Serving the Diocese of Orlando Catholic Charismatic Renewal SPRING 2014

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1 Serving the Diocese of Orlando Catholic Charismatic Renewal THE CHARISMATIC NEWS SPRING 2014 We pray that through wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of His will. Colossians 1:9 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Praise Jesus, I hope all of you are well in the Lord. We are finally seeing some warm weather. Now I know why I live in Florida. We had an awesome conference and I have received numerous calls about it; It was the best yet, or what a spirit filled conference. I hope you are all continuing to fan the flame of the Holy Spirit in your daily lives and with all those you come in contact with. We are busy planning our conference this September 26-28, The guest speakers are Sister Briege McKenna, Father Richard Ho Lung and Jesse Romero. What a line-up. The hotel is the same and the rate is $104 per night with up to 4 to a room. Make your reservations for the conference and the hotel early. Please check the newsletter for the conference information or go online to register at: In Jesus, Vincent Maldonado, Administrator of Operations Pope: 'Come out of your shell' to praise the Lord! by Elise Harris EWTN News/CNA- Vatican City, 01/28/14 In his homily, Pope Francis spoke on the importance of freely praising God in our prayer, and warned against an attitude which can be judgmental of others who do not follow certain formalities. You re able to shout when your team scores a goal, and you are not able to sing praises to the Lord? To come out of your shell ever so slightly to sing (His praise)? the Pope asked during Mass. Turning to the day s 1st reading 2 Samuel, the Pope began his reflections by focusing on how David danced with all his might before the Lord in order to celebrate with the whole of Israel that the Arc of the Covenant was returning to its home. Continued page2 column 1 Living a Life Empowered by the Holy Spirit Did you miss the Retreat Experience? To Be Clothed With Power [BCwP] Retreat Experience was hosted by DOCCRC at St. Augustine Church Saturday, February 22. Around 135 people experienced the event presented by Dr. Tom Curran, a noted speaker who also presents Come Holy Spirit! Seminars. Dr. Curran presented 3 dynamic talks during the day, and gave a preview of another seminar Discernment, Many seminars are available on his website including the full-length [BCwP] seminar. DOCCRC wholeheartedly recommends the Come Holy Spirit! Seminars for Prayer Groups and Parishes wishing to present a Life in the Spirit Seminar. After the Come Holy Spirit! seminar, you've been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now what? Continued page2 column 3

2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Pope Francis David s prayer led him to move beyond all composure noted the Pope, highlighting that this dancing was precisely a prayer of praise. Recalling how Sarah, the wife of Abraham, exclaimed that the Lord made me dance with joy after the birth of her son Isaac, the pontiff highlighted that it is not difficult to pray in thanksgiving or in petition, but when it comes to prayer of praise we leave it aside it does not come to us so easily. Drawing attention to the moment in the Mass when we sing the Holy, Holy, Holy, the Pope observed that this is a prayer of praise: we praise God for his greatness, because He is great. We say beautiful things to Him because we are happy for His greatness. Praising God is completely free, the pontiff explained, and (in it) we do not ask (Him to give us anything): we do not express gratitude for anything (He has given); we praise (Him)! (Here is) a good question for us to pose to ourselves today, the Pope reflected, asking how am I doing vis à vis prayer of praise? Do I know how to praise the Lord? Do I know how to praise the Lord when I pray the Gloria or the Sanctus? Is my whole heart really in it, or do I merely mouth (the words)? What does David dancing here say to me, and Sarah, dancing for joy? he continued, when David enters the city there begins another thing: a party! What does the Word of God mean, here? reflected the pontiff, (It means) that joy, that the prayer of praise makes us fruitful! Sarah danced in the great moment of her fecundity at the age of ninety! The fruitfulness that praise of the Lord gives us, the gratuity of praising the Lord: that man or that woman who praises the Lord, who prays praising the Lord, who, when praying the Gloria is filled with joy at doing so, and who, when singing the Sanctus in the Mass rejoices in singing it, is a fruitful person. Pope Francis closed his homily by stating that contrary to this fruitfulness, Those, who are closed in the formality of a prayer that is cold, stingy, might end up as Michal, in the sterility of her formality. Asking those present to imagine David dancing with all his might before the Lord, the Pope encouraged them to think about how beautiful it is to make the prayer of praise. He concluded with the words of the Psalm 23, Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory. 2 POEM by Richard Swiderski Breath of God Breathe on me, O Breath of God, Abba Father. Fill me with Your Life Anew. I am but a Borrowed Breath, A Thought You hold, a Drop of Dew. Breathe on me, O Breath of God, Sweet Jesus. Fill me with Your Love, as Driven. That Your Cross, I may Bear, With eyes Unblinded to Beauty Given. Breathe on me, O Breath of God, Holy Spirit. Fill me with Your Blazing Fire. Purify my Dreams, O Lord, That I may Hunger but Your Desire. Breathe on me, O Breath of God, Triune One. Fill me with Your Praise till Bursting. My sins, my fears, Your Heart Consuming, Lost in Mercy, to You I Run. Continued from page 1 column 3 Be Clothed with Power How do you continue to open your life to the Holy Spirit? What can you expect? At this Day Retreat, Dr. Tom Curran addresses these challenges and reveals the joy of living through the power of the Holy Spirit. Find a renewed commitment to follow the Holy Spirit in your daily life, find yourself drawn closer to your Heavenly Father, and hear His call to go forth into the world to preach and live the Gospel. You are clothed with power for a purpose. Find that purpose as you experience this retreat and take the truths you learn into your life. Continued on page3 column 3

