The Grace of Pentecost
A Grace
A community does not come into being in the same way as an association, through the will of men and women who have chosen each other according to inclination or a common goal. A community is born from the call of the Holy Spirit, by grace.
It is not we who choose one another, it is the Lord himself who calls and brings together people who are very different in age, background and occupation. We wee this in the Gospel, where Jesus called men as different as Simon the fisherman, Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector.
At the beginning of the Church, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Christian community of Jerusalem is described as being born of the grace of Pentecost and of the gift of the Spirit. Acts 2:44 says that all those who had become believers owned everything in common, and shared their possessions according to each ones need. It does not say that they shared everything in order to live communally, but it says that their common faith in the living, risen Jesus, led them to live as brothers and sisters, and share each other's joys and sorrows, and even their possessions.
Faith can never be lived on one's own cut off from others. Faith in the risen Christ leads to living with others in the Church, and in communities which are open and welcoming to the world--a world in which the Father's loving and creating power never ceases to operate.
A Grace of Pentecost
It is not surprising that the Charismatic Renewal, whose profound vocation is to be a reminder of the importance of the grace of Pentecost at the heart of the church, is a strongly community-based Church stream. This grace of community does not reflect fear of the world, neither is it a refuge. Those who say that do not know what community life is--beautiful but hard; beautiful because it is the Lord who makes us one and gathers us together, who gives us the grace of communion; but also hard because it is a place which demands conversion. Living under the gaze of our brothers and sisters leads us to living in truth, without masks or striving to be noticed.
The grace of community, which is a fruit of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit, is necessary for the life of the Church, because it is an integral part of the grace of evangelization which is the very mission of the Church and the mission of the whole Church. "The Church is made to evangelize."
The Word of God insists on this: "See how they love each other" and "By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples."
There is no evangelization without brotherly love, love which is incarnated in ecclesial life, in fraternal life, in community life. A community is born and grows when brothers and sisters commit themselves together to the Lord and to one another.
In Prayer Groups
Such fellowship is not mean solely for those who live in community, it should be desired by all Christians, particularly those in prayer groups.
Fellowship in prayer groups comes from the fact that we recognize Jesus--the Jesus who gathers us together, who makes us one--as living and present among us.
There is so much that makes us different from each other: age, background, different vocations and commitments. We did not choose each other, and yet between all those who pray together the Lord creates a bond of love and charity which remains despite our limits, our weakness, our sins.
The bonds of ideal communion or ideal love do not exist. A perfect prayer group or a perfect community does not exist. The most significant obstacle to growth and to the evangelistic effectiveness of groups comes from my having an ideal and perfect image of the prayer group which I want to impose on others (here is the difference between the grace and the model). As long as I see things in this way I am never happy, I will never be satisfied with the group or the prayer. I will not be going for the Lord and for the other people, but for myself, to reinforce an image of perfection. As a result I become impossible, always complaining and criticizing.
Accepting that I am limited and a sinner, just as the tax-collector did in the Gospel, will help to set me on the right path, leading me towards a true encounter with Christ and with people; I will no longer go to prayer meetings for myself, but for Christ and for the people.
The main mission of leaders, core groups and other people in charge is to build unity and build up the group's community life. Their task is not organizing the group as a well-structured association, but rather helping their brothers and sisters to receive the gift of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, who creates these bonds of unity.
The most important thing is that everyone should feel loved and recognized as an individual, and that each person should feel they have a place in the prayer group. Even when people feel weak, they should still feel they have a place there. The prayer group is not about efficiency or profitability. It is rather a place where people can just be loved and can discover that they have a heart which can still love others.
If the prayer group--in its prayer session as well as in the faith sharing meetings--is this place, people will leave with new energy and be renewed. Each person will be enabled to go and give as they are able where they live, in their families, on their jobs or in their parishes.
In the Church
This community love is carried into the communion with the Church. The focus here is not on doing things in the Church, but on being at its heart through love. (Remember St. Thrèrése de Lisieux's explanation of her vocation: In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be in love.) If we have understood that, if we have prayed about and intimately appropriated this notion, we will be less tempted as part of the Church to seek the recognition of our bishop or the diocesan Church, and instead just love this Church, serve it and take part in its life.
