members and affiliate members. Only a few members (12-15 at times) truly live on the Community's property full time.

The community is recognized within the Archdiocese of Washington[1] as a Private Lay Association of the Faithful.

Contents

[edit] Origins

The Mother of God Community began in 1966 right after the close of Vatican II, when various housewives, particularly Edith Difato (1924 - ) and Judith Tydings, and other individuals within Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Potomac, Maryland, began experiencing a new awakening of the Holy Spirit and of God's love in their lives. They began meeting daily after Mass and read the documents Vatican II and other works about the role of the Holy Spirit in both the lives of saints and in those of ordinary people. The first recorded prayer meeting took place on June 7, 1968, in the parish hall of Our Lady of Mercy parish in Potomac, Maryaldn (Archdiocese of Washington DC) with more than 90 persons in attendance. It is considered by many as the first prayer meeting in the Eastern part of the US of a the movement which would later be called the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, for it was shortly thereafter participants began hearing about similar prayer meetings and outporings of the Spirit in places like Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, South Bend, Indiana, Ann Arbor, Michigan and other cities. The Charismatic movement in the US is also traced in Protestant circles to the "outpouring" of the Holy Spirit at the AZUSA Street revival in Los Angeles. The prayer group in Potomac, which is within the Archdiocese of Washington began communicating with other prayer circles, priests and otehrs, soon Catholic Charismatic meetings and prayer groups began growing throughout the US and eventually all over the world. The group in Potomac became a catylst for the start of other new prayer groups withinn the Washington, D.C. area and in other regions.

On March 24, 1971, the budding community was formally incorporated in the state of Maryland under the name Potomac Charismatic Community, Inc. In 1972 the name "Mother of God Community" was chosen; reflecting the Community members' desire to be like Mary, the Mother of God, who received Christ and became a vessel for sharing his life. The legal name, however, is still Potomac Charismatic Community, Inc. As the group grew to several hundred in number, it required more structure. A pastoral team was formed made up of lay peopple and priests. Joseph (Joe) Difato, Edith's eldest son, became the coordinator of a small pastoral team. In the mid-1970's, in order to live closer to one another in affordable homes (largely townhouses), members of the Community began to move to the newly built town of Montgomery Village, which adjoins Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The first Mother of God Community Covenant was signed by members in 1974. The Community covenant, although revised over time, still includes a commitment to pray daily, to examine ones conscience and repent from sin, to read scripture, to attend prayer meetings regularly, to participate in MOG activities, to love and support one another, to support the Community financially according to ones means, and to do other realted matters. Members of the community include married couples, young people, older singles, housewives, priests, and consecrated religious. Most all of the members are Catholic, but Christians from other traditions have always been welcome and each member is expected to attend a Sunday worship service or Mass. Many community members assist their local parish as eucharistic ministers, lectors, sacristans, choir members, parish council members, and other ministries.

As in most Catholic Charismatic groups, the primary focal point for the community has always been the large open prayer meeting held weekly. Prayer meetings are times of worship, singing, sharing, and openess to the manifestation of the gits of the Spirit especially "word" gifts: prophecy, the word of knowledge, speaking and singing in tongues, and more. Healing prayer and intercessory prayer are also part of these meetings. A teaching or exhortation may also be given at the prayer meeting.

[edit] Past Structure

From 1974 to 1995 the coordidators of the Community were Edith Difato, Joe Difafto, and sometimes a few others. However there were many other leadership positions. In the 1970's the Community was divided into three geographic regions (Potomac, Rockville, and Montgomery Village) and later, when most members had moved to Montgomery Village the regions were divided somewhat by age or state in life. Each region had a head and within each region were heads of cell groups (usually called clusters), which were generally small men's and women's groups, and heads of young men and young women households or heads of extended family households. There were also heads of various community ministries and others with assigned responsibilities. To a large degree each member was expected to discuss and receive discernment for his or her life with his or her chosen head (and this head might change every year or two) and the information shared was often passed up the hiearchical line of authority in written or verbal form. Discernment included ones purchases, budget, career, marriage, home location, raising of children, prayer times and many other major or minor issues. Who, when and if one could court (not date) was especially discerned and of course the person courted (under supervision) should also be in the Community. At its height in the 1980's Community membership numbered some 700 people.

