Charismatic Catholics (tongues, prophecy, healing prayer)

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Hey guys,

Any Charismatic Catholics on here? I have been meaning to stop by a local Charismatic meeting to meet some brothers and sisters. What are your general feelings towards Catholic Charismatics? They do not always seem well received when I have conversations with other Catholics. I find that odd.

chicagorenewal.org/

Catholic Charismatic Renewal Center for Chicago

Charismatic Prayer Groups

Charismatic Prayer Groups are faith communities consisting of individuals who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, who strongly desire to keep the experience of Pentecost alive through the exercise of their charismatic gifts, and who earnestly desire to become strong disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Catholic Charismatic Prayer groups affiliated with the CCRCC are under the spiritual direction of the bishop in their diocese, and in full accord with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The leadership and format style for individual groups varies according to the needs of each particular group.

The format usually includes: a significant time for praise and worship, the presence of charismatic gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing prayer), spiritual teachings, witnessing to the favors of the Lord, and intercessory prayer.

There are approximately 70 Catholic Charismatic Prayer Groups of various ethnic backgrounds located throughout the Chicagoland area. For information about a group near you, please call the CCRCC office at 708-209-1199. You may also download the Prayer Group Listing, which has the name, address and contact information of each prayer group.

What is Catholic Charismatic Renewal

Catholic Charismatic Renewal, A Movement of the Holy Spirit. Renewal is a sovereign act of God, who touches our lives by the power of his Holy Spirit and changes us. Renewal is both a state-of-being and a process.

Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a movement of the Spirit, offered to the entire Church and destined to rejuvenate every part of the Church. When we say that the Charismatic Renewal is for the whole Church, we mean that it, indeed, is for all: the clergy, religious, and laity.

This Renewal is a personal experience of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who brings alive, in new ways, the graces of our baptism. The Holy Spirit not only renews, or sets on fire, all the graces we have already received, he comes in power to equip us with his gifts for service and ministry. We are renewed only when we open ourselves to God and accept what he is offering us—the fullness of his Holy Spirit. There is no other way!

While the Charismatic Renewal places a special emphasis on the role of the Spirit, it is also centered on God our Father, and on Jesus his Son, our Lord and Savior. It is a Trinitarian Renewal, and its goals are the same as the goals of the Roman Catholic Church, which are essential to living a Christian life:
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The need to know God as a loving and forgiving Father (Romans 8:14-16)
The need for a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior (1 Cor. 12:3)
The need for the empowering and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5)
The importance of the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16) and Sacraments (Catechism section, 1131-1134).
The call to prayer and the praise and worship of God (Acts 2:42-47)
The importance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve the Church (1 Cor. 12:4-11)
The need to build Community (Acts 2:42-47)
The commission to evangelize and to witness (Acts 1:8)
What Are Our Gifts to the Church?
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Prayer, praise, and worship
The supernatural gifts of the Spirit such as tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, etc.
Expectant Faith— we are confident that God is going to act.
The conviction that the Lord heals through ordinary people
Other gifts we bring are a spirit of joy and celebration
A desire to be witnesses empowered to proclaim Christ
To bring alive the theological virtue of Hope
We bring our prophetic voice in the Church and the world
The need for and practice of intercession and spiritual warfare
And no less important, a concern for justice, peace, and social issues
 
You are so lucky to have a group nearby. There aren’t any Catholic Charismatic groups in my area. 🤷
 
We have a substantial number of them here, plus a group in our parish.

In my opinion, they seem to be an answer to the rise of Envangelical and Born-Again groups, that hold big outdoor meetings with lots of singing, dancing, vigour and healing sessions. Lots of people are attracted to those denominations for those reasons.
 
I don’t consider myself a charismatic in the usual sense. I do not speak in tongues - never have and probably never will. I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit some years back at a Life in the Spirit seminar and went from lukewarm to transformed. My entire faith life grew in a very profound sense. My charisms were revealed to me - and this is a major point of the movement: that of knowing and using one’s charisms for the building up of the Church. I associate this with our Lord’s words in Matthew 25:14-30. Our charisms are the talents that the Master gave us before He went on a journey. We are expected to show him an increase, through the use of those charisms, when He returns. I see it as vitally important for Catholics to know their charism(s) and use them.
 
The charismatic movement has been affirmed by 2 popes, Paul VI and John Paul II, as authentic charisms of the church. I found this article on EWTN that might shed some light. Catholics are not obliged to go to prayer meetings, but those who do are doing something spiritually uplifting and beneficial. I know a lot of Charismatics, they’re some of the most spiritual people I know, but I don’t feel called to go to prayer meetings myself. It’s just not my “style” of prayer and worship.
 
