BloodandFire:
I attended the Steubenville Youth Conference in St. Louis this past weekend. During Adoration, which was about 2 hours worth, I spoke in tongues nearly the whole time. I also went in spout of crying and laughing hysterically. It was one of the most amazing parts of the weekend and my whole life.
Now I know there are alot of you who are skeptic of speaking in tongues but let me tell you I caught some Latin words coming out my mouth. Is this proof that God is Catholic? Is true now that if you pray in Latin God does not have to translate.
Any thoughts?
Sounds like you had an amazing experience with the Holy Spirit. Don’t let someone like ByzCath try to rob you of it by his ignorance and disbelief.
You asked if this proves that God is Catholic. Tongues are a gift of the Holy Spirit, that means it proves the Holy Spirit is in you and you have manifest one of his giftings - very cool, eh? Try not to look at it as proof of too much. Tongues are a grace, they are not earned, so it’s not even proof of your holiness or worthiness. It does demonstrate that you pursued God with an open heart and were worshipping God in a way that pleased God so much so that He interjected His languages into your worship to aid you and strengthen you.
The crying and laughing are simply physical reactions we sometimes encounter when we touch God’s Presence at times such as this. Hey, anytime our weak flesh has a direct experience with a supernatural God, we’re liable to have odd things occur.
You also asked if speaking in Latin helped God not to have to translate . . . never to worry, God knows what we’re speaking even if the only thing that gets out of us are groans and crys - He sees our heart and knows what we need. God doesn’t have to translate anything, Latin is not necessarily the language of Heaven or of God.
I suggest that you connect with a Charismatic Catholic group in your area. You can learn much from their experience and they can teach you where to go from here. You might even try posting questions to this Charismatic Catholic web forum →
ccc.garg.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=index. They are very nice and very helpful. You’ve taken a drink from the River of Life, that is something that can you can do everyday in your spiritual walk with God.
God bless!!
David