Gathering to open faithful to gifts of the Holy Spirit

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
May 8, 2008

Pentecost is the feast that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

Father David Hemann said Pentecost Sunday therefore makes for perfect timing of a diocesan-wide charismatic prayer meeting.

The charismatic gathering, hosted by Father Hemann and the diocesan spiritual renewal pastoral team, will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on May 11 at in the basement hall at Sacred Heart Church in Ida Grove.

"It will be a basic prayer meeting with praise and worship music and then we will settle down to quiet, contemplative time - resting in the Lord's presence and being open to his word," he said.

Father Hemann will also offer a teaching centered on spirituality and what it means to be a person who is deeply connected to the Lord. There will also be time for persons requesting special prayers.

"The prayer meeting flows out of the Eucharist - our relationship with the Lord Jesus," he explained. "Whoever accepts Jesus receives the Holy Spirit and is empowered to become a son or daughter of God. The prayer meeting is an outreach from the fundamental prayer meeting of the Mass."

Since it will be "full-blown charismatic," Father Hemann said at the start of the meeting he will provide a little orientation to explain some of the gifts of the Spirit that might be experienced. For instance prophecy is God speaking through a person and praying in the Spirit sometimes includes singing in tongues or different languages.

At the meeting, the faithful will also ask God for healings - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

"It is through the gift of the Holy Spirit that this happens - so Charismatics not only focus on God the Father and Son, but also focus strongly on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that the Spirit of Father and Spirit of Jesus give to us," he explained.

Father Hemann noted that he became involved in the charismatic renewal as a high school student. While he was a good and faithful Catholic boy, he said the charismatic renewal is what opened his relationship with God in a "deeper and more personal way."

He said it was the charismatic renewal that "profoundly" aided him in his vocation to be a priest.

"God has given us the Holy Spirit as a pledge of his love, but a lot of times we don't yield to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit minister to us or work through us to minister to other people," said Father Hemann.

The priest stressed the fact that all people have the Holy Spirit within; however, it must be used. He used the analogy of a computer and its vast capabilities but it is only good if people take it out of the box and plug it in. Likewise, people must learn now to open their hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit.

"God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church for the upbuilding of the individual and he gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to the individual for the upbuilding of the church," he stressed.

Father Hemann pointed out that Pope John Paul II was and Pope Benedict XVI is favorable towards the charismatic renewal and the way that the Lord can spark hearts to deeper conversion.

Pope Benedict, he added, spoke about how small communities gathered in prayer combined with the spark of the Holy Spirit is what is going to renew the Catholic Church and while the Charismatics gather together from time to time in a larger group they often pray with two, three or four people. When they pray, they do so with openness to the gifts of the Holy Spirit - whether it is a prophetic word, a word of wisdom or a healing.

Father Hemann noted that Bishop R. Walker Nickless has appointed him as the diocesan liaison between the charismatic renewal and the bishop.

"The bishop has entrusted me to make sure that the charismatic activities are keeping in touch with the apostolic tradition and not going off in some direction that would be contrary to Scripture or the Magisterium," he said.

By being involved in this ministry, it has opened his own eyes to how the Holy Spirit is working in his life.

From this meeting, the diocesan renewal team will make plans for three or four more meetings in the coming year.

All adults and teenagers are welcome to attend this gathering. There is no need to pre-register.

"It's a great way to spend Mother's Day - praising the Lord," he said.