I am posting on your blog this evening because your insightful postings are deeply intriguing. I would like to know your thoughts on the Pentecostal Experience... are you still Pentecostal? Have you been able to reconcile the baptism and the charism that is the infilling of the Holy Spirit with Your Catholic Roots and Identity. Although I am of the opinion that these supposed conflicts do not exist, I am aware of the fact that there are those who say that you cannot be Pentecostal and Catholic as well. Whatever your true opinion, your postings have been an excellent uplift to me and I would encourage you to keep sharing your profound and encouraging ideas.
I suppose I could answer long or short, this will probably be somewhere in between...
I would say all the baptized are "pentecostal" with a lower-case "p"; and I am "pentecostal" in that sense; I do not consider myself Pentecostal -- meaning, a member of a specific denomination, because I am a Catholic.
That said, I consider the specific manifestations of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, etc., to be authentic; but they are not necessarily always authentic every time someone sees them at work. I.e., I believe it is true that such things can occur for purely natural reasons, which would explain why they occur in non-Christian religions -- if it is true that they do, as I've heard.
As a Catholic, I don't get overly excited about these things, but I also don't object that others find them very meaningful. The Holy Spirit indwells us by way of baptism, and in a deeper way by way of confirmation, and by way of all the sacraments. That is the main event; and these other manifestations are derivative from this fundamental reality.
2 comments:
I am posting on your blog this evening because your insightful postings are deeply intriguing. I would like to know your thoughts on the Pentecostal Experience... are you still Pentecostal? Have you been able to reconcile the baptism and the charism that is the infilling of the Holy Spirit with Your Catholic Roots and Identity. Although I am of the opinion that these supposed conflicts do not exist, I am aware of the fact that there are those who say that you cannot be Pentecostal and Catholic as well. Whatever your true opinion, your postings have been an excellent uplift to me and I would encourage you to keep sharing your profound and encouraging ideas.
Rev. Preston L.:
Thanks for visiting, and Merry Christmas!
I suppose I could answer long or short, this will probably be somewhere in between...
I would say all the baptized are "pentecostal" with a lower-case "p"; and I am "pentecostal" in that sense; I do not consider myself Pentecostal -- meaning, a member of a specific denomination, because I am a Catholic.
That said, I consider the specific manifestations of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, etc., to be authentic; but they are not necessarily always authentic every time someone sees them at work. I.e., I believe it is true that such things can occur for purely natural reasons, which would explain why they occur in non-Christian religions -- if it is true that they do, as I've heard.
As a Catholic, I don't get overly excited about these things, but I also don't object that others find them very meaningful. The Holy Spirit indwells us by way of baptism, and in a deeper way by way of confirmation, and by way of all the sacraments. That is the main event; and these other manifestations are derivative from this fundamental reality.
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