"In worship, God imparts himself to us." — C.S.Lewis
"God commands you to pray, but He forbids you to worry." St. John Vianney
The Catechism clearly defines prayer as a "vital and personal relationship with the living and true God" (CCC, no. 2558). Prayer is Christian "insofar as it is communion with Christ" (CCC, no. 2565), and a "covenant relationship between God and man in Christ" (CCC, no. 2564).
"Pray--and when you do, pray from the heart,. Let your prayers ring out to God.
No empty words but words that rise from deep within your soul." ~ DIVINE MERCY by Drew Mariani, Chapter 5, page 55
No empty words but words that rise from deep within your soul." ~ DIVINE MERCY by Drew Mariani, Chapter 5, page 55
Let us bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on our lips! - Magnificat 10/2/21
"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough"
~ Meister Eckhart: Dominican Monk, German Theologian, philosopher and mystic.
~ Meister Eckhart: Dominican Monk, German Theologian, philosopher and mystic.
"Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.” ― Mother Teresa, In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories and Prayers
Psalm 131:2 Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace [in Jesus the Christ].
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."
—CCC, no. 2558, citing St. Therese of Lisieux, Manuscrits Autobiographiques, C 25rr
—CCC, no. 2558, citing St. Therese of Lisieux, Manuscrits Autobiographiques, C 25rr
Wisdom Notes 1
Resources ...
and Mothers
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Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
~Saint Augustine
~Saint Augustine
"The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer."
~ Saint Augustine
~ Saint Augustine
"When you want to pray, then, the first question is: How do I open my closed hands? ... Prayer is a way of life which allows you to find a stillness in the midst of the world where you open your hands to God's promises, and find hope for yourself."
~ Henri Nouwen
Exodus 16:4 "Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven upon you."
Psalm 39:7 "for what do I wait? My hope is in thee."
"The shell must be cracked apart if what is inside is to come out, for if you want the kernel, you must break the shell."
~ Meister Eckhart
"The essence of spirituality is contained in this phrase: complete and utter abandonment to the will of God."
~ Jean Pierre de Caussade
"There should always be more waiting than striving in a Christian's prayer."
~ Evelyn Underhill
"Nothing in all creation is so like God as stillness."
~ Meister Eckhart
~ Henri Nouwen
Exodus 16:4 "Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven upon you."
Psalm 39:7 "for what do I wait? My hope is in thee."
"The shell must be cracked apart if what is inside is to come out, for if you want the kernel, you must break the shell."
~ Meister Eckhart
"The essence of spirituality is contained in this phrase: complete and utter abandonment to the will of God."
~ Jean Pierre de Caussade
"There should always be more waiting than striving in a Christian's prayer."
~ Evelyn Underhill
"Nothing in all creation is so like God as stillness."
~ Meister Eckhart
" I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you which shall be the darkness of God."
~ T. S. Eliot
"Lord,
I will tear the heart of my soul in two
And you must lay therein.
You must lay yourself
In the wounds of my soul."
~ Mechtild of Magdeburg
" Midway this way of life we're bound upon,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
Where the right road was wholly lost and gone...
It is so bitter it goes nigh to death."
~ Dante
"Patience is everything."
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
"Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life."
~ Simon Weil
"There is nothing instant or automatic in spiritual development."
~ Alan Jones
~ T. S. Eliot
"Lord,
I will tear the heart of my soul in two
And you must lay therein.
You must lay yourself
In the wounds of my soul."
~ Mechtild of Magdeburg
" Midway this way of life we're bound upon,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
Where the right road was wholly lost and gone...
It is so bitter it goes nigh to death."
~ Dante
"Patience is everything."
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
"Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life."
~ Simon Weil
"There is nothing instant or automatic in spiritual development."
~ Alan Jones
From the book, 'When the Heart Waits' by Sue Monk Kidd, page 147 "Thomas Keating, a Trappist Monk and writer, expresses our calling: The greatest accomplishment in life is to be what we are, which is God's idea of what he wanted us to be when he brought us into being... Accepting that gift is accepting God's will for us, and its acceptance is found the path to growth and ultimate fulfillment."
