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Renewing the Renewal Part 2
Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap, the papal preacher and highly respected theologian of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, was invited to share his wisdom and insights on the way forward for the CCR at the Newman Consultation last year in Birmingham. Below is part two of his second talk.
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The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has been a visible and manifest answer to the prayer of Pope John XXIII for a New Pentecost. In the last 40 years Charismatic Renewal has shown a most visible and dramatic manifestation of the charisms. The name ‘Charismatic Renewal’ however is an unfortunate title, because it places the focus on the “Gifts”, and not on the “Giver”. The title is misleading, and I believe serious thought should be given to finding a more accurate title. Cardinal Suenens mentioned this to me on more than one occasion. “Pentecostal Renewal” would be more accurate, but as that title is already the preserve of a Christian denomination, we will have to look further afield. (As Pentecost and Annunciation are so parallel to each other, is it possible to get a Marian title --- something that might give our Prayer Groups a wider appeal?) The title is wrong simply because the evidence and witness of the charisms were preceded by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and being filled with the love of God. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the charisms will soon become present and evident. For me, the first real experience of CR was not the charisms, but the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. New awareness of God’s love On my first visit to a prayer group, I felt that I was held in suspicion, as someone who was there to spy on them! Anyhow, before the night was over, some of them came to confession, and this awoke a whole new awareness of God’s love in my heart. I had never before witnessed the level of maturity and the sincerity of repentance that I saw among those people. I understood what Jesus meant when He said “When the Holy Spirit comes He will convict the world of sin.” These people were convicted and convinced. I was very conscious of the movement of the Holy Spirit, and I was also conscious of a real desire to ‘let go’, and to laugh my head off! The Lord wanted to set me free, by convicting me of sin, and freeing me from sin, through the power of His Spirit. The charisms are given to those who are open to the Holy Spirit. The “gifts” are given to those who accept the offer of the “gifts”. When the Lord said to me(very gently) “Do you want to give the rest of your life to Me?”, I replied “Yes, Lord. Take complete control of my life.” It was after I said “I accept you as Lord in my life” that the people in the group began prophesying to me. “You will proclaim the Word of God.” “You will experience a new joy in proclaiming My Word”. Dangers of the charisms With the charisms, we also discover the ‘dangers’ of charisms. As I became more and more familiar with CR, I began to question some of what was happening, and wondered how the Holy Spirit could be in some of what I saw. This can give scandal and disillusion people. I found myself defending CR against attacks and questions from the hierarchy. Of course, there were abuses, -- just as there can be abuse of power among the hierarchy! Do we reject authority just because someone has abused that authority? The same applies to CR. We must correct abuses. Let us look at the guide-lines Paul gave to the Corinthians in order to use the charisms, not just for the building up of the Church, but for their own sanctification. There are two kinds of charisms. Firstly, Paul talks to the Corinthians about the differences and the connections between the charisms and charity. He asked them to respect the priority between the “sanctifying action” of the Holy Spirit, and the “charismatic action” of the Holy Spirit. In Chapter 12 he lists the charisms, but in Chapter 13 he says “I have something better to present to you, CHARITY”. It is important to respect the different charisms. Some charisms are more important than others; e.g., prophecy is more important than tongues. Holiness and the charisms If I were to speak to my Pentecostal brothers and sisters, I would say something about a second problem: They hold that speaking in tongues is the first sign that a person has received the Spirit. St. Paul certainly doesn’t rate tongues very highly. LOVE is the only true and secure sign of the coming of the Spirit. For Catholics I would want to say something about the relationship between the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit, and the charismatic action,….holiness and charisms. We see problems in this area where people are highly involved in the charismatic dimension of this reality. They are into tongues, healings, miracles in a big way, but they are afraid of institutionalism of any kind, of any discipline or obedience, or any stress on sanctification and holiness.On the other hand there are those who emphasise sanctification and holiness so much that they neglect the charisms, or tend to down-play them. This causes tensions, as has been witnessed on occasions involving the preparation of statutes for national renewal groups in many countries. Importance of balance The solution, of course, is that we must find a balance between the two. We can drift towards devotion, piety, Marian messages, etc., and, little by little, lose the charismatic dimension. On the other hand, we can focus so much on the charisms that our prayer groups become associated with tongues, prophesies, healings, but have an in-built resistance to any kind of Marian devotion, etc. For me, this is a betrayal of Charismatic Renewal. Being ‘carried away’ with any one of these extremes is very off-putting for prospective new members. Charismatic Renewal has been given to the Church for the fullness of the faith, not for what is optional, and should continually highlight prayer, the love of God, and still have room for some special devotions. It would be sad if we ended up with a mixed ? la carte version of our faith. Primary call of CCR: to make present in the Church the spiritual work of Christ through the Spirit Vatican II went a long way towards clearing up the many misconceptions that had flourished, and had received acceptance within the Church. (It seems to me that, since the Council, we have lost sight of some of this focus). We must focus on the essentials, the work of the Spirit, and the Word of God. We have been called to make present in the Church the spiritual work of Christ through the Spirit. And let us leave for private devotions those less essential elements that do not build up the Christian community. There is a danger of using the charisms for our own personal gratification. Thus HUMILITY must be central, for it is like insulation for electricity. The power can work through us, but we are not the generators! CHARITY. St. Augustine said: “When you are preaching about all these beautiful charisms, people can become frustrated, because there may not be much evidence of prophesy, miracles, healings, etc. in their lives. Some people are convinced that they do not have any of the charisms. This is not true. I can identify with the charisms displayed by others, because these are not personal property, and I can benefit from them. If you banish envy, begin to love unity, to love the Church, and to love yourself, you will begin to come to see and appreciate your place in the community”. Only the EYE sees for the body. The foot cannot do that job for the eye. If a blow is directed at my eye, my hands will instinctively come to the rescue of the eye to protect it. My foot cannot go for a walk on its own. No man is an island. One final danger we should be aware of: if we should cease to marvel and instead become ‘familiar’ with the charisms, to lose that sense of awe, privilege and excitement, to lose the sense of the experience we first encountered as did the apostles at Pentecost. They were amazed and astonished at the marvels of seeing God’s action, and we should continue this capacity for marvelling at the work that God is doing now among us. Pope John Paul II, in proclaiming the Year of the Eucharist, said that one of the graces he prayed for this year was that of Eucharistic amazement, --- the capacity to marvel at the gift of Eucharist. We need to reclaim that charismatic amazement! (slightly edited version of a talk given at the Newman Consultation of the Isles in June 2005)
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