The prayer groups in the various dioceses are not individual chapels, they are an integral part of the diocesan Church. "A diocese is a section of the People of God entrusted to a bishop to be guided by him with the assistance of his clergy so that, loyal to its pastor and formed by him into one community in the Holy Spirit through the Gospel and the Eucharist, it constitutes one particular church in which one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ is present and active." (Christus Dominus no. 11)
Everything belongs together: bishops, priests, the Gospel--in the Holy Spirit--and the Eucharist. Belonging to the diocesan Church is not belonging to a structure, it is living by the gift of the Holy Spirit. The universal Church is not the juxtaposition of the sum of all the individual Churches. Each particular Church, through the bishop's ministry of communion, is in communion with the whole Church, and the principal agent of this communion is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of communion.
The Renewal for its part participates in the renewing of the grace of Pentecost and of the grace of community which is and has been at work all over the Church since Vatican II. Community life is a powerful grace which is lived out in the midst of the personal brokenness of the communities members. Let us not be afraid of things like criticism and limits; let us remember that the Lord can show the full force of His power through our weaknesses and poverty.
Fr. Michel Santier
Taken from the September-October, 1996, issue of the (ICCRS) Newsletter, Palazzo della Cancelleria, 00120 Vatican City, Europe.
Charismatic Renewal and Spiritual Maturity: What have we done with the
grace of Pentecost?
by Father Michael Barry, SS.CC
The Charismatic Renewal in our time has been a tremendous witness
to the sovereign movement of God. Many of us both witnessed and
experienced signs and wonders even greater than those of the early church.
In the words of Cardinal Suenens, these signs and wonders told us that we
were in a new Pentecost and that the Lord was pouring out his Spirit again
in a mighty way. We rejoiced and immediately were caught up in the fervor.
To us it mattered little whether it was a first or second Pentecost; God
was doing something wonderful. Furthermore, Jesus had told us about all of
this: "Not many days from now, you shall be baptized with the Holy
Spirit... and you shall receive power." (Acts 1:5,8)
What has happened to this sovereign movement of God in our time is
alarming. Many say that it is spent, that it has moved on, and so must we.
On the contrary, the question that we should be asking ourselves is: "What
have we done to the Renewal?"
Basically what we have done, I think, is to make it "my Renewal" rather
than the Lord's Renewal. The church of Ephesus was accused of forsaking
its first love: "You have lost your first love." (Rev. 2:4) Personal needs
and greed have pushed Jesus out and brought self to the forefront. I found
a way to make Jesus do what I want. It is no longer what Jesus asks of me,
but what I want of Jesus. We used to sing, "Melt me, mold me, fill me, use
me." Now we seem to sing "Melt Jesus, mold Jesus, use Jesus." Indeed, it
seems we have forsaken our first love and twisted the Renewal upside down.
We appear to be quite similar to the churches in the second chapter of the
Book of Revelation. We live in fear of not being the best (Smyrna). We
think that we are alive but people have dropped out and one person or
ministry dominates (Sardis). We become apathetic, neither hot nor cold
(Laodicea). What have we done to God's Renewal?
One of the indications of the stagnation of the Renewal is the
decrease in prayer and praise. It used to be a long time of prayer and
praise was such an essential time of "getting into the Spirit." In most
places, it has been reduced significantly and frequently. Five or ten
minutes of prayer and praise will now suffice. Interestingly enough, the
manifestation of the gifts and praying in tongues have been reduced
proportionately.
What are we to do? Obviously we need to return to our first love-Jesus. If
you have turned your life over to Jesus, if you have been baptized in the
Spirit, if you speak in tongues, if you are gifted, can you honestly say
that you have been changed? Has Jesus made the difference? Remember what
Jesus said when the seventy-two disciples returned to Jesus with the great
praise report: "Rejoice rather that your names are written in the book of
life." (Luke 10:17) This is a sign of growth.
