Confused about speaking in tongues

[Sherry_G]

Why? The poster adequately described the charismatic movement in the Catholic Church. Tongues is not the only gift though, just the one that seems to upset people the most.

while I can agree with your statement in theory, I have been a witness to what I can only consider to be a false witness of the gift of tongues in a prayer group that I used to belong to. Many people in the group were very disruptive with their own vocal recitation of what I would call the equivalent of a mantra. IOW, not truly having a gift, just reciting a particular sound over and over again. Creepy is what I called it. Definitely not led by the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul addresses this issue, keep silent unless there are others there to interpret. I just left the group.

 

[MatthewCaligari]

My flatmates who are Pentecostal seem to live for this “speaking in tongues” “gibberish” that they do. Having been to a Protestant church its really sad to see they believe that if you can do that you have been baptized in The Holy Spirit…My flatmate who has done 3 years of Bible College at a Protestant College tells me that scripture supports , speaking in “Gibberish”. Also I went to a Catholic Charismatic group and they did it there, whats with that??

I agree… Its quite sad…
I turned Pentecostal for 9 months and i was brainwashed into believing its the most important thing about being a Christian, speaking in tongues…I was even told, its a prayer language the devil does not understand… The bible CLEARLY says that on the day of Pentecost EACH MAN heard the Gospel in there OWN NATIVE LANGUAGE… not gibbering sounding like a baby… Now that I have re-verted back to the Catholic Faith, only ONE thing matters to me, and that is receiving Jesus Christ in the most blessed Holy Eucharist.
You CANNOT get any closer to Jesus Christ then that, because you are consuming him.
PRAISE GOD

 

[DianaCC]

Why? The poster adequately described the charismatic movement in the Catholic Church. Tongues is not the only gift though, just the one that seems to upset people the most.

In my experience, all instances of tongues have been nothing more than autolalia having absolutely nothing to do with language, angelic or human, and nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, nor any gift. Perhaps others have different experiences. But in mine, none.

 

[PatriceA]

In my experience, all instances of tongues have been nothing more than autolalia having absolutely nothing to do with language, angelic or human, and nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, nor any gift. Perhaps others have different experiences. But in mine, none.

Please be respectful though to those that are members of CAF that have experienced the true gifts of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues. You may not have had a positive experience, but there are those here that have, me included.

 

[PatriceA]

while I can agree with your statement in theory, I have been a witness to what I can only consider to be a false witness of the gift of tongues in a prayer group that I used to belong to. Many people in the group were very disruptive with their own vocal recitation of what I would call the equivalent of a mantra. IOW, not truly having a gift, just reciting a particular sound over and over again. Creepy is what I called it. Definitely not led by the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul addresses this issue, keep silent unless there are others there to interpret. I just left the group.

Yes, there will always be people that “fake” the gifts. That’s why the only Charismatic masses or groups I attend are by the Fraternity of Priests. I also check and recheck any experience I have had with my spiritual director.

 

[vardaquinn]

In my experience, all instances of tongues have been nothing more than autolalia having absolutely nothing to do with language, angelic or human, and nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, nor any gift. Perhaps others have different experiences. But in mine, none.

Well, sorry to hear that. In my experience, when I received the gift of tongues, the Holy Spirit was totally involved. And I have heard so many countless instances of people verifying their languages as genuine languages. In any case, as is clear from Scripture and Church teaching, it’s a genuine charism.

@MatthewCaligari: Well, obviously the Protestant Pentecostals are cut off from the sacraments. But it’s not an ‘either/or’ sort of deal. You have the Mass and sacraments, and you have stuff like speaking in tongues and you have to choose between them. It’s both/and. I personally need all the help I can get, so I’m going to take advantage of any gift God wants to give me, and anything He wants to use me for to bring others closer to Him. As Sacrosanctum Concilium noted, the entire activity of the Church is not exhausted with the celebration of Mass.

But there are other instances of tongues which are unintelligible in the New Testament. Several instances in Acts, and see Corinthians 14. Paul notes several times that he speaks in a tongue, but he doesn’t know what he’s saying.

 

[DianaCC]

And I have heard so many countless instances of people verifying their languages as genuine languages.

No disrespect intended but I have systematically missed ***every single one ***of those countless instances. For some reason I always hear about them but never witness them personally, and I notice most other people hear about them but never witness them personally either.

