GREAT NEWS…I AM IN SPANISH NOW!!!

The Passion of the Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was humbled but excited to find my story on not one, but 3 separate Spanish-speaking websites yesterday (the article originated from Spain, but also is posted on a site from Colombia and another from Peru–links are all at the end of this writing).  If you thus know of someone who does not speak English but who you feel this story would benefit, I would be thankful and very appreciative if you would share it freely.  All I would ask is proper credit to be given, as it is copyrighted material.

I wish to heartily thank Pablo Ginés, the writer of this article, which is based directly upon my original. He was also kind enough to link it to my blog as well.  My prayer is that God will use it to reach a whole new audience for His Glory.  Please check out his website as well at:

http://www.religionenlibertad.com/buscar_google.asp?cx=004215168661628987483%3Aq45npa2_rhu&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=evans

Again, to God be all of the Glory.

Rome Sweet Home published in 1993 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Le ayudaron los libros de David Morrison y Scott Hahn

De ministro evangélico a activista gay… pero hoy Richard Evans es católico devoto y casto

A los 34 años dejó su esposa y ministerio evangélico y se dio a la vida gay durante 15 años. Pero luego decidió que no dejaría que unos sentimientos le dictasen su identidad. “No dejo que me definan como persona”, explica este hombre de misa y rosario diarios.

Actualizado 20 abril 2012

Richard Gerard Evans cuenta su azarosa historia de conversión y su forma de afrontar la atracción sexual hacia otros hombres en su blog “Catholic Boy Richard“, muy cuidado y actualizado.

Richard nació en 1955. Su madre era católica, y ella llevó a la fe a su padre. Él de niño jugaba a “hacer de cura”, y de los 7 a los 11 años fue monaguillo con mucha ilusión y alegría. Pero en 1967, cuando tenía once años, en medio de una crisis de valores que sacudió Estados Unidos y a la Iglesia, su madre se desencantó de la Iglesia Católica, buscó otra forma de vivir el cristianismo, y se estableció en las Asambleas de Dios, una de las principales denominaciones de evangélicos pentecostales.

Evangélico y cristiano sincero

Allí, Richard formuló su primera oración consciente para “aceptar a Jesús” de todo corazón con 14 años. “En lo profundo de mi interior supe que Cristo era real y verdadero, y que quería servirle el resto de mi vida”. Y esto nunca cambió.

Pero Richard ya llevaba unos años sabiendo que no le atraían las chicas, sino los muchachos que conocía en la iglesia o la escuela. Como en su casa no se hablaba de sexo, fue a los 11 años, leyendo una revista, que conoció la palabra “homosexual“. Tenía claro que desde un punto de vista bíblico “aquello era un comportamiento aparentemente pecaminoso, no actué según mis impulsos”.

Richard no se autoclasificó como “gay”. Acabó el instituto y después estudió en un “college” bíblico de Asambleas de Dios. Se mantuvo virgen hasta que se casó “con una mujer cristiana sincera y cariñosa en 1979″. Tenía 23 años y empezó su etapa como ministro de Asambleas de Dios, que duró 12 años.

 

“Sola Scriptura” y libre examen

A los 34, sin haber dejado nunca de sentirse atraído por los hombres, pero habiendo sido siempre fiel a su esposa, Richard decidió re-examinar lo que la Biblia enseñaba sobre la homosexualidad. “No era especialmente mi deseo ir y pecar, sino que sinceramente quería saber si teológicamente se me había pasado algo por alto”, afirma. Sí, su deseo homosexual era una carga interna y secreta, pero intentó ser neutral. “Usé cada herramienta a mi alcance, léxicos de griego y hebreo, libros de teología tradicional y también pro-gay, y después de meses de estudio, oración y ayuno, concluí que la Biblia no era tan clara en el tema como pensaba”.

Puesto que la Biblia no le parecía clara, y siendo protestante no aceptaba el papel de la Tradición, sólo le quedaba la “ciencia”: o más en concreto, la rama de la psicología que directamente le pedía aceptar su “gaydad”.

“Mi matrimonio acabó en 1991 y durante los siguientes 15 años, aunque aún amaba a Dios a mi manera, me sentí identificado con lo que se suele llamar el estilo de vida o la subcultura gay”, escribe.

Célibe después de 15 años

Richard no quiere detallar en su testimonio lo que hizo esos años ni las relaciones que tuvo. Sí explica que militaba en el movimiento gay y acudía a sus manifestaciones y reivindicaciones. Pero en 2001 volvió a acudir a una iglesia con regularidad, con unos metodistas que aunque no aceptaban el estilo de vida gay eran acogedores con todo el mundo. Volvió a leer la Biblia… “y me hice célibe, al principio no por mi elección, pero eventualmente con entusiasmo comprometido”. Pero sin abandonar su teología pro-gay. Pensaba, entre otras cosas, que como célibe podría encontrar más posibilidades de “ministrar”, de servir a Dios con apostolados.

Tocado por La Pasión y Caviezel

Entonces, le pasó algo que tocó la espiritualidad de decenas de miles de personas: vio en Cuaresma de 2004 “La Pasión de Cristo”, de Mel Gibson. “El hambre por Jesús de mi infancia se despertó de formas que aún hoy no puedo describir”, afirma.

Además, por esa época escuchaba radios protestantes muy conservadoras, donde se criticaba continuamente al actor protagonista de “La Pasión”, Jim Caviezel, por un sólo pecado: ¡era católico! Y Richard, pese a no ser católico desde los 11 años, se enfadaba porque conocía muchos católicos que eran buenos cristianos (aunque él pensaba que era “a pesar de Roma”).

Rompiendo con la militancia gay

Pero su ruptura con el movimiento gay y su ideología llegó en 2005, durante una marcha a favor del matrimonio homosexual en Minnesota. El líder de una asociación del homosexualismo político “empezó a despedazar sistemáticamente en su discurso a los que creyesen en la Biblia”. Richard se hartó y se fue en ese momento. “Yo sólo sabía que amaba a Cristo y amaba también a las personas con inclinación homosexual, y esas dos partes parecían odiarse una a otra, y eso me entristecía”, recuerda.

A partir de este momento, una serie de libros, medios de comunicación y testimonios se sucedieron en su vida para ofrecerle dos cosas: una castidad con sentido, y la fe plena de la Iglesia Católica.

 

Los sentimientos no hacen a la persona

Lo primero llegó cuando leyó “Beyond Gay”, de David Morrison, la historia de un activista gay que se hizo cristiano protestante casto y luego católico. Es un libro que ha impactado a muchas personas (en español “Un más allá para la homosexualidad”, Editorial Palabra, con una 2ª edición en 2011).

