Here are a few excerpts from an article about the Catholic charismatic renewal celebrating 40 years.
One can't live on memories though - the renewal must be ongoing...
So: "Come, Holy Spirit, also today, and fill the Church with new life - your life"!!!
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‘Baptism of the Spirit’ marks Charismatic Renewal
ST.PAUL, Minn. (The Catholic Spirit) - Karin Treiber was there at the beginning.
On a weekend retreat with a Duquesne University Catholic group near Pittsburgh in February 1967, she was among a group of students who say they experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in an unprecedented way. A new way. An apostolic way.
Treiber describes it as understanding that the Holy Spirit was present to them in the same way the Spirit was present to Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost.
The “Duquesne Weekend” was the spark that ignited the charismatic movement’s wildfire, which spread across the United States and around the world. Known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the movement is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
After the weekend, Treiber remembers that all she could say about it was that she “was touched by God” - and her heart was changed.
Treiber speaks of the experience as if recollecting a dream - the “waterfall of light” that interiorly washed over her in prayer. Feeling a presence in the chapel. Seeing an invisible hand ripple over another praying student and immediately understanding it to be God. Experiencing profound joy and peace.
Not all the students experienced the Spirit like Treiber says she did. But those that did were drawn together through their increased desire for prayer, Scripture, the Eucharist and talking about God.
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The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is not without its critics. Some charge it with being overly emotional. Some object to the expressive form of prayer. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, however, has affirmed the movement’s strengths and offered guidance to help the movement keep closely connected to the broader church.
Those who criticize it wouldn’t if they understood it, Father Nolan said. It sprang from answered prayers, he said - prayers of Blessed Pope John XXIII and others during the Second Vatican Council. They prayed for a new Pentecost, and this is it, he said.
“They knew that we desperately needed the Holy Spirit to thrive,” he said. “The church is constantly in need of renewal - a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to call us back to the teachings of the Gospel.
Anders Arborelius och Sten-Gunnar Hedin har åter författat en artikel tillsammans.
Denna gång efterlyser de debatt, och sätter samtidigt press på regeringen (inte minst Göran Hägglund och kd), angående att tillåta (eller inte tillåta) utländska kvinnor att göra abort i Sverige.
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI concluded his series of reflections on figures from the nascent Church by highlighting the decisive contribution of women to the development of Christianity.
"The Church gives thanks for each and every woman," the Pope said at the end of today's general audience, held in Paul VI Hall.The Church gives thanks "for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope and charity: She gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness," he stressed, quoting Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter "Mulieris Dignitatem."
"Women at the service of the Gospel" was the theme Benedict XVI chose for the catechesis, in which he began by reviewing the history of those women who became disciples of Jesus, paying special attention to the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene.
Given that the latter "not only was present at the Passion, but also became the first witness and herald of the Risen One," the Pontiff called her the "apostle of the apostles," quoting a reference made to her by St. Thomas Aquinas. Benedict XVI continued recalling the women that had a decisive role in the early Church, showing how they had roles of responsibility in their communities noting, as St. Paul said to the Galatians: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The Holy Father pointed out that the apostle Paul "admits as something normal that woman can 'prophesy' in the Christian community, that is, pronounce herself openly under the influence of the Holy Spirit, on the condition that it is for the edification of the community and in a dignified manner."
"Therefore, the famous exhortation 'women should keep silence in the churches' must be relativized, " he added.
Different history.
The Pope also mentioned the case of Phoebe, a woman whom the Apostle calls "diakonos" of the church of Cenchreae, a small port city east of Corinth."Although at that time the title still did not have a specific ministerial value of a hierarchical character, it expresses a genuine exercise of responsibility on the part of this woman in favor of that Christian community," stated the Pontiff.
"In sum, the history of Christianity would have developed very differently if the generous contribution of many women had not taken place," Benedict XVI concluded.
Therefore, the Holy Father praised women for their contribution "in the course of the history of the Church," clarifying that he did so "in the name of the whole ecclesial community."
The Pope concluded by thanking God "because he leads the Church, from generation to generation, making use indistinctly of men and women, who are able to make their faith and baptism fruitful for the good of the whole ecclesial Body for the greater glory of God."
With this catechesis, Benedict XVI brought to an end the cycle of teachings on the figures of early Christianity, which he began last October with reflections on St. Paul.
Caritas India plans to include women in all decision-making bodies
MUMBAI, India (CNS) -- The Catholic Church's social service and aid organization in India finalized a proposal to include women in all its> decision-making bodies. Caritas India made the proposal during its national assembly in Mumbai in early February The decision still will need to be considered by the standing committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. Women hold about 30 percent of the positions in Caritas India's national governing body. The percentage of women would increase to 50 percent within a year if the proposal is adopted. The proposal also calls for women to constitute at least 25 percent of other bodies, such as finance and appointment committees as well as administrative bodies of diocesan and regional branches. "We need to work toward gender equality in decision-making bodies," said Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes of Gandhinagar, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. "We need to respect and give due dignity to women in all fields."
På Fryshuset i Stockholm har ett intressant projekt pågått en tid, där ungdomar på rockmusik- och låtskrivarlinjerna har fått skriva nya psalmer (inspirerade av psaltarpsalmer eller helt nyskrivna moderna texter).
Initiativet till detta togs av Sven Frostenson, och därför involverades Anders Frostenson-stiftelsen och några stipendiater som fick förmånen att träffa dessa talangfulla ungdomar och utbyta tankar och toner.
I måndags kväll höll de en fantastisk konsert - en psalmhappening - finstämd och svängig på samma gång. Det berörde - text och musik gick rätt in. Och det är väl det som är meningen?
En 1600-talspsalm fick plötsligt nytt liv och lät alldeles modern i Tommie Sewons tappning. Irma Schultz-Keller sjöng också en egen psalm samt en tonsättning av en psalm av Ylva Eggehorn som kommer på en ny skiva snart.
En spännande utveckling pågår på psalmfronten helt enkelt!
Det har kommit svar lite här och var på tidigare inlägg - kul med kommentarer! - men de kan vara lite svåra att hitta när de väl har hamnat i arkiven, så jag lägger in en blänkare om det då och då.
Bl.a. kom just ett intressant svar på detta inlägg i fråga om kvinnliga präster (och prästcelibatet):
"Vi efterlyser en bild där ekumenik inte enbart handlar om att människor från olika kyrkliga traditioner skapar trygga allianser med likasinnade i en hotfull värld.
Den verkliga ekumeniska utmaningen består snarare i att skapa arenor för möten mellan människor med olika värderingar och teologiska uppfattningar. Ekumenikens mål behöver inte vara harmoni och samsyn – kanske är just mötet, konfrontationen och samtalet ett mål i sig."
