J
JamesG
Guest
Hi,
Recently, my wife and I joined a Christian Life Program (CLP) in our area. This program is part of a group called Couples For Christ (CFC). They are a Catholic group that is very large around the world.
The last session we went to was rather shocking and I couldn’t believe what I experienced.
For this session they moved the talk up from the church basement to the main area of the Church. They sang a few Christian folk songs and talked about how they were going to ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon us individually. I became a bit concerned when the guest speaker was telling us to say ‘la la la la’ during the individual prayer. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. He told us to ask for the gift of tongues.
Anyway, the plan was to have everyone go to the back of the Church, sit down on a chair that faced the corner, and have others pray over them and lay hands. In front, of the chair was a candle with a small bowl of holy water. They divided one side of the church for the men and the other for the women.
While I was sitting at the front waiting my turn, I suddenly heard a very strange sound coming from the back of the church. The women all started making crazy sounds you would hear during a scary movie or while going through a haunted house. They kept chanting, ‘la la la la la’ really fast and changing the pitch of their voice in odd ways.
It all sound crazy and I thought they were all nuts. I was thinking to myself, what in the heck l have I done to my poor wife? She is going there next! I was also thinking that these people are completely wrong.
Well it didn’t take long for my turn to arrive. I sat down and the men prayed over me while I prayed to myself. Then they started singing over me and then quickly changed their voice just like the women did. ‘la la la la’, they all chanted over and over again. One had to stop and tell me to say, "Hallelujah ". So I said it slow and calmly. After that one of them told me that I had to practice speaking in tongues. They also seemed rather disapointed that my wife and I didn’t experience any “magical possession” or something.
Needless to say my wife and I are just shocked about this entire experience. We are very concerned that these people are practicing things that Catholics should not be practicing and they are doing it right in front of the Altar.
First of all, there was no priest during the entire session. The entire time I was wondering if the pastor of the church would approve of this.
Second, a good Catholic priest that we know (who has permission from the bishop to perform exorcisms) told my wife that you should not lay hands upon people in that manner. You can’t simply start implementing the theatrics of witchcraft.
Thirdly, their understanding of tongues is very uneducated. You can’t simply start talking gibberish and hope that the Holy Spirit will fall upon you. You also can’t practice speaking in tongues.
What should I do about this? I’m afraid that by continuing to entertain this we may become guilty of a sin against the Holy Spirit. Also, what should I tell these people if they are wrong. Should I try to correct them? If so, what is the best way?
Recently, my wife and I joined a Christian Life Program (CLP) in our area. This program is part of a group called Couples For Christ (CFC). They are a Catholic group that is very large around the world.
The last session we went to was rather shocking and I couldn’t believe what I experienced.
For this session they moved the talk up from the church basement to the main area of the Church. They sang a few Christian folk songs and talked about how they were going to ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon us individually. I became a bit concerned when the guest speaker was telling us to say ‘la la la la’ during the individual prayer. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. He told us to ask for the gift of tongues.
Anyway, the plan was to have everyone go to the back of the Church, sit down on a chair that faced the corner, and have others pray over them and lay hands. In front, of the chair was a candle with a small bowl of holy water. They divided one side of the church for the men and the other for the women.
While I was sitting at the front waiting my turn, I suddenly heard a very strange sound coming from the back of the church. The women all started making crazy sounds you would hear during a scary movie or while going through a haunted house. They kept chanting, ‘la la la la la’ really fast and changing the pitch of their voice in odd ways.
It all sound crazy and I thought they were all nuts. I was thinking to myself, what in the heck l have I done to my poor wife? She is going there next! I was also thinking that these people are completely wrong.
Well it didn’t take long for my turn to arrive. I sat down and the men prayed over me while I prayed to myself. Then they started singing over me and then quickly changed their voice just like the women did. ‘la la la la’, they all chanted over and over again. One had to stop and tell me to say, "Hallelujah ". So I said it slow and calmly. After that one of them told me that I had to practice speaking in tongues. They also seemed rather disapointed that my wife and I didn’t experience any “magical possession” or something.
Needless to say my wife and I are just shocked about this entire experience. We are very concerned that these people are practicing things that Catholics should not be practicing and they are doing it right in front of the Altar.
First of all, there was no priest during the entire session. The entire time I was wondering if the pastor of the church would approve of this.
Second, a good Catholic priest that we know (who has permission from the bishop to perform exorcisms) told my wife that you should not lay hands upon people in that manner. You can’t simply start implementing the theatrics of witchcraft.
Thirdly, their understanding of tongues is very uneducated. You can’t simply start talking gibberish and hope that the Holy Spirit will fall upon you. You also can’t practice speaking in tongues.
What should I do about this? I’m afraid that by continuing to entertain this we may become guilty of a sin against the Holy Spirit. Also, what should I tell these people if they are wrong. Should I try to correct them? If so, what is the best way?