De Morrison aprendió el concepto “Atracción del Mismo Sexo” (AMS). “No finges que ya no tienes esos sentimientos, pero no permites que esos sentimientos te controlen o sean el centro de tu atención; en una palabra, no dejas que esos sentimientos definan quién eres como persona”, resume Richard. Él había visto casos de personas que decían ser “ex-gay” pero en realidad no habían conseguido eliminar su AMS… incluyendo él mismo.

David Morrison, el movimiento “Courage” (www.couragerc.net) y otros en la Iglesia Católica proponían una vía distinta: quizá Dios o la terapia pueden quitar la AMS, o quizá eso nunca llegue para tal o cual persona, pero eso no impide que una persona con esos sentimientos, como cualquier otra, apueste por la castidad, “tome su cruz” y siga a Cristo con el objetivo común a todos los cristianos: ser santo. Incluso en sus años “gays”, Richard había tenido claro que todo él, incluida su sexualidad, pertenecían y debían entregarse a Cristo.

“No importan mis sentimientos homosexuales, sino que lo que importa es lo que hago con ellos. En vez de preocuparme por ´cambiar´, me entrego a Dios aquí y ahora, tomo mi cruz diaria, y me comprometo a caminar con Él”.

En mitad de su proceso de retorno a la Iglesia Católica, retiró la bandera del arcoíris gay que había ondeado muchos años en su ventana: “podía amar, y aún amo, a mis hermanos y hermanas LGBT, no les juzgo, pero ya no podía apoyar esas causas”.

Conversos del protestantismo

En su retorno al catolicismo se juntaron muchas cosas. Le asombró saber que se había hecho católico Thomas Howard, antiguo editor de “Christianity Today”, devoto evangélico y cuñado de uno de los misioneros protestantes mártires en la selva ecuatoriana a manos de una tribu belicosa (historia difundida en 2005 por la película “A punta de lanza” o “End Of The Spear”).

También le asombró descubrir la personalidad alegre de la Madre Angélica en el canal de televisión católico EWTN. Más aún, en esa cadena le asombraba “el nivel de amabilidad y respeto mostrado hacia todos, amigos o adversarios”, lo que contrastaba con ciertas radios protestantes muy hostiles que había escuchado antes. Conoció el trabajo del ex-presbiteriano Marcus Grodi, que acogía a ex-clérigos y ministros protestantes que caminaban hacia el catolicismo.

Descubrió que durante los 35 años que había estado lejos de la Iglesia Católica, numerosos pastores la habían conocido y adoptado como Madre. Más aún, en ese tiempo la Iglesia había elaborado un nuevo catecismo: lo estudió contrastándolo con la Biblia. Cada día, camino al trabajo, escuchaba “Relevant Radio”, una radio católica refrescante, “sin legalismos”.

Por último, leyó de un tirón “Roma, dulce hogar”, el libro testimonio del matrimonio de Scott y Kimberly Hahn (Ed. Rialp, en español lleva ya 17 ediciones). Este matrimonio protestante explica su camino hacia la Iglesia Católica cuando Scott, teólogo y pastor, descubre que la enseñanza protestante “Sola Scriptura” no figura en la Escritura y cuando ve que es necesaria una autoridad que establezca infaliblemente (y no como meras opiniones) qué libros de la antigüedad son Palabra de Dios y cuáles no.

Confesión y vida nueva

Dos días después de leer “Roma, dulce hogar”, el 4 de octubre de 2005, fiesta de San Francisco (“¡otro con un pasado azaroso!”) bajo una gran lluvia, Richard se acercó a una parroquia cercana, se confesó por primera vez en 35 años, y comulgó en misa. Con 49 años, empezaba una nueva vida.

Hoy, en 2012, tiene 56 años. Vive la castidad. Va a misa diaria y comulga. Reza cada día el Rosario y la Corona de la Divina Misericordia. Se confiesa una o dos veces al mes. “Mi vida es una vida de espiritualidad tranquila y no deseo otra cosa”, escribe. Ha sido ministro extraordinario de la comunión y ha acompañado a dos adultos en su ingreso en la Iglesia. Ha sacado un título de catequesis después de dos años de estudios y discierne la posibilidad de consagrarse como laico dominico, “si Dios quiere”.

“Roma es, para este peregrino, el lugar más cercano a un hogar en la tierra”, escribe.

Related articles

• ‘Passion of the Christ’ star Jim Caviezel says playing Jesus sunk his career (sharinhislove.wordpress.com)
• Putting on Christ: Jim Caviezel on The Passion of the Christ (biltrix.com)
• “The Passion Of The Christ” (mundabor.wordpress.com)
• Hollywood producer eyes sequel to ‘Passion of the Christ’ (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)
• The Passion of the Christ (eternalneko.wordpress.com)
• http://www.caminocatolico.org/home/index.php/testimonios/3079-richard-evans-de-ministro-evangelico-a-activista-gay-pero-hoy-es-catolico-devoto-casto-de-misa-y-rosario-diarios
• http://www.abbacomunicaciones.com/abba/index.php/que-esta-pasando/728-de-ministro-evangelico-a-activista-gay-pero-hoy-richard-evans-es-catolico-devoto-y-casto
• http://www.religionenlibertad.com/index.asp

Authentically Charismatic??? Catholic Christianity and Pentecost

Now that Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday have passed, we fly towards the 3rd pinnacle Feast of the Catholic Faith–Pentecost Sunday, where the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit became manifest and the Church was literally born according to Acts 2. Due to my background with the charismatic renewal, both positively and negatively, I have spent much time searching my own heart in order to know where I stand as a now-and-forever Catholic Christian on the topic of spiritual gifts. The following article and the links attached should give a broad view of this, and I pray they will help those of you who may have some of the same questions I have had since returning to the Church.  May we all experience, as Blessed John XXIII prayed, a “new Pentecost.”  And may it be a fully authentic one.