Despite the gifts of the Renewal and all the praise reports and
all the signs and wonders, there is one inescapable reality and that is
the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus confronted James and John with the cross:
"Can you drink the cup I am to drink?" (Matt. 20:22) It is the stark
reality of the Renewal that the cross will always be there. One cannot be
baptized in the Spirit without the cross. Otherwise one will remain a lamb
and not become a sheep. A lamb does not know his voice and will not
follow. "My sheep know my voice and follow me." (John 10:27)
One of the most important signs of growth in the Spirit is time
alone with Jesus. Do you seek and hunger for this time with your Lord and
Savior? There is an old Latin expression or prayer called pro me (for me):
Jesus did it for me. Jesus died for me. Jesus still does it for me. Pro
me, pro me, pro me. One of the greatest breakthroughs and a real sign of
growth is the realization and ownership of pro me. Simply stated, it
means Jesus loves me.
Another sign of maturation is the constant call to repentance.
"What are we to do?...Repent..." (Acts 2:38) Similarly, Jesus said that
"if you bring your gift to the altar and have anything against your
brother or sister, go first and be reconciled and then bring your gift."
(Matt. 5:23-24) Forgiveness is an act of the will and does not mean that I
have to feel it. Once the forgiveness is genuine, then the feelings and
emotions will heal.
Forgiveness and repentance are likewise linked up with yielding to the
Spirit. So often people know what to do and will not yield to the Spirit.
Frequently, silence when a word comes can help to yield to a deeper word
and more profound experience. Prayer and praise that is prolonged creates
an atmosphere of inner joy and peace which can be more healing than a
healing service. Also, being right and keeping one's mouth shut can be a
greater example of growth and maturation in the Spirit than voicing one's
opinion and turning a prayer meeting into a discussion or debate. Jesus
yielded to the Spirit: "Not my will but thy will be done." (Luke 22:42-43)
How often have you used the expression, "I don't have time for prayer"?
There is a simple answer. Match your television time with your prayer
time. Soon you will find yourself watching less and less television. There
is no substitute for prayer time and no excuse for not having it. If you
wish to grow in the Spirit then pray. An element that will help your
prayer life is the desire "to be." Being with Jesus is essential as we are
"to do" with Jesus. So many in the Renewal have been trapped with action
and ministry. Some have left behind prayer and quiet time.. This is
self-defeating. Simply because you are doing something for Jesus does not
mean that you are committed to him. "Mary has chosen the better part and
it shall not be taken from her." (Luke 10:42)
This pursuit of ministry over prayer or doing over being creates the lone
ranger. The lone ranger is on a personal crusade or mission and does not
need a community. He depends on himself and not on the Lord. Baptism in
the Spirit calls us to community. So often people do not grow because they
do not belong to a community. It provides prayer, nourishment, challenge,
and commitment.
Community also opens us up to the most challenging journey of
all, and that is the healing process in one's life. Baptism in the Spirit
leads us on a twofold journey. One is a journey outward in witness and
gifting, the other journey is an inward path into one's own healing and
change. This latter journey is the most difficult. It brings us into
complete dependance and trust in God and we become the wounded healers.
This journey has separated the sheep from the goats. Many who were
baptized and renewed in the Spirit balked and dropped out when they had to
face their own brokenness. Strangely enough, even though this is a lonely
journey, it cannot be done alone. Neither can it be denied. People seek a
comfort zone and in Jesus' renewal there is no comfort.
One of the greatest signs of growth is to know that one is loved.
For each of us that is the personal encounter with Jesus as Lord. St.
Philip Neri was so consumed with the love of Jesus that he refused church
promotion and ecclesiastical honors so that he would have time to love
Jesus. There is a story which says that certain bones in his chest swelled
to allow room for his heart to swell with Jesus' love. It is with this
on-going conviction of Jesus' love that one grows in the Renewal.
The one who most loved Jesus here on earth was Mary. It is a
significant mark of growth to watch the influence of the Marian movement
on the Charismatic Renewal over the past two decades. Mary's influence and
guidance has centered the Renewal on Jesus. No one can say that Jesus is
Lord unless it be given by the Holy Spirit, and this is confirmed by Mary.
Mary constantly points the renewed heart to her Son, Jesus. "To Jesus
through Mary" is an old slogan, but it has been verified once more in the
Renewal of our time.
