Gah!... why?

[Jaime]

I went to a charismatic healing service where the priest went around after mass and touched everyone on the forehead. People would then drop from being full of the Holy Spirit. While I was open to anything that God wanted, when he touched me, nothing happened.

I figured I was either incapable of being filled with the Holy Spirit or I was all full up. I'm not sure which is true.

[prose]

Probably all full up!!

[phatcatholic]

see, threads like this make me leary about going to FUS.........should i be?

[FlyLikeABird]

[quote name='prose' date='Sep 8 2005, 10:30 PM']Yup, same experience.  I was told I just wasn't being "open to the Lord" because I wasn't "resting in the Spirit" or the BIG one "speaking tongues".

EVERYONE at the place I went was "speaking in tongues" except me.  Strange.  Especially b/c God promised if he sent someone the gift of tongues he would send another the gift of translation...

Whatever.  I guess if that's what they need to "prove" they are close to God, go nuts, but don't put me down in the process.

Not to mention I think it deters from the people ACTUALLY experiencing gifts when EVERYONE has them...
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I genuinly think I have a certain gift of tongues. But I speak languages that people understand. : I have never been "slain" nor have I ever experienced "speaking in tongues" as the charismatics see it. I do know a few people who are very in tune with the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and one of them HATES (and I mean HATES) the charismatic movement. She tries to be understanding and loving and all but she cannot bring herself to be anywhere near one of their services unless she is acting as a sign language interpreter (her main profession).

Being Charismatic is NOT the be all and end all of Catholic experience, and if you ask me I think the Charismatics are bordering on Pharisical tendencies.

[jiyoung]

i think the charismatic movement is not necessarily all bad...but i really disagree with the catholics who think it's the ultimate form of catholicism. there's a time and place for it, but it's not really my favorite thing. i "speak in tongues" and whatever, but i feel sometimes that engaging in that puts me at risk to commit sins of pride. so i don't like to practice it. and i admit i've had some genuine things happen to me, but i don't think it's like the ultimate end of it all...i don't know how i'll like the FOPs at steubie. singing kind of puts me in a possible occasion to sin because i guess i have a good voice and i sometimes sing for myself, not for God...and so i try not to sing out. but...i don't know. i'm traveling in circles. suffice to say that i'm more fond of traditional contemplative masses, but i can deal with the charismatic stuff.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Sep 9 2005, 12:15 AM']see, threads like this make me leary about going to FUS.........should i be?
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Nope. It's not that bad. Of course, I never had to live in the dorms (thanks be to God). I always just went to class and maybe hung out with friends.. went to the port. I can't remember the last time I actually went to Mass on campus. And I'm not even really phased by charismania anymore. I might go to a praise and worship thing every once in a while. I don't do all the charismatic stuff, but it can be nice to pray in a room full of other people who are praying in their way.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Sep 9 2005, 01:15 AM']see, threads like this make me leary about going to FUS.........should i be?
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I'm here aren't I?

[Jaime]

OMG there are two reasons to be leary now!! :

[shelly_freak]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Sep 9 2005, 12:15 AM']see, threads like this make me leary about going to FUS.........should i be?
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Me too. I used to wanna go there but I don't know, it's seems like alot of fishy stuff goes on there. I don't want to encounter the kind of people who tell me I'm not close to God becuase I'm not speaking in tounges. I think I'd be really lost there. So off I go to a state university!

[Brother Adam]

Theology in the classroom is totally orthodox. It's just outside the classroom that gets a little wierd, and only within the context of charasmatic meetings.

[phatcatholic]

is there cool stuff outside the classroom that isn't charismatic?

[p0lar_bear]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Sep 9 2005, 11:19 AM']is there cool stuff outside the classroom that isn't charismatic?
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Stop worrying. Yes there is a lot that of spiritual activities aside from the charismatic prayer meetings (which aren't as pervasive as people seem to want to make them appear).

Morning and Evening prayer is prayed in the chapel by two different groups every day. There was also a group that did Night prayer. There is a walking rosary led by one of the households at least once a week. There is 24 hour adoration in the Port and a total of 9 chapels in various places around campus. There is a Regnum Christi group and a Militia Immaculata group. Nearly the entire campus does the Marian consecration (St. Louis de Monfort) every sememster. There is a silent retreat offered every semester (or maybe just every year...I can't remember). Every Friday the Akathistoi (?), a Byzantine Marian prayer, is prayed in the chapel. A group goes to an abortion mill in Pittsburgh to pray and evangelize pretty much every Saturday. There are a number of Bible studies lead by students, faculty, and other associated with the university.



And for the record, I got a LOT more carp for not doing the Marian consecration and not belonging to Regnum Christi than I ever got from charismatics. Do some people involved in the charismatic movement on campus think (and say) that if you are not charismatic you're not Catholic? Yes. They are college students and many of them are new to actually living their faith. Pretty much by definition people like that are stupid and over-zealous. But that is FAR from the majority.