[edit] Community School and Property

In order to provide a Catholic school for their children, in 1987 community members voted to purchase a wedged-shaped piece of land along Goshen Road on the northern perimeter of Montgomery Village. The Mother of God School began that Fall in an unused public school building in the Aspen Hill area of Montgomery County, Maryland, and two years later the School was transferred to the a newly built, three story structure on the purchased property in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The third level of the School building was largely devoted to office space and the other two stories housed the School, K thru 8th Grade. A few years later a building with four classrooms and large gym with a vaulted ceiling was added to the School. Today the gym is not only used by the School, but is also used as a place of worship for a Byzantine Catholic community on Sunday mornings and for the Community’s weekly prayer meeting on Sunday evenings. Originally, as another Catholic school was being built for parishes in the northern part of Montgomery County, the Archdiocese of Washington had requested that the Mother of God School be retricted to Community members and their children. However, it is now open to all children and, although still a private Catholic School, it is affilated with the Archdiocesan School System and tries to adhere to that System's policies.

At the same time that the School was built there was erected on the property a three story, monastic like residence which contains five apartments, a large chapel, living room, library, and a common kitchen and dinning room. The residence, now known as “Goshen House,” is the center for many community gatherings and has been the home of various couples, singles, priests, and consecrated religious who have felt called to live together in Christ in a more immediate sense just as Jesus lived with and formed his early disciples in a common lifestyle. At one time Joe Difato and his family had lived in one of the apartments.

It is a coincidence that the Mother of God Community property is directly across the street from a parish site, St. John Neumann Catholic Church, where most Community members also attend.


[edit] The Word Among Us

As the community grew new methods of evangelisation were explored. The first edition of The Word Among Us, a monthly Christian magazine, was published in December 1981 by members of the Mother of God Community who hand stapled the first copies together. However, under the general leadership of it's publisher, Joe Difato, the magazine gradually grew and was eventually translated into several languages and distributed worldwide. By the 1990's, it had become the community's prime cash engine.

The original format of the magazine was simple. It consisted of feature articles and daily meditations based upon the readings of the day in the Catholic Church. Articles and meditations were originally written by members of the Mother of God Community. It also carried the Imprimatur from the Archdiocese of Washington which increased its appeal to its prodominantly Roman Catholic audience.

After the reorganization of the Mother of God Community in 1996, Joe Difato formally left the community taking the rights to the magazine with him.

The Word Among Us continues to be published under the control of Joe Difato although it no longer carries the imprimatur.

[edit] Investigation

From its earliest days the community enjoyed good relations with the Roman Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Washington. By the early 1990s Mother of God Community began looking into the possibility of the community being recognized as a Catholic "private association of the faithful." Under the guidance of Fr Theo Rush the community won provisional recognition from the archdiocese by early 1993. Permanent status required a review of the group's statutes and operations.

In September 1994, under the instructions of Cardinal James A. Hickey, a self-assessment was begun by one of his advisors, Sister Elizabeth McDonough to look at the community.

A "self-assessment" was conducted by the community under the direction of appointed priests and lay people. The 135 question survey was give to 500 people—members and past members were invited to participate. The results were incredibly positive.

However, at the same time, members of the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) were invited in by past members. CAN began meeting with past members and openly attacked the leadership in the areas of monetary abuse and "cult practices." The financial abuse accusations were proved to be false—after a $30,000 authorized by the Diocese of Washington financial investigation by the accounting firm Peat Marwick Mitchell. The cult accusations were either debated or openly proven to be false, yet, the impact of these attacks as led by CAN began to divide and breakdown the Community. People had joined the community as a place to love Jesus and be brothers and sisters. People did not want to spend their time in such an intense and negative environment.

Shortly therefter, CAN was sued by the Church of Scientology for its practices and is no longer in operation. Soon, the self-assessment turned into an investigation. Tensions hit their peak when, on the evening of Sunday, May 21, 1995, at a Mother of God prayer meeting, Judith Tydings, Edith Difato's co-founder, stood up and publically read sections of a letter written by Fr Tom Weinandy which outlined his own thoughts on the positive and negative aspects of the community.

[edit] Re-organization

On Saturday, September 23, 1995, the Archdiocese of Washington announced it wanted to make changes of leadership in Mother of God Commuity. Hickey visited the community, first holding a private meeting with the Difatos and then a public address to several hundred community members [2].