Icon of the Pentecost (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few years back I wrote an article called “Towards a Sacramental Charismatic Theology.”  I would in fact suggest reading that article first, in order to get my initial take on the topic, and as it is a sort of “part one” to this current post.  The link for that article is as follows:

http://catholicboyrichard.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/towards-a-sacramental-charismatic-theology/

What I hope to do today is expand upon that topic, and to share my own insights since then which have pushed me further from “charismatic” and closer, hopefully, to the Sacramental.  I would be clear at this point that I am against none of the genuine moves of the Holy Spirit which can and still do occur, both personally and in corporate worship. And many of those moves involve authentic charismatic gifts. What concerned me then and even more so now is the general attitude of those within what is called the “charismatic movement,” both Catholic and otherwise. I believe that we have begun to undermine the entire Church by not having clearer teaching on the topic, however.  I do not expect to remedy that today in one blog, but as someone who has participated since 1970, when this movement was but a raw fledgling of experimentation after Vatican II, and who ended up outside of the Church precisely as a result of it for the next 35 years, sharing then in 6 different Protestant faith communities during that time (not counting 2 or 3 nondenominational ones), and my share too of New Age and other more tangible spiritualities due to a hunger that was never quite met in that entire time, I think I have developed at least a sense of what is missing when we reduce that which is “charismatic” to a movement.

For that reason I no longer identify myself as a “charismatic Christian” these days. On the other hand I belong to the largest and most truly charismatic Church within all of Christianity. I believe in the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as the 9 charisma listed in 1 Corinthians 12. I believe fully in apostolic authority and private revelations from the Lord Jesus Christ to chosen believers. On rare occasions I have even had a few moments where I felt that He has spoken to me quite directly in situations where guidance or help was so sorely needed.

Man I sound like a regular Joyce Meyers here, don’t I?  So how is it I have come to distance myself from a movement which obviously has done such good and highly influenced the Church overall in the last 50 to 100 years?

One thing I mentioned in some detail in the first article was the way most such meetings are conducted, whether Catholic or Protestant.  Here I wish to expand on that thought and share why I believe that to be sometimes detrimental to the greater move of the Spirit within the Church. I was always troubled by the lack of consistency on following the clear Scriptural guidelines on the charismatic gifts, specifically as delineated in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14.  I think they are some of the most misused passages in the movement in fact, and I want to spend some time dissecting them.  Not all will agree with my thoughts here, but I believe, as with all Sacred Scripture, it needs to be read in its own light, as well as within the light of other Scripture passages and the ongoing Sacred Tradition of the Church, and not with the insatiable desire to “get the gifts” at all costs.

So here goes, and I would only implore you to read what I share with an open mind and heart, and not with a stubborn desire to stay within a “feel good” Christianity that bears less fruit and, in the long run, feels “less good” than simple tried-and-true Catholic Christianity.

I would first of all start with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), and the definition of what is commonly called the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” among Pentecostals and charismatics. In articles 1285-1289 of the CCC we read the following:

1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the “sacraments of Christian initiation,” whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace.⁸⁹ For “by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.”⁹⁰

I. CONFIRMATION IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

1286 In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission.⁹¹ The descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism by John was the sign that this was he who was to come, the Messiah, the Son of God.⁹² He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; his whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him “without measure.”⁹³

1287 This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah’s, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people.⁹⁴ On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit,⁹⁵ a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost.⁹⁶ Filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles began to proclaim “the mighty works of God,” and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age.⁹⁷ Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn.⁹⁸

1288 “From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ’s will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. For this reason in the Letter to the Hebrews the doctrine concerning Baptism and the laying on of hands is listed among the first elements of Christian instruction. The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church.”⁹⁹

1289 Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anointing highlights the name “Christian,” which means “anointed” and derives from that of Christ himself whom God “anointed with the Holy Spirit.”¹⁰⁰ This rite of anointing has continued ever since, in both East and West. For this reason the Eastern Churches call this sacrament Chrismation, anointing with chrism, or myron which means “chrism.” In the West, the term Confirmation suggests that this sacrament both confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.

There is some significant stuff here for those who seem compelled to seek a separate “baptism in the Holy Spirit” after being initiated both into Christ through baptism and then Confirmation. The most substantial point is this, also alluded to in my other article—we do not need a separate “baptism in the Spirit” once we are validly confirmed. We do at times need to awaken the gifts given to us within these Sacraments, but that can be done in a wide variety of ways. We also need to separate the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, with us at baptism to some extent but specifically embossed upon our hearts and souls at the moment of Confirmation—these are listed in the prophet Isaiah’s writings, and are the means by which Jesus performed His earthly ministry, as well with which we are to perform ours. In Isaiah 11:2 we find these listed—

 ¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. ² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.^{[1] 3} And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. ^[2]

Listed more concisely (Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord ) and per Church Tradition, we receive the fullness of these seven gifts during our own personal “Pentecost” of Confirmation, at the time when the bishop (or the priest administering the Sacrament under his authority) lays hands upon us and anoints us with chrism oil. We are also told that this is a one-time event which cannot be repeated, as it places an indelible or permanent mark upon our soul, as does baptism and Holy Orders. Only these three Sacraments do this. I wonder then how we can go to lay persons later on and then ask them to lay hands upon us all over again so we can finally get the “good stuff” (i.e. speaking in tongues generally), and if this is not an actual insult to the original gift at times?

There are as mentioned 9 charismatic gifts, and neither here nor anywhere else in the text of Sacred Scripture can we find indication that we are each to have the “gift of tongues” or any of the rest for that matter. In 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 it demarcates these and clearly not all persons had the same gifts:

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.^[3]

One of the most serious misconceptions here is that we “all” should be speaking in tongues in the first place!  This idea comes from one isolated verse in 1 Corinthians 14 where St Paul tells us:

⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.^[4]

 “I want you all speak in tongues…” that certainly sounds crystal clear and not to be missed (even though somehow the Church Universal inexplicably did so for 1900 years!).  Unless of course you go back and read the rest of the chapter of course, first and foremost being 1 Corinthians 14:1 (which is in reality a summary of all three chapters together):

¹ Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.^[5]

What was St Paul actually saying here? Read in its fullness, and continuing on with the chapter, it could easily be inferred that St Paul, rather than encouraging “everyone” to speak in tongues, was rather suggesting strongly to the Corinthian diocese that they were totally missing the boat by having such an obsession. And we have this same obsession today. You cannot attend a charismatic meeting without tongues being present, and it is very nearly an absolute expectation that, if you unfortunately somehow have missed out on this gift up until now, you will not need to “leave for home without it!”  In other words get in the prayer line and do it now, do what is told you and tongues will then be yours. Period.

