The Grace of Christian Renewal ~ Episode 29

The grace of Christian renewal begins with faith in a living God. In the last podcast, I reviewed the initial development of the Charismatic Renewal and what has happened to the movement to this point. We surely want to thank God for the wonderful works of grace that have been available within this movement. Yet along with the Charismatic movement and other programmatic offerings of spiritual and pastoral renewal in the Church we need to ask ourselves the question,  are these opportunities in and of themselves sufficient to bring about a mature or completed experience of the Church’s Grace of Renewal? For the sake of this presentation I would like to answer, they are not! And if not, is there something we can consider that may move us forward in this consideration?

The Christian Renewal begins with this book:

This inspiring book by Father David Tickerhoof, Third Order Regular (TOR), on the role of Merciful Penitents in the Renewal and Reform of the Church

Father David’s book is available! “Evangelizing Catholic Culture,” get your copy today.

Christian Renewal:

What most did not seem to understand was the fact that this outpouring of special grace was simply the initial experience of the Church’s Grace of Renewal. The activity and special presence of the Holy Spirit was intended by the Lord to move into a full and complete experience of the glorified Lord by each individual Christian. In other words, much more was intended to happen after the initial experience and empowerment of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Which gifts are the practical application of the Pentecostal Experience in the daily life and activity of Christians? How might we identify the complete experience of the Church’s Grace of Renewal?

At times in the Charismatic Renewal, individuals tended to over concentrate on the Holy Spirit as the central reality of spiritual transformation. For sure that concentration is necessary, but if it becomes excessive or overdone other dimensions of the process of growth and transformation are neglected. When a person exercises a balanced approach to the grace of spiritual transformation three powers become one: The power and gifts of the Spirit, the power of the Cross of Jesus, and the power of the Resurrection. Therefore, the power of the Cross of Jesus and the beautiful splendid experience of the glory of the Resurrection comes into play in addition to the work of the Holy Spirit. For a mature and most effective experience of the life and power of grace involves a threefold power of the Spirit, the Cross, and the power of the Resurrection. This is what is mea