Some years ago after praying in tongues in a prayer meeting I was, to my astonishment, informed by a linguist present, that I had been speaking in Spanish. When I enquired what I had been saying I was told that the words were ‘You can know nothing except what God reveals to you’.

Before you begin reading this article I would like to invite you to stop for a while and pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a ‘spirit of wisdom and revelation’ (Ephesians Ch1:17) as you read, so that if he wants to speak to your heart he will be able to in a deep way…

We in the Charismatic/Pentecostal Renewal are part of a great move of God which has profoundly affected our lives and that of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We have seen and heard of great things. But have we seen the full flowering of God’s plan and vision for this great move of God?

There have, as we all know, been great moves of God throughout history. We think of, for example, the period of Francis and Dominic. As we know for some years before the birth of the Franciscans and Dominicans a great penitential movement swept through Europe and was widespread among the laity. Its characteristics were an apostolic life expressed through poverty, popular preaching, penitential practices and acts of mercy towards outcasts, lepers etc. While there was much good, it was often exaggerated and chaotic and at times even dangerous and heretical.

Many may think, as I did, that it was only through the influence of the Francis and Dominic that this movement found a truly Catholic expression bringing it into the mainstream of the Church. However from the beginning of the 12th century, prior to the founding of the Franciscans and Dominicans, the Popes were already taking under their protection and officially approving the way of life of various groups or guilds from this movement. When this happened they may have been tempted to think the movement had ‘arrived.’

I wonder if those early members of penitential groups recognised by Rome, thought for a moment that the movement they were part of would ascend to the extraordinary glories, influence and legacy of the early Franciscans and Dominicans.

I would like to suggest that we in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal are in a similar stage as those Papally recognised pioneering penitential groups. We, like them, have seen a great movement of the Holy Spirit flower around the world and like them some expressions of this have received Papal recognition (e.g. ICCRS and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities among others). This recognition has been very encouraging but we should not stop here. I believe the greatest expressions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal are yet to come.

I find it helpful to remember that often the great Saints were people who found themselves within a great move of God taking place in their time. The difference between them and most of their predecessors and contemporises was that the Saints longed and believed for more. Through prayer, charity, humility, obedience, faith and perseverance they attained the fullness of the grace of God’s move in their day and became its crowning glory. I believe in time the Charismatic Renewal will produce Canonised saints. (Fr Emilliano Tardiff, the great Charismatic preacher and minister of healing has his cause going forward at this time.)

Growing Vision

One of the keys to inheriting more seems to be the gift of a larger vision. Our desires for the things of the kingdom correspond to the size of our vision and our prayers correspond to the size of our desires. Some of us see the utterly remarkable things that have been happening in some Pentecostal circles around the world and while we have felt encouraged this has sometimes left us questioning why our experience in the Catholic Renewal has not always been more powerful and more fruitful.

While I have personally been greatly helped by the example and preaching of various Pentecostals in particular Smith Wigglesworth we also have a history of revivals in our Catholic tradition that can help us to enlarge our vision. Regularly I spend time feeding my vision and my faith by reading some of these accounts. For example St Ireanaus (c.110AD) speaks about miracles and even raising the dead as a normal part of the Christian ministry, even in the local church life. ‘Some persons that were dead have been raised again and have lived among us many years…nor can we sum up the miraculous works which the Church, by the gift of God, performs every day over the whole world in the name of Jesus Christ’. In the great revival led by the Desert Fathers incredible wonders were worked on a regular basis, the raising of the dead, multiplication of food for months on end, power over the elements, walking through fire, living without food sometimes for years on end, miraculous healings and exorcisms bearing the transfigured light of the risen Christ and an incalculable number of conversions. Some monasteries grew to exceed more than 10,000 monks.

Another wonderful season of grace was that which surrounded the life of St Patrick (389-461). In 30 years Patrick converted almost an entire nation from Paganism, over turning the established religion of the Druids. He consecrated 350 bishops, erected 700 churches, and ordained 5,000 priests and performed extraordinary miracles, according to one account on a daily basis.

St Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) had an astounding ministry. Travelling around Europe speaking in Valencian he was understood clearly in every country he preached. He was accompanied on his journeys by a committed group of 10,000 people (all living on providence) who interceded, offered sacrifices and helped in the ministry. Huge numbers throughout Europe returned to the practice of their faith and multitudes of non-Christians converted. The number of his miracles is impossible to count but he himself claims there were thousands. Eight hundred and seventy three are recorded in the Acta Santorium and he is also recorded as raising 28 people from the dead. In one case a father brought to Vincent his dead child whose body was in several pieces. Vincent placed the pieces together and prayed and the child stood up alive. Bishop Ranzano, his earliest biographer states that this was one of the miracles submitted in Vincent’s canonisation process. This event is also recorded in a painting by Francesco del Cossa in the New Picture Gallery in the Vatican.

Approaching the Threshold

I have been in the Renewal for 28 years but about 5 years ago I recognised a significant shift beginning to take place in my own ministry but also among the ordinary people to whom we were sent both inside and outside the Renewal. It was as though God was giving a different level of grace to ordinary people to welcome and respond to what he was doing and this showed itself in an explosion of healings and miracles, a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and an increase of conversions not only abroad but also here in the UK. I believe that our experience is prophetic and will be shared by many in the years to come. During these years I sensed that we were all approaching a major turning which would lead us into a new stage both in the Renewal and in society. Then about 18 months ago I felt that we were beginning to turn the corner but that we could not yet see clearly down the road into which we were being taken. We are on the threshold of a new phase. I believe this is a move of God that will not have it’s origin in any one person or ministry. There will of course, in time, be those chosen by the Lord to play a key role, but it will be clearly seen as God’s work and solely his initiative.

