Advice regarding a Holy Spirit Prayer Group

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I hope this is the right forum. I am active in RCIA and Alpha and thought you all would be a good resource.

We have a very vibrant and active parish. For various reasons our (very orthodox in belief and practice) priest has decided with (name removed by moderator)ut from parishioners to start a Holy Spirit Prayer Group. He has asked me to be the facilitator and liaison with him on this. This is because I have lots of experience with Charismatic prayer groups and came into the church (from atheism) through one when I was 19 and am now 50. I will not be leading and have no desire to lead! I will be advising and facilitating. Our parish hasn’t had this type of group for many, many years.

So to summarize my thoughts so far:
A) I think it’s a great idea, and want to invite the Holy Spirit to have free reign. The fruits of well run, orthodox groups such as this can be incredible.
B) I have concerns about safety and orthodoxy and want to make sure some clear and healthy structure is put in place from the start. By this I mean that when people pray for the Holy Spirit or are prayed over anything can happen, but what often happen is the beginning of inner healing and someone can feel very emotionally vulnerable as emotions and spiritual experiences and memories surface. So want a safe environment for that and to know how we should respond if someone is emotionally moved during the meeting.

Therefore I believe we should have
C) A priest, deacon or religious sister, but preferably ordained person, present for the meeting to make sure it is rooted in solid teaching and keeps the focus always within the traditional and knowledge of the Holy Spirit in the church. This is especially to prevent such phenomenon as personality cults, where people get too focused on individuals who they believe are more “gifted” than others.

I am meeting another priest in our parish tomorrow who is two years ordained to get his advice and (name removed by moderator)ut. I would like to have some sensible and prudent ground rules and structure, so that when I met the three or four (prayerful and experienced) potential leaders I have a clear concept of what a Holy and safe group looks like.

The group I was part of for a decade had praise for an hour, a mass and then prayer over anyone who wanted it or teaching. I am not suggesting that this group should have the same structure at all, just to give you an idea.

Clearly I am not unilaterally making any decisions AT ALL I am purely looking for advice from anyone with experience for what to emphasize and pitfalls to avoid.

Of course everything will be soaked in prayer. I want to finally emphasize again that we have very orthodox and solid priests so there are no concerns of anything being not completely in line with the Catechism.
 
The first thing that comes to mind is I think a very short teaching at each meeting would be a good idea, starting with a short teaching on each of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This would help anyone new to this type of prayer group what the church actually teaches about the Holy Spirit and the gifts include fortitude and fear of the Lord so people don’t get too over focused on purely miraculous manifestations of the Lord but see His working in our lives in the “ordinary” ways that we can sometimes overlook.
 
Are there other people, especially clergy or religious, in your diocese who have such prayer groups and could help you with suggestions as to what works well in your area? I think expectations of a group might be driven by what they’ve seen at other local groups.
 
I had a very productive meeting with one of our parish priests yesterday so all looking really good.
 
I hope you can find a resource-member to be attached to the group who knows and understands the difference between “charisms” (as for example those Paul wrote of in 1 Cor 12-14) and the infused gifts of the Holy Spirit referred to in Isaiah 11:2-3, gifts that are infused with sanctifying grace, the theological virtues and the infused moral virtues at Baptism.

The Catechism teaches the fundamental importance of the seven “Isaiah 11” gifts of the Holy Spirit:
III. THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.<Cf. Isa 11:1-2> They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.
Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.<PS 143:10>
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.<Rom 8:14, 17>
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Distinct from the above habitual and sanctifying graces/gifts, are the charisms, which are given for an entirely different purpose in God’s economy, namely, to help lead others to sanctification . The Catechism includes some very important caveats to be aware of, concerning charisms:
CCC 800 Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms.<Cf. 1 Cor 13>
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Thank you fide. Yes this is one of the many reasons for prudence and experienced and spiritually mature members, along with a priest. Following Tis_Bearself’s post, I found out from the priest that two of the core group of people keen to begin a Holy Spirit prayer group are very experienced members of similar groups in surrounding parishes.

