Fifty Years of the Catholic Charismatic Movement: 1967-2017

[deMontfort]

I’m a skeptic, to the point of being dubious, however I’ll never say anything negative about something multiple Popes have endorsed. Rome has spoken, the case is closed.

 

[Reuben_J]

Well, in my book, the Church has said the Charismatic Movement has the “thumbs up” and I defer to Rome in such matters I just know the Rad Trads absolutely hate the Charismatic Movement, which can make for some entertaining threads

Yes, that is what it seems to be. They will be on each other throats. That’s why threads on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal very often get derailed as they would not discussed on the topic but how wrong each other are. Can we believe this happen among Catholics?

 

[Reuben_J]

I mean that the exact manifestation in any particular person is not something to be guaranteed like a consumer product, that is all. It is not that young men shall not see visions, but only the caution that this is not a promise of specific “results” for any particular person.

Opening ourselves to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is always done in imitation of Our Lady, a matter of “I am your handmaid, do with me as you will” for the sake of the will of God, rather than a “do this, get that.”

That is all I meant: that is, to clarify that the goal of the charismatic movement is to be put at the disposal of the Holy Spirit, not the other way around. It is very easy for that to be misunderstood.

You are right, of course. And nobody in the Renewal ever claim that everybody, I mean EVERYBODY, will receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which includes vision.

When we start saying everybody, it is the easiest way to get shot down.

So you are right. We make no apology for that.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for everybody –all of us, if we allow ourselves to be. That’s the promise of the Lord, not that everybody will receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given as the Spirit gives.

 

[Reuben_J]

Indeed. One of the greatest saints of recent memory, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, endured agonising spiritual dryness for the final forty-nine years of her life, having lost her confidence in God’s existence. We know this due to the posthumous publication of her diaries. And yet she persevered, living her life as she thought Christ would have wanted, even though she was no longer certain of His existence.

I agree. And St. John of the Cross too. He wrote about that experience.

We call spiritual dryness that we inevitably experience in our spiritual lives as patches of dryness or the desert experience or the being in the valley experience. God seems so far away and we feel very dry spiritually.

Humans are such that we often need the affirmation of God’s presence in our lives, simply because we are just too weak and always need such affirmation. Saints are stronger and they persevered. We too, have to persevere.

So the teaching is, never to depend on feeling but rather on faith. If we experience God’s presence, well, good and fine, praise the Lord, we would be edified, but if not, like what Prophet Habakkuk said, we will still worship and praise the Lord’s name.

However, Jesus also promised us the one thing that the Father will certainly give, that is if we ask for the Holy Spirit. In my personal experience, when I ask for the Holy Spirit, it would never fail. It was as if my spiritual battery was being charged.

God wants us to experience the joy of redemption and that can be experienced while on earth. For the weaker person, sometimes that comes from the grace of the Holy Spirit while the stronger ones, even in their dryness, they still are radiant with the joy of the Lord.

 

[deMontfort]

I can. Human beings, Catholic or no, are contentious creatures. Cliqueish too.

 

[Reuben_J]

Thanks. I agree. Perhaps that’s why the spiritual journey of becoming more and more like Jesus everyday has to be ongoing. We just need to be transformed and better disciple of Christ, where we must decrease and He that is in us must increase.

Sometimes when we talk among ourselves as if we talk with the enemy instead of being disciples of the Lord, where are called to be one.

 

[twf]

Yes, we are guaranteed this outpouring of the Spirit through the sacrament of confirmation, which completes and perfects our first reception of the Spirit at baptism.
Beyond that we get into subjective territory… special actual graces…

 

[commenter]

The video focused on the first decade. I would be interested in comments about the 4 decades since.

How is the charismatic movement functioning in your own local area? I realize some manifestation will be not readily visible or corporate, but some should be. How does the renewal in your area now compare to the first few years after 1967?

 

[PetraG]

I think, as you say, this stems from the misunderstanding that the origins are somehow Protestant.

I think it also stems from the idea being attractive to excitable persons. That does NOT make it wrong, but people who get “into” this is a bandwagon way can give some incorrect impressions. It makes it something that has to be explained very clearly right off the bat. There is nothing wrong with being excited about it at all, I’m not saying that, but it is extremely important to be certain those interested do not to read things in that the movement as Rome has endorsed it simply does not espouse. Some people hear “…you can experience it today from your own home. Just ask…” and they are off to the races in ways that were never intended. Not to beat a dead horse, but I think a lot of the wariness comes from those who have concerns that can be put to rest, but not concerns that weren’t reasonable to have at all. Correctly understood, it still may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it shouldn’t make people outside the movement wary of it.
I think it is kind of like traditional Catholicism that way. A few who “go all bandwagon” even about that can spread ideas that are not part of traditional Catholicism, give the wrong impression about it, and do make it seem like a clique or some such thing. No, we have a very rich treasury of tradition in the Church, such that there is more than any one soul can ever live fully, but none of it ought to be scary, not if understood correctly.

 

[guanophore]

I think it also stems from the idea being attractive to excitable persons.

I know a great many people involved that are not at all excitable.