"To incubate means to create the conditions necessary for development. What were those conditions, I wondered. Then it hit me: darkness. Everything incubates in darkness. And I knew that the darkness in which I found myself was a holy dark. I was incubating something new."
~ Sue Monk Kidd, from the book 'When the Heart Waits', page 148.
"In the spiritual world, authentic life is born out of silence and waiting."
~ Djohariah Toot
"When we enter the spiritual night, we can feel alone and encompassed by fearful darkness. What we need to remember is that we are carried in God's womb, and God's Divine heart, even when we don't know it, even when God seems far away."
~ Sue monk Kidd, 'When the Heart Waits', page 149.
"God finds us and we find God in the 'dazzling darkness'"
~ THL
~ Sue Monk Kidd, from the book 'When the Heart Waits', page 148.
"In the spiritual world, authentic life is born out of silence and waiting."
~ Djohariah Toot
"When we enter the spiritual night, we can feel alone and encompassed by fearful darkness. What we need to remember is that we are carried in God's womb, and God's Divine heart, even when we don't know it, even when God seems far away."
~ Sue monk Kidd, 'When the Heart Waits', page 149.
"God finds us and we find God in the 'dazzling darkness'"
~ THL
Philippians 4:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is [a]lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, [b]dwell on these things.
“In all faces is seen the Face of faces, veiled in a billion riddles – yet unveiled it is not seen until at last, above all faces we enter into a certain secret and mystical silence where there is no knowledge of a face.”
“This mist, this cloud, this darkness into which we go, transcending knowledge is the path below which your face cannot be found except veiled; but it is that very darkness which reveals your face is there, beyond all veils.”
Nicholas of Cusa ~ Selected Writings
“This mist, this cloud, this darkness into which we go, transcending knowledge is the path below which your face cannot be found except veiled; but it is that very darkness which reveals your face is there, beyond all veils.”
Nicholas of Cusa ~ Selected Writings
"Contemplatively waiting is consenting to be where we really are. People recoil from it because they don't want to be present to themselves. Such waiting causes a deep existential loneliness to surface, a feeling of being disconnected from oneself and God. At the depths there is fear, fear of the dark chaos within ourselves."
~ Brother Anthony from The Abbey of Gethsemani.
~ Brother Anthony from The Abbey of Gethsemani.
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51. The journey toward silence of the heart is itself made in silence. Here is the great mystery: silence is attained in silence and grows in silence.
~ Robert Cardinal Sarah, The Power of Silence; Against the Dictatorship of Noise |
"The distance that must be traveled in order to go to the farthest limits of our interior territory is so vast and so arduous that it needs stopping places that consist of houses where silence and solitude are inviolable pillars."
~ Cardinal Sarah, The Power of Silence; Against the Dictatorship of Noise. |
April 18, 2018
At 91 years old, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI calls us all to contemplative prayer, By Deacon Keith Fournier
At 91 years old, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI calls us all to contemplative prayer, By Deacon Keith Fournier
“God is most easily found when you enter into a deep companionship with those who need him most.”
July 1, 2014 by Dylan Morrison ~ the Prodigal Prophet
July 1, 2014 by Dylan Morrison ~ the Prodigal Prophet
When you go to Communion, let Eucharistic, Jesus, consume you.
"Turn back, my soul, to your rest ..."
"I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living ..." Psalm 116
"I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living ..." Psalm 116
"Sacrifice consists in becoming totally receptive to God and letting ourselves be completely taken over by him."
~ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
~ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
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Let us sing to the glory of God's name!
What is Hesychasm? - Mystical Practice in Orthodox Christianity
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"The very sight of God causes delight. At the sight of God the mind can do nothing but delight."
Thomas Aquinas "Eat every day but be hungry every day." ~ St. Romuald
Gaze upon the Divine Son, and by so doing you are transformed.
For ever let us thank the Lord our God.
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Psalm 30:12 ... so my soul sings psalms to you unceasingly."
Psalm 6:8b"...for the Lord has heard my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer."
