
Sometimes people question the emotional expressions or intensity sometimes found in the charismatic renewal. When emotions are so easily seen, people sometimes wonder about the authenticity of what is happening, and ask if the charismatic renewal is anything more than just good feelings. Some people are unfamiliar with some expressions such as lifting up hands, energetically singing several songs in a row, or seeing a speaker shed some tears while giving a talk.
Something real is happening. As Catholics, we believe worship has room for the whole person, including the mind and also the physical senses. In worship, we use the sense of hearing when the Word of God is read aloud, during preaching, and singing. We use the sense of sight when we see beauty that turns our hearts towards God and teaches biblical stories through art such as stained glass windows, statues, icons, and paintings. We use the sense of smell when incense, oil, or flowers fills the church with beautiful smells that lift our attention towards Heaven. We use the sense of touch when we receive the Eucharist, make the Sign of the Cross, greet one another at the Kiss of Peace, when we touch a statue, holy water, receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, or use other sacramentals. We also use the sense of taste in worship when we receive Holy Communion.
Christianity engages the senses, and doing so has been part of worship since the beginning of Christianity, and even before that in the Jewish temple. Emotions are inseparable from a whole understanding of the human person, so they are welcomed in their appropriate places in worship. Seen in this context, using emotions in prayer should not make charismatic prayer stand out as unusual.
If someone is giving a talk or praying and sheds tears or their voice fluctuates, it is a natural expression that shows something real and significant happened in that person's life. More than just a set of beliefs, Christianity is a life touched and transformed by God's grace. The charismatic renewal helps people discover the potential of God's gifts. When people make that discovery, lives change, and miracles can happen. A speaker sharing about their healing or conversion is not just reporting information; they are sharing some of the most important things in their life. Depending on one's personality, the delivery of such a talk might include emotional expressions. On the other hand, a person may simply be calm all the time and not display many expressions visibly, but that does not mean they are not there. Emotions are not the focus, but they are part of being a person. The charismatic renewal welcomes and gives freedom for such expression, especially during times of praise.
Pope Francis explained it this way how expressions and enthusiasm are appropriate when we praise God. In his homily on January 28, 2014, he said:
“David’s prayer of praise brought him to leave all form of composure and to dance in front of the Lord with all his strength. This is the prayer of praise!”
“‘But, Father, this is for those of Renewal in the Spirit (the Charismatic movement), not for all Christians.’ No, the prayer of praise is a Christian prayer for all of us!”.
“In Mass, every day, when we sing the Holy...This is a prayer of praise: we praise God for his greatness, because he is great! We tell Him beautiful things, because we like that He is like that. ‘But, Father, I am not capable...I should…’. But you’re capable of shouting when your team makes a goal and not capable of singing praise to the Lord, to go out a bit from your behavior to sing this?"
The Saints Integrated Emotions and Prayer The saints tell us the same. St. John of the Cross, in writing about things that people should and should not take delight in, said, "One should rejoice in them if they are serving God." (The Ascent of Mt. Carmel, book 3, chapter 18, paragraph 4). In that passage, he was writing about joy and warned against taking delight in anything that appears good if it truly is not good. We cannot just look at something and brush it aside, nor adopt it, just because it appears attractive. Rather, if God is truly at work, we should welcome it and rejoice.
St. Therese of Lisieux came from a very devout family. Her father shedding tears at Mass helped teach Therese to love God, which eventually made her into a saint and a Doctor of the Church. Both of her parents have been beatified. St. Therese wrote about her father, Blessed Louis Martin, at Mass when she was a child:
"I looked more frequently at Papa than at the preacher, for his handsome face said so much to me! His eyes, at times, were filed with tears which he tried in vain to stop; he seemed no longer held by earth, so much did his soul love to lose itself in the eternal truths." - St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, chapter 2.
St. Alphonsus Liguori, in teaching about God's love, recounted how St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi marveled that from all eternity, God knew He would create delightful things such as flowers or animals, which she would see and enjoy, and thus be moved to discover God's love and be moved to love Him in return!
The Catechism also teaches us to welcome emotions and judge them not by their presence or intensity, but by what they help accomplish and contribute towards.
“Strong feelings are not decisive for the morality or the holiness of persons; they are simply the inexhaustible reservoir of images and affections in which the moral life is expressed. Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case. The upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them. Emotions and feelings can be taken up into the virtues or perverted by the vices.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1768
In particular, when emotions help us move towards greater union with God, then that is good. A few excerpts from other Doctors of the Church concur:
"You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." - St. Augustine, 4th-5th centuries, Confessions, book 1, no. 1.
"Not by the sword or by war or by violence will she regain her beauty, but through peace and through the constant and humble prayers and sweat and tears poured out by my servants with eager desire." - St. Catherine of Siena, 14th century, Italy, The Dialogue, chapter 15
"Unless we use the utmost vigilance in attending to these gift-laden visits of the Holy Spirit, we shall neither desire Him when He seems absent nor respond to Him when present. If He withdraws from us to stimulate us to a more eager search for Him, how shall we seek for Him if we do not perceive His absence? Or when He comes to animate us, how shall we give Him the welcome due His majesty if His visit passes unnoticed? The man who is indifferent to His absence will be led astray by other influences; the man who is blind to His coming cannot offer thanks for the visit." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 12th century, France; On the Song of Songs, vol. 1, sermon 17, no. 1.
