Annunciation Canvas

Nicodemus asks Jesus, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he then enter his mother's womb and be born again?" (John 3:4). This phrase illustrates the spirit of the Neocatechumenal Communities: to return to the bosom of the Church, to return to our Mother. Mary, the image of the Church and of all Christians, receives the announcement of the joyful good news: the Messiah will be born in you. The Neocatechumenate appears as a period of gestation, in the bosom of the Church. In this people who, like Mary, say "Amen" to the annunciation of the Savior, the Word begins to bring about a new creation, the work of the Holy Spirit. The Church presents herself as a Mother who engenders, gives birth, and educates her children until they reach the stature of the new man of whom St. Paul says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Gal 2:20) And this community, in which Christ becomes visible, lives in humility, simplicity and praise, like the Holy Family of Nazareth.