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"Thus says the Lord to me:/ I will quietly look on from where I dwell,/ Like the glowing heat of sunshine,/ like a cloud of dew at harvest time." Is. 18:4
"I pray God rid me of God." ~ Meister Eckhart
Do not let this quote shock you. Let the Holy Spirit bring the reality of these words come to life. |
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"Christ asks for a home in your soul, where he can be at rest with you, where he can talk easily to you, where you and he, alone together, can laugh and be silent and be delighted with one another."
Caryll Houselander, This War Is the Passion |
Psalm 44:9b ... your name we will praise forever (without ceasing).
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"Christ, risen in glory, gives continual thanks to his father." ~ Cassian
And so must we ... |
"By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, / in quiet and in trust your strength lies." Is. 30:15b
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Psalm 145
A psalm of praise. Of David. 1I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. "Prefer a relationship with God more than the riches of God"
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"The son of God wills to give us a share in his mysteries and somehow to extend them to us. He wills to continue them in us and in his universal church. This is brought about first through the graces he has resolved in impart to us and then through the works he wishes to accomplish in us through these mysteries. This is his plan for fullfilling his mysteries in us."
St. John Eudes, Priest "Make a little time for God, and rest a while in Him."
~ St. Anselm, Bishop |
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"True thanking is to enjoy God."
~ Julian of Norwich 
From Magificat 2018, Vol.20, No.2
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Psalm 85
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We ought to live every-length of each breath with an expectation of experientially knowing a renewed awareness - consciousness of God's Presence.
~ THL
~ THL
"Audiam, qui loquatur in me Dominus Deus." "I will be silent and hear what God the Lord will utter within me."
“Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times or periods but continuous throughout the day and night.
“Our spirit should be quick to reach out toward God, not only when it is engaged in meditation; at other times also, when it is carrying out its duties, caring for the needy, performing works of charity, giving generously in the service of others, our spirit should long for God and call him to mind, so that these works may be seasoned with the salt of God’s love, and so make a palatable offering to the Lord of the universe. Throughout the whole of our lives we may enjoy the benefit that comes from prayer if we devote a great deal of time to it.
“Prayer is the light of the spirit, true knowledge of God, mediating between God and man. The spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness; like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. It seeks the satisfaction of its own desires, and receives gifts outweighing the whole world of nature.
“Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God’s grace. The apostle Paul says: We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings[cf Romans 8:26].
“When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to a man, he gives him riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of utmost intensity.
“Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit.”*
* From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, Second Reading of the Liturgy of the Hours, Friday after Ash Wednesday.
“Our spirit should be quick to reach out toward God, not only when it is engaged in meditation; at other times also, when it is carrying out its duties, caring for the needy, performing works of charity, giving generously in the service of others, our spirit should long for God and call him to mind, so that these works may be seasoned with the salt of God’s love, and so make a palatable offering to the Lord of the universe. Throughout the whole of our lives we may enjoy the benefit that comes from prayer if we devote a great deal of time to it.
“Prayer is the light of the spirit, true knowledge of God, mediating between God and man. The spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness; like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. It seeks the satisfaction of its own desires, and receives gifts outweighing the whole world of nature.
“Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God’s grace. The apostle Paul says: We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings[cf Romans 8:26].
“When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to a man, he gives him riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of utmost intensity.
“Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit.”*
* From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, Second Reading of the Liturgy of the Hours, Friday after Ash Wednesday.
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The following is from Magnificat Magazine. To subscribe, go to: https://us.magnificat.net/
Excellent daily devotional. 
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Psalms, chapter 86
1 Incline your ear, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and oppressed. 2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; 3 be gracious to me, Lord; to you I call all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant; to you, Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 Lord, you are good and forgiving, most merciful to all who call on you. 6 LORD, hear my prayer; listen to my cry for help. 7 On the day of my distress I call to you, for you will answer me. |
From Magificat 2018, Vol.20, No.2
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“The most beautiful thing a person could say about God would be to remain silent from the wisdom of an inner wealth. So, be silent and quit flapping your gums about God,” advises Meister Eckhart, the German theologian born in 1260.