Another discrepancy I believe exists has to do with the uses of the gift of tongues. One school of thought is that it is primarily a “prayer language,” and I believe this can be a valid usage of the gift (1 Corinthians 14: 14-16).  However, if used in this way, there is a very specific stipulation that has been ignored by virtually every Pentecostal or charismatic prayer group in the world, or so it would seem at least, and that is the following:  do not, without an interpreter present, do this during public gatherings of believers!!! That would include the Holy Mass first and foremost, but also during gatherings of believers where worship often includes what could be thought of as (or sound like) the “buzzing of bees” to the outsider. This misuse, more than any other thing, is what gives charismatic meetings a bad name, and somewhat ironically St Paul apparently knew of this problem even during New Testament times. But they ignored him then, and we ignore him now.

When I first attended a Catholic charismatic meeting in the 1970s, a supposedly amazing new phenomenon was taking place called “singing in the Spirit.”  What happens is that one person starts singing in tongues, no interpretation, and almost instantly or on cue the entire group is going at it within a millisecond or two. I question this practice.  It is something that has been peculiar to Catholics more so than others in the renewal movement and I believe there is an obvious reason for this which I totally missed for many years because I was unaware of some of our own great Catholic Tradition. Catholics, from the least to the greatest, are used to singing at least some form of Gregorian chant if even on a small level—and even if it is simply the melodic version of the “Pater Noster (Our Father)” as sung at most Sunday Masses in our day. It is built into our Catholic DNA as it were. The “singing in the Spirit” mentioned above is amazingly similar to this. Protestants who do not know this type of singing do not tend to use it during even the most Pentecostal moments or at the height of their worship services. But Catholics do. Far from being “proof” that the Holy Spirit has sovereignly taken over the group like the cloud hovering over the Israelites of old, I believe rather it is chiefly a cultural peculiarity. If you were to go to the Middle East for example you might hear some Semitic sounds while “singing in the Spirit,” and in the Deep South of the United States some heavy-duty country-sounding “hooting and hollering” as well as the accompanying running up and down the aisles might take place instead.  Yet each claim theirs to be the “real” manifestation of the Spirit. I will just say buyer beware.  It is not wrong to sing in tongues—privately and at home.  But I would challenge anyone to show me where it happened in the New Testament or in the early Church as a group. I have not found it.  I do not think you will either.

Lastly I have seen Catholic charismatic renewal groups and literature take the two short passages of the CCC which even mention charismatic manifestations (specifically 696 and 2003), quoted in full below,

 696 Fire. While water signifies birth and the fruitfulness of life given in the Holy Spirit, fire symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit’s actions. The prayer of the prophet Elijah, who “arose like fire” and whose “word burned like a torch,” brought down fire from heaven on the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. This event was a “figure” of the fire of the Holy Spirit, who transforms what he touches. John the Baptist, who goes “before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah,” proclaims Christ as the one who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Jesus will say of the Spirit: “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!” In the form of tongues “as of fire,” the Holy Spirit rests on the disciples on the morning of Pentecost and fills them with himself The spiritual tradition has retained this symbolism of fire as one of the most expressive images of the Holy Spirit’s actions. “Do not quench the Spirit.”

2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning “favor,” “gratuitous gift,” “benefit.” Whatever their character – sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues – charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.

and calmly turn them on their head in order to claim (somewhat dubiously in my opinion) everything from insisting that Blessed John Paul II had this gift to the stranger-than-truth claim that every single charismatic gift is for all of us, and just a matter of “stirring it up” from within. Accordingly to that view, it has been mysteriously lying dormant since the moment of our Confirmation, and we just need to grab hold of it. Somehow the Church apparently lost this entire concept, even though she managed to keep the Sacraments intact and administered correctly for over 2000 years, and it is thus up to the charismatic renewal to come to the rescue and bring it back! Stirring up the gifts within us in nothing new—St Paul again told St Timothy to do so in 1 Timothy 4: 13-15:

 ¹³ Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the council of elders laid their hands upon you. ¹⁵ Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. ^[6]

But was he saying “Timmy—can I call you Timmy my son—could you PLEASE get cracking on that tongue-talking business or you will lose the Holy Spirit one of these days when you least expect it?”  Was he saying that?  I do not think so. Again context is everything, and I would point you above to the passage where Paul tells our beloved St Timothy to “stir (to in other words not neglect) the gifts.” Do you see tongues even on the list here?  It would appear that St Timothy, a bit more timid than his modern namesake Tim Tebow, was not taking the time or energy to use the gifts given to him at his ordination into the priesthood. And that was what St Paul was commanding and exhorting him to do here.

I could go on and on, but much has already been written by others such as the great Tim Staples—yes another Tim (a former Southern style rooting-tooting Assemblies of God/Pentecostal minister, as I in fact was) and other Catholic apologists to verify what I share here. Time does not permit sharing verse by verse, but I would encourage you first and foremost to get out your good Catholic Bibles, blow off the dust, and read 1 Corinthians 12-14. Slowly. Like me you may be surprised what is and is not there.

Here are some of the thoughts of a great man and my brother in the Church, Tim Staples: It is worth a watch.

No, I do not fully identify as a “charismatic Christian” anymore.  I do not need to. I am part of the “one, true, holy, Apostolic”  (and may I dare to add one phrase to the Creed, especially since John Piper and Wayne Grudem have no problems messing with it from time to time!), and yes, “charismatic Church.”  We are all charismatic as Catholic Christians.  But let us do it God’s way.  We surely should stir up our gifts and ask for more. But with that asking comes the responsibility of using them properly as well. Yours may indeed be tongues, mine perhaps prophecy (which incidentally was not necessarily foretelling the future but “forth-telling” and expounding on the already revealed Word of God more often than not). Prophecy incidentally is as such a gift that I am convinced is often used by priests who mysteriously bring those wonderful homilies where one sits and says “how did he know about my need to hear that word today.” Perhaps your gifts lie in those moments during silent Eucharistic Adoration where you kneel before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament full of confusion and eventually leave the Chapel or altar suddenly very clear on some personal issue you have been struggling with—all of these are valid gifts of the Holy Spirit who lives within you and each of these are ways they may be developed or revealed. I would as well not neglect to mention how often meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary or simple but prayerful Scripture meditation are major ways in which God speaks deeply to our hearts, often in very unexpected ways. The Holy Spirit is flowing within us every moment if we allow Him to do so.

 Being a faithful Catholic Christian, if we are true to our Faith, should and does cause us to stir up whatever gifts we may have.  So yes that command is to us as well. But to assume it must be “tongues” is a fallacy.  And the charismatic movement is, in fact, made up of the entire body of Christ (again 1 Corinthians 12; 12-31 brings this out beautifully—look it up). The Catholic walk in Christ indeed has it all.