I haven’t got a problem with the Charismatic movement. I’ve been to a couple of their meetings. While they didn’t do anything for me (probably too lukewarm), I did hear them speak in tongues etc.

I may have put up a barrier against speaking in tongues as well. I went a couple of times to a charismatic deaf group when I was still a Protestant. At one point I seemed to feel this “spirit” coming over me, and I may have been on the verge of speaking in tongues then.

But at that point in time I’d had a gutful of demonic counterfeits, and I was not going to allow anything to “take over” thank you very much. So I resisted it, whatever it was.

To be honest I sometimes think about going to charismatic masses, but they’re a fair way from where I live. We do have a local prayer group, and I’ve heard them speak in tongues from time to time as well, but they don’t advertise themselves as “charismatic”.

I’ve also mentioned that the night my father died, he appeared in my room. Apparently one of the leading lights of the local charismatic movement also had his father appear to him, so I was told by one charismatic member. I don’t know any details and I can’t ask the chap, as he’s dead himself now.

I’ve put a paragraph from the following link to illustrate my point. I think the chap who’s father was supposed to have appeared to him after he died was Brian Smith. Anyway that’s what I was told by one bloke on one of the occasions I visited the Emmanuel Community at one of their masses.

emmanuelcommunity.com.au/about/history/
I will never forget January, 1975. I was in Melbourne as the representative of a youth prayer group to attend a national conference on charismatic renewal. It was a time when the charismatic renewal was riding on the crest of a wave. Thousands of people had gathered from across the country as well as overseas to hear a line up of exciting speakers. They represented many denominations and the gatherings were marked by an incredible sense of joy and freedom. It was during this conference that Fr Vince Hobbs, ***Brian Smith ***and John Carroll, three leaders from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Brisbane, began to meet and share a vision of developing covenant community (1). They also took the opportunity to speak with Ralph Martin, one of the conference speakers who was also leader of a charismatic, covenant community in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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I am a Charismatic Catholic but I have never been to one of these meetings
 
I am having a rough time in a Charismatic group. The group is very spiritual and sincere. They are true to the church. I have a rough time with the music group and the music that they play. They play country music or rock music that will relate to God. The problem being that you are thinking of the rock versions and words and not what they have changed. Has anyone run into this in their groups with the music?
 
i really dont have much info on this, so my opionion is as easy as this: If the Pope is ok with them, I dont see a reason of why should we have a bad opinion on them.
 
Perhaps what’s more important than anything else is the self renewal that I experienced in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR). It is a renewal of one’s faith in Catholicism from a nominal Catholic to a devout practicing Catholic. The renewal is in one’s character, from the nature of the flesh to the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Though these changes are on-going, the fact that it started tangibly as a result of participation in the CCR makes it worthwhile to practice its spirituality for spiritual growth.

Besides the renewal in character, the other tangible changes are the love of the Church, the Bible, the Sacraments and prayers. Not all Catholic Charismatics have the charismatic gifts like the gifts of tongue, prophecy, healing or miracle, etc., but they nevertheless discover the growth of personal gifts/talents to enable them to serve the Church and the Lord.

Charismatic prayer groups and communities are basically support groups to support each other, especially for spiritual growth. It is basically the fourth spokes (community) from the hub that support the rim of Christian life; the other three spokes being prayers, study and service.

God bless.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
I’ve put a paragraph from the following link to illustrate my point. I think the chap who’s father was supposed to have appeared to him after he died was Brian Smith. Anyway that’s what I was told by one bloke on one of the occasions I visited the Emmanuel Community at one of their masses.
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Just a bit about the late Brian Smith. Before becoming leader of the Charismatic Renewal here in Australia and worldwide, he was a very prayerful person since very young age. He was a leader in Marian spirituality then. Nevertheless even after being involved in the Renewal, his love for Mother Mary remained as strong as ever. You could see him bringing a large statue of Mary to retreats to be prominently placed during the sessions that they had.