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Come Holy Spirit! The Whole Church Needs a New Pentecost
Deacon Keith Fournier
Permission to republish with attribution granted
On Pentecost the early followers of Jesus gathered as their Lord had instructed them, expecting the fulfillment of the promise he had made to send the Holy Spirit. We refer to Pentecost as the birthday of the missionary church for a good reason. Their encounter with the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room changed them.
They were filled with the same Holy Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead. The Apostle Paul would later explain the experience. Even though he was not at that first Pentecost, he certainly experienced the same encounter, and came to know of its powerful, transformative effects! (Romans 8:11)
The Holy Spirit capacitated the early followers of Jesus to go from being a frightened fraternity to a band of brothers and sisters of whom it was said "they turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6) They were empowered to carry forward in time the ongoing mission of Jesus Christ until he returns to complete the work of redemption.
Every year, this celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is an invitation to each one of us to have the very same encounter. It is the Holy Spirit which makes it possible for us to live lives of sacrificial love, holiness and service in a world that God still loves - a world into which He still sends His Son, through the Body of Christ, the Church - of which we are all members. (John 3:16)
We are, in this millennium, commissioned to carry forward the very same mission of those first disciples who gathered with Mary the Mother of the Lord. Jesus promised his followers, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)
That includes you and me!
In these in words, recorded in that same chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus promised as well,
"I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you."
Among the readings read at the Catholic Liturgy on Pentecost Sunday is the account of that first Christian Pentecost:
"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim." (Acts 2)
There is little doubt from their actions following that event, they were very different. They went forward and really did turn the entire world upside down with their preaching and the witness of their changed lives. Will we do the same in this new missionary age? The choice is ours to make.
As I have regularly written and proclaimed, it is time for all Christians to stop bemoaning the collapse of the culture, stop using the language of "post-Christian" and look at this moment, our moment, as PRE-CHRISTIAN.
It is time to get to work, empowered by the same Holy Spirit, TODAY.
In many respects, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, seems mysterious to many Christians in our own day. When I consider this reality, I am reminded of one of the many missionary stories recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.
Chapter 19 of Acts begins with these words, "While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came (down) to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They answered him, "We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19: 1, 2)
Too often we live our lives like those disciples in Ephesus. We act as though we did not realize there even is a Holy Spirit, still at work, still pouring out gifts and still making it possible for us to bear spiritual fruit. The same Holy Spirit still changing each one of us, individually and collectively, into the Image of Jesus Christ. The same Holy Spirit calling us to make disciples of all the Nations.
An examination of the teaching of Jesus and the New Testament reveals the essential role of the Holy Spirit in the life and mission of the Church - and in the life and mission of every individual believer. A study of the Tradition, the magisterial teachings of the Church and the Catholic Catechism underscores that this reality is meant to continue. It was not a onetime event.
The purpose of Pentecost was - and still is - the empowering of the Christian Church, with the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead! The Holy Spirit draws us into communion with the Lord and a participation in His Divine Life and mission. That communion is lived in the Church. The Catholic Catechism, quoting St Augustine, affirms "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." (CCC # 797)
I am one of countless thousands whose life was profoundly changed by an experience, an encounter, with the Holy Spirit decades ago. I am old enough to remember when we who had this encounter were called "Pentecostal Catholics". That was before the more refined term "charismatic" took prominence.
Pope Francis has taken to calling the experience a "Current of Grace".
I do not really care for any adjectival description before the noun "Catholic". I am a Christian, standing by choice in the heart of the Catholic Church, which stretches back to the earthly ministry of Jesus and forward to His return. I stand reaching out, with all Christians, into an age which needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and be set free.
In fact, it was an encounter with the Holy Spirit so many years ago which led me back home to the Catholic Church into which I had been baptized as a child. That same Holy Spirit which leads me to work with other Christians, across the confessional lines, in evangelistic and culturally engaging work and mission.
Sometimes, people ask me, all these years later, when they hear of my earlier identification with that movement called the Catholic Charismatic renewal, "What Happened to those Pentecostal/Charismatic Catholics?" I guess my life is one of many answers to that question. I give them the following answer.
