Sid
11-08-2006, 04:41 PM
I was involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the early '70s and my experience was similar to this one:
The experience of former priest Bob Bush, a Jesuit serving in California at the time, is typical of the era. He began a charismatic prayer meeting at the high school where he taught in 1970. It quickly grew to over 1000 people and had to move to a larger facility.
"When it began," Bob told me recently, "people were hungry for God. The focus was on prayer directly to God and the reading of Scripture. Many people were touched by God and by the power of His Word.
That all changed by the late seventies. Bishops began to issue directives that brought the movement firmly under Church control. They assigned liaisons to each group to keep watch and help guarantee Catholic orthodoxy.
Teaching from Church-authorized books began to replace the Scriptures. Clergy became more visible at the meetings and the praying of the Rosary prominent. Devotion to Mary and the celebration of the Mass became the focus.
"What happened," Bob Bush recounts, "was that everything got watered down and compromised. There was no longer any power in the movement. People stopped hearing from the Holy Spirit. They weren't having the radical changes in their lives as before. The Renewal became just another form of Catholicism."
A more traditional priest was assigned to lead Bob's prayer group in 1978.
Within a few years, it had dwindled down to nothing.
Bob left the Church a short time later.
Staying in Hope of Changing the Church (http://www.reachingcatholics.org/staying.html)
There are no doubt some Christians attending the RCC, but once they have embraced the Gospel of Grace, they are no longer Catholics.
The experience of former priest Bob Bush, a Jesuit serving in California at the time, is typical of the era. He began a charismatic prayer meeting at the high school where he taught in 1970. It quickly grew to over 1000 people and had to move to a larger facility.
"When it began," Bob told me recently, "people were hungry for God. The focus was on prayer directly to God and the reading of Scripture. Many people were touched by God and by the power of His Word.
That all changed by the late seventies. Bishops began to issue directives that brought the movement firmly under Church control. They assigned liaisons to each group to keep watch and help guarantee Catholic orthodoxy.
Teaching from Church-authorized books began to replace the Scriptures. Clergy became more visible at the meetings and the praying of the Rosary prominent. Devotion to Mary and the celebration of the Mass became the focus.
"What happened," Bob Bush recounts, "was that everything got watered down and compromised. There was no longer any power in the movement. People stopped hearing from the Holy Spirit. They weren't having the radical changes in their lives as before. The Renewal became just another form of Catholicism."
A more traditional priest was assigned to lead Bob's prayer group in 1978.
Within a few years, it had dwindled down to nothing.
Bob left the Church a short time later.
Staying in Hope of Changing the Church (http://www.reachingcatholics.org/staying.html)
There are no doubt some Christians attending the RCC, but once they have embraced the Gospel of Grace, they are no longer Catholics.