|
GROWING IN THE SPIRIT A CLOSE LOOK AT THE LIVES OF THE LEADERS AND GROUPS OF THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL REVEAL A STEADY AND STRONG GROWTH IN FAITH AND GIFTS. COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THE ELEMENTS THAT WERE CRUCIAL IN HELPING YOU AND YOUR GROUP GROW FIRM IN THE CHARISMATIC EXPERIENCE?
A: I think right from the start, it was clear that in order to maintain this grace of Baptism in the Spirit it was absolutely essential to have a personal prayer life - a time alone with Jesus everyday. The Scripture says, ‘When you pray, go in your room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret’. Surely that means a time of prayer that is carved out of every day. After 40 years - I have been married, have had 4 children, and have been involved in travelling, ministry, writing and organising activities - I can bear witness that it is absolutely essential everyday to make time for personal prayer - personal prayer that includes speaking to Jesus and listening to Jesus - personal prayer that involves reading and studying the Word of God.
Also, it is absolutely essential for us as Catholics to have a deep sacramental life, which means Mass and Communion. Certainly attending Mass every Sunday would be just basic, but also during the week as possible. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an essential partin the life of a person who really wants to grow in holiness. Personally I would say, at least make a good confession of our sins, weaknesses, failings, and omissions once a month. This really is basic, basic growth. I think another essential aspect in spiritual growth is the aspect of community, of being in relationship with other brothers and sisters who know Jesus, who are trying to follow Jesus and walk in the Holy Spirit. I have found that at times in my life, like say after childbirth, I had to miss many weeks and months of prayer meetings and it really made a difference in my Spirit filled walk. There’s something about coming together - to pray together, to fellowship, to put our lives before one another, that really strengthens the work of the Holy Sprit. Because one of the things that is characteristic of a person or a group that has had the Baptism of the Spirit is expectant faith. That’s the conviction that we’re not just praying with half-heartedness. We expect the Lord to answer our prayers, to intervene, to provide, to heal and to guide. When we are not in that atmosphere of expectant faith, our own faith level can decrease. Another thing that is so important is that of witness or service. I often say, “If a grace comes to me, that grace must pass through me”. That is the message of Our Lady - Mary. The Holy Spiritovershadowed her and she gave her human consent. She said ‘“Yes; be it done unto me” and Jesus was able to take on flesh within her womb. Then the mission of Mary was to bring Him forth and to give Him away, to give Him to us, to surrender Him. And so this Marian format is the model for every single Christian life - for men as well as for women. When the Holy Spirit overshadows me I have to give my personal assent. I have to make a conscious ongoing effort to surrender to Him, to be transformed by Him. When you or I do that, Jesus himself can actually take on flesh in our lives. Whether we are husbands, wives, mothers, dads, singles, religious, priests, professional people, or labourers, whatever the circumstances in our life, Jesus wants to manifest
Himself through us. In this way, any inspiration, any consolation, or any talent I have, be it the gift of prophecy, gift of music or the gift of service may be transformed and given for others.
St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians ( I Cor. 12:13-14), speaks of the charismatic gifts, the many ways that the Holy Spirit works to build up others; to make the love of Jesus real in the lives of others. And if we are like Mary – channels of His grace - then the Lord can keep pouring out charismatic gifts upon us. St. John Vianney, one of the great Charismatic figures and the patron saint of all priests, used to say, “God puts great gifts in my empty hands”. And one of his biographers said that John Vianney never tired of receiving, and of giving.Because he was never tired of giving he was
always open to receiving. In St. John Vianney we again see the Marian model. The Lord wants to give to us not so we hoard up treasures but so that we become channels or vessels of His grace. For his message on the new millennium, the Holy Father Pope John Paul II exhorted us to “Put out into the deep”. He said in a special way to us in the Charismatic Renewal: Put out into the deep of prayer and holiness so that you may put out into the deep of evangelisation. Here too you see this inner dimension of personal growth in holiness, prayer, love for the Word, love for the Sacraments and love
for the Church. And such a deepening is always followed by an outward overflowing so that we might use our talents to spread the Kingdom of God.
THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL IS OFTEN CITED AS THE SOURCE OF SOME OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL COMMUNITIES, GROUPS AND MOVEMENTS OF THE CENTURY. COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT SOME OF THESE COMMUNITIES?