The Charismatic Renewal will grow as we personally grow and pray
to belong to Jesus and to one another in community. The Renewal calls for
growth and a closer walk with Jesus. Remember the churches in Revelation
chapters 2 and 3. They were dominated by fear, jealousy, apathy,
sensuality, and departure from the Lord. Are we bound to repeat these, or
do we accept the challenge of growth and maturity in prayer, community,
and the cross of Christ?
Acknowledgement: Fr. Mike Barry is liaison for the Charismatic Renewal in the Diocese of San Bernardino, CA. This article is from the July/Aug./Sept. issue of the Chariscenter USA Newsletter.
TEACHING TOPIC : THE LEADER AND THE GREAT COMMISSION
by Mark Nimo
TEACHING OUTLINE
1. Vision and mission of Jesus Christ
2. Sharing in the life and mission of Jesus Christ
3. The mandate to go - why should we go?
4. Avenues for responding to the Great Commission
VISION AND MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST
A study of the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels would always reveal a link between His vision and His mission. His vision was to draw all men and women into the Kingdom of God (Mk 1:15). All that Jesus Christ taught, demonstrated and lived while on earth always centered around accomplishing the vision of the Kingdom of God. Thus, He set out on mission to establish and advance the Kingdom of God (Lk 4:14-15).
What has been popularly called the "Great Commission" is the task that Jesus Christ entrusted to His apostles, after His resurrection from the dead. This task was expressed in the command He gave to His apostles to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:18-20, Mk 16:14-15, Lk 24:46-48).
It is sad to note that the 'Great Commission' has become for many Christians the 'Great Omission'. Jesus Christ's concern 2000 years ago should be our concern today, because He is still the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). The Church was born through the missionary activity of Jesus Christ and the early apostles. Its survival will depend on the missionary activity of its present-day members. In His encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi, section 14, Pope Paul VI sums this up by saying that "the Church exists in order to evangelize." A Christian leader cannot passively sit on the fence and not be concerned with the Great Commission. In this article, the process of evangelization will be an expression of living out the Great Commission.
SHARING IN THE LIFE AND MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Acts 1:8 reads: "You will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth's remotest end."
The clear mandate that Jesus gave to His Church at the moment of His departure to heaven was that we are not only called to go, we are also not to stop going until we reach the ends of the earth. Each new generation of Christians must look beyond its own limited horizons. Each generation must realize that there is an innate temptation to stay local and thus disobey Jesus.
There is always the challenge for us to move out of our comfort zones to where God will lead us to bring the Good News of Salvation. Go means a change in location.
In section 18 of Evangelii Nuntiandi a definitive Catholic understanding of the nature of evangelization is given. "For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new."
Transforming humanity from within and making it new should begin to ring bells of Renewal, Renewal, Renewal in our hearts.
In the Catholic Church's understanding, evangelization goes beyond simply the proclamation of the Good News and leading people to conversion and a faith experience in Jesus Christ. It would also, if the Christian is faithful, include helping them to grow and sustain this faith in a community. All these have been no excuse therefore for us to hesitate going.
THE MANDATE TO GO - WHY SHOULD WE GO?
1. Jesus commands us to go. A command is not an option.
2. The Vicar of Christ, Pope John Paul II, exhorts us to go.
3.The signs of the times are indicative of what God is doing in our day. God is pouring out His Spirit upon so many people.
AVENUES FOR RESPONDING TO THE GREAT COMMISSION
The charismatic prayer meeting still remains a very effective evangelistic channel for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Prayer meetings should therefore not miss out their evangelistic character. Adequate preparation should be made through prayer and study to ensure continued life in the various aspects of the meeting, which are:
a. Praise and Worship;
b. Witness - Sharing of testimony;
c Sharing or teaching;
d. Ministry service (exercising of the gifts of the Holy Spirit);
e. Fellowship In community. Building relationships (small groups, Bible study and faith sharing groups).
The Life in the Spirit Seminars have proved to be one of the most successfully and widely used Christian programs. They are not threatening and full of catechesis, which is a vital dimension of the evangelization process. They are an effective way of being empowered for effective witnessing as service.
There is the need to raise up many intercessory groups to pray for the evangelization of peoples and missions. Pope John Paul II says in Redemptoris Missio that "mission is based not on human abilities but on the power of the Risen Lord."
