Goodnews september/october 1989 [antikvár]

NSC NEWS Kl JIM FROM CHARLES WHITEHEAD ¦c DISCERNMENT One of the challenges facing us as Christians is the constant need to discern what is of God and what is not. This is impor-tant in all our relationships and activities, because we want to afflrm what is good and benefit from it, but at the same time avoid and warn against those things that are bad. Many things appear good but have their origins in something bad, or at least doubtful. So we have to be careful. Not everyone is able to exercise good discernment, and we must not assume that everyone is equipped to assimilate the the good whilst rejecting the bad. Part of our responsibility is to warn against the dangers inherent in certain ideas, move-ments, and practices. It may be possible to Christianise certain practices and benefit from them. With others this is not so. With this in mind we have published the article on New Age, and I have writ-ten about discernment beçause it is such a neglected area. Many of the problems we get into would be avoided if we were exercising better discernment. If you are doubtful about something and unsure if it is compatible with our Christian faith, seek advice and direction. If you are still in doubt my advice would always be-DON'T! There are so many positive ways to help us grow as Christians about which there can be no doubts, so let's get on with those first. Rome Leaders Conférence-October 9-16th ICCRO allocated 4 places for England (Scotland, Wales and Ireland have their own places) and after consultation with Diocesan Service Committees who sub-mitted names for considération, the following have been asked to represent us: Myles Dempsey, leader of the Prince of Peace Community, Sr. Pascal the new NSC member from Stockport, and two youth représentatives Brigitte Ferner from London and Mike Ashton from Southport. This provides the balance we were asked for between young and old, religious and lay, communities and prayer groups. I will be there anyway as a member of the ICCRO Council, and Kristina Cooper will be part of the organising team. I have asked for an extra place if one becomes available. Please pray for the Conference and ail the delegates, who will represent Catholic Charismatic Renewal in almost every country in the world. Reports will follow the conférence, and the theme is "Sent Förth by the Spirit" Act 13.4. * THE NATIONAL SERVICE COMMITTEE for Catholic Charismatic Renewal in England are Charles Whitehead (Chair-man), Fr. Ian Petit OSB, Fr. Michael Simpson SJ, Fr. Sean Conaty, Dr. Jan Knight, Archie Cameron, Myles Dempsey, Kristina Cooper, Vivian Sewell, Roy Hendy, Freddy Muscat (Gibraltar), Sr. Pascal. GOODNEWS Editor: KRISTINA COOPER Managing Editor: CHARLES WHITEHEAD Promotions Editor: VIVIAN SEWELL Printing: ABAR PRINT LTD. SOUTHPORT This Newsletter is published by the National Service Commiuee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of England. The NSC does not neces-sarily endorse all the views and comments expressed therein. RENEWAL AND DISCERNMENT (continued) This particular gift is to protect us, as the. spirit behind a manifestation may be one of three. Firstly, God Himself may be speaking to us, in which case we need to pay very careful attention to what He is saying or doing. Secondly and quite frequently, the inspiration may be purely human, and often neither dangerous nor inspiring. But it is important to recognise that it has not come from God and may be disregarded. Thirdly but only rarely, the manifestation may come from the devil. In this case it must be rejected immediately, and the gift of discerning or recognising spirits will have been properly used to protect the community. Scripture tells us to test the spirits to see if they are of God (1 John 4:1), and so we may rely on Him to give us what we need to do just that. But we must use the gift correctly, neither exaggerat-ing, neglecting nor super-spiritualising it. It's a practical tooi for a specific purpose-recognising spirits. "Happy the man who discovers wisdom, who gains discernment" (Prov. 3:13) When I think about discernment Pm always encouraged by the first three chapters of the book of Proverbs, where wisdom and discernment are talked about together and com-mended to us. In my bible Pve written down a simple definition of the two - wisdom is see-ing life from God's point of view; discerning is allowing Him to guide us. Reading these chapters in different translations reveals a number of words used in place of the word discernment - understanding, common sense,