The Holy Spirit continued to lead me into the heart of the Catholic Church. My hunger for more of God and my passionate love for the Word of God, led me to continued theological studies and to ordination as a member of the clergy, a deacon. My heart for evangelization led me to assist in the myriad of ministries, apostolates and works in which I have involved for decades.
Do I still believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available for ordinary Christians? You bet I do! I also hope that they assist us all in growing in the fruits of the Spirit and manifesting the character of Jesus Christ through living lives of real holiness.
I do not identify with any particular "movement". Rather, I identify with the Lord Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead and still pours out His graces through the Church which is His Body. My experience all those years ago was not about a specific movement - but about a new way of living in the Lord, by the Holy Spirit, in the Church, for the sake of the world.
Over the years, the term "ecclesial movements' has become the term used to refer to the many movements within the Catholic Church which demonstrate that the Spirit of Pentecost is alive and well. Though each has a unique charism and mission, they all invite Christians to have a "personal" relationship, an encounter, with the Lord Jesus Christ. They proclaim that He has been raised from the dead and is alive in our midst in the Church. They call men and women to the encounter, to experience the Pentecost of the Holy Spirit He promised, right now.
Pentecost is not about a onetime experience but about a way of living in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are led by the Spirit to live in the Heart of the Church, for the sake of that world. The Church is meant to become the home of the whole human race. Within the communion of the Church we become leaven and seed in the loaf of human culture, in order to lead the world into the "new world", which is the Church.
We are called to live a unity of life, where our Christian faith is not compartmentalized but rather informs and permeates our daily life. We are called to love the Church, recognizing that she is "Some - One" not something - the Body of Christ continuing His redemptive mission on the earth until He returns. The missionary mandate extends to every state in life and every Christian vocation. They demonstrate that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are real and still available for all Christians.
The purpose of Pentecost is the birth - and continued rebirth - of the Church. The Church is "Plan A" and there is no "Plan B". The notion of a Christian group being "para" Church is far from the purpose of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was not poured out on the disciples so that they could form movements outside of the Church, or compete with one another in movements within her. Rather, so that they could become full members of Christ's Church living His life within her bosom for the sake of the world.
Jesus told the disciples that He must ascend, to "my Father and your father, my God and your God" (John 20:17) because, in His own words "If I do not go I cannot send the comforter. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."
And in the same Gospel "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming." (John 16: 7-15)
The Christian Church was empowered by the Holy Spirit to live differently in the midst of a world awaiting the fullness of redemption; to lead the world back to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Can we live this kind of transformed Christian life in the stuff of our own daily lives?
Yes, by living them in the heart of the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is a lot of "bad news" in our contemporary culture. However, this culture is not all that different than the cultures into which the early Christians were sent on mission; cultures such as the one which the Christians in Ephesus confronted. They needed the Holy Spirit to do their work and so do we.
The answer for the malady of this age is the same as the answer of those early disciples for their broken and lost age, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Like them we are called to present the new culture which is revealed in the heart of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit to our own age. As I continually proclaim, we are living in a new missionary age and we are called into the whole world to preach the Gospel in both word and deed.
The Second Vatican Council in the Catholic Church began with a prayer for a "New Pentecost." The Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost and continues to be poured out on, in and through the Church, for the sake of her mission in the world. Pentecost was and is the birthday of the Church. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church and the source of her power for mission.
We need to pray for a New Pentecost for the WHOLE Church in this hour! We need more of the Holy Spirit for the work of the New Evangelization within the Church so she can take the mission to the whole world. We need to be Baptized afresh in the Holy Spirit in order to take our role as a member of the Body of Christ in this new missionary age.
The Church needs to rise up in this hour with the same power with which she transformed the world of the first centuries. She can...by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Whatever Happened to those Pentecostal/Charismatic Catholics? We are everywhere these days continuing to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit by offering ourselves to the Lord in His Church and, through her, continuing the redemptive mission of the Lord until He returns.
