Charismatics

One of the movements that seems almost to have taken over the Church is Pentacostalism or Charismaticism. In many parts of the world it seems to be the only “strain” of Catholicism on offer. In many parts of Asia and South America it is Catholicism, so too in our schools and parishes in many parts of our country.
Its music dominates liturgy, smothering anything “authentically” rooted in the Catholic tradition. Its style of shared prayer too seems to have taken hold of Catholic gatherings, ousting the Liturgy of the Hours or traditional devotions.

Healing services replace the sacraments, or push them to the sidelines. Private Revelation, especially through lay leaders seems to trump official Church teaching.

Its main consequence is however its effect on Catholic thought, especially in preaching and teaching, primarily because here it shows its Protestant roots, in that it puts forward a preference for personal experience over and against the Magisterium. In this it easily becomes both anti-historical and anti-intellectual, in short Catholic-lite. It seems to dominate our schools and catechesis partly because it is by nature “person centred”, and also because it is so easy for a partly formed teacher or catechist to put forward their own opinion as fact, rather than seek to understand and make their own two thousand years Catholic Tradition, a Tradition developed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and authenticated by Christ’s promises to the Apostles.

In some parts of the world this movement has to some extent been Catholicised, it has placed Eucharistic Adoration and Marian devotion at its heart, slowly it is learning to put the Magisterium rather than “prophetic” lay leadership at its head.

In the United States new religious communities like the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal seem to be able to unite Catholicism and Charismaticism. The same can be said of Bishop Dominique Rey in the French diocese of Frejus-Toulon, who describes himself as a Traditionalist Charismatic and seems to have as many vocations as the rest of the French dioceses combined. At the moment he is organising a major conference in Rome on Eucharistic Adoration. See Fr Simon Henry’s blog for an account of what is happening.
Here in England Fr Alexander Sherbrooke seems to be doing amazing things at St Patrick’s Soho.

For the most part here though, Charismaticism seems to set itself up against the "institutional" or "heirarchic" Church. One is more likely to have a member of a alternative lay "heirarchy" speaking at a Charismatic conference than a bishop or even priest. Lay leaders tend to decide on readings or themes for liturgies rather than following the rubrics of the Church, often these rubrics are deliberately broken: the use of pottery vessels, of the minumum of vestments, a choice of a non-church environment for the celebration, the addition of made up rites, the disdain for "tradition" are not uncommon. Indeed I heard recently of a charismatic Catholic layman baptising an adult, without necessity, because the Spirit told him to.

It was most probably ever thus: it was certainly there at the Reformation. Today's ferial Gospel reading can be read as a conflict between Charismaticism and the Apostolic Church, which we see in Paul's writings too.

The Charismatics: those who prophesy, drive out demons etc in His name are unknown to him:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

The Apostolic Church: A typological reading would see "the wise man" as Christ who built his house the Church on the Rock of Peter, by the time of writing of Matthew' Gospel, Solomon's Temple was seen as being built on sand and had been swept away. The Church in communion with the Rock, Peter, will stand firm until the end of time

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”