Do Catholics talk much about religious experience?

[Bluebright]

Depends on who I am talking too and how receptive I think they may be. Amongst my friends and fellow Catholics and to my priest yes for sure. I don’t think there is anything unusual with that as those are personal experiences so it takes time to reveal them to people as you would with any other personal experiences. It does vary though, I told some one I don’t know very well a little about a religious experience over the Christmas period and she isn’t even Christian but it was well received and no doubt we’ll talk of such things in the future as she shared an unhappiness in her own religion and an awe she’d seen of the happiness in a nun she knew (which was how we started talking about my religion).

 

[Roseeurekacross]

what po says hits home. i talk religion with fellow Catholics after Mass, in the pub. We say grace, if eating , and loudly, due to noise, discuss God and the saints and other topics.

Last time my farrier was here, he was waiting for an opening to talk religion. He has recently found God and turned his life around. Now he finds an opening with every client and starts talking about God. His evangelism. We even prayed. Now I just have to lead him to correct a few errors he is picking up from online evangelistic youtubes. He is currently into the American evangelism type religions.
And lead him to the Catholic Church . hmm I think my thoroughbred needs new shoes

 

[Reuben_J]

I have been attending mass since the day I was born (my parents brought me then, of course) and as I began to learn to walk, I was an altar boy (a bit exaggerated there). It never stopped except for a few years in between after graduation when I had a job of my own.

It was much later that I could really experienced the profound effect of the consecration during the mass, a new discovery for me, which I had never experienced before.

And yes, that would be my spiritual experience, not the mass before that, which was more or less an obligation for me that I had to do because I was a Catholic.

 

[midori]

I think a big chunk of it is because we don’t do anything to earn those little graces from God. He gives us Experiences because they help us to grow, and because he’s good. So for me, I generally keep mine to myself— unless I think the benefit of knowledge of a specific Experience might help someone else. But you don’t want to wave a flag and say, “Look at me! I’m so special! This is what happened to me the other day!” You hold it close to you, and you turn it over in your heart, and you try to figure out what you’re supposed to learn from the Experience, and you feel very small and humble. Sometimes the Experiences can come thick and fast. Sometimes there can be years between one Experience and the next. Sometimes they can be enormous and magnificent, and sometimes they can be very quiet and subtle and profound.

Looking at five generations of my family— we’ve all had big Experiences, but none of us have experienced the same things, or even the same general “sort” of things. I want to say my son was almost-four(?) when he had his first two big Experiences, but they happened to him so young, he has no memory of them… I suspect they were actually for me, through him. He went another four years before he had his next medium-sized Experience, but again, he was young enough to not really grasp it as such, if that makes sense. As he gets older, and is better able to differentiate between what’s ordinary and not ordinary, I hope he has some Experiences that he can treasure in his heart. His little brother is six, and hasn’t had anything that I know about… but then again, I was a senior in college before I had my first Experience that I can point to and say “woah”.

 

[pianistclare]

This is true, I belong to a couple of “Mail circles” that discuss faith, some from CAF members some that I just landed on because I work for a parish. We talk about all kinds of matters spiritual and yes, we do share big personal stories because we are comfortable doing so.
As RCIA Director and sometimes even as Choir Director I am called upon to speak out on certain matters of faith, but that happens as a direct result of my job; they pay me to do so.

To the OP: Once, during an interview, a priest asked me what my greatest fear in ministry was. My response was that on the last day, I don’t want Christ to look at me and ask why I gave someone false or misleading info. I think that’s why some people are unwilling to share deep and profound occurrences. As Suscipe notes, it’s very personal, and no one likes to have their lives picked apart and ridiculed.
Indeed, some of the threads here on Liturgy are just horrible the way people attack others in parishes. Kind of hard to think of many people as your confidants who can speak objectively on matters that are dear to you.
I had a profound experience if you wish to hear it via PM. I think I have the story saved on my computer…but I won’t post it here. God bless. Read the lives of the Saints for the REALLY GOOD STUFF!!!

 

[dann]

Yes of course it is a private or personal revelation.
Just like terrisa of avela.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

if one is having a true, deep, personal religious experience, it’s often very personal and not something you want to share with a whole bunch of people, be they Catholics or non-Catholics. I cannot imagine most saints having such an experience and then hopping on the Internet saying “Guess what everybody, I just had this great experience of Jesus’ love” etc.

I might share such experiences with my very close Catholic friends, and very sparingly with a wider audience if I thought it would give hope to someone else in a similar position (such as a story about an experience involving a deceased loved one, which I did share on here, mostly to cheer up someone else who’d lost a loved one).

I’m not the type who wants to tell all their private business to the world and that most emphatically includes my private business with God as well as with my family. It’s not so much a fear of ridicule as it is simply that the world doesn’t need to know all my business. In addition, I think a lot of people who “overshare” are looking for attention, which turns me off in a big way.