 

[beth40n2]

Tongues is a genuine charism of the Holy spirit, approved by the church. .

 

[beth40n2]

Now that I have re-verted back to the Catholic Faith, only ONE thing matters to me, and that is receiving Jesus Christ in the most blessed Holy Eucharist.
You CANNOT get any closer to Jesus Christ then that, because you are consuming him.
PRAISE GOD

Very true! But if a person ignores the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they are missing out.

Here is a link that explains the different types of tonges. catholiccharismatic.us/ccc/articles/Van_Cleef/Gifts/tongues_b.html

 

[ltwin]

Speaking in different kinds of languages is a genuine charism. And whether you believe that the glossolalia as practiced by Christians today is the same as the gift of languages in the Bible (which I do) should have no bearing on the spiritual impact the practice has in a person’s life who chooses to practice it. Even if you have the lowest view of it, it should be clear that it is a form of prayer to God without words. Some writers have even said that St. Augustine of Hippos was describing glossolalia when he wrote about “jubilation”:

1. Ver. 3. Sing unto Him a new song. Put off oldness : ye know the new song. A new man, a New Testament, a new song. A new song belongeth not to men that are old: none learn that but new men, renewed through Grace from oldness, and belonging now to the New Testament, which is the kingdom of Heaven. For that sigheth all our love, and singeth a new song. A new song let it sing, not with the tongue, but with the life. Sing unto Him a new song: sing skilfully unto Him. Every man asketh how he should sing unto God. Sing unto Him, but sing not unskilfully. He would not that His Ears be offended. Sing skilfully, Brother. If, in the audience of any good musician, when it is said to thee, Sing, to please such an one, without some knowledge of the musical art, thou fearest to sing, lest
   thou shouldest displease a master of the art, because, what an unskilful person findeth not amiss in thee, a master blameth: who can undertake to sing skilfully before God, so judging of the singer, so examining every part, so exactly hearing ? How canst thou shew so nice a skill in singing, as in nothing to displease Ears so perfect ? Behold, he giveth as it were the tune of thy song; seek not words as if thou couldest explain whereby God is pleased. Sing with jubilation: for this is to sing skilfully unto God, to sing with jubilation. What is it to sing with jubilation ? To be unable to understand, to express in words, what is sung in the heart. For singers, either in the harvest, or in the vineyard, or in any other busy work, after they have begun in the words of their hymns to exult and rejoice, being as it were filled with so great joy, that they cannot express it in words, then turn from actual words, and proceed to sounds of jubilation.** The jubilee is a sound signifying that the heart laboureth with that which it cannot utter.** And whom beseemeth that jubilation, but the Ineffable God? For He is Ineffable, Whom thou canst not speak; and if thou canst not speak Him, and oughtest not to keep Him silent, what remaineth to thee but jubilation ; that the heart may rejoice without words, and the boundless extent of joy may have no limits of syllables? *Sing skilfully unto Him with jubilation. * ~ St. Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms.

 

[Telstar]

Speaking in different kinds of languages is a genuine charism. And whether you believe that the glossolalia as practiced by Christians today is the same as the gift of languages in the Bible (which I do) should have no bearing on the spiritual impact the practice has in a person’s life who chooses to practice it. Even if you have the lowest view of it, it should be clear that it is a form of prayer to God without words. Some writers have even said that St. Augustine of Hippos was describing glossolalia when he wrote about “jubilation”:

1. Ver. 3. Sing unto Him a new song. Put off oldness : ye know the new song. A new man, a New Testament, a new song. A new song belongeth not to men that are old: none learn that but new men, renewed through Grace from oldness, and belonging now to the New Testament, which is the kingdom of Heaven. For that sigheth all our love, and singeth a new song. A new song let it sing, not with the tongue, but with the life

I think you’re attributing some kind of audible ‘vocalization’ to something that is never meant to be vocal at all. In my opinion, St. Augustine is describing the final stages of deep contemplative prayer. In contemplative prayer it’s not our tongues or our lips that ‘sing’ to God, it’s our hearts. He is using the analogy of ‘singing’ to describe the joining of our hearts to God through the highest form of prayer, and there is nothing ‘audible’ to anyone’s ears, because it’s done using the pure language of the soul.

