Who is "Neo"?

There is constant talk about who is "neo" and who isnt. I decided to write a little bit about what I do know on this matter.

First of, I do not refer to myself as a "neo". I do walk in a community within the Neocatechumenal Way but I am as Catholic as my neighbors who do not attend church regularly. In other words, I am no different than any other person.

The same goes with our priests. They are all Diocesan Priests. With the existence of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary we now have Diocesan Priests who have a more obvious missionary role. I use the word "obvious" because all Christians have a missionary role but the priests who are formed at the RMS are specifically prepared to not only serve the Faithful of Guam but to also be at the beacon call of the Archbishop to be sent to the ends of the earth. I guess it is safe to say that a "Neo" Priest is simply a priest who received his formation from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. It is not an official title/suffix because the Redemptoris Mater Seminary does not belong to an order such as the Capuchins, Salesians and Jesuits, it is just a Diocesan Seminary aimed at producing Priests at the service to the local Bishop.

In recent times we have began to label our parishes as "neo" and "non-neo". This though is not a healthy attitude. This begins to create a sense of labeling which then causes division. The Parish remains just a parish even if there are Neocatechumenal Communities present within the parish.

There is often talk that the NCW forces themselves onto the parish in hopes of a complete enlistment into the communities. This is not true. The first NCW community that was formed in my parish only had a few people attending for a couple of years. Nothing was rushed, no one was forced. Those who ended up joining the community did so on their accord.

Ok....enough of that....let me get back to my main point...

If we were to begin to label individuals by their affiliation to the Neocatechumenal Way, it is only fair that we understand what is the mission of the Neocatechumenal Way, which is to rediscover and or renew ones baptismal duties.

In doing this, we would have to consider most of us as "Neo's", the fact being that most of us today continue to try and live out our baptismal promises in many ways. I just choose to do it with the help of the Itinerary of the Neocatechumenal Way. Anything wrong with that?