 

[Peebo]

It doesn’t bother me…if I’m talking with someone…or even more than one…if the subject gets around to any type of religious experience I don’t mind telling my experiences…in fact I’ll tell one right now…when I was around 18 I believe the Holy Spirit convicted me of a sin I was doing…that is…taking the name of the Lord in vain…at the time I wasn’t even attending church…I was Anglican…like many teenagers…and many adults…using the name of Jesus Christ as in cussing is done without even a second thought…in everyday speech…movies…TV…books…music…I’ve heard some Christians of all denominations say it without even realizing they are taking the name of the Lord in vain…I know this because it’s something that makes me cringe every time I hear it…what happened was that one day…for no reason whatsoever…a voice…not audible…but a distinct voice in my head said to me…“why do you take the name of the Lord in vain”…that was over 50 years ago…that absolutely stopped me in my tracks…I didn’t know what had happened…all I knew was that I must never say that again…I then felt as if I had been cleansed from the inside out and was tingling all over…that lasted about a week…I still didn’t know what had happened…none of my family were attending church…none of my friends…so I told no one…it wasn’t til years later when I became a born again Christian that I understood that it was the Holy Spirit that day…when I converted to the Catholic faith 25 years ago some one told me that what I had experienced was a special grace from God…I must confess that there have been a few time I’ve spoken those words in anger or frustration…as soon as I have said it I really do say I am sorry to God…but over the last 50 years…it’s been very rare…I KNOW without a doubt the Holy Spirit spoke to me that day so many years ago…I’ve had a few other experiences in answer to prayers over the years…but they would take to long to tell here…and they were life changing answers to me personally…

 

[aservant]

As read through this thread I remembered the stigmatism of many Saints and how they tried to keep it unknown to the public and also the distress it caused them when the faithful came to them in droves for cures etc.
Padre pio for example.

 

[guanophore]

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?

No I think you are right. I was not brought up to talk about my faith at all, and was mystified when I met a bunch of Baptists in High School who liked to ask one another “what it God teaching you today”? Not only had I ever pondered such a question, but did not know how to answer it. I also did not ever use any “conversational prayer” as they did. I only knew memorized prayers, and had never poured out my heart to God.

I don’t think this skill, so essential in evangelism, is well taught to Catholics. It is better than it used to be, and I hear a lot more now on Catholic radio, but historically Catholics really have not done it.

 

[mkoopman]

Read the saints is the best advice given on this thread. God moved them often in what seems very small ways that brought about very great ends.
Receiving The Eucharist should always be a great religious experience. We seem to forget or ignore who we are receiving. This has ever led me to question what it is to be “the faithful.” Each of us ought to be so as He enters under our roof and heals.
Otherwise in our personal experiences through grace and by The Holy Spirit we should be docile. Sometimes the exuberance of His touch upon our life leaves us wanting to shout from the rooftop, sometimes not. Yet we can discern and discover what we are to do with our “new found” understanding. Scripture is the greatest help to come to know His plan for our little revelation. Keep your heart open, and your mind free in truth. That experience will have a place where we know God wanted us to witness.
Our burden is light as Jesus bears our yoke. Be vigilant and wait on The Lord. Keep close to Him or the enemy will twist the good into something other, into a disordered object devoid of the subject and end, the love of Christ, the source of Divine Mercy. God’s love is of The Holy Ghost and not a ghost story to relate in perverse and profane expressions.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

historically Catholics really have not done it.

I don’t know about that. We did plenty of “what’s God teaching you today” and conversations with God within my Catholic family. The thing was, it stopped at the front door of the family home. I did not go to school and have these discussions with my classmates.

 

[guanophore]

The thing was, it stopped at the front door of the family home.

You make a very good point. Our Catholic faith was always very private, and though it may be a daily discussion at home or parochial school, we did not discuss it elsewhere.

Maybe that is an artifact from the USA being founded by a very anti-Catholic sentiment.

 

[DarkLight]

Interesting feedback. To be clear, I wasn’t only thinking of people talking about their specific religious experiences (which is going to vary by person, of course). I was also thinking simply of theological or philosophical discussion of the topic.

Of course, now that I think of my own experiences, there’s a lot of “this makes sense, but it doesn’t really work in language.” Which is probably to be expected, but doesn’t entirely help with discussion.

 

[guanophore]

I wasn’t only thinking of people talking about their specific religious experiences (which is going to vary by person, of course). I was also thinking simply of theological or philosophical discussion of the topic.

Given that Catholics have been having and writing about their religious experiences for 2000 years, there is probably no experience about which some writing has not been done.

 

[DarkLight]

Given that Catholics have been having and writing about their religious experiences for 2000 years, there is probably no experience about which some writing has not been done.

Clarification: does anyone know where said writing is or if there’s a good way to find it in one place? Especially while avoiding things not in accord with Catholic teaching.

 

[guanophore]

Clarification: does anyone know where said writing is or if there’s a good way to find it in one place? Especially while avoiding things not in accord with Catholic teaching.

The safest place to start is to read the Catechism. You can find references that you can follow to learn about the original sources.

You can also trust material from the National Service Committee
https://www.nsc-chariscenter.org/resources/

 

[chieft]

I have had some profound personal Religious experiences. Some I shared in hope they would convey a form of Gods certainty for the development of faith in those I was sharing with. Sometimes, as an afterthought, I wondered if by sharing I actually did more harm than good. Maybe those I shared with have not yet experienced a direct, obvious and tangible interaction with God ? Did I come across as bragging ? Maybe this experience was not meant to be shared ?

 

[chieft]

One of the most available and ABSOLUTELY profound experiences for many of us is when the Church bell rings during the Consecration of the Host at Mass. Available to you anytime your ready.

 

[midori]

Teresa of Avila’s “Interior Castle”.

It’s a fast read— at the beginning.

You read it, and it’s like, “Yeah! I totally understand what she’s saying!” or “Ahh! That’s a good way of putting it!”—as long as your experiences hold up. Once Teresa of Avila starts getting ahead of you, though, it starts getting more and more abstract. But frequently, our glimpses of God hint at future developments of relationship, so our ability to connect with her observations doesn’t just cut off all at once.

But it’s pretty much a textbook on “experiences with God”. You can grab a used copy for, like, five or six dollars (including shipping), and read it with a highlighter. I don’t normally write in my books— but it really does read like a textbook, and you just automatically find yourself marking up the significant bits that you expect to find on the test…