When there are no words left to speak between us and God, all we can do is express our love for Him without any effort wasted on even trying to express that love in words. It’s more a ‘groaning of the spirit’, but it has no sound at all, because God can always see what’s in our hearts. He doesn’t need to hear any sound from us, because no words can never express that kind of pure love. At that point, our hearts are completely joined in the kind of loving embrace that doesn’t require any sound at all. We become lost in the silence of love, like a husband and wife become lost in their love for each other through a loving embrace. Words aren’t required. In fact, they only distract us from our true love.

Matthew 6:[5] And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

[6] But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. [7] And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard.

We all begin our life of prayer through audible means, but the highest form of prayer requires nothing audible to the ear, at all, except our heavy sighs of love and joy, shared with God, alone.

JMHO

 

[ltwin]

I think you’re attributing some kind of audible ‘vocalization’ to something that is never meant to be vocal at all. In my opinion, St. Augustine is describing the final stages of deep contemplative prayer. In contemplative prayer it’s not our tongues or our lips that ‘sing’ to God, it’s our hearts. He is using the analogy of ‘singing’ to describe the joining of our hearts to God through the highest form of prayer, and there is nothing ‘audible’ to anyone’s ears, because it’s done using the pure language of the soul.

When there are no words left to speak between us and God, all we can do is express our love for Him without any effort wasted on even trying to express that love in words. It’s more a ‘groaning of the spirit’, but it has no sound at all, because God can always see what’s in our hearts. He doesn’t need to hear any sound from us, because no words can never express that kind of pure love. At that point, our hearts are completely joined in the kind of loving embrace that doesn’t require any sound at all. We become lost in the silence of love, like a husband and wife become lost in their love for each other through a loving embrace. Words aren’t required. In fact, they only distract us from our true love.

We all begin our life of prayer through audible means, but the highest form of prayer requires nothing audible to the ear, at all, except our heavy sighs of love and joy, shared with God, alone.

JMHO

Thanks for your response. It sounds like what a Pentecostal would say. Glossolalia is our prayer when we no longer have the words to praise or thank God. It happens when our hearts are filled with love, and we are simply overwhelmed with God’s love.

I won’t argue about what Agustine was saying or not, he can speak for himself. This is simply what Pentecostals and charismatics point out. I think it is quite clear that the jubilation is an actual sound, a sound however not bound by words.

What is it to sing with jubilation ? To be unable to understand, to express in words, what is sung in the heart. For singers, either in the harvest, or in the vineyard, or in any other busy work, after they have begun in the words of their hymns to exult and rejoice, being as it were filled with so great joy, that they cannot express it in words, then turn from actual words, and proceed to sounds of jubilation. The jubilee is a sound signifying that the heart laboureth with that which it cannot utter. And whom beseemeth that jubilation, but the Ineffable God? For He is Ineffable, Whom thou canst not speak; and if thou canst not speak Him, and oughtest not to keep Him silent, what remaineth to thee but jubilation ; that the heart may rejoice without words, and the boundless extent of joy may have no limits of syllables? Sing skilfully unto Him with jubilation.

 

[centurionguard]

Thanks for your response. It sounds like what a Pentecostal would say. Glossolalia is our prayer when we no longer have the words to praise or thank God. It happens when our hearts are filled with love, and we are simply overwhelmed with God’s love.

I won’t argue about what Augustine was saying or not, he can speak for himself. This is simply what Pentecostals and charismatics point out. I think it is quite clear that the jubilation is an actual sound, a sound however not bound by words.

It sounds like what a Pentecostal would say. Glossolalia is our prayer when we no longer have the words to praise or thank God. It happens when our hearts are filled with love, and we are simply overwhelmed with God’s love.

I think its irrelevant getting into an argument about the often least understood and most ridiculed Gift of the Holy Spirit spoken about by Saint Paul.

If people can’t dissect it, place it under a microscope, rationalize it, and scrutinize the least of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit namely Tongues. You can be doubly sure they’ll shove it under a door mat quicker than someone feels inclined to curse this least understood Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Well most certainly without humility no one will even begin even in the smallest sense to contemplate this cherished Gift of the Holy Spirit as far as human capacity is capably.

I strongly get this sense from a lot of Catholics. But so what if its the least of the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Does that mean we need to scrape this Gift from the bottom of the barrel every-time its discussed?

I always thought the Gift of Tongues was far more greatly a personal form prayer than it is used in prophecy as Saint Paul describes.