A great man of God indeed he nevertheless experienced traumatic personal tragedy in his life especially when his daughter was raped and murdered. He used to recount this tragedy as a cross that he had to carry in following the Lord.
 
seagal said:
The charismatic movement has been affirmed by 2 popes, Paul VI and John Paul II, as authentic charisms of the church. I found this article on EWTN that might shed some light. Catholics are not obliged to go to prayer meetings, but those who do are doing something spiritually uplifting and beneficial. I know a lot of Charismatics, they’re some of the most spiritual people I know, but I don’t feel called to go to prayer meetings myself. It’s just not my “style” of prayer and worship.
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For those who love the communal song and praise, a charismatic group can be a real spirit lifter. I do attend such meetings every now and then for a spiritual “tune up” but am not a regular by any stretch of the imagination. Some of us have quieter charisms - those we are called to use before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament or in everyday life.

Just for general information, here is a link to information about baptism in the Holy Spirit, the prayer experience that absoutely lit my faith on fire. It is NOT a Sacrament, but there is really nothing else to call it. Note that Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa is the Franciscan Preacher of the Papal household. Any doubts about official recognition and approval of the charismatic movement may be laid to rest.

Is the charismatic movement for everyone? No! But every Catholic is called to know and use their charisms, and this is the path via which I begame aware of mine.
 
I participated in a Charismatic mass back in college during a conference. At the time, I found it amazing. I ended up speaking in tongues and it was the strangest experience because I know I was not purposely doing and saying whatever I was saying. It was just flowing out of my mouth in this language I never heard or spoke before. It didn’t sound like pure gibberish. At the same time, it was frightening.

Once I had time away from my experience, I’m still not sure what happened to me that night. My logical/scientific side nudges me to think that it might have been a matter of psychologically inducing myself to do this. I was hearing the people around me speaking in tongues and I was getting myself revved up, trying to do what the others were doing. You had the music, which is actually not something I really liked, but it seemed to be the right kind of music to get yourself in that “zone”. I once went to gospel choir music concert on our university campus where it suddenly became some sort of charismatic experience for many of the audience members. People were suddenly getting up out of their chairs, in a seemingly trance-like state and began to convulse then fall to the floor, saying they were infused with the Holy Spirit because they did not choose to do this. I didn’t doubt that they truly felt this way, but I also wondered if it was more of a psychological inducement than actually the Holy Spirit having them go into convulsions. Seeing that made me question my own experience.

The other side of me says that perhaps it really was the Holy Spirit flowing through me and I really was speaking in tongues. This is one of those things that will probably never be completely proven.

If the Church approved it, I have no problem with it. Even though I did have that experience, I have chosen not to participate in any more Charismatic masses. It is something I do not need to improve my faith. I know of only one parish in my area which does do this. It’s not really a popular thing around here with Catholics.
 
Sarabande said:
I didn’t doubt that they truly felt this way, but I also wondered if it was more of a psychological inducement than actually the Holy Spirit having them go into convulsions. Seeing that made me question my own experience.

The other side of me says that perhaps it really was the Holy Spirit flowing through me and I really was speaking in tongues. This is one of those things that will probably never be completely proven.
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It might or it might not from the Holy Spirit. And that’s right, you have to discern the experience and perhaps discuss it with others just to hear their discernment too. Probably what was more important here would be to experience personal changes within yourself. Like did the experience or rather after it, drew you closer to Jesus or not? Some people would examined themselves and maybe move on to discover what it entails if they feel so convinced to do so.
Sarabande said:
If the Church approved it, I have no problem with it. Even though I did have that experience, I have chosen not to participate in any more Charismatic masses. It is something I do not need to improve my faith. I know of only one parish in my area which does do this. It’s not really a popular thing around here with Catholics.
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With the introduction of GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal), I think ‘Charisamtic mass’ has been phased out in the Charismatic Renewal though this depends in the region where you live in. I would think ‘Charismatic mass’ is a misnomer because it is actually a mass. GIRM is a good thing though so that little leeway is given in how a mass should be celebrated. Nowadays lots of prayer groups do not have the so-called ‘Charismatic mass’ but rather just participated in the mass available in the church. They can always exercise their gifts and charismatic experience in their own group gatherings like the prayer meetings which are not masses.
 