As a “last of the last words,” at least for this post, I would refer you as well to a great and in-depth post by a friend of mine, Jared Dale Combista, from his great blog Verum Nocet:  He is a young man from the Philippines who has done a great deal of study on the topic and his information well worth considering.   Here is his link:

http://verum-nocet.blogspot.com/2011/09/speaking-and-praying-in-tongues-affair.html

ALL SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:  Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain). (1997). The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition, translated from the original tongues, being the version set forth A.D. 1611, Old and New Testament revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901 (Apocrypha revised A.D. 1894), compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1952 (Apocrypha revised A.D. 1957) New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.

---

Related articles

• And Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Ephesians 4:30 (prepareforthelamb.wordpress.com)
• Greiving the Holy Spirit (Spurgeon) Part II (prepareforthelamb.wordpress.com)
• Early Christians Speak – of the Spirit (riverwindfire.wordpress.com)
• The Holy Spirit – Fr. Thomas R. Harding, Th.D. (epages.wordpress.com)

“REMOTE-VIEWING” JESUS??? Seeing Heaven through Divine Mercy–UPDATED FOR DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

The Painting of Divine Mercy by Adolf Hyla. The phrase at the bottom is Polish for "Jesus I trust in you." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DISCLAIMER:  This post is in NO way meant to endorse the New Age belief of “remote viewing.” I merely use it as an example of what prayer can do in our lives if we let it. Read on…

One of the many supposedly psychic phenomena quite in vogue today is the concept of “remote viewing.” The idea is, with certain mind control techniques carefully (and expensively, I might add) taught, one could learn to potentially see into the past, the future, and to view other parts of the world in present tense besides.  For example you might live in Idaho and see your mother in Oklahoma doing her laundry, cooking dinner—or robbing the local bank, depending on your mother’s particular moral character obviously!

If remote viewing actually worked with any kind of consistency, it would likely be taught in all of our schools from kindergarten to post-grad, certainly to government intelligence agents on every level, and issues or questions such as “where is that darn gold hidden” or “when is the next terrorist attack” could actually become things of the past.  The TSA screenings we argue so much about too would be eliminated, because the machines would no longer be needed to discover illegal substances or items being secretly whisked into airplanes. One might also shudder a bit when realizing how little good it would do to get dressed, even modestly, in the morning, since nothing would be virtually “hidden” to those adept at these techniques. For some of us that prospect alone is nearly as frightening as a terrorist or two. Tracking back to the original point, however…

Aside from being unrestricted geographically, it has become yet another form of divination (foretelling the future) or ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), and those who claim to have this working in their lives often attempt to predict events as well as describe past ones which they have no normal access to.  In other words it is seemingly omnipresent and works outside of the element of time. Starting to sound familiar?

Saint Faustina Polski: Św. Faustyna Kowalska (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well I am here to tell you that it works—but in ways that you may never have thought of.  A wonderful gift was given to the Church in this last century by a now-canonized Saint—Sister Faustina Kowalska of Poland.  Besides actually having such experiences that actually did take her out of the limited realms of time and space, at times seeing Jesus on the Cross and other times in His glorified state, just for starters, and living to tell about it and write down her experiences with the help of a godly priest who was her spiritual director, she was given from Jesus a set of prayers now called the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.

Divine Mercy Shrine (Photo credit: justDONQUE.images)

What I love about this prayer is that it is a wonderful gateway to the Holy Rosary, a long-held Tradition in the Church for over 1000 years and counting.  It is prayed in fact on ordinary rosary beads, and, other than one initial “Hail Mary” at the beginning, is totally and directly centered on the Passion of Christ.  Because of its simplicity, it can easily be learned by anyone, and because of its potential depth, it can keep a person occupied for many hours if so desired.  The Marians of the Immaculate Conception (MIC), a Catholic religious order who are the keepers of this Apostolate and who established the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy here in the United States, have given clear instructions on how to pray this prayer on their website, so rather than repeating those here I will refer you to a link which gives the “nuts and bolts (or “crucifix, beads and chains” if you prefer!) of the method used to pray this Eucharist—inspired set of prayers. The link is directly below:

http://thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/praythechaplet.php

The chaplet is often recited on beads as a rosary-based prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AND here are some videos of this beautiful prayer as seen on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network):

SPECIAL NOTE: Although the first video below is labeled as “part 3″ please watch it before viewing parts 1 and 2 as it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL explanation of the DIVINE MERCY (starting at around 1:00 and onward). Then observe the actual CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY–and pray along if you like, with parts 1 and 2.

Finally come back to the very beginning of ”part 3″ for the last-minute of the actual Chaplet prayer, directly before the explanation just mentioned. For some reason the YouTube provider did these slightly out-of-order but it is all still there. Make sense? Hey I never said “remote viewing” was perfect…

AND for another version of this lovely prayer, also via EWTN, watch below:

video.php?id=3

AND FINALLY IN THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF THE CHURCH (LATIN)–Breathtaking I must add!

But I would take this discussion one or perhaps two steps further.  Because of its direct centeredness on the Passion and Cross, it can be in good conscience prayed by any Christian, Catholic or Protestant, and is thus a prayer of amazing unity with the entire Christian world each time it is uttered with sincerity.  If you have the slightest discomfort in praying the one Hail Mary, you might easily substitute it with a simple prayer to the Trinity such as the “Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit” instead.  The prayer will go to the same place, and I promise you that the Blessed Mother will not be offended.

As to how this fits with “remote viewing,” there is but one earthly event that took place—ever—beyond the realms of time and space and yet within them at the very same time.  That of course was the sacrifice of Jesus our Lord on the ripped and rugged cross of Calvary.  In the Divine Mercy chaplet, most of the prayer time spent is invoking that very sacrifice for the good of your loved ones and the souls of the entire world. The Chaplet can be prayed for the salvation of souls in general, for any given individual who comes to mind on each bead, for the dying, or just as a worshipful act of adoration to God for His Holy Sacrifice for you and me.  And if you are one of those concerned with “vain repetitions” fear not.  Every time you go to Mass or other worship services you in reality repeat many prayers, whether during worship choruses, times of individual prayer where you simply say again the name “Jesus” softly or loudly, and even when you utter an “Amen.”  All or most of these are repeated numerous times at most Christian churches every Sunday and most Wednesday nights. It is not the repetition that is vain—it becomes vanity only when done with half-heartedness or while holding sin within your heart. And I guarantee that it is at least difficult to meditate on the Lord and His Passion, Death, and Resurrection while hanging on to wrongdoing.  So the simple cadence of repetition on each bead, “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world,” brings you to Calvary and Calvary to you.  No time, space, or other barriers in sight.  Literal remote viewing of His gift of salvation and invoking the Mercy from His Throne in Glory for those you love and care for.  Powerful words and a potent prayer which connects us with eternity.

