AmericanPapist Comments
One of the founder's of the Charismatic renewal movement is now an atheist. The Spirit does indeed work in strange ways. Tom
How come you have been promoting this event? Harboring a charismatic side, are we?
Was this broadcast on WDEO this Sat. am.? I heard just a brief snippet and I immediately heard the Protestant revival tone in the priest's or evangelist's tone, working himself and everyone there into an emotional tizzy. I was horrified and had to explain to the listening children what was going on was not appropriate for Mass or a prayer group. We are not praying to each other but to God. That man was talking to himself and to those listening. It is all so hokey. And I was baptized as a Protestant with the Holy Spirit and can speak in tongues when it is appropriate-in private prayer. The Spirit within me witnesses against this revivalism as superficial, emotional and a hindrance to growth in holiness.
But which spirit within you witnesses against it, LvB?
Tell it to the Catechism, JPII, B16, the papal household preacher Fr Cantalamessa, Fr Groeschel, the bishops who sent a messenger and a message to the Amazing Grace gathering, and some of the holiest laymen, such as Ralph Martin, and consecrated women, like Sister Ann Shields, you are ever likely to meet.
Tell it to the people of the canonically established charismatic parish of Christ the King in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Yes, that's right, a parish established by the Bishop of Lansing and approved by the Holy See not as a territorial parish but as a personal parish for the express, precise purpose of living out the mission of the charismatic renewal to the Church, in the heart of the Church, in complete fidelity to the Magisterium. The people of that parish support 24/7 Perpetual Adoration and have 12 men in seminary right now. Yes, that's right, 12 men from one parish, and not a large parish (about 700 families), and not an old parish (1981). This is not counting the number, probably in the high teens, who have already been ordained out of that parish. And did I mention the religious order of sisters that serves the poor and the sick and the elderly from there? Or the secular Carmelites? Or the countless godly, manly men whom I have seen prostrate on the floor before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? Or the families brimming with children such that the saying goes, "At Christ the King, five is a good start"?
Just because something does not appeal to one's own personal tastes and emotional preferences, does not mean that God cannot use it as a vehicle for joy and holiness in other people. We do not know what the Lord might be preparing the people at that Amazing Grace conference this weekend, young and old, to sacrifice in the months and years to come, how much of the Cup He is preparing them to drink. Perhaps He is strengthening them this very night for journeys and witnesses in the world that we cannot fathom. One thing is for sure: they love Him.
Maybe the out-of-tune piano and the high-pitch woman's voice singing off-key and the songs from the 70s and the loud, emphatic preaching aren't my cup of tea, either. Acknowledging that is one thing. Making solemn pronouncements against it is quite another. If a charismatic celebration of the Mass is orderly and in line with what the Holy See and the local bishop permit, who are we to declare it "inappropriate"?
WOW!...relax!!
Maximilian,
I wish that anon had been bold enough to leave their name. What they say is absolutely true.
What gets on many charismatic's last nerve it to be told that they are somehow outside of the Church. Charismatics are often the most devout Catholics you'll ever come across. Why? Because they have welcome the HS into their lives in a deeper way so that their love of God and their relationship with him and his Son Jesus Christ is a living witness to the world. The Renewal both comes from the heart of the Church as it is for the renewal of the Church.
It's to bad that it freaks out people, and certainly, having grown up in it, I've see a lot of um, freaky things. However, in the 40 years the leaders have learned a lot and there is always the desire to do what Rome asks. Those things that are not of the Church are weeded out and the gifts of the HS are used in a very active way to praise God and build up his Church.
The next generation is much more well catechized and I think that we are going to see a deeper form of the Renewal emerge. I'm excited to see where things go.
Tom
Who are you referring to??
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