3 Angels & Demons - Part 1 By Gary Bowden I want to address this area of Spiritual Beings in a 2-part presenta on - Angels & Demons. We may be confused or even a li le afraid of this topic, perhaps because of the shows we have seen at the theater or on TV. We see frightening, overpowering depic ons, as in the Exorcist, or helpful, visible angels as in Touched by an Angel. We might have read or heard of stories from our family or friends or in the media. The bible contains passages about both angels and demons. Jesus confronts the devil as he faces the 3 tempta ons in the desert. The ministry of Jesus is filled with instances where he heals and casts out demons. Angels appear to characters in the bible, such as the angel appearing to Mary. Usually the first message is, Do not be afraid, so, of course, we conclude there must be something frightening in their appearance. Part 1, Angels This will be part 1, the Angels. What do we know about the angels? Well, we know they are created, invisible, heavenly beings. Church tradi on teaches there are 9 choirs of angels in 3 hierarchies: 1st: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones 2nd: Dominions, Virtues, Powers 3rd: Principali es, Archangels, Angels We even know the names of some of the principle archangels, Michael, the prince of the angels, Gabriel, the messenger to Zachariah and Mary, and Raphael, the healing angel. This might be on reason for fear, because we remember Zachariah was struck dumb when he asked the angel a ques on (Luke 1;8-20), whereas Mary asked and got an answer without anything happening (Luke 1:34). The Church also teaches that we each have our personal, guardian angel assigned to us during our life me. We may even know the name of our angel -- I call mine Gregory -- or we may have completely ignored this heavenly assistant. Recently, in talking with my spiritual director, I learned that we can ask our angel to talk with someone else s angel and expect that communica on to happen. Even more recently, I read that a recent pope daily communicated with his angel, especially if a difficult mee ng was coming up. He asked his angel to smooth the way by talking to the angel of the person he would be mee ng, and once the angels agreed, then the mee ng usually went well. First I heard about that idea!!! A angel appeared to Philip Acts 8:26 ) and gave him a mission with the Ethiopian. The apostles were released from prison by an angelic visit (Acts 5:19) and told to con nue preaching. There are stories of saints who saw their angels and were helped by them, protected from harm by them, and delivered from tempta- ons. We may be assured that angels are real, and many books have been wri en a es ng to that fact. Regardless, I urge you today to decide to make a decision. You have heard about angels, but you need to act. Get in touch with your guardian angel, learn the name of your angel, enlist the help of your angel. Ask for the assistance of addi onal angels, especially when you have a par cularly difficult task. If you have a ministry, ask for a special angel to be assigned to help you with that ministry. Stay tuned for part 2 next me: Demons, or the Fallen Angels Con nued from page 2 Be Clothed with Power What to expect A day filled with dynamic, entertaining and insightful presentations that will keep you engaged and involved! A fresh understanding of the calling that the Lord has given you! A renewed desire to surrender to the Holy Spirit in every area of your life! Teaching and prayer that will equip you to live a life empowered by the Spirit of God 3

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6 CALENDAR ======================================================================================================================================================= Come Holy Spirit! A Seven Week Journey to a Fuller Experience of the Holy Spirit in your Life Wednesday Evenings! Dates: April 23 through June 4, 2014 Time: 6:30 pm, Location: Church of the Epiphany, 201 Lafayette St, Port Orange, FL This series is presented on DVD by Dr. Tom Curran. For more information please call Suzanne Grubbs at or SerpentSue@aol.com or Please visit our web site: Healing Prayer Evening of Healing Prayer, First Monday of each month at 7:00PM in Community Center, Our Lady of Lourdes, 201 University Blvd., Daytona Beach All ministers in healing have been trained in Francis and Judith MacNutt's Christian Healing Ministry School of Healing Prayer. For info call Gary Bowden: or BowdenGary@aol.com 14th Annual Day of Healing and Reflection on January 10, 2015 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Orlando, Florida. Guest Speakers are Father Bill Halbing and Tom Curran. Mark you calendars. For informa on call (407)

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8 DIOCESE OF ORLANDO CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL CENTER P.O. BOX 1800 ORLANDO, FL Return Service Requested Non Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Orlando, Florida Permit No. 235 TO CONTACT US ADMINISTRATOR OF OPERATIONS Vince Maldonado Phone ADMINISTRATOR OF NEWSLETTER AND DATABASE Philip Turgati ADMINISTRATOR FOR PRAYER GROUP DEVELOPMENT Gary Bowden Phone COMMISSION CHAIR Paul Avizinis SECRETARY: Kim Niday Address Catholic Charismatic Renewal Diocese of Orlando P.O. Box 215 Windermere, FL WEBSITE 8