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The Promise
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." - Jesus Christ, Acts 1:8
The Prayer“Renew Thy wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost.''
- John XXIII, in announcing the convening of Vatican II.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is Recognized and Affirmed by Our Church!
“It is not only through the sacraments and the ministries of the Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and enriches it with virtues, but, "allotting his gifts to everyone according as He wills, He distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church, according to the words of the Apostle: "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit". These charisms, whether they be the more outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation for they are perfectly suited to and useful for the needs of the Church. Extraordinary gifts are not to be sought after, nor are the fruits of apostolic labor to be presumptuously expected from their use; but judgment as to their genuinity and proper use belongs to those who are appointed leaders in the Church, to whose special competence it belongs, not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to that which is good.” - Lumen Gentium, 12
The Popes
“The Church needs the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
He it is who animates and sanctifies the Church.
He is her divine breath, the wind in her sails, the principle of her unity, the inner source of her light and strength.
He is her support and consoler, her source of charisms and songs, her peace and her joy, her pledge and prelude to blessed and eternal life.
The Church needs her perennial Pentecost.
She needs fire in her heart, words on her lips, prophecy in her outlook.
She needs to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.
This is what the Church needs; she needs the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit in us, in each of us, and in all of us together, in us who are the Church.
So let all of us ever say to him, ‘Come.’ “
- Pope Paul VI,General Audience, Nov. 29, 1972
“How then could this ‘spiritual renewal’ not be ‘a chance’ for the church and for the world? And how, in this case, could one not take all the means to ensure that it remains so?”
- Paul VI, III International Charismatic Congress, Vatican Basilica, May 19, 1975 (Pentecost Solemnity)
“We rejoice with you, dear friends, at the renewal of the spiritual life manifested in the Church today, in different forms and in various environments. [...] In all that, we can recognize the mysterious and discreet work of the Spirit, who is the soul of the church.”
- Paul VI, I International Leaders' Conference, Grottaferrata (Rome) October 10, 1973
“I am convinced that this movement is a sign of His action (of the Spirit). The world is much in need of this action of the Holy Spirit... Now I see this movement, this activity everywhere...”
- John Paul II to the Council of the International Office of the Charismatic Renewal, December 11, 1979
“As you celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, I willingly join you in giving praise to God for the many fruits which it has borne in the life of the Church. The emergence of the Renewal following the Second Vatican Council was a particular gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church.”
- John Paul II, to the ICCRO Council, Rome March 14, 1992
“You have just completed a spiritual retreat in Assisi, the city of St. Francis and also of St. Clare... These great figures of holiness in the Church made their own the words of St. Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20)". Is this not the ideal and goal which permeates the Charismatic Renewal? Is it not the program of life which your prayer groups and your communities have set themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? May the example and intercession of the great Saints of Assisi strengthen your resolve to grow continually in evangelical love and service "to the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:13)”
- John Paul II, after AssisiRetreat, Castel GandolfoSeptember 18, 1993
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. The vigor and fruitfulness of the Renewal certainly attest to the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit at work in the church in these years after the Second Vatican Council. Of course, the Spirit has guided the church in every age, producing a great variety of gifts among the faithful. Because of the Spirit, the church preserves a continual youthful vitality, and the Charismatic Renewal is an eloquent manifestation of this vitality today, a bold statement of what ‘the Spirit is saying to the churches’ (Rev. 2:7) as we approach the close of the second millennium.”
- John Paul II, VI International Leaders' conference, Rome May 15, 1987
“The Holy Spirit is at work in groups such as yours, drawing you to prayer and filling you with joy in adoring and praising the Lord... How can anyone who has tasted the goodness of Christ remain silent and inactive?”
- John Paul II, to the leaders of the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Charismatic Communities and Fellowships, Rome December 7, 1991
“How can we fail to praise God for the abundant fruit which in recent decades the Renewal has brought about in the lives of individuals and in communities?”
- John Paul II, to leaders of the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Charismatic Communities and Fellowships at the VIIInt'l meeting, Rome November 9, 1996
“The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has helped many Christians to rediscover the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, in the life of the Church and in the world, and this rediscovery has awakened in them a faith in Christ filled with joy, a great love of the Church and a generous dedication to her evangelizing mission. In this year of the Holy Spirit, I join you in praise of God for the precious fruits which he has wished to bring to maturity in your communities and, through them, in the particular Churches.”
- John Paul II, IX International Leaders' Conference, Fiuggi-Rome October 30, 1998
“Thanks to the Charismatic Movement, a multitude of Christians, men and women, young people and adults have rediscovered Pentecost as a living reality in their daily lives. I hope that the spirituality of Pentecost will spread in the Church as a renewed incentive to prayer, holiness, communion and proclamation.”
- John Paul II,Pentecost Vigil Mass 2004
“Let us pray to God the Father, therefore, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost may be like an ardent flame and a blustering wind for Christian life and for the mission of the whole Church.
I place the intentions of your Movements and Communities in the heart of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, present in the Upper Room together with the Apostles; may she be the one who implores God to grant them.
Upon all of you I invoke an outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit, so that in our time too, we may have the experience of a renewed Pentecost. Amen! “
- Benedict XVI, Pentecost Vigil Mass 2006
How the Bishops See the Catholic Charismatic Renewal“As experienced in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal baptism in the Holy Spirit makes Jesus Christ known and loved as Lord and Savior, establishes or reestablishes an immediacy of relationship with all those persons of the Trinity, and through inner transformation affects the whole of the Christian's life. There is new life and a new conscious awareness of God's power and presence. It is a grace experience which touches every dimension of the Church's life: worship, preaching, teaching, ministry, evangelism, prayer and spirituality, service and community. Because of this, it is our conviction that baptism in the Holy Spirit, understood as the reawakening in Christian experience of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit given in Christian initiation, and manifested in a broad range of charisms, including those closely associated with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, is part of the normal Christian life.
We encourage the whole Church to look into and embrace baptism in the Holy Spirit ‘as the power of personal and communal transformation with all the graces and charisms needed for the upbuilding of the Church and for our mission in the world.’Grace for the New Springtime, United StatesConference of Catholic Bishops, 1997
“On February 18, 1967, a group of college retreatants from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, experienced the fulfillment of a promise of God in a mighty way. God in His great love poured out His Spirit in a new grace moment. He brought them into both the awareness and the power of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. What they had experienced in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation became more alive and real in them.
It is clear from the present document and many other studies that this grace of Pentecost, known as Baptism in the Holy Spirit, does not belong to any particular movement but to the whole Church. In fact, it is really nothing new but has been part of God’s design for His People, from that first Pentecost in Jerusalem and throughout the history of the Church.”
Most Rev. Sam G. Jacobs, (nowBishop of Houma-Thibodeaux, LA) “Fanning the Flame,” 1990.What It Means
“What the apostles experienced in that moment on the day of Pentecost when they were filled with the Holy Spirit was an overwhelming experience of the love of God. This is what it’s all about. They had an overwhelming experience of God. . . . .
There is no real deep renewal in our Christian lives unless we open ourselves, allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. We allow him because he wants to; he is ready to do this. He waits for us to open the door. And I hope that this very day many people will open the door to the Holy Spirit.” -- Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa,Papal Household Preacher for John Paul II and Benedict XVI
“After my religious vocation, Charismatic Renewal has been the most marked grace in my life. . . .It is a current of grace that is meant to transform the Church – preaching, the liturgy, personal prayer, Christian life. . . . It is Christian life lived in the Spirit.” --Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Papal Household Preacher for John Paul II and Benedict XVI