Apr 06 2021 17 mins
Bestow A New Anointing Episode 39
The next two podcast shows are probably the most important ones that will appear in my podcast listings or shows (evangelizingcatholicculturepodcast.com). The overall topic I will be discussing in this show is the Church’s Grace of Renewal. I would like to start by reviewing a bit of history of this topic. Immediately after the close of Vatican Council II in 1965 a wonderful spiritual grace began happening in the Catholic Church. This grace manifested itself in various renewal programs which provided individuals the opportunity to receive a powerful transforming grace of spiritual renewal. The one approach that I am most familiar with is the happenings in the Charismatic Renewal. In the 1960’s some of the young leaders in the movement wondered what to call this movement. After consulting with several Catholic theologians, they decided to call it the Charismatic Renewal. The reason for this title resided in the fact that what was manifested experientially was some of the charisms listed in the scripture. The anointing that individuals were powerfully experiencing they entitled the “Baptism of the Spirit”. This experience initiated a tremendous spiritual change in one’s Christian life. This identification of the anointing was probably unfortunate for several reasons. First it easily led to the “haves and the have nots”. This reality led to many negative experiences. Secondly, the word “baptism” led to some confusion between this actual grace of anointing with the reception of water baptism, which is a very different thing. The baptism in the Spirit is simply an actual gift of grace give by God for a current conversion of life. Water baptism is the reality of the Divine indwelling of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the gift of eternal salvation. It is easy to see why this tension and confusion arose among Christians.
What seems to be the present situation? About 65 years have passed since the initial emergence of the Renewal appeared right after the close of the Council in 1965. Many years have passed and what was fresh, new, and exciting has waned. At the beginning there was a flurry development of prayer groups all over the world, especially in the United States. Today most of them have discontinued or usually consist in a few older people in the later years of life. Some individuals have left go of the initial empowerment and no longer consider themselves a part of the movement. Many have gone home to the Lord. In short, many things have changed in society in relationship to moral principles and behavior, and in the Church, which is experiencing a tremendous amount of downsizing. Plus, the fact that the neo-pagan social religion of “secularism humanism” has brought a huge amount of “spiritual darkness”, moral confusion, and unfaithfulness among Catholics who were formerly committed to their religion and its practice. For example, a statistic I read awhile back maintains that 70 percent of those raised Catholic leave the Church or the practice of the Faith by the time they are 27.
Where do we go from here? Quite frankly I believe we need to view the past anointing of the Spirit experienced through prayer and various spiritual renewal programs as the first installment of a much greater outpouring of the Spirit. At this point instead of looking wistfully at the beautiful empowerment of the Spirit in the past. For example, the Baptism of the Spirit identified in the Charismatic Renewal. We should humbly desire a fresh second empowerment that bestows a new fresh anointment of the Spirit for the current needs and spiritual desires of individuals, and the powerful grace to meet the mission of the Church to establish the Kingdom of God now! A new impartation of the Holy Spirit at this time could set on fire many souls for greater holiness. Equip individuals with the tools for fighting against the modern forms of neopaganism in our society. For example, current attempts to destroy Christian family life in our American culture. And stand for the truth revealed by the Word of God and the authentic moral principles of the Church (check out the last podcast)
Are there any individuals who may have a strong desire to develop an organized movement to unfold prayer, study, and action to humbly attempt to investigate and possibly initiate possibilities in a new spiritual direction? What would be some of the considerations necessary to discern any planning about these matters in the days ahead?
- First is this conferring of a second empowerment of the Spirit need to be something that God wants to bestow on His People?
- What sort of gathering could exist or come into existence that some may see it necessary to evaluate these possibilities?
- Is there anybody who really believes in this possibility, and is willing to put some effort forth to consider making this happen?
- We want to hear from you in order to initiate a good discussion about these matters.
May We Pray!
Dear Father, we approach you in your Son Jesus because we have many serious and painful concerns in our hearts. The spirit of negative secular humanism is rapidly growing in our society. Many of those accepting this new social religion are working against the revealed truths of a Christian way of life, and they are promoting a spiritual darkness and abandoning the wonderful teaching of Jesus and his way of salvation. Immorality and violence are increasing in our culture. Fear, mistrust, and hatred abound in many sectors of our society. Families are suffering greatly. We know that there are many good people who desire to live in a spirit of love, honesty, and service for others. We pray with a trusting and humble heart that in your goodness and mercy you would pour out you Holy Spirit anew among those whose hearts are open to receive a divine impartation which would equip many to serve to embrace the liberating freedom of holiness, enlightened truth, and the zeal to serve brothers and sisters in need of your goodness, mercy, peace. We pray this prayer in Jesus most holy name. Amen.
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