Three weeks ago, I was elated to be able to attend the Priests, Deacons, and Seminarians retreat at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, a retreat I had last attended in 2012 and which I am usually unable to attend because it annually conflicts with Priest Days here in Seattle.
In case you are not familiar with Franciscan, it is one of the epicenters of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal here in the United States (though in recent decades it is often known more for its orthodoxy, being one of the few Catholic universities to require a mandatum for its faculty). I was introduced to Steubenville spirituality when I was a student in Boston and it was incredibly important to me in my deepening of faith and discernment of priesthood during that time, which is why I was so thankful to finally attend a Steubenville retreat again.
I do not have a particularly expressive spirituality (I blame my German and Irish Catholic ancestors), so people are often surprised that I would describe myself as a charismatic, but that spirituality should not be reduced to a caricature of rolling on the ground, speaking in tongues, or generally ignoring social norms around religion. It can be that, but that is really only one possible expression of radical openness to the work of the Holy Spirit.
Instead, having reflected on this again over the course of my retreat, I believe that the core of charismatic spirituality is the unshakable belief that God is still at work in the world through his Church. The Lord is constantly doing something new and beautiful, and he does this through his Holy Spirit at work in the lives of believers. A “charism” or spiritual gift is simply the way in which the Holy Spirit uses each Christian disciple as a unique individual to continue his work.
My retreat at Steubenville refreshed in me the firm belief that the building of the Kingdom is God’s work, and that I am (and all of us are) simply along for the ride. The task of the Christian disciple is to continually empty themselves so that the Holy Spirit can work through us powerfully in order to bring about conversion and to distribute grace. I was certainly happy for the reminder.
Fr. Moore 