A: I travel to Brazil yearly and I am very impressed with the Charismatic Communities in this great country. For instance, there is the Shalom Catholic Community in Fortaleza or the Obra de Maria Community in Recife or Cancao Nova in
Cachouera Paulista—all of these communities were begun with young people who do a fantastic work of evangelization. Within Cancao Nova, the Holy Spirit led them to an outreach called “PHN” which in Portuguese refers to the first letters in the phrase “Por Hodie Nao” which means “For Today No”. One of their leaders had the inspiration to say to young people, if you can’t break with drugs or sexual sin for the rest of your lives, then at least “For Today No” and this
concept of taking one day at a time to choose holiness instead of sin has created a movement within a movement. Today Cancao Nova holds retreats that draw over 40,000 young people for a weekend. Their initial training session created a
powerful wave among young people. It was a decision to fix their goal to live for God and part with sin forever. These are just a few examples of movements and ministries that have sprung up around the world. There are marvelous communities in Europe like the Beatitudes Community and the Emmanuel Community in France as well as many others. Most of these
ministries have a particular focus for their work. Some work in groups among the youth, some in institutions of higher learning, some focus on healing and prayer, while some are focused on rehabilitation of drug addicts and alcoholics. This
beautiful variety springs forth from the tremendous grace of Baptism in the Spirit, the characteristic that marks growth in the Charismatic Renewal.
THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL HAS BEEN VERY DIFFERENT IN ITS EXPRESSIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT? HOW WOULD YOU SUM IT UP?
A: I would emphasize that the principal grace, the treasure that has been entrusted to theCharismatic Renewal, is this grace of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are filled with references to being baptized in the Holy Spirit and I have cited all of them in my book ‘As By a New Pentecost’. Baptism in the Spirit is not another sacrament. It can be
explained as a release of the graces of Baptism and Confirmation that we received as children. But it is also acceptable to say that in Baptism in the Spirit, there is a new coming of the Holy Spirit. It is not only a release, there is also a new
coming of the Spirit that helps us to use the gifts of the Pentecost namely the charismatic gifts such as praying in tongues, healing, discernment of spirits, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, the gift of interpreting tongues and many others listed in the Scriptures. Living a life in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit is the treasure that has been entrusted to the Charismatic Renewal. However it is a grace that is intended for everyone, not just for people who call themselves charismatics, who attend a charismatic renewal prayer meeting or community. The Lord desires us to bear witness to the baptism in the Spirit to the entire Church. Take the beautiful passage in Luke 11 where Jesus says, - “I tell you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened…” H e goes on to say,“If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him”. And this Scripture, which has been there for centuries, is one of the many promises we have in the Bible which shows that the Lord is longing to pour out His Holy Spirit in an ongoing way. Another promise from the Old Testament is in the Book of Isaiah where the Lord says, “Behold I am going to do a new thing; don’t you see it, even now it springs forth”.
At the turn of the last century, Pope Leo XIII called the Church to be a permanent cenacle, and he asked that we invoke the Holy Spirit with a beautiful Pentecost Novena in the 9 days of prayerbetween the Ascension and Pentecost. Later, Pope John XXIII, convened the II Vatican Council by praying, “O Divine Spirit, renew your wonders in this our day as by a New Pentecost”. Pope Paul VI in many instances said that the Church’s greatest need was for the Holy Spirit - and that the Church needed a perennial Pentecost, an ongoing Pentecost, that the Church needed fire in her eyes, prophecy on her lips.
What we are experiencing over these last 40 years of Charismatic Renewal is really the fulfillment of the prayer of the Popes, the prayer of the whole Church every Pentecost. When we pray the Sequence Hymn of Pentecost in the liturgy,
invoking the Holy Spirit, every time we sing ‘Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest’, we are joining the Church in an ongoing process of saying “We need you Holy Spirit. Come; come again”. In fact in every Mass when the priest extends his hands
over the gifts to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus, he is invoking the Holy Spirit. So in a certain sense the grace of the Charismatic Renewal is very new and in another sense it’s been with us all along. I think the difference is that over the history of our Church, there has always been an outpouring of the Spirit where there have been great saints who have led new movements like Francis and Dominic, Teresa and so on. But in this day, in this time since the II Vatican Council, God is determined to pour out His Holy Spirit on all flesh. He doesn’t want just a few chosen souls raised to the heights of sanctity but as in the prophecy of Joel, “Even on my menservants and maidservants in those days I will pour out a portion of my spirit. My sons and daughters will prophesy; old men shall dream dreams and young men shall see visions.” This prophecy is truly being fulfilled. I don’t travel so extensively as some people do, but I travel extensively enough to have seen that in every culture, across all boundaries, God is pouring out His Holy Spirit. From people in the highest places of the Church to the most simple, uneducated folks, God is giving this portion of His Spirit. So it’s a very exciting time in which to live. I was in Brazil a few months ago, and they have a goal that they want to see realized in this jubilee year – the 40th anniversary. They want to see another 20 million Catholics baptized in the Holy Spirit. What a vision! If only we in the United States and you in India and all countries around the world could have that kind of a vision. We are
often aware of our limitations and our faith is so small, but God is not limited. He is just waiting for us to pray with expectant faith for a New Pentecost for all mankind. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth!
|