THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL - ITS PURPOSE AND GOALS
Teaching by Br. Francis D'Souza -
2nd Day / 20th November 2012
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Heb 10:25
.....not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.
There is joy and victory in our meeting and our fellowship. We sing, shout and clap our hands to our Maker as Psalm 47:1 recommends:
Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
The noble goals of the Charismatic Renewal coincide with the goals of the Holy Catholic Church.
It is widely believed that the birth of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is the direct result of the prayer of Pope John XXIII in 1957 when convoking the 2nd Vatican Council:
"O Holy Spirit ... pour fourth the fullness of
your gifts ... Renew your wonders in this our day as by a new Pentecost."
Our Popes continue to testify that the Charismatic Renewal is indeed the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church.
Pope Paul VI affirmed the Charismatic Renewal in 1975 when he personally, invited the renewal to hold its annual conference in Rome. In a special session during that conference the Pope stated: "Nothing is more necessary to this more and more secularized world than the witness of the `spiritual renewal' that we see the Holy Spirit evoking in the most diverse regions and milieux...How then could this `spiritual renewal' not be a `chance' for the Church and for the world? And how, in this case, could one not take all the means to ensure that it remains so."
“The Church needs the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
He it is who animates and sanctifies the Church.
He is her divine breath, the wind in her sails, the principle of her unity, the inner source of her light and strength.
He is her support and consoler, her source of charisms and songs, her peace and her joy, her pledge and prelude to blessed and eternal life.
The Church needs her perennial Pentecost.
She needs fire in her heart, words on her lips, prophecy in her outlook.
She needs to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.
This is what the Church needs; she needs the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit in us, in each of us, and in all of us together, in us who are the Church.
So let all of us ever say to him, ‘Come.’ “
- Pope Paul VI,General Audience, Nov. 29, 1972
“How then could this ‘spiritual renewal’ not be ‘a chance’ for the church and for the world? And how, in this case, could one not take all the means to ensure that it remains so?”
- Paul VI, III International Charismatic Congress, Vatican Basilica, May 19, 1975 (Pentecost Solemnity)
Conference on 15 May, 1987 (20th
anniversary of the renewal), in Rome, He wrote:
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the
Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. The vigour and fruitfulness of the
Renewal certainly attest to the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit at work in
the church in these years after the Second Vatican Council. Of course, the
Spirit has guided the church in every age, producing a great variety of gifts
among the faithful. Because of the Spirit, the church preserves a continual
youthful vitality, and the Charismatic Renewal is an eloquent manifestation of
this vitality today, a bold statement of what "the Spirit is saying to the
churches" (Rev. 2:7) as we approach the close of the second millennium”.
- John Paul II,Pentecost Vigil Mass 2004
“Let us pray to God the Father, therefore, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost may be like an ardent flame and a blustering wind for Christian life and for the mission of the whole Church.
I place the intentions of your Movements and Communities in the heart of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, present in the Upper Room together with the Apostles; may she be the one who implores God to grant them.
Upon all of you I invoke an outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit, so that in our time too, we may have the experience of a renewed Pentecost. Amen! “
- Benedict XVI, Pentecost Vigil Mass 2006
The five main goals of the Charismatic Renewal:
1. TO HELP CATHOLICS EXPERIENCE A BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
2 Timothy 1:6
For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;
Once hands are laid on us in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit the following must occur in our lives:
The Holy Spirit has been a resident he must become President
He has been dormant He must stirred in order to become effective.
He has been a passenger be must now become the driver
He was until now an ordinary member he must now become the Director.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit supplements the work of the Church by releasing the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
2. TO HELP CATHOLICS UNDERSTAND AND USE THE CHARISMATIC GIFTS
To foster the reception and use of the spiritual gifts
(charismata) not only in the CCR but also in the broader Church. These
gifts, ordinary and extraordinary are abundantly found among laity,
religious and clergy. Their proper understanding and use in harmony with
other elements of the Church life is a source of strength for
Christians on their journey towards holiness and in the carrying out of
their mission.
The gifts of God are given so that the Church becomes richer and more lively with the endowment of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to
another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the
discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another
the interpretation of tongues.
The II Vatican Council insists that it is the right and duty of every believer to use the Charismatic gifts in order to strengthen the Church.
The Holy Spirit Who sanctifies the
people of God through ministry and the sacraments gives the faithful special
gifts also (cf. 1 Cor. 12:7), "allotting them to everyone according as He wills"
(1 Cor. 12:11) in order that individuals, administering grace to others just as
they have received it, may also be "good stewards of the manifold grace of God"
(1 Peter 4:10), to build up the whole body in charity (cf. Eph. 4:16).
3. TO HELP CATHOLICS REDISCOVER THE BEAUTY AND POWER OF PRAYER
It must help to make us men and women of prayer.
Prayer without work is presumption and work without prayer is atheism.Prayer is as simple as just being in the Presence of God.There are many types of prayer and they include prayers of thanksgiving.1 Th 5: 18 "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."Prayers of intercession. When we pray and intercede for the needs of others we stand in the gap.
4. TO PROMOTE EVANGELISATION IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
To foster the work of evangelisation in the power
of the Holy Spirit: Spirit. including the evangelisation of the unchurched,
the re-evangelisation of nominal Christians, and the evangelisa-tion
of culture and social structures. The Renewal especially promotes
sharing in the Church's mission by proclaiming the Gospel in word
and deed, and by bearing witness to Jesus Christ through personal
testimony and through those works of faith and justice to which each
one is called.
The simplest definition of evangelisation is this, - those who know tell those who do not know.The Church exists to evangelise. Matthew 28:19 is a direct commission of Jesus Himself, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Even by the way we walk and talk we must be agents of evangelisation.
5. TO FOSTER AN ONGOING GROWTH IN HOLINESS
Through a proper integration of the Charismatic emphasis with the full life of the Church. By participating in her sacramental and ligurgical life and appreciation the tradition of Catholic prayer and spiritual. Our growth depends on ongoing formating in Catholic doctrine guided by the Church's magisteriam and participating in the pastoral plan of the Church.
The Church must eventually reach the ultimate goal of being full Charismatic and fully Cathlic.
The Church must eventually reach the ultimate goal of being full Charismatic and fully Cathlic.
Holiness is not a destination but an ongoing life long journey.
DANGERS THAT COULD ARISE IN THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL
We must not put undue emphasis on healing as we must understand the mystery of suffering.
Healing is our birth right and is poured out in the Church.
While we must pray for healing we must also accept the will of God.
While praying for healing we ought to seek medical advice and take the medicine and treatment given by the doctor.
We must undertand the mystery of suffering.
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