All human prayer to God is imperfect no matter how poetic or fanciful words someone is gifted with choosing. No human Praise of God from humans no matter how well intentioned from the heart could ever amount to more perfect Praises to God by His Angels. No one is supposed to understand the Gift of Tongues as a form of vocal prayer that sounds gibberish but that it should be done in private from deep and profoundly within heart behind closed doors so that what God sees in Secret He rewards Spiritually inside the Human Heart.

Like many spokes in a wheel all joining at the center (GOD), I see the Gift of Tongues as another form of (“Personal Contemplative Prayer”) and I bring emphasis to the word personal. What children of God can’t vocalize more perfectly in vocal prayer; the Holy Spirit of God assist a human soul dis-positioned most humbly from the human soul to speak more perfected praises to God without the person vocalizing having the mental need to understand what they are vocalizing with the exception of the human soul centered on deeply loving God.

I don’t find this difficult to contemplate. Of course there will still be people who will continue to downplay this Gift and associate it most often with the Protestant and Catholic Pentecostal Movement in the 1970’s. The Gift of Tongues (“A Spiritual Gift”) is after all one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Peace
Chris

 

[vardaquinn]

If the tongues is the least of the gifts (which it is, in a sense, because it’s really only for the individual) then it shouldn’t surprise us that it’s so common. And I think then that it’s something pretty basic everybody should have.

Tongues is pretty simple, really. It’s a gift that helps us adore God, with words given by the Holy Spirit. I don’t see why there has to be such a big fuss made about it. I don’t see any reason to disapprove of it, or to try and turn away from it. It’s a beautiful gift.

 

[DianaCC]

If the tongues is the least of the gifts (which it is, in a sense, because it’s really only for the individual) then it shouldn’t surprise us that it’s so common. And I think then that it’s something pretty basic everybody should have.

Tongues is pretty simple, really. It’s a gift that helps us adore God, with words given by the Holy Spirit. I don’t see why there has to be such a big fuss made about it. I don’t see any reason to disapprove of it, or to try and turn away from it. It’s a beautiful gift.

Yes, it’s the least of the gifts, but that doesn’t stop some people from making their spiritual lives revolve around it. I don’t understand how something can be predicted in the Bible to eventually cease, and then it ceases, and for something like 1800 years it is practically never heard from again, and then all of a sudden a bunch of U.S. Christians that had been living in total separation from the hierarchy and the magisterium for centuries supposedly rediscover it as if it had been lost, it goes international, within two generations it spills into the U.S. Catholic Church, and within one more generation the movement has its own controversial Marian apparition. Gifts of God don’t distract.

 

[fred_conty]

I have done a search and nothing I found was helpful to my understanding, which is why I then made this thread.

Hi Perfect Timing,
First, St. Paul says it is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, although he implies it is the
least of the gifts, charity being the greatest.

Why was it given on Pentecost? To WOW the people who listened to St. Peter, to get
their attention and impress them. It was used to convert them by overwhelming them
with a miracle. And it worked, because all of them were baptised that day. It still has that affect today on persons who hear it.

There also seems to be a second way of tongues. When a person speaks, an interpreter
is needed to convey the message to the congregation so they understand. This second
way is for the good of the whole community of believers. St. Paul seems to imply if there is no interpreter present, then it is better if it isn’t done.

And a third way of speaking in tongues is to use it in praying directly to God, which is better done in private, not in the assembly.

Since it is a gift from the Holy Spirit, we should hold it with respect.

St. Paul says some have one gift and some have another, but noone is expected to have all the gifts all the time.

 

[Telstar]

Yes, it’s the least of the gifts, but that doesn’t stop some people from making their spiritual lives revolve around it. I don’t understand how something can be predicted in the Bible to eventually cease, and then it ceases, and for something like 1800 years it is practically never heard from again, and then all of a sudden a bunch of U.S. Christians that had been living in total separation from the hierarchy and the magisterium for centuries supposedly rediscover it as if it had been lost, it goes international, within two generations it spills into the U.S. Catholic Church, and within one more generation the movement has its own controversial Marian apparition. Gifts of God don’t distract.

