By Gretchen Keiser

The place of the charismatic gifts within Catholic spirituality and within the Church as a whole was a theme emphasized by several speakers during the three-day national conference on the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church held in May.

“In Jesus’ Name” was the title of the May 27-29 conference at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, which drew between 9,000 and 10,000 people from the United States and Canada. Leaders in the renewal movement, including Ralph Martin, Dorothy and Kevin Ranaghan and William Beatty, were among those to lead the conference in reflection upon the power of the name of Jesus -- to reconcile and forgive, to renew His people through the outpouring of the gifts of His Holy Spirit and to transform them into His image. The theme, displayed upon a central banner in the arena where the conference was held, was also tied to the message proclaimed by Pope John Paul II during the Holy Year of Redemption to exalt the name of Jesus and focus upon His redeeming act.

In addition to the speakers, the conference was interwoven with prayer and included a healing service on Saturday afternoon conducted by Father Edward McDonough, a Redemptorist priest from Boston who has received a particular gift in the area of healing.

Among those to speak about the charismatic renewal and the charismatic gifts within the Church were Bishop William H. Bullock, auxiliary bishop of Minneapolis – St. Paul, who was principal celebrant for the Mass on Sunday which closed the conference. In his homily, Bishop Bullock spoke of the need to embrace the Church and to be faithful to the fullness of her teachings. He also expressed a vision of the Church in which the charismatic gifts would be fully embraced along with the gifts of leadership, authority and hierarchy.

In another talk, Dr. Vinson Synan of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a leading Pentecostal minister, spoke of the relationship between Pentecostal churches and the Catholic charismatic renewal and strongly exhorted those present to evangelize and renew the millions of church members around the world who are baptized Catholics but who have no active faith or church involvement.

Father Sam Jacobs of Lake Charles, Louisiana, a member of the national leadership, spoke on the charismatic renewal and Catholic spiritual life, speaking of the desire of prayer – to be in union with God – and the need for daily prayer and for prayer of stillness and quiet before God. Jeanne DeCelles, also a longtime member of the national renewal, spoke on devotion to Mary and the richness which she brings to Catholic spirituality.

In a keynote address, William Beatty urged those in the renewal to “return to our first love” – a passionate love of God which animates and nourishes every other aspect of Christian life. Drawing from a message to the Church at Ephesus in the second chapter of Revelation, Beatty said that he believed that the passage reflected the point many had reached – marked by a deep dedication, hard work and a zeal for the truth, but diminished by a lack of love.

The loss of the first, fresh love of God – the love of a bride – is marked by a diminishing love for others, by disagreement, wrangling and dissension, Beatty said. Without that animating love, zeal for the truth leads people to attack one another, he noted.

To return, he said, people must remember the intensity of the love they knew and remember their total dependence upon the Lord’s love and mercy. “We lose our first love because we forget how much we need God,” he said.

He suggested that Scripture is the “plumb line” to measure behavior against and gave a number of guidelines to consider – particularly whether there is a yearning for time for prayer and Scripture study; whether approval of other people is more important than faithfulness to the Lord.

After remembering and repenting, he said, “do as you used to do at first” – returning to the basic teaching expressed in the renewal, which includes an emphasis upon daily prayer and Scripture time and study of Scripture and spirituality. Beatty also emphasized the need each day to recall “our deep utter dependence on God.”

Beatty’s talk was followed by the healing service conducted by Father McDonough. Leading a quiet succession of prayer and singing, Father McDonough spoke on healing and on Jesus as “gentle shepherd.” After speaking about healing he led prayers for healing of different physical and emotional ailments. Many people came to the podium afterward to say that they had experienced a particular healing. In his prayer and speaking, Father McDonough also emphasized the presence of the Lord in health and well being as well as in miraculous healing.

The annual conference was the 16^th to be held at Notre Dame since the charismatic renewal began within the Catholic Church in the United States.