When I was praying about this last November I received the following;

‘This is a time of hope. Hope is forged in trial.
I am about to pour out my living water,
a river to carry all those who are willing to step into it.
But this river will be fast flowing and it won’t be yours to control.
My people come together in prayer and seek me.
Begin to purify your lives afresh.
Rid yourselves of all that will hamper my work in you and through you.
I am with you do not be disturbed in the storm’

Nearly 25 years ago I was given a prophecy at a John Wimber conference from one of his team about the role of Joshua and have been reflecting on this off and on ever since. In 2005 I wrote to the NSC about some things I believed the Lord was saying about the Joshua anointing and the Renewal coming into a new season. I believe that we are now on the banks of the Jordan. As a movement we have been taken into the desert following the ‘glory days’ of the 1970’s. We are now forty years on and on the brink of something new. Something which will offer a greater fulfilment of the ‘promise’ of the Renewal and the fulfilment of the prophetic prayer of Pope John XXIII ‘Lord renew your wonders in this our day as by a new Pentecost’

It is my conviction that within 3 years we will find ourselves in a quite different spiritual environment and in 5 years we will be established in a whole new season in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. It will be a season of great battles and great victories. I believe that the Lord intends this new season to be characterised by three things;

1. Humility
2. Unity
3. Supernatural faith for the miraculous

These will be underpinned by a deep life of prayer and purity of life.

On the Banks of the Jordan

When we read the story of Joshua it is interesting to note that Joshua did not advance across the Jordan as soon as he arrived on its banks. Rather, with the Promised Land within his sights, he ensured the people did three things first. I think these are worth reflecting on for our present situation in the Renewal.

1. ‘Prepare your provisions’ (Joshua Ch1:11)
I see this as a call to prepare ourselves and ensure that we have enough for the battle. Get equipped and make sure we have established in our lives the spiritual disciplines we’ll need to keep us going.
We are not crossing just yet but have a short window of time to prepare.
Get ready!

2. Joshua sent spies ahead of the people to look over the land promised to them by the Lord. They returned saying ‘Truly the Lord has given all the land to us’ (Joshua Ch 2:24).
We need to listen to those who have already entered ahead of us and tasted something of the fulfilment of the promise of the Lord and let their experience feed our faith and courage. In essence they are saying ‘God’s promises are true and they can be ours.’
Believe the promises of God!

3. ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you’ (Joshua Ch3:5)
Purify our lives and seek holiness. If we don’t sanctify ourselves the very wonders given by the Lord to bring down his enemies and purify the land become the cause of our own destruction though pride, lust and avarice and the love of the worldly things.
Purify your life!

Many of us have been giving ourselves for years to the service of the Renewal and God’s Church and while there has been fruit, for most of us there has not been the harvest we had hoped for.

One of the Desert Fathers, Copres, relates how the people bordering the monks' land came to him because their land gave scarcely a double return from the seed they sowed. He said to them ‘If you have faith in God, even this desert sand will bear fruit for you.’ Without a moments hesitation they filled the folds of their tunics with sand and requested that he bless it. They then sowed the sand with their corn and at once the land became extremely fertile. Each year they returned to the monks begging blessed sand and every year they received a rich harvest.

Many of us have looked at the spiritual desert around us dismayed at our poor harvest year on year and yet the Lord would say the same to us: ‘If you have faith in God even this desert will bear fruit for you’

A New Season

Recent Popes have had a vision for the establishment of a ‘culture of Pentecost’ throughout the whole Church which will profoundly impact the world.

Pope Benedict has said that while ‘the prayer of Pope John the XXIII has not gone unanswered what we are seeing in the new movements is, all be it subdued, a kind of Pentecostal season in the Church.’ Are you content with a ‘subdued’ Pentecost? While being grateful, let us press on till the fire of Pentecost is burning brilliantly across the whole world.

John Paul II spoke about the new movements as a ‘spring time in the Church’. Spring is a time when we see the first signs of new life and hope after winter. But we don’t want to remain in spring. Spring should lead us into summer and life full grown, to fruit and the great harvest for which spring is the preparation.

When Joshua stood on the banks of the Jordan  he was presented a far greater obstacle than when he had entered via another route across dry land as Moses' spy 40 years earlier. Not only did he have a great river to cross but a river in flood. We may think that what could have been achieved 40 years ago in the world will be much more difficult now in the face of the of aggressive advancement of sin, both personal and institutional, that has flooded much of our western society.  But God knows his own time for everything and the time for parting the waters is almost upon us.

As we stand on the banks of the Jordan I am asking myself which generation will mine be like. The generation who 40 years before had seen the promise before them and turned back for fear of the challenge or like Joshua’s generation who believed God’s promises, humbled and purified themselves, and in the supernatural power of the Lord crossed over and entered their inheritance taking the land for God.

I want to be able to look into the eyes of my children and grandchildren and, giving glory to God, say that I was one of those who crossed over so that we could enter the heritage prepared for us.

‘I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe...’ Ephesians 1;17-19

(c) Damian Stayne 2009

Damian Stayne is the founder of the Cor et Lumen Christi community, and a prophetic figure within the CCR. He has a preaching and healing ministry, travels throughout the world running Charism Schools, Word Power Conferences and Catholic Miracle Rallies.