Goodnews january/february 1994 [antikvár]

during times of silence) still, efforts in this direction must be made, and are certain to eventually bear fruit. Other examples of compromising the charismatic dimension are to discourage the use of some charisms (like tongues, healing, deliverance), and to avoid witnessing or teaching about "the baptism in the Holy Spirit" etc. Then the prayer meeting will become just pious exercise, and the dyna-mism of the Renewal which can renew and transformpeople's lives will be missed. We thereby betray the Renewal and the Church, for in a sense, we "rob the cross of its power". St. Paul makes no excuses for being unable to "teach about the spiritual gifts in the way in which philosophy is taught" (1 Cor. 2:12-14), and we too must not strain to make everything acceptable to human logic. Rather, let the fruits of the Renewal convince ail. Of course, I refer here to the mature use of the gifts, not their wrong use or abuse. On the other hand, leaders who soft-pedal the Catholic dimension (the sacraments, Marian dévotion, papal teaching, the lives of the saints) in favour of a non-dcnomina-tional or supposedly ecumenical approach to charismatic renewal are also on the wrong track. The Spirit comes to "widen the horizons of our minds" (as theopening prayer of Mass on Pentecost Sunday puts it). The wisdom granted to the Catholic Church over the last almost 2000 years of its existence, and particularly for our times through the Second Vatican Council, is unparalleled. The more we expose our members to the riches of authentic Catholic Tradition, the more will their attitudes to, and relationship with, création and all humanity be Christ-like and glorify God. To conclude, I feel strongly that God is calling the leaders of the Renewal to make "becoming fully Catholic and fully charismatic" their motto. The success of the Renewal's mission in the Church will de-pend on an informed, mature, zealous and doctrinally sound leadership, especially at theprayer-group level. Whereas some leaders may lack the doctrinal and scriptural formation which would give them a firm hold on their Catholic identity, and others may lack even the basic skills of Ieading a prayer meeting, overall God is raising good leaders, and we can look forward to a future where the best fruits of the Renewal will be seen. NSC #vs BORN OF THE SPIRIT and ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT Seminars for Parishes These two seminars have been going well here since Fr. Mike Aust brought them back from the Archdiocese of Seattle, where they had been developed by Ron Ryan of the Western Washington Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Lastyear(1992)somethinglike40 seminars were arranged by Prayer groups and Parish Teams. The greatest interest has come from Catholic Parishes where they had afew people with experience. Literaturc has gone out all over the country and to some overseas countries as well. It is estimated that this year (1993) some 60 seminars have been held, or are in course of preparation. Some parishes have already put on their second seminar, with increasing numbers attending. There seems to be a renewed interest in the "Renewal of the Charisms" and many people are saying that, if they hadknown thattiiis is whatCharismatic Renewal was about, they would have become involved years ago! Numbers vary from 130 to 12, but most seminars have around 35 people attending. A new idea has been developed by Sl Paul's Parish at Hayward Heath Parish in Sussex. They first invited all those in Ministry to a seminar and from that number (32) formed a tcam to put BORN OF THE SPIRIT on for the whole Parish. No one saidwhatkindofMinistry! An encouraging sign had been the number of Parish Priests who have become fully involved. Fr. Mike Aust has, where possible, gone to see the Parish Priest and arranged an introduetory meeting for the Parish. This has been very well reeeived and appreciated. Another de-velopment has been the moving away from the idea of having "expert" guest speakers. The literature gives outline talks and people in the parish can give the talks and add to them their own faith experience. Generally, it seems to be helpful to have one visitor with experience of charismatic renewal from else-where. The DI Y approach has the advantage of training people on the job, so that they gain experience as they do it. Information about the SEMINARS can be had by writing to Fr. Mike Aust at C.C.P. Office, 12 Chichele Road, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0AG Phone: 0372-375628. For introduetory booklet, send A4 stamped (25p) addressed envelopc. nsc celebration and teaching days in 1994 TheNational Service Committee for Catholic Charismatic Renewal are holding a series of célébration and teaching days up and down the country this year, similar to those done in 1992, with the aim of bringing people together for input and sharing. The first day will be in Birmingham on February 12th at Newman College. For further details contact the Community of Divine Love, 021-384 5002. There will be other venues during the year including Newcastle and Manchester and the follow-ing year in Bristol, London and possibly East Anglia. IRISH BISHOPS PUBLICLY SUPPORT CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL To mark the 2Ist anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Ireland the Irish Bishops have just produced an official statement endorsing and encouraging it, as well as giving a few pastoral guidelines.