My pastor is so narrow minded. Last Sunday a very nice lady stood up in church to say something and it sounded very nice, nothing controversial, but the pastor kicked her out of Church! 

He is so narrow minded I don't know why I keep going to that church. Somebody told me after Mass that the lady was charismatic, whatever that is, and that she had received a prophesy from the Holy Spirit and because the pastor had thrown her out, he had in effect thrown the Holy Spirit out of the church and God would punish him for it. 

What is all this business about Charismatic Renewal and prophesy and all that? 

Please comment.

Yours truly,

Marge O'Nell

I think I know your pastor, and believe me there are lot of things for which God should punish him, but that is not among them. I applaud him for remembering that Mass is not a prayer meeting and a prayer meeting is not a Mass.  First let me explain what Charismatic Renewal is and what it is not.

Charismatic Renewal is poorly named. It was formerly called the Pentecostal movement which I think is a more appropriate title for it. A charism which is a Greek word originally, is any gift or talent given by God. Playing the violin can loosely be called a charism. The bible talks about administration as a charism. The Pentecostal movement, or Charismatic Renewal as it is usually called now, is about the renewal of the extraordinary charisms such as speaking in tongues ( a form of ecstatic prayer, and not necessarily a miraculous means of communication, though I have seen and heard some amazing things,) prophesy, visions, healing, words of wisdom and knowledge and the discernment of spirits, among others. 

In the 12th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul calls these external manifestations of the Holy Spirit for the common good. The "external manifestation movement" doesn't have quite the zing of "Charismatic Renewal," but it would be a more accurate title. I prefer the title "Pentecostal Renewal" or "Pentecostal Movement" because these particular charisms were part of the first Pentecost.

The Protestant Reformers believed that miracles were limited to the apostolic age before the Scriptures were completed and that any miracle in modern times was likely to be a Catholic fraud. "Sola Scriptura! Bible alone!" was the reformation rallying cry. "We have the Bible! Why do we need miracles and prophecies?"  Catholics have always believed that God works miracles.  The Blessed Mother is always showing up in the darndest places and healing the sick.

Around 1900 a protestant bible study group in Topeka Kansas started to experience these manifestations. They were promptly thrown out of their protestant churches.  They formed their own churches, such as the Foursquare Church, Church of God, Assemblies of God and so on and so on. In the 1950's some Episcopalians got involved with this movement. Catholics in Pittsburgh and Notre Dame who would never hang around with Pentecostal "Holy Rollers," might associate with Episcopalians.  While they were participating in home prayer groups with Episcopalian and Presbyterians who were involved in the Pentecostal movement, some Catholics received the defining experience of Pentecostalism, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. 

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not an eighth sacrament or a liturgical ceremony. It is what we Catholics would call infused contemplation, or mystical union with God. It is an encounter with the Holy Spirit. It is not a proof of the holiness of the person receiving it, rather, it is a call to evangelize the modern world.  Usually it involves some manifestation of one these extraordinary charisms.

Well, everyone assumed that the bishops would toss the Catholic Pentecostal out on their charisms, but this was not the case. The bishops gave it a little time and liked what they saw, and Pope John Paul II really liked what he saw. The experience and theology were Catholic. 

The problem was not theological, but ecclesiological (a fancy word that means what the church is about). The ecclesiology or understanding of the church that governed Protestant Pentecostals was Calvinist. John Calvin (1509-1564, founder of the reformed wing of Protestantism) believed that the individual inspired by the Holy Spirit was sufficient for the interpretation of Scripture. In effect, that means everyone is his own pope. That is why there are at least 33,000 ( Yes that's thirty three thousand) different kinds of Protestants at this current writing). 

That also seems to be the problem with your nice prophetic lady whom your pastor so unceremoniously booted from the church. As I understand , he had told her not to prophesy at Mass. Mass is a structured liturgy, a sacrificial continuation of Calvary, the fulfillment of the liturgy of the temple. A prayer meeting is an unstructured gathering of the faithful for the free exercise of the gifts of God. Mass is about the covenant of Calvary. Prayer meeting is about pretty much anything. 

Your nice prophetic lady seems to believe that her experience of the Holy Spirit is infallible and thus more important than any priest. John Calvin would certainly have enjoyed that.  This problem has existed in the church since its beginning. We have one non biblical document from the first century. It may even predate some of the books of the Bible. It is called the "Didache" or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles."  It tells its readers what to do when a wandering prophet comes to town. 

It also deals with structured liturgical prayers and rituals for baptism. I suspect that the bishops of first century Syria were trying to deal with people like the nice prophetess lady. "This is your role, and this over here is the liturgy, the public worship." There is structure. Here is prophesy. Both are part of the whole, but should not be confused. Just as we would never substitute the writings of Sr. Lucia of Fatima for a biblical reading at mass, so too, we don't have the Pentecostal prophets speaking at Mass.

It is important to understand the difference between public and private revelation. 

St. Peter says that "No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private interpretation." (2Peter 1:20) The revealed doctrines of Catholicism contained in Scripture and Sacred Tradition, as explained by the Church's teaching authority, are for everyone and can be depended on. 

Private revelations, such as visions or prophetic words can be inspiring and edifying, but they are never to be taken as biblical authoritative teaching. 

St. Paul says that "We know in part, we prophesy in part." (1Corinthians 13:9). That means that every current non biblical prophesy is at least partially the prophet talking and not the Holy Spirit. 

I am really big on Fatima. It was an amazing event that changed world history. However, Lucia, the visionary stood up as the sun seemed to fall and everyone there was witnessing an astounding miracle. She shouted, "It's the end of the world!" She was wrong. Shall we throw out Fatima? Of course not. But, even so earth shaking an event as the miracle at Fatima was partly from the Holy Spirit, and partly from the visionaries. 

St. Paul says that every prophetic word must be discerned and controlled (1Corinthians 14:29-33). At mass there is not a way to discern these words, and to have something said at mass elevates it to the level of Church teaching which is just not right. I have spent a life reading obscure ancient texts and I have never run into an example of prophetic speech at Mass either in the bible or in the early Christian writings. 

I recall Tertullian around the year 200 saying that in his church in north Africa a prophetess would regularly keel over and that the priest would bring her to after the Mass was over and ask her what the Lord had said, but that is as close as It seems to have gotten.

Prophetic words are wonderful, but the SACRIFICE of the Mass is not to be interrupted with a private revelation.  I believe the only prophecies appropriate at Mass are the prophecies contained in Scripture. I have seen Masses that are called "charismatic" descend into chaos and I just wont risk that.

So Marge, I hope this helps a little. There is room for everything good in the Church, and I love a good hand waving, dancing in the aisles, singing, shouting prayer meeting. It's just better to have it in the parish hall and not at Mass.

Rev. Know-It-All