Our perception of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal  is that it is an instrument of the Holy Spirit for renewal in the Church.  It is not a Noah’s arc, not the only hope for salvation but it is an important channel for God’s merciful and abundant hand on the world.

Looking in Two Directions

The vision we have of our charismatic gathering looks in two directions.  The inward direction tries to listen to the call “Come follow me.”  The outward direction attempts to live the Great Commandment to preach the Gospel. And very prominently in all our activities is the warning from the Psalms that “Unless the Lord build the house, in vain do they labor who build it.”

A.  Come Follow Me

 

The inward perspective of our vision looks both towards personal growth in our relationship  with the Lord and towards community in the name of the Lord. 

 

1. Personal Growth

We each feel very strongly that the Lord is calling us individually along with everyone in His Creation to come to Him.  We gather every Monday in an effort to respond.  Our meetings once a week are, in a very real sense, a petition to God for His help.  They serve us as a reminder and also as an energizing force both to continue the journey and to open ourselves to the Grace of the Holy Spirit.  We sing and we pray and then we heed the invitation to “Be still and know that I am God.”  We try to be like the boy Samuel:  “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” 

 

Our every activity is, of course, very much oriented to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit unto us and unto the world.  We take very seriously the words of Jesus:  “If you, who are sinners, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?”  We do ask, and we ask in faith and with complete trust in that promise.  A part of our vision is that the Pentecost of the Spirit and the promise of Jesus to send the Advocate did not end 2,000 years ago.  The promise was “until the end of the age.” 

 

We try constantly to express our thanks to the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm,” including the gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit.  The most usual or frequent gift is that of praying in tongues.  "For one who speaks in tongues does not speak to humans but to God, for no one listens;  he utters mysteries in spirit".

 

Our constant effort is to open our hearts to the Spirit.  What we hope and pray for is a continuous helping hand from the Lord that we may conform our lives to His will.  The greatest blessing we hope for is a living, personal contact with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ  --  in prayer certainly, but also in how we live our lives. We strive to have this blessing every day and throughout the day so that we may learn to live in the presence of God. 

2.  One in the Lord

Community  --  in any church group of like size it would be difficult to find more diversity than what we have in our little Holy Spirit Prayer Group.  End-to-end on several scales, we have a candidate for each step on the scale  --  be it personality, socio-economic status, age, education or place of national origin (and five native languages).  Yet we are one in the Lord and the Grace of God is constantly reminding us of the command of Jesus to “love one another.”  For all of us, this community is family.  But more importantly, the group itself and all our functions are an invitation to the Savior to be in the midst of us because we are the two or three or more gathered together in His Name. 

 

A very important influence of the community is the example we can find in each other.  It can be inspiration when discouraged, encouragement and challenge when complacent and even a source of awe in seeing the Grace of God at work in others.  The community is also a constant reminder to “bear one another’s burdens.”

 

B.  The Great Commandment to Preach the Gospel

 

Our vision looks also in an outward direction.  It asks the question,  “What does God want us to do in the wider community which is the Body of Christ?”  There are two answers to this question.

 

1.  The First Answer

The first answer can be found in the words of St. Francis, to “Preach the Gospel at all times;  if necessary, use words.”  We feel we are called to evangelize, first of all, by the manner in which we live our lives.  A number of us are also able to respond to God’s call to minister to His brethren throughout the year in spiritual and corporal works of mercy, particularly in working with the young.  We support and encourage and frequently help each other as we do our best to minister to Christ in His children.

                       

2.  The Second Answer

The second answer is what we could call “awareness raising.”  We feel we are called by the Lord to hold up to the wider community of the reality of Pentecost.  We do this primarily by conducting a Life in the Spirit Seminar once a year.  For this work, probably more than for any of our other activities, we call on the Lord.  It is His work and only by the help of His Grace will the seminar accomplish anything good. 

 

Everything is in the Hands of God.  He determines who will attend because He calls them.  He determines how closely one or another participant will listen and what inspiration He will put in their hearts.  He decides what gifts He will bestow.

 

What He expects of us is prayer and our best effort.  In doing our part for the Life in the Spirit Seminar we are like the servants at Cana.  The Blessed Mother is telling us to “Do whatever He tells you.”  Most of our preparation for the seminar involves a discernment of God’s guidance.  He has told us to haul the water bucket by bucket and to fill the jars.  But only he can turn our water into wine.

 

Some of the participants in the Life in the Spirit Seminar may not be ready to respond to the Grace of the Spirit.  Some may respond and return to their home parish or join another charismatic group.  Some may join our group.  Everything is in the Hands of the Lord.  Our task is only to do our best as we attempt to fill the jars with water and pray for His blessing.

 

C.  Our Third Calling

The Holy Spirit Prayer Group has a calling from the Lord for one additional purpose:  the Lord wants our group to be a home or a temporary refuge for anyone He calls for healing or to prayer in the Spirit and to praise in song.  And some indeed do find refuge with us as we gather once a week to open our hearts to the Grace of God and to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. "Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord; let us proclaim the Rock of our salvation". (Ps 95:1)

 

Ps 63: 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,

       my lips will praise you.

4 So I will bless you as long as I live;

       I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

 

And at all times we rely on the word of God.  In a time of hesitation we hear “Have courage; it is I: do not be afraid.”  When feeling inadequate, “Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.”  Our prayer is that our little group may be concerned only with the expectations of the spirit.  Our hope is that the group may thus grow in the Grace of God and continue to be for us and for others a safe refuge from the “present evil age.” (Gal. 1:4)  Come, Lord Jesus. 

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