This is my main problem with it, also. I think too many people are confused about what it is. It was a gift that was given to early Christians as a form of communication between peoples that spoke different languages. Sometimes, it was the speaker that had the gift to speak so that all could understand them when they preached. Sometimes it was a gift for the user to be able to interpret what someone else was saying in a different language, when they were the only one that spoke a different ‘tongue’. It was never ‘gibberish’ that no one could understand, at all. ‘Tongues’ is just another word for the variety of true languages spoken by different people. Even in private prayer, there has to be some kind of deep understanding of what is being expressed. I believe that the problem that happened with the Corinthians was that it became something similar to what it is, now. Everyone was speaking gibberish, dancing around and carrying on as if ‘possessed’ (and I don’t mean by the Holy Spirit). They had also misunderstood the teachings of the Apostles about ‘speaking in tongues’.

That’s exactly the kinds of things that I witnessed when I was younger and was invited to both kinds of charismatic services, Catholic and Protestant (in the 70s). It certainly didn’t make me feel closer to God, in the least. It actually made me feel that I was doing something very wrong, just by being there. It was like going to a wild party where everyone loses all of their inhibitions. The only difference was that they weren’t drinking or doing drugs (at least not to my knowledge), they claimed that they were being ‘slain in the spirit’. It certainly didn’t make me feel peaceful. Instead, it took my peace away, and was not edifying to me in the least. I was extremely uncomfortable there.

I’m sorry if my opinion seems harsh, but I can’t help it. Something deep inside me told me never to go back, again, and I never did. I believe my strongest spiritual gift is discernment more than anything else. It hasn’t always worked for me, but, for the most part, it has kept me from making some serious spiritual blunders in my life, especially when I got sidetracked and went searching for a ‘different path’. Thank God, it always brought me back ‘home’ when I couldn’t find what I was looking for anywhere else, because I had it all along (Hello, Dorothy!).

 

[centurionguard]

This is my main problem with it, also. I think too many people are confused about what it is. It was a gift that was given to early Christians as a form of communication between peoples that spoke different languages. Sometimes, it was the speaker that had the gift to speak so that all could understand them when they preached. Sometimes it was a gift for the user to be able to interpret what someone else was saying in a different language, when they were the only one that spoke a different ‘tongue’. It was never ‘gibberish’ that no one could understand, at all. ‘Tongues’ is just another word for the variety of true languages spoken by different people. Even in private prayer, there has to be some kind of deep understanding of what is being expressed. I believe that the problem that happened with the Corinthians was that it became something similar to what it is, now. Everyone was speaking gibberish, dancing around and carrying on as if ‘possessed’ (and I don’t mean by the Holy Spirit). They had also misunderstood the teachings of the Apostles about ‘speaking in tongues’.

That’s exactly the kinds of things that I witnessed when I was younger and was invited to both kinds of charismatic services, Catholic and Protestant (in the 70s). It certainly didn’t make me feel closer to God, in the least. It actually made me feel that I was doing something very wrong, just by being there. It was like going to a wild party where everyone loses all of their inhibitions. The only difference was that they weren’t drinking or doing drugs (at least not to my knowledge), they claimed that they were being ‘slain in the spirit’. It certainly didn’t make me feel peaceful. Instead, it took my peace away, and was not edifying to me in the least. I was extremely uncomfortable there.

I’m sorry if my opinion seems harsh, but I can’t help it. Something deep inside me told me never to go back, again, and I never did. I believe my strongest spiritual gift is discernment more than anything else. It hasn’t always worked for me, but, for the most part, it has kept me from making some serious spiritual blunders in my life, especially when I got sidetracked and went searching for a ‘different path’. Thank God, it always brought me back ‘home’ when I couldn’t find what I was looking for anywhere else, because I had it all along (Hello, Dorothy!).

This is my main problem with it, also. I think too many people are confused about what it is. It was a gift that was given to early Christians as a form of communication between peoples that spoke different languages. Sometimes, it was the speaker that had the gift to speak so that all could understand them when they preached. Sometimes it was a gift for the user to be able to interpret what someone else was saying in a different language, when they were the only one that spoke a different ‘tongue’.

What you bespeak here I too think is the crux of confusion with people trying to dissect and understand the Gift of Tongues, while the more important aspect of this Spiritual Gift is or should better seen from a Personal Prayerful Contemplative aspect. Like all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit it requires humility to use them properly.
To many forget that the Holy Spirit is directly involved when using such beautiful Gifts.
When this aspect is lost or ignored that’s when such Gifts loose their meaning with the individual endowed freely in using them, which should be to glorify God.

 

[DianaCC]

This is my main problem with it, also.