You might not have specific requests to offer God at the moment when you are praying the Chaplet and that too is okay. The very act of meditating on what Jesus did for each of humankind has the strong tendency to move us into an unexpected level of praise and thanksgiving—and bring equally unexpected answers to hitherto unplanned entreaties in the process. One MIC priest, Father Donald Calloway, who has done both extensive writing and produced CDs/DVDs on the topic of this devotion, has suggested that we take each “decade” (each set of 10 beads) and use it to imagine ourselves literally inside one of Christ’s five wounds.  Obviously to do this you may need to slow it down a bit. Think of yourself literally in His wounded but healed hand, kissing and anointing His beautiful feet like the woman of old, or similar to St Thomas placing your fingers into the huge but healed wound on His holy side.  Like Thomas you may find yourself saying, “My Lord and My God.”  And again, note that you can, outside of time and space, vicariously experience some aspect of His earthly life as well as his Resurrection and even possibly peer towards His Glorified Body in heaven with Isaiah or maybe St John while he experienced his Revelation of that which “was, is, and is to be.”

http://www.fathercalloway.com/

We hear much today about the concept of Eucharistic Adoration, an ancient and time-tested form of worship which to be sure has had a Renaissance in the last 20 years or so.  The notion is both simple and profound in that you sit, or kneel, in front of a consecrated (blessed by a Catholic or Orthodox priest) Host of the Holy Eucharist and adore the Jesus who shows Himself to you through it.  But you may not be able to do this for one reason or another, perhaps due to time constraints, or possibly you are not sure of the validity of this practice.  No worries—the Chaplet allows you to do so in a spiritual way without the deadly fear some non-Catholic Christians may have of “bread worship.” The purpose of both is identical—to adore, implore, and store in one’s heart the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ the Lord within us. The Chaplet allows you to do so remotely, though, and connects you with every other person in the entire world at any given moment who is also worshipping Jesus in this manner.

“Remote viewing” is alive and well—and exists within the Catholic Church (and beyond) and a simple set of rosary beads as divine binoculars.  Why not try using them and see how far into heaven you can glimpse? I promise Jesus will NOT be “remote.” You will see Him clearly.

Related articles

• Chaplet of Divine Mercy – Diary (catholicglasses.com)
• 40 Reasons Why It’s Cool to be Catholic #24 The Rosary and Other “Catholic” Prayers (deaconcast.com)
• www.remoteviewing.com
• Second Sunday of Easter / Divine Mercy Sunday (prepareformass.wordpress.com)

“REMOTE-VIEWING” JESUS??? Seeing Heaven through Divine Mercy

DISCLAIMER:  This post is in NO way meant to endorse the New Age belief of “remote viewing.” I merely use it as an example of what prayer can do in our lives if we let it. Read on…

One of the many supposedly psychic phenomena quite in vogue today is the concept of “remote viewing.” The idea is, with certain mind control techniques carefully (and expensively, I might add) taught, one could learn to potentially see into the past, the future, and to view other parts of the world in present tense besides.  For example you might live in Idaho and see your mother in Oklahoma doing her laundry, cooking dinner—or robbing the local bank, depending on your mother’s particular moral character obviously!

If remote viewing actually worked with any kind of consistency, it would likely be taught in all of our schools from kindergarten to post-grad, certainly to government intelligence agents on every level, and issues or questions such as “where is that darn gold hidden” or “when is the next terrorist attack” could actually become things of the past.  The TSA screenings we argue so much about too would be eliminated, because the machines would no longer be needed to discover illegal substances or items being secretly whisked into airplanes. One might also shudder a bit when realizing how little good it would do to get dressed, even modestly, in the morning, since nothing would be virtually “hidden” to those adept at these techniques. For some of us that prospect alone is nearly as frightening as a terrorist or two. Tracking back to the original point, however…

Aside from being unrestricted geographically, it has become yet another form of divination (foretelling the future) or ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), and those who claim to have this working in their lives often attempt to predict events as well as describe past ones which they have no normal access to.  In other words it is seemingly omnipresent and works outside of the element of time. Starting to sound familiar?

Saint Faustina Polski: Św. Faustyna Kowalska (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well I am here to tell you that it works—but in ways that you may never have thought of.  A wonderful gift was given to the Church in this last century by a now-canonized Saint—Sister Faustina Kowalska of Poland.  Besides actually having such experiences that actually did take her out of the limited realms of time and space, at times seeing Jesus on the Cross and other times in His glorified state, just for starters, and living to tell about it and write down her experiences with the help of a godly priest who was her spiritual director, she was given from Jesus a set of prayers now called the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.

Divine Mercy Shrine (Photo credit: justDONQUE.images)

What I love about this prayer is that it is a wonderful gateway to the Holy Rosary, a long-held Tradition in the Church for over 1000 years and counting.  It is prayed in fact on ordinary rosary beads, and, other than one initial “Hail Mary” at the beginning, is totally and directly centered on the Passion of Christ.  Because of its simplicity, it can easily be learned by anyone, and because of its potential depth, it can keep a person occupied for many hours if so desired.  The Marians of the Immaculate Conception (MIC), a Catholic religious order who are the keepers of this Apostolate and who established the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy here in the United States, have given clear instructions on how to pray this prayer on their website, so rather than repeating those here I will refer you to a link which gives the “nuts and bolts (or “crucifix, beads and chains” if you prefer!) of the method used to pray this Eucharist—inspired set of prayers. The link is directly below:

http://thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/praythechaplet.php

The chaplet is often recited on beads as a rosary-based prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AND here are some videos of this beautiful prayer as seen on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network):

SPECIAL NOTE: Although the first video below is labeled as “part 3″ please watch it before viewing parts 1 and 2 as it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL explanation of the DIVINE MERCY (starting at around 1:00 and onward). Then observe the actual CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY–and pray along if you like, with parts 1 and 2.

Finally come back to the very beginning of ”part 3″ for the last minute of the actual Chaplet prayer, directly before the explanation just mentioned. For some reason the YouTube provider did these slightly out-of-order but it is all still there. Make sense? Hey I never said “remote viewing” was perfect…

AND for another version of this lovely prayer, also via EWTN, watch below:

video.php?id=3

But I would take this discussion one or perhaps two steps further.  Because of its direct centeredness on the Passion and Cross, it can be in good conscience prayed by any Christian, Catholic or Protestant, and is thus a prayer of amazing unity with the entire Christian world each time it is uttered with sincerity.  If you have the slightest discomfort in praying the one Hail Mary, you might easily substitute it with a simple prayer to the Trinity such as the “Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit” instead.  The prayer will go to the same place, and I promise you that the Blessed Mother will not be offended.