Offering basic teachings on discipleship and ways of sharing the Good News might be very helpful in a prayer group situation. Topics could include sharing one's personal testimony (journey of faith), and how to share the core gospel message.
CONCLUSION
The story is told of a young boy who was being disobedient to his father home: In anger, the father commanded him to sit down on a chair. Rather reluctantly, the boy looked back at the father and smiled. He said "Daddy, on the outside I am sitting but inside my heart, I am standing."
Have we really obeyed the command of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples?
You can lead people only to extent that you have gone.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
a) How much of your resources do you invest in evangelization? What avenues have you discovered as areas of evangelization in your prayer group parish, neighborhood?
b)How much training do you give the people of your prayer group in sharing their faith? How can you make your prayer meetings more evangelistic?
c)How often do you pray for the conversion of people in your parish, diocese, country?
d) What is the greatest challenge for you as a leader? Is it prayer, Scripture reading/study sharing your faith, reception of the sacraments, etc. Make a resolution to do well in all these areas.
Source of Article:
"Leadership Formation" - A supplement to the ICCRS Newsletter, Nov/Dec 97
ICCRS: International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services
Palazzo della Cancelleria 00120 Vatican City
Serving the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church
TEACHING TOPIC : STIRRING UP THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
by Sr Nancy Kellar, SC
TEACHING OUTLINE
PART I - LOVE
A. LOVE MOTIVATES THE GIFTS
B. GIFTS EXPRESS LOVE
C. LOVE RELEASES AND PURIFIES THE GIFTS
D. THE GIFTS ARE STIFLED BY NOT SEEING THE WORKING TOGETHER OF THE VARIETY OF GIFTS
E. CHARISMATIC GIFTS ARE STIFLED BY LIMITING THEM TO SPECIAL PEOPLE
F. LOVE AUTHENTICATES THE GIFTS
?Stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you? (2 Tm 1:6).
I would like to write about stirring up the charismatic gifts taking that verse from Timothy to the next line verse 7: " The Spirit you have received is not a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of love, power and self-control."
A. LOVE MOTIVATES THE GIFTS
"Seek eagerly after love. Fraternal charity rooted in the love of God is the most perfect way" (1 OCR 14:1; 13:1). I think we have often heard that line as a put-down to the gifts. We have taken 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 on the gifts and 1 Corinthians 13 on love and taught on them separately as if chapter 13 somehow made the gifts a second rate alternative to love. I think we need to take love and the gifts together. To seek the most perfect way - love - is to highlight what ignites desire for the gifts. Lack of desire stifles the gifts.
The more we fall in love with Jesus, the more we desire to let Him use whatever the cost, to bring others to know Him. The more we desire to be used, the more we recognize our need to be empowered with His gifts for ministry.
The more we love our family and recognize their need to know Jesus the more we desire to be equipped with gifts of the Spirit to do this. Unless we know our need, we will not desire and unless we desire we will not ask and unless we ask we will not receive! Four times in chapters 12-14 of 1 Corinthians, Paul uses a Greek word, zelonte, with regard t the spiritual gifts. It suggests a passionate desire and an active seeking of gifts. It implies that the gifts do not come simply automatically, but must be yearned for and prayed for. Love has got to be the motive for "seeking the higher gifts" (1 OCR 12:31), those that build up Church. Without this unselfishness, the gifts get side-tracked by self-interest, self-glorification and lose their power to buildup the body of Christ.
B. GIFTS EXPRESS LOVE
The gifts are the means the Spirit gives us to express the love of Christ in concrete and practical ways. Jesus said, "Do you love me, feed my lambs" (Jn 21:15). Love is not a charismatic gift, not the greatest charismatic gift. "Charism" is never used in the New Testament to describe love. Paul does not put love into a list of charisms. Love is a fruit of the Spirit, one of the essential gifts of grace with Faith and Hope that everyone can receive. The charismatic gifts are given some to one, some to another for the work of service. I have heard it said, "We don't need the charisms because we have the highest charism, love." My response to that is: a man lost in the desert dying from hunger and thirst will not be served if we simply say we love him. We need to make it concrete--to feed him. The gifts equip us to give the Bread of Life to the hungry and the Life-Giving Water of the Spirit to the thirsty.