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Deacon Keith Fournier is the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online and the founder of the Common Good Movement. He is a Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia
Deacon Keith Fournier
Permission to republish with attribution granted
On Pentecost the early followers of Jesus gathered as their Lord had instructed them, expecting the fulfillment of the promise he had made to send the Holy Spirit. We refer to Pentecost as the birthday of the missionary church for a good reason. Their encounter with the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room changed them.
They were filled with the same Holy Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead. The Apostle Paul would later explain the experience. Even though he was not at that first Pentecost, he certainly experienced the same encounter, and came to know of its powerful, transformative effects! (Romans 8:11)
The Holy Spirit capacitated the early followers of Jesus to go from being a frightened fraternity to a band of brothers and sisters of whom it was said "they turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6) They were empowered to carry forward in time the ongoing mission of Jesus Christ until he returns to complete the work of redemption.
Every year, this celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is an invitation to each one of us to have the very same encounter. It is the Holy Spirit which makes it possible for us to live lives of sacrificial love, holiness and service in a world that God still loves - a world into which He still sends His Son, through the Body of Christ, the Church - of which we are all members. (John 3:16)
We are, in this millennium, commissioned to carry forward the very same mission of those first disciples who gathered with Mary the Mother of the Lord. Jesus promised his followers, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)
That includes you and me!
In these in words, recorded in that same chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus promised as well,
"I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you."
Among the readings read at the Catholic Liturgy on Pentecost Sunday is the account of that first Christian Pentecost:
"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim." (Acts 2)
There is little doubt from their actions following that event, they were very different. They went forward and really did turn the entire world upside down with their preaching and the witness of their changed lives. Will we do the same in this new missionary age? The choice is ours to make.
As I have regularly written and proclaimed, it is time for all Christians to stop bemoaning the collapse of the culture, stop using the language of "post-Christian" and look at this moment, our moment, as PRE-CHRISTIAN.
It is time to get to work, empowered by the same Holy Spirit, TODAY.
In many respects, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, seems mysterious to many Christians in our own day. When I consider this reality, I am reminded of one of the many missionary stories recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.
Chapter 19 of Acts begins with these words, "While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came (down) to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They answered him, "We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19: 1, 2)
Too often we live our lives like those disciples in Ephesus. We act as though we did not realize there even is a Holy Spirit, still at work, still pouring out gifts and still making it possible for us to bear spiritual fruit. The same Holy Spirit still changing each one of us, individually and collectively, into the Image of Jesus Christ. The same Holy Spirit calling us to make disciples of all the Nations.
An examination of the teaching of Jesus and the New Testament reveals the essential role of the Holy Spirit in the life and mission of the Church - and in the life and mission of every individual believer. A study of the Tradition, the magisterial teachings of the Church and the Catholic Catechism underscores that this reality is meant to continue. It was not a onetime event.
The purpose of Pentecost was - and still is - the empowering of the Christian Church, with the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead! The Holy Spirit draws us into communion with the Lord and a participation in His Divine Life and mission. That communion is lived in the Church. The Catholic Catechism, quoting St Augustine, affirms "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." (CCC # 797)
I am one of countless thousands whose life was profoundly changed by an experience, an encounter, with the Holy Spirit decades ago. I am old enough to remember when we who had this encounter were called "Pentecostal Catholics". That was before the more refined term "charismatic" took prominence.
Pope Francis has taken to calling the experience a "Current of Grace".
I do not really care for any adjectival description before the noun "Catholic". I am a Christian, standing by choice in the heart of the Catholic Church, which stretches back to the earthly ministry of Jesus and forward to His return. I stand reaching out, with all Christians, into an age which needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and be set free.
In fact, it was an encounter with the Holy Spirit so many years ago which led me back home to the Catholic Church into which I had been baptized as a child. That same Holy Spirit which leads me to work with other Christians, across the confessional lines, in evangelistic and culturally engaging work and mission.
Sometimes, people ask me, all these years later, when they hear of my earlier identification with that movement called the Catholic Charismatic renewal, "What Happened to those Pentecostal/Charismatic Catholics?" I guess my life is one of many answers to that question. I give them the following answer.