As to how this fits with “remote viewing,” there is but one earthly event that took place—ever—beyond the realms of time and space and yet within them at the very same time.  That of course was the sacrifice of Jesus our Lord on the ripped and rugged cross of Calvary.  In the Divine Mercy chaplet, most of the prayer time spent is invoking that very sacrifice for the good of your loved ones and the souls of the entire world. The Chaplet can be prayed for the salvation of souls in general, for any given individual who comes to mind on each bead, for the dying, or just as a worshipful act of adoration to God for His Holy Sacrifice for you and me.  And if you are one of those concerned with “vain repetitions” fear not.  Every time you go to Mass or other worship services you in reality repeat many prayers, whether during worship choruses, times of individual prayer where you simply say again the name “Jesus” softly or loudly, and even when you utter an “Amen.”  All or most of these are repeated numerous times at most Christian churches every Sunday and most Wednesday nights. It is not the repetition that is vain—it becomes vanity only when done with half-heartedness or while holding sin within your heart. And I guarantee that it is at least difficult to meditate on the Lord and His Passion, Death, and Resurrection while hanging on to wrongdoing.  So the simple cadence of repetition on each bead, “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world,” brings you to Calvary and Calvary to you.  No time, space, or other barriers in sight.  Literal remote viewing of His gift of salvation and invoking the Mercy from His Throne in Glory for those you love and care for.  Powerful words and a potent prayer which connects us with eternity.

You might not have specific requests to offer God at the moment when you are praying the Chaplet and that too is okay. The very act of meditating on what Jesus did for each of humankind has the strong tendency to move us into an unexpected level of praise and thanksgiving—and bring equally unexpected answers to hitherto unplanned entreaties in the process. One MIC priest, Father Donald Calloway, who has done both extensive writing and produced CDs/DVDs on the topic of this devotion, has suggested that we take each “decade” (each set of 10 beads) and use it to imagine ourselves literally inside one of Christ’s five wounds.  Obviously to do this you may need to slow it down a bit. Think of yourself literally in His wounded but healed hand, kissing and anointing His beautiful feet like the woman of old, or similar to St Thomas placing your fingers into the huge but healed wound on His holy side.  Like Thomas you may find yourself saying, “My Lord and My God.”  And again, note that you can, outside of time and space, vicariously experience some aspect of His earthly life as well as his Resurrection and even possibly peer towards His Glorified Body in heaven with Isaiah or maybe St John while he experienced his Revelation of that which “was, is, and is to be.”

http://www.fathercalloway.com/

We hear much today about the concept of Eucharistic Adoration, an ancient and time-tested form of worship which to be sure has had a Renaissance in the last 20 years or so.  The notion is both simple and profound in that you sit, or kneel, in front of a consecrated (blessed by a Catholic or Orthodox priest) Host of the Holy Eucharist and adore the Jesus who shows Himself to you through it.  But you may not be able to do this for one reason or another, perhaps due to time constraints, or possibly you are not sure of the validity of this practice.  No worries—the Chaplet allows you to do so in a spiritual way without the deadly fear some non-Catholic Christians may have of “bread worship.” The purpose of both is identical—to adore, implore, and store in one’s heart the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ the Lord within us. The Chaplet allows you to do so remotely, though, and connects you with every other person in the entire world at any given moment who is also worshipping Jesus in this manner.

“Remote viewing” is alive and well—and exists within the Catholic Church (and beyond) and a simple set of rosary beads as divine binoculars.  Why not try using them and see how far into heaven you can glimpse? I promise Jesus will NOT be “remote.” You will see Him clearly.

Related articles

• Chaplet of Divine Mercy – Diary (catholicglasses.com)
• 40 Reasons Why It’s Cool to be Catholic #24 The Rosary and Other “Catholic” Prayers (deaconcast.com)
• www.remoteviewing.com

ANOTHER BLOGGING MILESTONE: 15,000 “HITS,” 130 POSTS, “VISITS” FROM 97 NATIONS, NEARLY 200 FOLLOWERS COUNTING FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS, AND A PERSONAL NOTE FROM JEFFERSON BETHKE: NOT TOO BAD FOR 3.5 MONTHS!!!

I think, at this important juncture, it becomes crucial that I identify some purposes and goals for this blog. First and foremost, it is opinions.  Not more, not less. I attempt to write from the perspective of someone who has been Roman Catholic for 21 years of my life and, unlike many of my generation, was well-catechized (Baltimore Catechism style), by some “bad Catholic” nuns such as those pictured on the amazing Mark Barnes’s blog ( http://www.patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/) as well as directly below:

Although I left Rome for 35 years of my life, 20 of those were spent in strongly Bible-honoring Christ-centered/ecclesial communities within the Assemblies of God and similar circles.  While charismatic in belief and gifts, the A/G warns strongly against such misuses as constant “slaying in the Spirit,” “leg growing” (if you do not know what this is I say best not to even ask!), and using such gifts as tongues and prophetic words according to 1 Corinthians 12-14, making love the center (chapter 13) and following strict guidelines as laid down by St Paul for the public use of such gifts.

During the “missing in action” 15 years after, I explored many other spiritual paths and traditions including such things as the Tarot, astrology, I Ching, and a general hodge-podge of New Age types of experiences. Those were as well the years that I was active in the LGBT lifestyle. I also attended and was a member of, at various times, a United Methodist, Episcopal (Anglican), UCC (United Church of Christ), and MCC (Metropolitan Community Church). Oh, and Baptist for a bit as well.  You might say I partook of a literal “Seven Layer Salad” of various Christian groups in addition to around 7 years where I never darkened the door of a church at all.

Since my return to Rome in 2005, I went through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), which is a thorough review of basic core Catholic beliefs, and then took a 2 year course of studies through the St Paul Seminary.  Since I had already taken 4 years of college level theology through the Assemblies of God, I now have 6 full years of theological study from both Protestant and Catholic perspectives.

ALL TO SAY—I do not claim to be a “theologian,” on TV or otherwise!  However I do have a pretty broad spectrum of religious study and practice, and find that I have at least a decent handle on most issues. What I do not know I at least have many resources to research and find out.  So my opinions, while being simply that, are generally not based on vague “tingles of the spine” or “flavor of the day” experiences but on at least a basic grasp of my own theology and that of others.