Exactly, Telstar. It is, simply speaking, not communication, and apart from cases of demonic possession I know of no instance in which an intelligible language was ever spoken or heard, as I mentioned above, and Vardaquinn’s “countless instances” boiling down to mere rumor I’m afraid is typical of the movement as a whole. What a shame. You’d think at least one instance would have made it to YouTube by now.

I had a disturbing conversation recently with a charismatic sympathizer who claimed to be a journalist. He told me he witnessed a woman speaking ecstatically in a known, living language. But as the details of the incident emerged my heart sank. The language was confirmed to be Basque, the incident took place in Spain, and apparently it was either simply assumed that as an Andalusian the speaker was perfectly ignorant of Basque, or that her denial of familiarity was presumed sincere. But that’s not what stuck in my craw. The journalist in relating the anecdote detailed the unique attributes of the Basque language, that it is a non-Indoeuropean isolate and so on, as if to make the incident seem all the more remarkable. Thus bedazzled by self-misdirection he passed over the intrinsic likelihood of a purely natural explanation given the circumstances, namely that she wittingly or unwittingly picked up a few Basque phrases from somewhere, which is easy to do in that part of the world. And this was a journalist telling the story. Again, what a shame.

Although I’m not sure what Paul meant when he said it was privileged communication to God alone, but the fact that it bypasses the gibberer’s rational faculties, plus the fact that Paul stresses the relative uselessness of it, plus the fact that the hierarchy has to constantly remind Charismatics to remain obedient, to stick to Catholic moral teaching, and to avoid emotionalism, adds up to a real problem. I’m glad I’m not a bishop.

 

[centurionguard]

Exactly, Telstar. It is, simply speaking, not communication, and apart from cases of demonic possession I know of no instance in which an intelligible language was ever spoken or heard, as I mentioned above, and Varda Quinn’s “countless instances” boiling down to mere rumor I’m afraid is typical of the movement as a whole. What a shame. You’d think at least one instance would have made it to YouTube by now.

I had a disturbing conversation recently with a charismatic sympathizer who claimed to be a journalist. He told me he witnessed a woman speaking ecstatically in a known, living language. But as the details of the incident emerged my heart sank. The language was confirmed to be Basque, the incident took place in Spain, and apparently it was either simply assumed that as an Andalusian the speaker was perfectly ignorant of Basque, or that her denial of familiarity was presumed sincere. But that’s not what stuck in my craw. The journalist in relating the anecdote detailed the unique attributes of the Basque language, that it is a non-Indo European isolate and so on, as if to make the incident seem all the more remarkable. Thus bedazzled by self-misdirection he passed over the intrinsic likelihood of a purely natural explanation given the circumstances, namely that she wittingly or unwittingly picked up a few Basque phrases from somewhere, which is easy to do in that part of the world. And this was a journalist telling the story. Again, what a shame.

Although I’m not sure what Paul meant when he said it was privileged communication to God alone, but the fact that it bypasses the gibberer’s rational faculties, plus the fact that Paul stresses the relative uselessness of it, plus the fact that the hierarchy has to constantly remind Charismatics to remain obedient, to stick to Catholic moral teaching, and to avoid emotionalism, adds up to a real problem. I’m glad I’m not a bishop.

Although I’m not sure what Paul meant when he said it was privileged communication to God alone, but the fact that it bypasses the gibberer’s rational faculties, plus the fact that Paul stresses the relative uselessness of it, plus the fact that the hierarchy has to constantly remind Charismatics to remain obedient, to stick to Catholic moral teaching, and to avoid emotionalism, adds up to a real problem. I’m glad I’m not a bishop.

Its privileged communication to God because it is a cherished Gift from the Holy Spirit.
The fact that the use of Tongues is gibberish to those hearing and most particularly to the one using it bears NO real significance nor should the person with this Gift focus on this gibberish or take delight in it. The focus is on Praising Jesus in genuine contemplative prayer form (Behind Closed doors in secret between You and God alone).
There are Three types of Prayer:
Vocal Prayer
Meditative Prayer
Contemplative Prayer

Most people use Vocal and Meditative.

plus the fact that Paul stresses the relative uselessness of it

What Saint Paul is referring to is when the Gift of Tongues is used in Prophecy and there’s no one to interpret such prophecy… it becomes useless. Please Read all of Corinthians without taking it out of context.

Peace
Chris