In the private meeting Joseph Difato urged the Cardinal to change his plan and give the community time—90 days—to make a smooth transaction of leadership rather than the abrupt method that was proposed in order to avoid sharp divisions in the community. The Cardinal consulted the new leadership but the new leadership rejected Difato's proposal. In this address, he called the community "a gift from the Lord" that allowed members "to take your faith much more seriously, to grow in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ." However, Hickey raised concerns about the teaching--citing that many teachings were too Protestant, or not Catholic enought---pastoral practice---lay peoople having too much personal authority over peoples lives and even telling children the Community had more authority than their parents---and leadership of the Community.

Cardinal Hickey was concerned about the Community's teaching especially with regard to baptism in the Spirit and its relationship with the seven sacraments of the Church, the centrality of the eucharist to Catholic worship rather than just prayer meetings, and the authentic Catholic understanding of the essential goodness of creation and the dignity of the human person--that though men are sinners, those who are not yet in the Church are not evil or depraved; the sacrament of marriage and equality of spouses, as well some aspects of the Toronto Blessing such as resting in Spirit which was being experience/practiced by some in the Community.

Hickey said that because of Mother of God's pastoral practices, members were led to speak of very personal things in a manner that did not protect their right to privacy and confidentiality and which had the effect of leaving them vulnerable. He was concerned about the children and young people within the community. He was afraid that some had been seriously harmed by what he saw as the systematic undermining of parental authority. Furthermore, he requested that anyone who had personal information about other members-"in notebooks, in computer files, in whatever form, that you destroy it, lest it be the source of future embarrassment or harm." [3] Written records were kept of members and visitors spiritual interests, growth, level of experience in discipleship classes,etc. Hickey reiterated the request he made in 1993 that the leadership be changed.

A new committee was appointed by Hickey to lead the community, and charged it with responsibility of establishing a democracy in which future community leaders would be elected and rotate. As a result of this address, most members left the Community. Some formed a new community outside of the Archdiocese.

On February 1, 1996, the Difato family formally left the Mother of God community after securing promises that they would be protected against any future lawsuits and that financial records would be sealed. A year later, on Wednesday, February 14, 1997, a much smaller the Mother of God community, operating under new procedures and a more democratic leadership, finally won formal approval from the Archdiocese of Washington.

[edit] Current Leadership

The Mother of God Community is currently lead by a committee of lay leaders whose Chair/Coordinator is the noted scripture scholar and consecrated lay woman Dr. Mary Healy, SSL, STL [4]. SEE CHANGE in item 13. She is a graduate of the Gregorian University in Rome (Doctorate) and of Franciscan University (Masters) in Ohio. The Commitee Council is representative body and includes the following members (2008) Community Council Chair: Dr. Mary Healy and members: Mark G., Kevin Hainsworth, Hall Miller Mary Sykes, Janice Zimmerman and note Spiritual Advisor Fr. (Dr.) Francis Martin.

Mother of God Community (MOG) is recognized within the Archdiocese of Washington as a "Private Association of the Faithful." This means religious vows or consecrated life is not required to be a member and affiliation or membership is totally voluntary. This is a canonical designation (under the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church) which indicates that a religious organization is "officially approved" for participation by Catholics. The process of obtaining this recognition included the writing of statutes governing the life of the community and the holding of elections for the community leadership. The community is still approved by the Archdiocese of Washington under its current Archbishop Donald Wuerl.

[edit] Dr. Healy

Dr. Healy completed her doctorate in biblical theology in 2000 at the Gregorian University in Rome and in March of 2000, in Jerusalem, she made a permanent vow of consecration to God in celibacy. In addition to her work for the Mother of God Community, Healy is also an adjunct professor of scripture at the Institute for Pastoral Theology at Ave Maria University [5], and the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College in Alexandria, VA. Mary is the co-editor of two books on biblical interpretation: Behind the Text: History and Biblical Interpretation (Paternoster, 2004), and Out of Egypt: Biblical Theology and Biblical Interpretation. Her new book, Men and Women Are from Eden: A Study Guide to John Paul II's Theology of the Body

[edit] Chaplain - Spiritual Advisor

The Community Chaplain and Spiritual Advisor in-residence is the noted Catholic priest, scholar, author and professor Fr. Francis Martin (SSL, STD, STL) the "Cardinal Maida Chair" of Scripture at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit [6] . He is also a professor at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC and the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family also in DC. His lectures from Mother of God can be found on various sites such as Hasneh Media and Our Lady's Chapel [7] and [8].