C. LOVE RELEASES AND PURIFIES THE GIFTS
Love is a key part of the way God intends the charismatic gifts to be released and pruned in us - our love for and unity with one another. As we reflect on John 15 we see that if the branches are not in unity with one another, they cannot bear fruit. The same is true for the gifts of the Spirit used in our prayer groups, communities, sharing groups. Unreconciled relationships stifle the free exercise of the gifts. Where there is disunity, there is sin and the wages of sin is death. On the other hand, the deeper more committed relationships that come with sharing our lives give people a sense of belonging and that courage to take the risk of making a mistake, without which gifts go unused. ?The fruitful ones He trims clean to increase their yield? (John 15:2). The spiritual gifts need to be submitted to and discerned in the community. We, and the people we lead, are ready to use a gift when we are ready to have it discerned by the community. Greater unity releases the power of the Spirit; disunity and isolation stifle the gifts of the Spirit.
D. THE GIFTS ARE STIFLED BY NOT SEEING THE WORKING TOGETHER OF THE VARIETY OF GIFTS
Wherever Paul teaches on the gifts of the Spirit, he uses the analogy of the body. The gifts work together. The mouth can?t say to the feet, ?I don?t need you? ( 1 OCR 12:21). Because the gifts of the mouth have or will diminish because we have not taken as much are with the gifts of the hands - hospitality and administration.
The gifts are stifled if some glance longingly and with dissatisfaction, coveting the gifts of other while not using their own. On the other hand, the gifts are stifled if people are arrogant about their gifts, not recognising their need of others.
E. CHARISMATIC GIFTS ARE STIFLED BY LIMITING THEM TO SPECIAL PEOPLE
It is not uncommon to find an attitude of ?non-participation? among people in the charismatic renewal today. An attitude that says, ?Gifts are just for special people and I?ll just sit back and get ?blessed? by other people using them.? The spiritual gifts are not intended to be for a few people, but for everyone in the Body of Christ. ?To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.? (1 OCR 12:7) When we have received the Spirit, the question is not, ?Do I have the gifts?? The questions are, ?What gifts have I been given?? ?How does the Lord want me to exercise the charisms He has given me?? We will be most blessed by the gifts we allow the Lord to use us for. We need to be free of false humility that stifles the gifts. We need to recognise that the charismatic gifts are gifts from God, not of human origin but the fruit of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - fruit that we don?t deserve and didn?t earn - that are free, absolutely free gifts from God.? He singled out the weak to shame the strong? (1 OCR 1:27). We need to let this recognition overcome a false humility that says we are too sinful, too unworthy or ignorant to be use by God. They are gifts of God?s love - gifts of the God who says, ?Would a father give his son a snake when he asked for a fish?? (Luke 11:11)
F. LOVE AUTHENTICATES THE GIFTS
Love not only motivates, releases and purifies the spiritual gifts, love also authenticates them. Paul challenges (1 OCR 14:3) the Corinthians? claim to be ?spiritual? because they have these gifts...not as long as there is jealousy and strife among them. The truly spiritual person is the person of love. Without love he tells them they are ?noisy gongs and clanging cymbals?. Even more strongly the apostle Matthew challenges all with spiritual gifts to know that without love they are nothing! In Matthew 7, he speaks about love, about avoiding judgment, about treating others as we would have them treat us and about bearing good fruit. Then as a challenge to every charismatic, he quotes Jesus as saying to us, ?When that day comes, many will plead with me, ?Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name,? Have we not exorcised demons by its power? Did we not do many miracles in Your name as well?? Then I will declare to them solemnly, ?I never knew you. Out of my sight, you evildoers!? (Mt 7:22-23)
We need to stir up the charismatic gifts with an ongoing expectancy, and we also need to pray for a fresh outpouring of love. In Part II, I will continue with ?power and self-control? as they relate to stirring up and persevering in the use of the charismatic gifts of the Spirit.
Source of Article:
"Leadership Formation" - A supplement to the ICCRS Newsletter, Jan/Feb 98
ICCRS: International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services
Palazzo della Cancelleria 00120 Vatican City
Serving the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church