Spiritual encounters?

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cuzzyn17

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I grew up in the catholic church practicing on and off for 18 years and lost for 10, but now saved and attend non denomination church. I have received the holy ghost recently and had an encounter with the spirit along with my wife(who is catholic). I have never heard of talking in tongues or prophecying in the catholic church until recently. I talked to my wife about how she felt about our encounter , she said that it is personal(which I agree with ) and should be kept a secret.I guess I do not understand why , shouldnt we rejoice and be glad and share each others joys and disappointments together as believers and brothers in christ? I am just looking for others perspective on this because growing up in the church I never knew of this because it was never discussed openly.
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. God Bless!!!
 
Certainly you may discuss with your wife, and she with you, what graces God has given you, for your lives are no longer two but one.

But as far as discussing the gifts God has given you with others, I would say that would be wrong. We must be humble.
 
When receive gifts but keep them a secret for ex. gifts of healing , prophecy, knowledge,wisdom and such .how then are these gifts given to us by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit , supposed to help the kingdom if we do not share them. It is not for us but for the glory of the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. right?
 
One dose not need to discuss gifts in order to make good use of them. For example, to speak of wisdom is not the same as using wisdom. The former is of a proud spirit, the latter is of a humble spirit.
 
I understand that ,but while growing up being in the church I never knew any of this existed until now .It is something that is just not taught at least in my experience with the church I attended.I was just wondering if this is common in all catholic churches or just in the one that I was in. I am curious because all of this is really new to me and never had any explanations of it or that it existed. Thanks
 
The Catholic Charismatic movement is very much like the Christian Pentecostal movement but gifts of the Spirit are most compellingly described by Catholic saints and mystics, as well as many plain old everyday people who God’s deigned to bless in some particular manner-generally having nothing to do with man-made movements. OTOH, if God has done something awesome in your life there should be no uncertainty as to where it came from, that it’s good, and that the gift is meant to be used in some way for the spread of His kingdom.
 
fhansen said:
The Catholic Charismatic movement is very much like the Christian Pentecostal movement but gifts of the Spirit are most compellingly described by Catholic saints and mystics, as well as many plain old everyday people who God’s deigned to bless in some particular manner-generally having nothing to do with man-made movements. OTOH, if God has done something awesome in your life there should be no uncertainty as to where it came from, that it’s good, and that the gift is meant to be used in some way for the spread of His kingdom.
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Dear fhansen

The Holy Spirit is just as powerfully alive in the church today as Jesus promised at the Ascension. Visions, healings, prophecies, and ecstatic prayer have, as you say, been present in the prayer and devotional life of the church at all times and have been honored. However, St Paul warned us in the Epistles about the danger of disorder or abusing the spiritual gifts for the purpose of thrill-seeking or self-importance. I think that is his message in 1Corinthians, chapters 12,13,14.

I first became aware of a new outpouring of ecstatic prayer in the Catholic charismatic movement in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. I knew this was of the Holy Spirit because the hearts of the Catholics I knew who prayed this way were filled with love for and submission to the authority of the Church.

Since then, I pray in tongues often but I do this in private or in small groups. We are not a secret society by any means. There is an official organization within the Church, the Catholic Charismatic Movement which can be known by its zeal and obedience to authority, sure signs of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

But the Catholic Church is a Liturgical Church so public worship such as the Mass, the Sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours is marked by a holy sense of order. It is proper that official public prayer and worship is predictable and uniform so we have a sense of safety and peace here on earth and so the liturgy can give us a glimpse of the joy and order that marks the worship of Gid in the heavenly kingdom where we will all one day gather.

Read the Revelations, especially the final chapters, if you find yourself hungering for that perfect worship.

Praise on!!

REDirector
 
Eucharisted said:
One dose not need to discuss gifts in order to make good use of them. For example, to speak of wisdom is not the same as using wisdom. The former is of a proud spirit, the latter is of a humble spirit.
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This is a great response. When the gifts are used, rather than simply talked about, people will be drawn toward you. Many people were drawn toward Fr. D’Orio who had the gift of healing. When asked why not everybody who came to him was healed, he replied,“That’s God’s way of keeping me humble.” Whatever our gifts they must be used for the greater good, for the building of the kingdom and not the ego. If we look at scripture, we find the Apostles in Acts never claimed any healing as their own. Rather it was Christ who worked through them.
You may choose to speak of your gifts with a spiritual adviser. When I first received the gifts of tongues, I made an appointment with my parish priest. One of the reason I did this was because of the effect I knew it would have on my personal life regarding personal relationships. It was not something that I spoke about. My priest, on the other hand, noted and remarked on the change (not the prayer language) he saw in me. No, he was not charismatic.
When I confided with my parish deacon regarding Who I saw in the Eucharist, he told me to share my experience with the celebrant. My seeing Jesus in the Eucharist could be explained as a matter of how the light happened to strike the host on that particular day, at that particular time. It could simply have been my imagination based on personal faith. It was still a very real experience.
The Catholic Church looks for natural explanations for what may be perceived as a supernatural event. It is better for the Church to uncover the broken pipes that caused the Virgin to cry than to cite it as a miracle that needs to be retracted later.
There are times for sharing, and times for simply basking in the graces that have been received, thankful to God for the Love He has shown.
 
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