Do Catholics talk much about religious experience?

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Could be I’m just missing something, but modern Catholics don’t seem talk much about religious experience. Is it just not a big deal to most people, or is it just something that more people keep private? Or am I just completely off base?
 
I’m not sure when I haven’t talked about religious experience, I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t. I’ve talked about my conversion quite often.
 
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I do and will only speak to my spiritual director and a priest who have good knowledge within the Church to assist me.
 
I think usually it is a private revelation for the good of a persons own spiritual growth,for them and God alone.There is something lost in the telling
 
@florin1, book an appointment with a priest and speak face to face with that priest about your questions and experiences. Then you can judge more easily what is right and wrong for you. Phone conversations as is reading threads on the internet is so limited and often difficult to discern.
 
I guess it depends on what you mean by “experience.” Cradle Catholics like myself have religious experience practically in our DNA. It has always affected all facets of our life. It IS life for us. I don’t think most Catholics are given to “flashy” religious experiences, like personal, divine revelation events, meeting with angels, etc. There are exceptions, but generally it is not what we are all about. I think flashy experiences, if they are real, find you. You don’t find them. If you are looking for them, you might be deceiving yourself.
 
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Honestly I’m just curious. I know such experiences have been an off-and-on thing for me, and there were a couple of noteable ones associated with my conversion. I’m not terribly concerned about the veracity aspect in my case, simply because there wasn’t any epistemic content that’s not already part of Catholic teaching. It definitely shapes how I focus my own personal devotion though.
 
For me, these experiences are personal and not generally something I would share widely. When you open up something so precious, it leaves you very vulnerable. I would limit such talk to people I trust completely.
 
I’ll probably get around to it at some point, but I’m CAFing from work right now and it probably deserves more focus. (Yes, internet browsing is permitted at work, but I have to be ready to deal with various interruptions promptly.)
 
I have found this but to be honest I always assumed it was a British reserve thing rather than a specifically Catholic thing.
 
DarkLight said:
Could be I’m just missing something, but modern Catholics don’t seem talk much about religious experience. Is it just not a big deal to most people, or is it just something that more people keep private? Or am I just completely off base?
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It may mean that some of them do not have religious experience.

Those who have, would almost certainly think it is a big deal. Most would keep it private unless there is an appropriate forum to share it.

Go to a prayer meeting, you will meet such people there - lots of testimonies on religious experiences.
 
After a charismatic priest laid hands on me and prayed, and I forced myself to be docile to the Holy Spirit, everything changed. I lost my fear of speaking of my faith. Started evangelizing, mostly prisoners. Started reading scripture. The Rosary. Divine Mercy. Drawn to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Experienced minor miracles before Him in prayer.

It all depends on the discernment of your charisms and not fearing to put them to use. Of not fearing rejection or opposition - posting right here is a perfect example in that regard.

The problem is that the entire world hates the Catholic Church, exactly as our Lord predicted. All Protestants - to a greater or lesser degree do. Evangelicals and Fundamentalists in particular, LDS, JWs, each of the hundreds/thousands of denominations hate her. Muslims hate her. Some Jewish hate her. Communist governments hate her.

How easy is it to speak out when the world hates you?
 
Honestly, I was more talking about Catholics talking to other Catholics. So the rest of the world isn’t terribly relevant. I’m more just interested in exploring this aspect of spirituality within a Catholic framework, what there is on it and how different people relate to it.
 
In my experiences, some are really cut off from spirituality outside what they have been indoctrinated to do. Such as praying prayers given to them and putting their faith only into those prayers. Others evangelize, especially those who I have met that were fascinated with angels and other spiritual bodies. Exorcism also strikes an interest in some who evangelize. There are over 1 billion Catholics, most of which are not US based. Therefore, you may find different types of people even in the groups you find locally.
 
Such things do happen to many of us I think, but I think we need to be a bit careful about placing too much emphasis upon them. Grace from God does not have to be emotionally felt for it to be real.

There is a definitely a place, I feel for sharing spritual experiences, but placing too much emphasis on telling of emotional spiritual experiences runs the danger that a correlation is made between the degree of emotion we feel and and the grace received.
 
Oh, sure! Now you add “Catholic to Catholic” 😁

Honestly, fervent Catholics talk to fellow “fervents” quite a bit, as they find mutual joy in the faith. They have much to share. The “others” often seem to avoid discussion of the faith, and it can be counterproductive to speak specifically with them.

Prayer for them? Yes! But, behind closed doors, where it is not obvious to anyone but our Father in heaven. This is one area in which we must defer to the Holy Spirit, and to discernment with His help.
 
Let me clarify. I was responding to the assertion that Catholics may not want to speak up because of scorn from those outside the Catholic church. I meant to say that if one is exploring Catholic spirituality in a Catholic context, the distaste of non-Catholics for the Catholic church is irrelevant.
 
Honestly, if I had an “experience” I would be more worried about fellow Catholics than non-Catholics. They can be are some tough customers when it comes to being sceptical about such things. Again, we are not oriented toward flashy religious experiences. It would be like, “Who does he think he is? He thinks he has personal conversations with God? Get outta here!”

There are a lot of people outside the Church who would say, “Yeah. cool man!” I think looking for flashy experience is a person saying, “What the Church offers is not enough. I need something more.” OK, join a religious order. I think it is much harder and more laudable to stay on the common path, day to day.
 
Spiritual experiences not have to be something we should automatically talk about with others. They can be a deeply personal thing between ourselves and God. Some can be shared with others and there is a role for that.

But some of us do not feel comfortable with the whole ‘express how you feel all’ approach and would prefer to share such intimate feelings in a more personal setting.

There is also a danger, I feel, that too much emphasis on such experiences takes the emphasis away from the greatest spiritual happening of all, which is the mystery of the Eucharist that occurs at the consecration and remains as Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

What greater spiritual experience than to personally witness the incarnation and sacrifice of Christ on the altar before us, to consume His flesh and become united with Him, and to be able to kneel before Christ Himself in the tabernacle of our church?

Perhaps that is part of the reason why Catholics do not get so worked up over personal spiritual experiences?
 
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