But one theme I have heard in all the opposition is about “emotion” and how one should not follow their emotions. I think perhaps it is an approach to spirituality that incorporates emotions, and some people want the opposite.

I think it is kind of like traditional Catholicism that way. … we have a very rich treasury of tradition in the Church, such that there is more than any one soul can ever live fully…

This is very true. There are as many different approaches to living the Spirit Filled life as there are personalities.

 

[PetraG]

I know a great many people involved that are not at all excitable.

But one theme I have heard in all the opposition is about “emotion” and how one should not follow their emotions. I think perhaps it is an approach to spirituality that incorporates emotions, and some people want the opposite.

Let me clarify: I don’t mean that people within the movement are excitable, but that people outside the movement who are excitable can read the wrong things in when they hear about it. That’s why I asked that the OP clarify what was meant in the original post. People have heard things like that from people who didn’t know what they were talking about or who were what they call the “name it and claim it” Protestant mindsets. (Even among Protestants, there are few who really believe that God is going to make them emotionally bubbly all the time or that being filled with the Holy Spirit is going to eventually make them into de facto magicians who have the Spirit at their beck and call. Just a few excited people can single-handedly give a lot of wrong impression.)

 

[guanophore]

Just a few excited people can single-handedly give a lot of wrong impression.

Yes, and to be fair, there are some people who get on an emotional high, then when the tough times come, they disappear!

It is good spiritual direction not to be led around by feelings.

 

[Augustinian]

The video focused on the first decade. I would be interested in comments about the 4 decades since.

It started near here, just north of Pittsburgh by Duquesne students.

The late pentecostal evangelist, Kathryn Kuhlman was based here, and I think she had a lot of influence on the movement. Ms. Kuhlman had a presence speaking that you ready don’t see in women.

 

[po18guy]

I can attest to you that, while it may not be the path for everyone, it was a process which absolutely lit my faith on fire. Night and day difference. Indifferent sinner to striving for sainthood.

The problem often arrives when an individual or group is seen practicing poorly and judgments are made utilizing that faulty information. By that same principle, non-practicing or cafeteria Catholics would disprove Christ’s Church.

Rather, look at the best of practitioners. Practically speaking, I ask all: do you know what your charisms are? Are you putting them to use in building the Church up?

If the answer is not a resounding “Yes!” then it behooves us to seek the answer. That answer comes primarily through prayer, and the Charismatic Renewal is an ongoing prayer experience.

 

[po18guy]

I can. Human beings, Catholic or no, are contentious creatures. Cliqueish too.

Say it ain’t so!

We have only the most charitable and supportive faith-filled Christian brothers and sisters here…

…at Contrary Answers Forums.

 

[EvangelistVictor]

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for everybody –all of us, if we allow ourselves to be. That’s the promise of the Lord, not that everybody will receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given as the Spirit gives

This is very true. If we allow ourselves to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit Jesus’s promised to all those who believe in him, we can get it.

I must confess that there can be times where we can be in a desert place, and not even feel the presence of God. This can be for the testing of our faith, which every person who believes in the Son of God will experience at some point in their lives.

I just came out of a 10 year drought in the Holy Spirit, due to my own doing. But he who endures in their faith unto the end will be saved!

 

[Reuben_J]

The video focused on the first decade. I would be interested in comments about the 4 decades since.

How is the charismatic movement functioning in your own local area? I realize some manifestation will be not readily visible or corporate, but some should be. How does the renewal in your area now compare to the first few years after 1967?

In our diocese, the greatest impact of the Renewal was probably in the eighties, where thousands of Catholics came back to the Church as a result of being baptised in the Holy Spirit.

This was really the work of the Holy Spirit as those participants who were being baptised in the Holy Spirit found new fire and enthusiasm for God and for the Church. They started to attend church and their families were involving themselves in churches activities, not just at the level of attending Sunday mass only.

Many of them became devoted to prayers and the Holy Eucharist. The weekday chapel saw increases in daily mass attendance.

So the Renewal did result in exuberant new faith among those who were touched by the Spirit and conversely greater participation in the church and evangelization.

Today a large part of the parishioners have some experience of the Renewal, one way or the other, but the most visible spectre is the growing number of church goers among them.

The fruit of the eighties, among them were those who moved on to become priests and religious.

Without the Renewal, our diocese would be probably half dead today but thanks to God, the Holy Spirit did move, and we see the church being filled to the brim and families start to practice the faith.

The Charismatic movements themselves do dwindle in members but these are because many of them are spread into various movements and ministries within the church, which may not necessary under the Renewal per se.

 

[MaryClare]

It’s really been that long? Wow. I still remember when I first got involved in it 23 years ago. It seems like a life time ago sometimes. I am so much older now and have had so many life experiences. I was just a kid. Lol

 

[MaryClare]

It has always been my understanding that the Spirit of God gives gifts as he sees fit. You do not have to show outwardly that you have been filled by speaking in tongues. God is in the desert, people don’t often remember that.

 

[MaryClare]

I still remember that saying, there are but three things that last, faith hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. Prophecies will cease, tongues may end, Love is eternal, God is forever.