"It is not with steps of the feet that God is sought but with the heart's desire; and when the soul happily finds Him its desire is not quenched but kindled." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, vol. 4, sermon 84, no. 1.
"My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and flesh cry out for the living God." - Psalm 84:2
Something real is happening. As Catholics, we believe worship has room for the whole person, including the mind and also the physical senses. In worship, we use the sense of hearing when the Word of God is read aloud, during preaching, and singing. We use the sense of sight when we see beauty that turns our hearts towards God and teaches biblical stories through art such as stained glass windows, statues, icons, and paintings. We use the sense of smell when incense, oil, or flowers fills the church with beautiful smells that lift our attention towards Heaven. We use the sense of touch when we receive the Eucharist, make the Sign of the Cross, greet one another at the Kiss of Peace, when we touch a statue, holy water, receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, or use other sacramentals. We also use the sense of taste in worship when we receive Holy Communion.
Christianity engages the senses, and doing so has been part of worship since the beginning of Christianity, and even before that in the Jewish temple. Emotions are inseparable from a whole understanding of the human person, so they are welcomed in their appropriate places in worship. Seen in this context, using emotions in prayer should not make charismatic prayer stand out as unusual.
If someone is giving a talk or praying and sheds tears or their voice fluctuates, it is a natural expression that shows something real and significant happened in that person's life. More than just a set of beliefs, Christianity is a life touched and transformed by God's grace. The charismatic renewal helps people discover the potential of God's gifts. When people make that discovery, lives change, and miracles can happen. A speaker sharing about their healing or conversion is not just reporting information; they are sharing some of the most important things in their life. Depending on one's personality, the delivery of such a talk might include emotional expressions. On the other hand, a person may simply be calm all the time and not display many expressions visibly, but that does not mean they are not there. Emotions are not the focus, but they are part of being a person. The charismatic renewal welcomes and gives freedom for such expression, especially during times of praise.
Pope Francis explained it this way how expressions and enthusiasm are appropriate when we praise God. In his homily on January 28, 2014, he said:
“David’s prayer of praise brought him to leave all form of composure and to dance in front of the Lord with all his strength. This is the prayer of praise!”
“‘But, Father, this is for those of Renewal in the Spirit (the Charismatic movement), not for all Christians.’ No, the prayer of praise is a Christian prayer for all of us!”.
“In Mass, every day, when we sing the Holy...This is a prayer of praise: we praise God for his greatness, because he is great! We tell Him beautiful things, because we like that He is like that. ‘But, Father, I am not capable...I should…’. But you’re capable of shouting when your team makes a goal and not capable of singing praise to the Lord, to go out a bit from your behavior to sing this?"
The Saints Integrated Emotions and Prayer The saints tell us the same. St. John of the Cross, in writing about things that people should and should not take delight in, said, "One should rejoice in them if they are serving God." (The Ascent of Mt. Carmel, book 3, chapter 18, paragraph 4). In that passage, he was writing about joy and warned against taking delight in anything that appears good if it truly is not good. We cannot just look at something and brush it aside, nor adopt it, just because it appears attractive. Rather, if God is truly at work, we should welcome it and rejoice.
St. Therese of Lisieux came from a very devout family. Her father shedding tears at Mass helped teach Therese to love God, which eventually made her into a saint and a Doctor of the Church. Both of her parents have been beatified. St. Therese wrote about her father, Blessed Louis Martin, at Mass when she was a child:
"I looked more frequently at Papa than at the preacher, for his handsome face said so much to me! His eyes, at times, were filed with tears which he tried in vain to stop; he seemed no longer held by earth, so much did his soul love to lose itself in the eternal truths." - St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, chapter 2.
St. Alphonsus Liguori, in teaching about God's love, recounted how St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi marveled that from all eternity, God knew He would create delightful things such as flowers or animals, which she would see and enjoy, and thus be moved to discover God's love and be moved to love Him in return!
The Catechism also teaches us to welcome emotions and judge them not by their presence or intensity, but by what they help accomplish and contribute towards.
“Strong feelings are not decisive for the morality or the holiness of persons; they are simply the inexhaustible reservoir of images and affections in which the moral life is expressed. Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case. The upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them. Emotions and feelings can be taken up into the virtues or perverted by the vices.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1768
In particular, when emotions help us move towards greater union with God, then that is good. A few excerpts from other Doctors of the Church concur:
"You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." - St. Augustine, 4th-5th centuries, Confessions, book 1, no. 1.
"Not by the sword or by war or by violence will she regain her beauty, but through peace and through the constant and humble prayers and sweat and tears poured out by my servants with eager desire." - St. Catherine of Siena, 14th century, Italy, The Dialogue, chapter 15
"Unless we use the utmost vigilance in attending to these gift-laden visits of the Holy Spirit, we shall neither desire Him when He seems absent nor respond to Him when present. If He withdraws from us to stimulate us to a more eager search for Him, how shall we seek for Him if we do not perceive His absence? Or when He comes to animate us, how shall we give Him the welcome due His majesty if His visit passes unnoticed? The man who is indifferent to His absence will be led astray by other influences; the man who is blind to His coming cannot offer thanks for the visit." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 12th century, France; On the Song of Songs, vol. 1, sermon 17, no. 1.
"It is not with steps of the feet that God is sought but with the heart's desire; and when the soul happily finds Him its desire is not quenched but kindled." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, vol. 4, sermon 84, no. 1.
"My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and flesh cry out for the living God." - Psalm 84:2