[edit] Other Scholars & Priests Related to Mother of God Community

Though not a "staff" member of the Community, a friend of the community is the charismatic priest Father Peter Ryan, SJ (Jesuit), (STD - Doctor of Sacred Theology) a Professor of Moral Theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmittsburg, Md. [9]. Fr. Ryan, SJ, is also a spiritual director and formation advisor. He is a priest of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus [10]. He was ordained in 1987 and received his S.T.D. from the Gregorian University in Rome (1996). His first contact with Mother of God was near its inception where he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (testimony given at Life in the Spirit at the Mount 2006, IPF, 2007). He is a well-respected preacher and teacher and a frequent speaker and spiritual director at the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University [11]. He is a well known writer on topics of moral ethics, the pro-life cause, the value of human life, sanctity of human life and marriage. In late 2007-08, he began writing a book on Heaven during a sabbatical to Oxford University. He has written articles on a variety of topics, including bioethics, academic freedom in the Catholic universities, and the relationship between moral action and ultimate human fulfillment.

Fr. Ryan is presently working on a book on the theology of heaven and hell and its significance for the New Evangelization. He is the brother of Fr. William Ryan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington on mission in Togo in Africa.

Community members also include Father Frederick Close, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua parish in Northeast Washington DC [12].

[edit] Current Standing with The Church

Following Cardinal James Hickey's "cleaning up" of the Community 10 years ago, under the watch of then auxiliary Bishop William Lori of Washington (now Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn.) the community remains active and in good standing with the Catholic Church, though it is smaller. It is still canonically recognized as a Lay Association of the Faithful under Canon Law for the Archdiocese of Washington. Mother of God members have even taught Life in the Spirit seminars for Catholics and local national seminarians including those at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmittsburg, Md [13]. The Archdiocese has included the writings of its chaplain, Fr. Martin, in catechetical material for DC parishes for the upcoming 2008 Apostolic Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Washington DC and New York, published March 2008. [14].

[edit] Expanded Ministries & Apostolic Work

In 2006, the Young Adult Ministry of the community, the Good News Cafe, began a monthly Catholic "Festival of Praise," a contemporary but reverent evening of praise and worship for young adults called "Wow! Worship," the name was changed in 2007 to "At the Well." Local college students, young adults, Religious brothers and priests and some seminarians attend regularly. The young adult ministry leader is Mr. Marty Wild, a frequent speaker in the DC region including appearances at "Theology on Tap" lectures sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington. The Young Adults ministry also includes Life in the Spirit seminars and weekly Bible Studies called "Digging for Gold" often lead by Dr. Healy, monthly social events, and seasonal lecture series.

[edit] Charismatic Mass

The Community also still celebrates a communal Sunday Charismatic Mass (Vigil Mass on Saturday) once per month which is open to all Catholics in the region.

[edit] Patron Saint

The Community is under the "patronage" of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Mother of God. Members also try to live a spirituality rooted in themes common to Franciscan spirituality such as to "preach the gospel always, when necessary use words."

[edit] Affiliate Members

The Community also began an affiliate membership program for Christians interested in participating in the community on a more limited basis and for spiritual benefits. Members and affiliate members include priests and seminarians of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. In 2008, there are an estimated 150-200 affiliate members of the community. The community also operates the Mother of God school, a Catholic grade school of the Archdiocese of Washington, considered among the "better" schools in the Archdiocese with a strong spiritual Catholic identity [15].

[edit] Leadership Changes

In May of 2008, it was announced that Dr. Mary Healy had accepted an offer to join the faculty of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, Michigan in the summer of 2008--the "home" teaching base of Fr. Francis Martin--as an assistant Professor of Scripture where she will teach and train seminarians at that nationally recognized Seminary. After three years as Chair/Coordinator of the Community, the baton was passed to Hall Miller, a local businessman and longtime Community member.

[edit] External links

Charismatic Renewal

  • [17] Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus
  • [18]Fr. Martin's bio
  • [19] Fr. Martin's homilies, sermons, and teaching
  • [20] Fr. Martin's books and tapes
  • [21]Fr. Martin's work at John Paul 2 Institute
  • [22] Dr. Mary Healy's bio
  • [23] Dr. Mary Healy's books and credentials
  • [24] Dr. Mary Healy's talks on Theology of the Body for Teens