Do people really think that all the bishops, cardinals, and popes that support FUS are so stupid and blind that they have no idea that the charismatic movement is very much a part of campus life? In his nearly yearly visits to campus, do you think Cardinal Arinze never saw any of this? Do you think that then-Cardinal Ratzinger didn't know anything about the charismatic movement when he asked a FUS professor why he'd never been invited to speak at a conference? Do you think that Pope John Paul II was ignorant of how charismatic the university was when he repeatedly referred to it as a great school? What about Cardinal Schonborn? Bishop Wuerl? Archbishop Chaput? Archbishop Burke? Bishop Bruskewitz? I could go on.

If all these holy and learned men can know about the charismatic movement on campus and still consider it one of the best Catholic universities in the world, then maybe phatmass can relax a bit. Maybe you are not charismatic or are uncomfortable with praying that way. But that does not mean that those who are charismatic are any less Catholic or any less orthodox than you. Get over yourself and accept the fact that people have different spiritualities. Just like a charismatic person shouldn't say condemn or look down on people who aren't. People who aren't comfortable with the charismatic movement shouldn't condemn, look down on charismatics. Charismatic spirituality is not fishy, unorthodox, or questionable.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='p0lar_bear' date='Sep 9 2005, 10:44 AM']Bishop Bruskewitz?
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: Gotta rep Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz! I love that man.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='p0lar_bear' date='Sep 9 2005, 10:44 AM']Stop worrying. Yes there is a lot that of spiritual activities aside from the charismatic prayer meetings (which aren't as pervasive as people seem to want to make them appear).

Morning and Evening prayer is prayed in the chapel by two different groups every day. There was also a group that did Night prayer. There is a walking rosary led by one of the households at least once a week. There is 24 hour adoration in the Port and a total of 9 chapels in various places around campus. There is a Regnum Christi group and a Militia Immaculata group. Nearly the entire campus does the Marian consecration (St. Louis de Monfort) every sememster. There is a silent retreat offered every semester (or maybe just every year...I can't remember). Every Friday the Akathistoi (?), a Byzantine Marian prayer, is prayed in the chapel. A group goes to an abortion mill in Pittsburgh to pray and evangelize pretty much every Saturday. There are a number of Bible studies lead by students, faculty, and other associated with the university.
And for the record, I got a LOT more carp for not doing the Marian consecration and not belonging to Regnum Christi than I ever got from charismatics. Do some people involved in the charismatic movement on campus think (and say) that if you are not charismatic you're not Catholic? Yes. They are college students and many of them are new to actually living their faith. Pretty much by definition people like that are stupid and over-zealous. But that is FAR from the majority.

Do people really think that all the bishops, cardinals, and popes that support FUS are so stupid and blind that they have no idea that the charismatic movement is very much a part of campus life? In his nearly yearly visits to campus, do you think Cardinal Arinze never saw any of this? Do you think that then-Cardinal Ratzinger didn't know anything about the charismatic movement when he asked a FUS professor why he'd never been invited to speak at a conference? Do you think that Pope John Paul II was ignorant of how charismatic the university was when he repeatedly referred to it as a great school? What about Cardinal Schonborn? Bishop Wuerl? Archbishop Chaput? Archbishop Burke? Bishop Bruskewitz? I could go on.

If all these holy and learned men can know about the charismatic movement on campus and still consider it one of the best Catholic universities in the world, then maybe phatmass can relax a bit. Maybe you are not charismatic or are uncomfortable with praying that way. But that does not mean that those who are charismatic are any less Catholic or any less orthodox than you. Get over yourself and accept the fact that people have different spiritualities. Just like a charismatic person shouldn't say condemn or look down on people who aren't. People who aren't comfortable with the charismatic movement shouldn't condemn, look down on charismatics. Charismatic spirituality is not fishy, unorthodox, or questionable.
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I agree. The vast majority of the school is great. I'm told that there are a few people who take the whole thing to the extreme of "if you're not charismatic, you're not Catholic" and such, but I've seen overwhelming orthodoxy here so far. It's a great school.

I advise anyone who comes to look into the household my roommate and I are discerning...we're discerning whether we should found it. We went to the household fair today and weren't particularly moved by any of them (he's a bit interested in one, though)...we'll see what happens.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='hot stuff' date='Sep 9 2005, 12:35 AM']I went to a charismatic healing service where the priest went around after mass and touched everyone on the forehead.  People would then drop from being full of the Holy Spirit.  While I was open to anything that God wanted, when he touched me, nothing happened. 

I figured I was either incapable of being filled with the Holy Spirit or I was all full up.  I'm not sure which is true.
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I've done this also, twice.

The priest who did it to me, though, has actual healings attributed to him...physical deformations have disappeared. He's a friend of mine (and he knows Theologian-in-Training, too)...Fr. Bill Whelan, former head of the Institute for Priestly Formation.

I didn't drop to the ground. As he explained it, the Holy Spirit chooses who needs healing, but still grants graces to others.

He himself was very wary of the whole thing, but some charismatics came to him and said that God had pointed them out to him as a great healer or something.

He was also my spirituality teacher. Great priest, very holy.

This is one of the main reasons that I believe the charismatic movement is intrinsically from God...even if it is abused a lot.