Charismatic Renewal Still Active?

[Reuben_J]

Not my intention to attribute this to Protestants but obviously there are some among them as such, since they have more varieties compared to us Catholics, which is more controlled. I have heard a Protestant explaining the Charismatic gifts which is quite reasonable and informative.

Thanks for your post though.

 

[commenter]

Based on my experience, I suggest:

• Prayer groups need to have a strong connection to the Church. There ought to be a priest or deacon as spiritual director, sometimes in attendance, and at least kept informed about weeks when he is absent.
• The prayer group should be “sponsored” by a parish, or Catholic institution. This means more than just allowing this group to meet in a parish room each week.
• I don’t agree with ecumenical prayer groups; groups should be specifically Catholic. They can, however, join as a group on occasion for ecumenical services - multi-denominational, not non-denominational.
• Most dioceses have some kind of liaison position - usually a priest appointed by the bishop as his representative to “the renewal”. Prayer group leaders should be in contact with this person, and with leaders of nearby prayer groups. Leaders need to support each other.
• It is better to have a few strong prayer groups than trying to get a prayer group in many parishes. We had a very large prayer group, with a youth ministry and other outreaches, and many leaders who supported and balanced out each other, so no one person would go off on a tangent.

But tiny groups kept splitting off, “we want a prayer group in our own parish”. With only one exception, none of the spin off groups really were connected to their parish. None had enough leadership or numbers for stability, let alone ministry, and they pulled off strength from the main group. The main group and all the spin offs (except that one exception) ended.