Reuben_J said:
It might or it might not from the Holy Spirit. And that’s right, you have to discern the experience and perhaps discuss it with others just to hear their discernment too. Probably what was more important here would be to experience personal changes within yourself. Like did the experience or rather after it, drew you closer to Jesus or not? Some people would examined themselves and maybe move on to discover what it entails if they feel so convinced to do so.
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I do think the experience was a different way in bringing myself closer to Him. I definitely do not think it detracted from my spirituality, so I see that as a good thing. But I still question what brought it about.
Reuben_J said:
With the introduction of GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal), I think ‘Charisamtic mass’ has been phased out in the Charismatic Renewal though this depends in the region where you live in. I would think ‘Charismatic mass’ is a misnomer because it is actually a mass. GIRM is a good thing though so that little leeway is given in how a mass should be celebrated. Nowadays lots of prayer groups do not have the so-called ‘Charismatic mass’ but rather just participated in the mass available in the church. They can always exercise their gifts and charismatic experience in their own group gatherings like the prayer meetings which are not masses.
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I did not know that. The parish in my area that does this calls it a “charismatic mass”, so perhaps I’m in one of those regions. The one I experienced was at a conference for Catholic college students. The mass was actually celebrated in a hotel conference room, so it probably was not usual.
 
Reuben_J said:
Just a bit about the late Brian Smith. Before becoming leader of the Charismatic Renewal here in Australia and worldwide, he was a very prayerful person since very young age. He was a leader in Marian spirituality then. Nevertheless even after being involved in the Renewal, his love for Mother Mary remained as strong as ever. You could see him bringing a large statue of Mary to retreats to be prominently placed during the sessions that they had.

A great man of God indeed he nevertheless experienced traumatic personal tragedy in his life especially when his daughter was raped and murdered. He used to recount this tragedy as a cross that he had to carry in following the Lord.
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Thanks for the information. Oddly enough, I seem to remember the particular tragedy regarding his daughter, even though I wasn’t a Christian at the time, or a fairly new Protestant if I was. I think it was in Bundaberg or Maryborough, or somewhere around there.

At the time there was a photograph of her in the newspaper, and I think in that photo she was holding a candle. Strange how that particular episode should stick in my memory from quite a long time ago now, even though I knew nothing about her, Brian Smith, the charismatic movement or anything else about them.
 
Sarabande said:
I do think the experience was a different way in bringing myself closer to Him. I definitely do not think it detracted from my spirituality, so I see that as a good thing. But I still question what brought it about.
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If you were not asking for or seeking a particular gift; if you were docile to the Holy Spirit; if it lead to humility, obedience and unity, then it was very likely from the Holy Spirit. All such gifts must originate with God.

The problem with many movements is that everyone wants to speak in tongues - with no one to interpret. And, there is the problem. Genuine tongues are much more credible and much more usable if someone interprets correctly. Yet, as we see in Acts 2, there are always the doubters. Always.
 
po18guy said:
The problem with many movements is that everyone wants to speak in tongues - with no one to interpret. And, there is the problem. Genuine tongues are much more credible and much more usable if someone interprets correctly. Yet, as we see in Acts 2, there are always the doubters. Always.
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There are two kinds of speaking in tongues: glossalia and tongues proper. Glossalia is a form of personal or communal prayer that does not involve interpretation – it is the Spirit interceding on our behalf through us “with inexpressible groans”. Tongues proper requires an interpreter. Both of these are spoken of in Scripture, though I don’t have the passages with me at the moment.
 
A few years ago I joined a charismatic group for a few months. I hated the music and the style of worship, but the people were lovely, on fire for the Lord, full of faith. So I stayed for a bit because I was so hungry for the company of good, devout people.

The 2nd time I came to the prayer meeting a group of people prayed for me. They knew nothing about me, except for my name. One man had a ‘word’ for me. It was about my work situation, something very specific that nobody else knew about except for me. He knew details, and I was quite surprised by that. He then said that the reason why he got this message for me was so I could lose my anxiety over the issue, and that I would get the results I wanted from a project. I was shocked. I suffered a lot of anxiety over it for months and months, I couldn’t sleep and had difficulty functioning at work. His message was spot on about what was happening.

On my way home I was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of great love from God. I had big tears streaming down my cheeks because I was burning with His love. The only thing going through my mind was: “He really cares about me. He really cares about me.” My stupid little work problem was really not relevant for the state of our world, yet God still cared about it because He cared about me. Of course I always knew God loved me, but I probably never experienced that, it was just an intellectual concept but not something felt and really understood. This realisation that God truly loved me shook me to the core. It was a profound experience.
 
Prodigal_Son said:
There are two kinds of speaking in tongues: glossalia and tongues proper. Glossalia is a form of personal or communal prayer that does not involve interpretation – it is the Spirit interceding on our behalf through us “with inexpressible groans”. Tongues proper requires an interpreter. Both of these are spoken of in Scripture, though I don’t have the passages with me at the moment.
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True enough, and those who have prayed over me have prayed in it.
 
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