"And now I appeal to the elders of your community as a fellow-elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings, and also as a partaker in the splendor that is to be revealed. Tend that flock of God whose shepherds you are, and do it not under compulsion, but of your own free will, as God would have it; not for gain but out of sheer devotion; not tyrannizing over those who are allotted to your care, but setting an example to the flock." 1 Peter 5:1-3 (NEB)

In the ways of the world, it is authority that is sought, and power appears to rest in the hands of those with the most authority, but like so many things in the Kingdom of God, we are exhorted by the Holy Spirit in the Word to seek responsibility rather than authority. A servant, or as St. Paul puts it, a "love slave" of Jesus Christ needs no authority to serve, and we are all fi rst of all to let the Holy Spirit show us how Jesus is a servant of His Father's will in the world. Since Jesus is our life and His ways are not the ways of the natural thinking of the world around us, we have been brought into the saving knowledge of God to be a sign to the godless world. We all know that God has moved in a mighty and wonderful way in our day with this outpouring of His Holy Spirit on us in the Charismatic Renewal. This sovereign action of God carries with it real responsibilities for each of us. Although we do not relegate to ourselves the title of elders or shepherd on any scale of measurement, the fact is that we have received the gifts of God in the Holy Spirit for service to the Body of Christ. Whether we know it or not, God has exalted His Spirit's work in us so as to make each of us a sign to not only the world but to our Church.

Our Holy Father John Paul II has spoken of the Charismatic Renewal as the hope and the heart of the Church because of the Holy Spirits' awakening a fresh desire for prayer and the reading of the Scripture. If this work of God is going to be able to continue in our generation, it is going to be because the Holy Spirit has people that are responsible to God's desires and leading, or else this renewal will go the way of so many of the out-pourings of the Holy Spirit in the history of the Church.

Fr. Don Gelpi, in his book "Pentecostalism A Theological Viewpoint", has traced the history of the Holy Spirit outpourings of God. These movements of God have always died out when the human self and selfi shness got strong enough to effectively quench the freedom of the Spirit to be about God's business. The great business of God is to sum up all things in His Son, Jesus Christ.

The great work of Satan, the enemy of our souls is to seek to deceive and destroy as many of God's children as possible by subtle distractions from the centrality of the person and work of Jesus Christ. One of these very subtle areas of deception is the current emphasis on the self with all the religious names used to disguise the lie. In so many ways the Charismatic Renewal is a prime target for this deception because we have seen and know of God's power and His desire to heal people and cause them to become whole in all aspects of their life. We in the Charismatic Renewal have been privileged to see an abundance of the merciful and miraculous workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of our families and friends, and it is easy to see why so many of our brothers and sisters in the Charismatic Renewal have been seduced into seeking wholeness for themselves instead of seeking Jesus Christ. There is no real difference in the result that God desires for His children, He want goodness and life for all. The problem is that, for the Christian, the means, the Way, for arriving at "life in all abundance" (John 10:10) is opposite from the ways that the world offers.

Article continued here.

"You Will Receive Power"

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you; then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, yes, even to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

"Today, millions of Catholics in more than 115 countries are involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. What accounts for this dramatic growth? Those involved in the Renewal say that God has touched them in some profound way, releasing the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The goal of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is to serve the mission of the Church by enabling people to live a renewed and Christian life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Every Christian is called to be charismatic – that is, to be equipped with gifts of service for the good of the Church. (1Cor.12)

In the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Catholics speak of being "baptized in the Holy Spirit." This statement does not change the Catholic teaching about the Sacrament of Baptism. It simply means that the power of the Spirit received in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation often awaits a fuller "release" in the lives of many Christians."

Click here to view a video about the History of the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church.

"A new online Catholic Bible search engine, which enables people to find specific Scripture passages using keywords, has been launched. The program has been developed by Catholic.net with the support of the US Bishops' Conference. It is believed to be the first complete Catholic Bible translation made available for keyword search."

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