The Holy Spirit continued to lead me into the heart of the Catholic Church. My hunger for more of God and my passionate love for the Word of God, led me to continued theological studies and to ordination as a member of the clergy, a deacon. My heart for evangelization led me to assist in the myriad of ministries, apostolates and works in which I have involved for decades.
Do I still believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available for ordinary Christians? You bet I do! I also hope that they assist us all in growing in the fruits of the Spirit and manifesting the character of Jesus Christ through living lives of real holiness.
I do not identify with any particular "movement". Rather, I identify with the Lord Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead and still pours out His graces through the Church which is His Body. My experience all those years ago was not about a specific movement - but about a new way of living in the Lord, by the Holy Spirit, in the Church, for the sake of the world.
Over the years, the term "ecclesial movements' has become the term used to refer to the many movements within the Catholic Church which demonstrate that the Spirit of Pentecost is alive and well. Though each has a unique charism and mission, they all invite Christians to have a "personal" relationship, an encounter, with the Lord Jesus Christ. They proclaim that He has been raised from the dead and is alive in our midst in the Church. They call men and women to the encounter, to experience the Pentecost of the Holy Spirit He promised, right now.
Pentecost is not about a onetime experience but about a way of living in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are led by the Spirit to live in the Heart of the Church, for the sake of that world. The Church is meant to become the home of the whole human race. Within the communion of the Church we become leaven and seed in the loaf of human culture, in order to lead the world into the "new world", which is the Church.
We are called to live a unity of life, where our Christian faith is not compartmentalized but rather informs and permeates our daily life. We are called to love the Church, recognizing that she is "Some - One" not something - the Body of Christ continuing His redemptive mission on the earth until He returns. The missionary mandate extends to every state in life and every Christian vocation. They demonstrate that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are real and still available for all Christians.
The purpose of Pentecost is the birth - and continued rebirth - of the Church. The Church is "Plan A" and there is no "Plan B". The notion of a Christian group being "para" Church is far from the purpose of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was not poured out on the disciples so that they could form movements outside of the Church, or compete with one another in movements within her. Rather, so that they could become full members of Christ's Church living His life within her bosom for the sake of the world.
Jesus told the disciples that He must ascend, to "my Father and your father, my God and your God" (John 20:17) because, in His own words "If I do not go I cannot send the comforter. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."
And in the same Gospel "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming." (John 16: 7-15)
The Christian Church was empowered by the Holy Spirit to live differently in the midst of a world awaiting the fullness of redemption; to lead the world back to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Can we live this kind of transformed Christian life in the stuff of our own daily lives?
Yes, by living them in the heart of the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is a lot of "bad news" in our contemporary culture. However, this culture is not all that different than the cultures into which the early Christians were sent on mission; cultures such as the one which the Christians in Ephesus confronted. They needed the Holy Spirit to do their work and so do we.
The answer for the malady of this age is the same as the answer of those early disciples for their broken and lost age, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Like them we are called to present the new culture which is revealed in the heart of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit to our own age. As I continually proclaim, we are living in a new missionary age and we are called into the whole world to preach the Gospel in both word and deed.
The Second Vatican Council in the Catholic Church began with a prayer for a "New Pentecost." The Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost and continues to be poured out on, in and through the Church, for the sake of her mission in the world. Pentecost was and is the birthday of the Church. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church and the source of her power for mission.
We need to pray for a New Pentecost for the WHOLE Church in this hour! We need more of the Holy Spirit for the work of the New Evangelization within the Church so she can take the mission to the whole world. We need to be Baptized afresh in the Holy Spirit in order to take our role as a member of the Body of Christ in this new missionary age.
The Church needs to rise up in this hour with the same power with which she transformed the world of the first centuries. She can...by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Whatever Happened to those Pentecostal/Charismatic Catholics? We are everywhere these days continuing to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit by offering ourselves to the Lord in His Church and, through her, continuing the redemptive mission of the Lord until He returns.
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Deacon Keith Fournier is the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online and the founder of the Common Good Movement. He is a Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia