Charismatic Renewal

Conference
June 26, 2016
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MASS WITH THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL

CONFERENCE 2016
Homily notes of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin
RDS, Dublin, 25th June 2016
We gather to rejoice in being open to the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, gifts we receive for our own sanctification
and for the building up of the Church. The Second
Vatican Council stressed that The Spirit continually
renews [the Church], builds her up, and guides her
with hierarchical and charismatic gifts (LG 4).
The charismatic gifts of the Spirit are not just optional
extras. The Holy Spirit is present with the Church in
many ways. The Spirit sanctifies the People of God
and guides it. The Spirit generously endows and
enriches the Church with special gifts which build up
the Church. The Spirit enriches the Church with
surprises which wake us up and shake us up. The
Spirit restores restlessness to a Church which it is
tempted to become tired and timid. I love that
concept of a restless Church, a Church which does not
give into complacency or inertia.
A recent Vatican document quoted from John
Chrysostom who wrote about the gifts of the Spirit:
What gifts that work for our salvation are not given
freely by the Holy Spirit? Through Him we are freed
from slavery and called to liberty; we are led to
adoption as children and, one might say, formed
anew, after having laid down the heavy and hateful

burden of our sins; from this source spring forth gifts

of revelation, healing graces, and all of the other
charisms that adorn the Church of God.
The work of the Spirit is not a work outside or parallel
to the Church. This is the era of the Spirit. It is
interesting to note that in all the Trinitarian Creeds of
the Church the work of the Church is placed in the
section of the Creed dedicated to the Holy Spirit.
Today, perhaps more than at other times in the history
of the Church, work of new evangelization is so
necessary that it needs to be open to the all the
charisms which the Spirit gives to re-awaken and
renew and nourish the life of faith of the People of
God.
We need a spirit-filled-Church which can welcome all
those who seek the light of faith. Pope Francis noted
that:
If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our
consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers
and sisters are living without the strength, light and
consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ,
without a community of faith to support them, without
meaning and a goal in life.
Even though in the early 70s I had already gone
abroad from Ireland to study and work in Rome, I well
remember the contribution of the Charismatic Renewal
brought to the rejuvenation of the Church in Ireland at
a critical time. At a period of transition in the religious
culture of Ireland, the Charismatic Renewal brought a
new warmth, charismatic dynamism and a deeper
understanding of prayer to many who were seeking a
different home in a changing Church. Charismatic
Renewal gave birth to a range of new pastoral
initiatives which still flourish today.
Today we need a new and vibrant affirmation within
the entire Church of the Joy of the Gospel. A Church
which does not at all levels radiate the Joy of the
Gospel is a Church doomed to stagnation, closed in
within an unreal comfort zone, focussed inwards.
Such a Church will never truly reach out and embrace
the marginalised and bring them and our society
towards experiencing the Joy of the Gospel. It may
seem a paradox, but a without vibrant lay affirmation
of the Joy of the Gospel we will never produce
priestly vocations.

Witnessing to the joy of the Gospel will only be

effective if we understand what the Pope also calls
the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing EG,
9).

We experience the Joy of the Gospel when we

spread the Gospel. You do not spread the Gospel

simply through decrying the evils of the world or
through spiritual narcissism. We will never understand
the joy which springs from the Gospel by just looking
into a mirror at ourselves.
A Church community is not just a supermarket of
spiritual services for individual shoppers. Faith in
Jesus Christ is never just individualistic. When we read
the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the early
Christians were known by the fact that they
gathered: they gathered to share the prayers, the
word and in the breaking of bread and their gathering
developed a particular style of life, that of sharing,
that of communion.
A Eucharistic community by its nature is one which
reaches out beyond itself accompanying in prayer and
service individuals, families and whole communities in
their quest for Jesus Christ and the healing and hopes
he alone can bring.
Pope Francis stresses that those who enjoy life most
are those who leave security of the shore and become
excited by the mission of communicating that life to
others (EG, 10)
The Joy of the Gospel springs from the fundamental
fact that our God is a God of love. He who abides in
love abides in God and God abides in him. The
fundamental unity of all believers is not a sociological
unity. Theological reflection on the Church is not just a
sort of sociological analysis of the Church. The
fundamental unity is a unity in holiness. The Church is
not our creation. We are called into a Church which is
holy. We defile the holiness of the Church when we fail
in our own holiness. The Call to holiness is a call to all
to become part of the life of Gods Holy People and to
witness authentically to that holiness.
The love which should be the mark of the Church
springs from a particular style of life. It is not a sort of
do-goodism, but an ascetical life. The Council
stresses:
If charity is to grow and fructify in the soul like a good
seed, each of the faithful must willingly hear the word

of God and carry out his will with deeds with the help
of his grace: he must frequently partake of the
sacraments, chiefly the Eucharist and take part in the
liturgy; he must constantly apply himself to prayer and
self-denial, active brotherly service and the practice of
all the virtues
The Council stresses, however, that in responding to
this call to holiness the Christian is not opting out of
his or her responsibilities for promoting human
progress.
It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any
state or walk of life are called to the fullness of
Christian life and to the perfection of love and by this
holiness a more human manner of life is fostered also
in earthly society.
Our Gospel reading is an interesting one which show
us how much Jesus cared or those who were sick or
troubled. He heals the servant of the centurion, he
heals Simons mother-in law and in the evening he
heals the many who were brought to him sick or
possessed by devils. Jesus generous care is without
bounds.
The credibility of the Church comes in a special way
through the witness of those of its members who bring
to the world that concept of gratuitousness which is
the opposite of market consumerism, where
everything has its price tag and you only get what you
pay for. This sense of gratuitousness is not just about
doing something over and above what one does daily.
It is a call for a different way of living and forming
society which is inspired by the life and teaching and
mission of Jesus himself, who revealed the
gratuitousness and the superabundance which are the
marks of Gods love.
I reflected earlier how the Charismatic Renewal almost
fifty years ago, at a period of transition in the religious
culture of Ireland, brought a new warmth, charismatic
dynamism and a deeper understanding of prayer to
many who were seeking a different home in a
changing Church. Today at another time of transition
of the religious culture of Ireland we need, perhaps
more than at any time in the past, men and women
open to the Spirit, through whom the gifts of the Spirit
can enrich the Church, make hearts restless and
radically renew the Church and the face of the earth.
Come Holy Spirit.

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