That was a long but important digression.  I started out by saying that I was attempting to bring forth some specific goals for this blog, and one of those is in the area of becoming more devotional in my approach to blogging. For instance as I posted a couple of weeks back, I plan to start a Rosary meditation series soon.  I will continue to cover current topics of interest, and the occasional “just fun” posts too.  But expect less politics and more overall Christianity, however from a Catholic Christian perspective to be sure.  I also plan to go beyond this with the occasional sharing of posts such as the other day regarding Jefferson Bethke, a Protestant Christian evangelical brother who has done some truly amazing things, whether one totally agrees with his approach or not, and then attempting to build some authentic bridges wherever possible between Protestant and Catholic Christianity.  There are literally dozens of sites out there for Catholic apologetics, and I have in fact some of them listed on my blog roll. But what I tend to see less of are those with a concern to be truly ecumenical.  To me that may mean at times laying aside, while not ignoring, the very real differences that continue to exist between us.  And when I see someone who I believe is doing so effectively, whether Protestant or Catholic, I will gladly share their stories and perspectives without giving up my understanding of the Faith.  Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has indicated the need for this type of dialogue, and I think it sadly becomes frozen in place when all we do is wrangle over someone’s use of the word “religion” for example. There I have said it.  That is not the direction I wish to take this blog and I will be doing my utmost to steer clear of such discussions.

The changes I am making are not in truth huge—this has pretty much been the vision I have had from the beginning for my writings.  However I think even I could not have articulated it without a few months of “blog time” to begin learning the ropes within the blogosphere.  But now is the time.

As my posted article “Catholic First—Christian First” (linked below) clearly delineates, I am of the view that our first objective as believers is not to “bag Catholics” from the “evil world of Protestantism.”  I believe that the first and foremost goal we are to have as Christ-honoring historical Christians is to fellowship together in whatever ways we honestly can without compromising belief on either side.  If during that process someone becomes intrigued with or wishes to learn more about the Catholic Faith, I will gladly help direct them towards it.  But sometimes we as Catholics make it “Church first, then Jesus” and in reality it is the exact opposite.  I think that is what my brother Bethke meant when he said he “loved Jesus but hated religion.” In that context, would that more of us do the same.

Related articles

• Revisiting Jefferson Bethke And Our Concept of “Religion” (catholicboyrichard.wordpress.com)
• My Story…Again (catholicboyrichard.wordpress.com)

“Tongues” and Vain Repetitions

The reason for the title of this post is to point out a very interesting phenomenon I have noticed, particularly after coming back into a more liturgical and structured style of worship.  Very often those of us who follow what others quickly call “ritual” are accused of “vain repetitions,” something definitely condemned by Jesus in the Sacred Scriptures. And I agree with the danger.

But I would challenge what is at times meant by this statement.  It is not the repetition which is condemned–otherwise even memorizing Scripture would be a sin!  And, truth be told, sometimes it is. And singing of worship choruses and hymns, even good “meaty” ones that have strong substance (a whole other topic by the way) would also be an evil waste of time and energy.  Only prayer that is extemporaneous and “on the spot” would ever be allowable, even during a wedding or funeral. And just imagine how that might go.  Grandma’s funeral might go on for days, prophecy after prophecy, and someone might even get a “word from the Lord” to fast and pray for her to be raised from the dead! A mess indeed.

So the issue is not repetition in and of itself. The challenge therefore is in its motivation and the sometimes lack of heart and understanding behind it. When a “Holy Ghost preacher” thunders in a heaving, gravelled voice “say Amen somebody” and I jump and do so, but only because he says to, and I in fact have no idea what he just said since he interrupted what was in fact a delightful short nap, is that not vain?  I think it is. Very much so, in fact.

Yet if I sing “Alleluia” before the reading of the Gospel, the very words of Jesus our Lord and Savior, as we do in each and every Mass, and which many Lutheran and other liturgical brethren do as well,  and I do so thoughtfully as a way to prepare my own heart to welcome His Holy Word, my repetition is not vain even though I do it every single time I attend.  Again the difference is within my own motive and my openness to hearing the Holy Spirit speak to me through the Word of God.  And that can be a huge difference indeed.

In the matter of speaking in tongues, it is much the same. Why are you doing it? Because someone told you to?  Or taught you to? Or, as I read from Tim Staples, featured in the first video below, describing on another occasion,  those who told you to open your mouth and just talk “baby talk” until the sovereign God decides to take over your mouth? Is it because you heard it on a YouTube video as in the 2nd video below? Or is it honestly and fully flowing from your heart as worship to the mighty and amazing God who you serve? Anything less is vain.

I am not against “tongues.”  Not at all. But I am against the atrocities and utter confusion that even well-meaning believers can unwittingly cause to happen by posting such things as you will see here in video # 2. The woman not only speaks in tongues extensively  but teaches us how, and then suggests we do so while “cleaning the house.” Can I pray while cleaning–or driving?  Indeed. Especially with some of the drivers on the road these days!!!

But is that the best use of a gift that most Pentecostal/charismatic people consider holy, reverent, and sacred, and in many cases (another topic yet) supernatural ?  I do not think it generally is.   In short there are many ways to “vainly repeat.”

Earlier I wrote an article about my own experience, shortly after returning to the Catholic Church, regarding my own experience within the charismatic renewal within the Church. Since that article I have at times attended wonderful charismatic meetings at times, and do not discount the movement as a whole in any case.  But there are limits, and “charismania” should not prevail or be our basis for believing.  I refer my own earlier post below for further information and background:

http://catholicboyrichard.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/towards-a-sacramental-charismatic-theology/

Neither my original post nor this one was written as an attack on charismatics, who arguably are one of the most vibrant and worshipful Christian peoples I know, whether Catholic or Protestant.  The movement really did bring a fresh wind of the Spirit  into the Christian faith on all levels, including the emphasis on personal worship, commitment to Christ and the sharing of the Gospel with others.  And I still have great appreciation for many aspects of it. In short I have not rejected the charisms nor dare I do so.

BUT…misuses do abound.  And it is the Holy Spirit who, as 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity, would actually curb those misuses by pointing us to Christ Jesus and the Word of God to balance us.  Below are two very different perspectives on this gift, and both from people who I believe are sincere and Christ-seeking. Please watch them each, in order, and then let us know what you think.  As always, various opinions are welcome, but please remember that your sisters and brothers on both sides on the topic love our Lord and are attempting to serve Him well.  Listen on: