Question for charismatics

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We have a new friend who is a Catholic Charismatic. Since she expressed it in obvious love of the Lord, it didn’t bother me - tho I’m a long ways from being charasmatic, in any sense of the word.

But she did something that has me bothered. We have a somewhat difficult priest who has some personal problems, but I rather like him. Like me, he isn’t charismatic; unlike me, he is pretty critical of it. She wrote him a letter that she has claimed to be “from God.” She was “inspired” to write it & refuses to take any responsibility for it - says it’s all God’s doing.

Well, he’s pretty ticked about it & I can’t say I blame him. The letter says some things about him that aren’t very nice. If push comes to shove, I’d take his side. I think she was expressing her own feelings, not God’s message to the priest.

Is this normal in charismatic circles? Do people who belive they are inspired put the entire burden of responsibility on God and don’t worry about their own possible misunderstanding?
 
This is not normal in Charismatic Circles per se, but Charismatic Prayer Groups, because they are open to all, tend to draw fanatics, which this woman sounds like.

Jim
 
helelo, i was introduced to the charrismatics back in 1969-- and over these years-- it has been more common to find immature prophetic gifts-- generally it is best to stay in the realm of 1 cor 14-- where prophetic words are for confort or exortation, and confirmation,

your friend is indeed hearing from another source-- i know many who keep journals–

i have kept journals for over 50 years-- there are few mature teachers in the charismatic catholic church-- so it can and is difficult-- it is much easer not hearing from the spirit realm-- and only going to the mass and following the rules–

ISD Live with John Paul - True vs. False Prophets

ISD Live with John Paul Jackson,

John Paul tells how to discern between true and false prophets.

There are often large misconceptions about what the Bible says regarding prophets. Join John Paul as he points out scriptures that tell you what to look for in those claiming to be prophetic.

youtu.be/thV3-TqyS7E
 
There are several (at least) Biblical warnings about prophesying out of your own mind, and for good reason. Many are not (in my opinion) correctly catechized on recognizing your own mind as opposed to genuine prophecy, and some go off thinking their every thought is prophecy and tell you, “The Lord says” this or that, and it’s wrong.

It’s very depressing when it’s not from the Lord, but should be uplifting (“building up the Church”) when it’s from the Lord.

You should encourage the priest not to take it too personally, especially since it seems to be uncharitable. Our Lady says we should not be critical of our clergy.
 
Bonnie said:
We have a new friend who is a Catholic Charismatic. Since she expressed it in obvious love of the Lord, it didn’t bother me - tho I’m a long ways from being charasmatic, in any sense of the word.

But she did something that has me bothered. We have a somewhat difficult priest who has some personal problems, but I rather like him. Like me, he isn’t charismatic; unlike me, he is pretty critical of it. She wrote him a letter that she has claimed to be “from God.” She was “inspired” to write it & refuses to take any responsibility for it - says it’s all God’s doing.

Well, he’s pretty ticked about it & I can’t say I blame him. The letter says some things about him that aren’t very nice. If push comes to shove, I’d take his side. I think she was expressing her own feelings, not God’s message to the priest.

Is this normal in charismatic circles? Do people who belive they are inspired put the entire burden of responsibility on God and don’t worry about their own possible misunderstanding?
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Not normal, and one doesn’t have to be Charismatic to do something so foolish as this. She’s just trying to justify her very rude behavior towards your priest. I’d keep her in the “acquaintance” category and probably wouldn’t pursue the friendship much further.
 
I spent some time as a Catholic Charismatic.

I never heard of anything like this. I think what she did was disrespectful. The Catholic Charismatics I knew were very respectful of church authority.
 
Lisa1967 said:
I spent some time as a Catholic Charismatic.

I never heard of anything like this. I think what she did was disrespectful. The Catholic Charismatics I knew were very respectful of church authority.
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Of course we could get into the subject of Protestant Charismatics. I used to be involved with some and there were some real fanatical people in that. Seemed like they could find a “demon” under every rock, bush, tree, etc.:hmmm: When I became Catholic 11 years ago our diocese was having some men’s Bible studies at the Cathedral. Lo and behold, the subject they were studying was the book of Acts, especially chapter 2! Spooked me so bad that I stopped attending having had bad experience as a Protestant with Charismatic stuff.:eek::eek:
 
Thanks people! I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do, but I will be putting more distance between her & me.

I wish she had asked for advice before sending the letter, but what’s done is done.

I hate bad emotional stuff - and this could get ugly. 😦

Lego - I spent my later teen years in a Pentacostal church. That’s why I’m leery of speaking in tongues, being inspired to speak for God, & religious excitement in general. Especially the demon for every little thing. :rolleyes:
 
Charismatics are not the only ones who do things like this. It is not a part of the Charismatic renewal. I’ve heard plenty of non-Charismatic folk claim they were inspired by God or the Holy Spirit to do or say things. A common thing is “I prayed about this, and feel God has told me to do such and such”, or “I had a dream and feel God is telling me or showing me something”. People will accept this from non-Charismatics, yet if it comes from a person in the Charismatic Renewal, they are suspicious and sometimes downright rude.

The Bible talks about discerning spirits. This is for everyone. When someone makes such a claim as the woman has, it must be discerned by both the person making the claim and those hearing it. One must ask: Would the Holy Spirit act in such a manner?

But don’t just blame it on the woman being Charismatic. People have been claiming to speak for God for thousands of years, and most of them have been wrong.
 
Once, I was at a retreat at a Monastery and this woman, very loudly and in front of everyone, says, “God wants me to tell you that the answer is YES! He does want you to be a Priest”. I was too embarrassed to tell her that I was not there to discern a vocation. In fact I am married with four kids! But I didnt want to embarass her. Your story reminds me of her. Maybe its the same person!
 
Good thing you didnt post this in the Traditional forum. CAF would have imploded!
 
PrayRosary said:
Once, I was at a retreat at a Monastery and this woman, very loudly and in front of everyone, says, “God wants me to tell you that the answer is YES! He does want you to be a Priest”. I was too embarrassed to tell her that I was not there to discern a vocation. In fact I am married with four kids! But I didnt want to embarass her. Your story reminds me of her. Maybe its the same person!
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Sounds like her! Was it in New Mexico? 😃
 
I have a relative who is a schizophrenic, who, when not on her medication, does weird things like the woman in the OP.

She claims to see the Blessed Mother, Angels and Saints, and claims to know when some one dies, whether their in purgatory or heaven.

Of course at the same time, she does very unchristian things which I won’t get into here.

When she’s on her medication, none of the above takes place, although she does still live a devote life, but she’s not in everyone’s face about it, and the visions cease.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
I have a relative who is a schizophrenic, who, when not on her medication, does weird things like the woman in the OP.

She claims to see the Blessed Mother, Angels and Saints, and claims to know when some one dies, whether their in purgatory or heaven.

Of course at the same time, she does very unchristian things which I won’t get into here.

When she’s on her medication, none of the above takes place, although she does still live a devote life, but she’s not in everyone’s face about it, and the visions cease.

Jim
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I’ve known some people similar to this. I don’t know if they were bi- polar, schizophrenic or on some of the funny mushrooms. But you hang around any Christian assembly, whether Catholic or not, one is bound to pop up sometime, somewhere.🤷
 
Bonnie said:
We have a new friend who is a Catholic Charismatic. Since she expressed it in obvious love of the Lord, it didn’t bother me - tho I’m a long ways from being charasmatic, in any sense of the word.

But she did something that has me bothered. We have a somewhat difficult priest who has some personal problems, but I rather like him. Like me, he isn’t charismatic; unlike me, he is pretty critical of it. She wrote him a letter that she has claimed to be “from God.” She was “inspired” to write it & refuses to take any responsibility for it - says it’s all God’s doing.

Well, he’s pretty ticked about it & I can’t say I blame him. The letter says some things about him that aren’t very nice. If push comes to shove, I’d take his side. I think she was expressing her own feelings, not God’s message to the priest.

Is this normal in charismatic circles? Do people who belive they are inspired put the entire burden of responsibility on God and don’t worry about their own possible misunderstanding?
Click to expand...
If we take a look at the Bible, we can see that many people have had negative reactions to the words of a prophet. Especially when they are words of correction. 🙂

The reaction of this priest in no way indicates that this lady gave him a false word of prophecy. Prophecy is never judged based upon whether people were happy to receive it or not! Some false prophets have been know to tickle the ears of the people and tell them only what they want to hear, but that is another issue.

I’m not defending this particular instance of prophecy, but I would like to caution against the prevailing Christian notion that all modern prophets are false. Most churches have discarded the theology that supports this premise, realizing that there is no cut off date (as of yet) to the teachings of the New Testament that includes the proper use of the prophetic gifts.

Remember how Jesus chided the Pharisees for doing something quite similar. They too rejected every prophet contemporary with themselves, while building monuments to the dead prophets which they all admired. Jesus told them that by doing so, they shared in the guilt of those who killed the prophets of the Bible.

*Matthew 23:29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. *
 
Tobias65 said:
If we take a look at the Bible, we can see that many people have had negative reactions to the words of a prophet. Especially when they are words of correction. 🙂

The reaction of this priest in no way indicates that this lady gave him a false word of prophecy. Prophecy is never judged based upon whether people were happy to receive it or not! Some false prophets have been know to tickle the ears of the people and tell them only what they want to hear, but that is another issue.

I’m not defending this particular instance of prophecy, but I would like to caution against the prevailing Christian notion that all modern prophets are false. Most churches have discarded the theology that supports this premise, realizing that there is no cut off date (as of yet) to the teachings of the New Testament that includes the proper use of the prophetic gifts.

Remember how Jesus chided the Pharisees for doing something quite similar. They too rejected every prophet contemporary with themselves, while building monuments to the dead prophets which they all admired. Jesus told them that by doing so, they shared in the guilt of those who killed the prophets of the Bible.

*Matthew 23:29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. *
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I am sorry but there are, in my experience, just too many people who claim that “God told” them thus and so. I got to the point as a Protestant Pentecostal, that I didn’t know who or what to believe. I may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, but I’m through with people who speak “words of prophecy” that just don’t bear witness with my inner soul. For instance, I’ve been told by some that “I ask too many questions”, that my “brain is too big for my head” that I “have a demon of intelligence.” And these came from people who have programs on radio or TV who had spoken at the Pentecostal assembly I was part of before I became Catholic.🤷 Since becoming Catholic when I ask questions, those whom I ask are always ready to give me an answer that makes sense and actually helps me in my spiritual journey. Even if the answer happens to be “I don’t know.”🙂
 
I think “I don’t know” is the wise position to take when we don’t have enough information to make a judgement call. 👍

Many people make the mistake of taking sides on an issue for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they feel obligated to support their church, pastor, or denomination. Or maybe they are just overconfident in their opinions. IDK
 
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