It's all ONE boat!
To be Catholic is to be charismatic. What does this mean? There are often two camps in the Church: Traditional vs. Charismatic... but it is all one boat.
To be Catholic is to be charismatic. (louder for anyone in the back of the church…) To be Catholic IS to be charismatic. What do I mean by this?
I remember co-leading a Catholic study with a group of parish leaders that was 100% focused on the person of the Holy Spirit. After one of the gatherings, one of the leaders bravely piped up and said, “I don’t know about all of this. It just sounds very protestant.” This broke my heart, because it implied that the Spirit was the person of the Trinity we had all ignored and sent off to thrive among our protestant brothers and sisters. It implied that she, like the disciples in Ephesus when met by Paul, “[had] never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”1 Of course, I’m sure she knew of the third person of the Trinity; however, I don’t imagine her experience is rare.
Many hear the word “charismatic” and have a picture in their minds of the TV preacher, the worship bands, praying in tongues, falling over or laying hands. “Can I get an amen?” But there is so much more!
For a moment, let’s look at what the word “charismatic” truly means. The root word of charismatic is the Greek word “charis.” This word is used over and over in the New Testament by St. Paul whenever he is talking about grace. Take that in for a moment! We are charismatic in our reception of grace (charis)!! The Catholic Church has a constant outpouring of grace; to be Catholic is to be charismatic.
Taking this word a step further… while Paul uses it when speaking of grace, the literal translation for the word charis is actually “gift.” And that gift he has given is a literal person in the Holy Spirit.
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”2
“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.”3
Here is what we should picture when we think of the word charismatic:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”4
They were filled with the gift (charis) of the Holy Spirit, just as we are all filled with the Holy Spirit in the Church! We receive the Holy Spirit in prayer and especially through our Confirmation (which is our very own Pentecost). We have a constant outpouring of grace in the mass, in the confessional, and in the Church’s sacramental ministry! To be Catholic is to be charis-matic!
Perhaps, there are people reading this who love the traditional side of the faith, too! You love the traditional prayers, the Latin Mass, the cassocks, and the list goes on. That is also beautiful!! To be Catholic is to embrace the traditions of our faith, as well! There are often two camps, if you will, within the Church. Traditional and charismatic, and dare I say they are often pitted against one another! But it is all one boat.
Have you ever heard the comparison of the Church as a boat? (some of the ceilings of my local parishes are actually designed intentionally to look like a boat resembling that of the ark.) In Scripture Jesus gets into a boat on a few occasions, often with his apostles.5 This is the Church! There are disciples who also followed Jesus on the shore, but later decided his teachings were too hard and abandoned him;6 they were out of the boat. There were many in Jesus’ day who thought their way superior and were strict to follow all the laws and cast aside the mercy Jesus was extending; those being the scribes and the pharisees. They were outside of the boat. If we allow our Catholic Camps to divide us in similar ways… are we not placing ourselves outside of the boat?
When I say to be Catholic is to be charismatic, I do not say to be Catholic is NOT to be traditional. Both are beautiful; both have been given by Christ; both draw our hearts and minds closer to the Trinity; both are the boat which is the Church!
While a result of this article could be for others to reflect on if you help draw the Church closer together or contribute to its division, the real purpose of this article is to encourage everyone to grow a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit; to receive God’s gift of himself. Let us open ourselves up to the workings of the Spirit in our lives, The Church has a constant outpouring of the Spirit!!
Does it show in your life? Do you live differently because of God’s gift? When others see you, do they see something alive within you and desire that for themselves?
Acts 2:19
Luke 11:13
John 3:34
Acts 2:1-4
Lk 5:1-11; Mt 8:23-27; Jn 6:17
Jn 6: 66