He and I were also on the same page regarding my own role but he is going to verify with the Parish Priest. We both see my role as just helping keeping communication smooth between the group and the priests of the parish. Making sure anything new is run by the PP an basically helping the group succeed in terms of logistics etc. As mentioned we are a big, active parish so the facilities manager also needs to be informed weeks in advance if space is needed etc. I also understand the concept of what they are attempting to accomplish so can help “interpret” their needs and goals to those to whom it’s an unknown.
 
I admire your courage and spirit for desiring to become involved - knowing that you will be catching (or ducking) spears at some point. IME, there are some who become unduly attached to a particular priest or other authority figure. As difficult as it is, such attachments are far better dealt with early on than later - when they become a true difficulty, rather than an annoyance. I.E, one such person became so infatuated with our parish priest that he was forced to obtain a no-contact order against her. That, of course, is extreme, but it happens.

It is a risk of such groups that a few who have emotional or mental difficulties will be attracted. That can be a good thing, as spiritual healing may be exactly what they need. However, clear distinctions must be drawn between spiritual experiences and emotional experiences. Those souls may have to be referred to professional help, just as it is with the discernment process in the ministry of exorcism.

As well, the charisms are something to be received with joy and gratitude, rather than particular charisms to be targeted and actively sought after. As it is with communion, we receive charisms, we do not take them. It seems that far too many zero in on the noisy, flashy and public gift of tongues to the exclusion of far more useful gifts. I have never seen anyone interpret - which shows the imbalance.

When I received my baptism in the Holy Spirit, I was open to whatever the Holy Spirit knew was best for me. I placed no limits or restrictions and did not care if I looked like a “fool for the Lord.” What I received was revealed to me slowly and was, for the most part, a rather quiet charism.

I wish you all the best and, in those must frustrating or exasperating times, we can all ask for the grace of recollection.
 
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Po18guy I totally agree. This is why safety (especially emotional safety) are priorities to me and discouraging personality cults, which as you say can be a particular weakness that Charismatic environments can be prone to. But it can also happen anywhere, such as Traditional groups with a very popular priest.

The main point is no human can substitute for Jesus. I actually think talking about this openly and up front is the best remedy. Explain why as humans we have a weakness to exalt those with gifts but we must always recognize that this comes from the Lord. Also by rotating leadership and emphasizing humility.
 
A dear friend gave me some good advice. She leads the RCIA in her parish in London, England. She regularly gets 15-20 unbaptized converts a year coming into the church.

She said in her experience when things have not worked out well in any Catholic undertaking she was involved with was when she tried to do too much herself instead of remembering that the work is always the Lord’s and also his responsibility! That’s our Christian struggle every day. To be grounded in Christ.
 
An excellent plan, even if it requires some sacrifices. Oh yes, we see the cult of personality here - it is one of our failings that we are well-advised to bear in mind.

And those who look to others because of the gifts which those others possess may be ignoring their own gifts! Everyone has a gift or gifts. It is a discernment process to identify them and put them to use - which is a pretty good reason for such groups to exist. What other purpose is there?

I find reading and reflecting on Matthew 25:14-30 to be helpful here, as those “Talents” are analogous to the charisms we received from the Lord. Do we use them to multiply the Lord’s ‘wealth’ of souls, or do we hide them and give them back unused?

It is good to admire the Saints (even those among us) and the charisms they were given - but not at the expense of neglecting our own gifts.
 
Love your posts! Thank you, so true.

A big thing for me is that in any group, everyone is there because God has called them there. Noone should be ignored or looked over. In fact I consider it quite a serious sin to ignore any soul the Lord has brought to us! Every group is as strong as its weakest link. All should be lifted up in Christ.

I am often amazed how many people are left undeveloped on the sidelines.
 
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