On Fire: Catholic Charismatics?
May. 6th, 2019 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yrieithyddWhen I got back from my first On Fire Mission conference around three years ago, I drafted a post about being Charismatic and Catholic and what Charismatic didn't mean and then never edited it or posted it to anyone but me.
Before I went first, I told a friend about it and they were somewhat confused as in their experience, charismatics were evangelical and anglo-catholics were very very different. And they're not the only with that experience.
But what I vaguely saw before I went and what I have experienced through the last 4 conferences.
The spirit is at work in the sacraments and in giving gifts and growing fruit.
The liturgy gives structure to avoid excesses, the charismatic gives enthusiasm and emotion to stop it being dull ritual.
I love being in a space where there is an expectation that we will use our bodies and our emotions as we worship and that God will be active. People will cross themselves, bow, raise their hands and even (especially during Benedection) kneel or lie prostrate on the floor. During the prayer ministry after the services some may fall prone to the ground - resting the spirit. I'm still not entirely sure what I feel about this, but it can be easy to contemplate stuff horizontal than vertical.
I also love the inclusiveness of the space. The celebrants and preachers are using balanced gender wise and this year there was a clear statement in the conference booklet on inclusivity. There is no presumption that the only thing a disabled person wants is to be healed of that disability.
There is a bar and much fellowship happens there, until the small hours. Some people find it slightly peculiar at midnight when we burst into the Regina Coeli but we do try and explain afterwards.
When I first went I already knew several people (mainly via Twitter) but the first evening has a welcome reception for new people when more is explained about the conference and there is a chance to chat to the committee and others who've been invited along to be friendly. I went as a newby in my first year and the last two years I've been invited to be friendly. My plan not to talk to people I already knew was slightly modified this year as I realised the correct rule is people I don't already know at or via the conference as the two people I talked to when I arrived late were people I knew from elsewhere.
I feel massively refreshed from having been there. God was definitely at work in me (including dragging me out of bed after too few hours of sleep because I needed to be at morning prayer).
Before I went first, I told a friend about it and they were somewhat confused as in their experience, charismatics were evangelical and anglo-catholics were very very different. And they're not the only with that experience.
But what I vaguely saw before I went and what I have experienced through the last 4 conferences.
The spirit is at work in the sacraments and in giving gifts and growing fruit.
The liturgy gives structure to avoid excesses, the charismatic gives enthusiasm and emotion to stop it being dull ritual.
I love being in a space where there is an expectation that we will use our bodies and our emotions as we worship and that God will be active. People will cross themselves, bow, raise their hands and even (especially during Benedection) kneel or lie prostrate on the floor. During the prayer ministry after the services some may fall prone to the ground - resting the spirit. I'm still not entirely sure what I feel about this, but it can be easy to contemplate stuff horizontal than vertical.
I also love the inclusiveness of the space. The celebrants and preachers are using balanced gender wise and this year there was a clear statement in the conference booklet on inclusivity. There is no presumption that the only thing a disabled person wants is to be healed of that disability.
There is a bar and much fellowship happens there, until the small hours. Some people find it slightly peculiar at midnight when we burst into the Regina Coeli but we do try and explain afterwards.
When I first went I already knew several people (mainly via Twitter) but the first evening has a welcome reception for new people when more is explained about the conference and there is a chance to chat to the committee and others who've been invited along to be friendly. I went as a newby in my first year and the last two years I've been invited to be friendly. My plan not to talk to people I already knew was slightly modified this year as I realised the correct rule is people I don't already know at or via the conference as the two people I talked to when I arrived late were people I knew from elsewhere.
I feel massively refreshed from having been there. God was definitely at work in me (including dragging me out of bed after too few hours of sleep because I needed to be at morning prayer).
no subject
Date: 2019-05-06 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-06 04:33 pm (UTC)I also remember a Cathays/Gabalfa Cytûn service in Cathays Meth where the RC deacon was leading and encouraged us to use our bodies in worship - which turned out to mean crossing ourselves and standing for the Gospel both of which I was perfectly fine with!