Charismatic Renewal
By †Gabriel Obiano, D.D.
Are We Now Neglecting the Holy Spirit in Our Churches?
The question before us is not small. This question needs a simple answer wrapped in truth because it is the question of whether in our churches today, in our liturgies, in our communities, in our very pastoral lives, we have started neglecting the Holy Spirit—the current of grace, the living breath of God. It is not a light matter, because the Spirit is the very soul of the Church. Without Him, the Church is a structure, a fine cathedral, a choir, a system of canon laws, but not the living Body of Christ. With Him, even a humble gathering in a thatched room becomes the dwelling place of God.
The Church cannot rid itself of the Holy Spirit. We can't drive the Spirit of truth away. He has come to stay, to advocate for us—to be our Counselor and reveal the deep things of God. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church has no direction. He leads, He guides and instructs the Church. The Church isn't a social club. We are perfect members of His Body—Christ, through Whom we have received the Spirit of Truth.
When I look across the landscape of our churches, especially in this age of programs, committees, well-planned liturgies, and orderly worship, I ask myself: Have we left out the very One who makes the Church alive? The very One through Whom the Church persevered through ages of persecutions.
We can't pastor our local parishes or dioceses without the Holy Spirit. The Church doesn't need to be dry and without help from the Spirit of Truth.
How the Charismatic Renewal Began
Let us go back to history. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal, as we know it, had its visible beginning in 1967, at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA. A group of students gathered for a retreat. They were not scholars of mysticism, not theologians with heavy tomes, just ordinary students longing for God. In prayer, while reading *The Cross and the Switchblade* and the Acts of the Apostles, they asked for a new Pentecost. Yes, that's right. They asked for a new Pentecost. Perhaps they perceived the Church had left the path the early Apostles walked on.
What happened there has been described as a “baptism in the Holy Spirit.” They felt the fire, the joy, the tongues of prayer, the gifts of prophecy, the renewal of life. From that small retreat, the flame began to spread—to other campuses, parishes, dioceses, and finally throughout the world. The renewal entered Africa, Asia, Latin America, and touched the lives of millions.
Can a branch depart from its vine and yet live? If without the Holy Spirit, we are just the walking dead.
Notice, my brethren, that this was not a new invention. It was not an addition to the Gospel. It was a rediscovery of the reality of Pentecost. The same Spirit who descended in Acts 2, the same Spirit who strengthened the martyrs, who inspired the saints, was once again moving in our day.
Many see it as uncatholic to speak in tongues or even to manifest the gifts of the Spirit. They perceive this move in our time to be something that should be left for our Protestant brethren.
I recall when I was ridiculed by fellow deacons for speaking in tongues while in the diaconate order. They would mock me and say, "Did it escape your lips again?"
Brethren, we need to correct our mindset. As Catholics we uphold the Apostolic succession, that unbroken line of succession from the early Apostles. The question now is: did the apostles receive the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues, heal the sick and manifest the power of God? I know you can't answer no to this question because they did that. Even the shadow of St. Peter healed the sick, and the apron of Apostle Paul was taken to the sick (cf. Acts 19:12 & Acts 5:15).
So even these Apostles, whose lineage we draw our succession from, manifested the raw power of the Holy Spirit because they understood the role of the Spirit and didn't neglect Him because they had big titles. In the same way, we who are their successors should not claim historical succession alone but also strive to be empowered by the Same Spirit that empowered them.
The Apostolic Example
When we read the Acts of the Apostles, one thing is clear: the Apostles never neglected the current of the Spirit.
In Acts 2, the Spirit came with fire and tongues. Peter preached, and three thousand were added in one day. Was it Peter’s eloquence? No. It was the Spirit. The Spirit isn't after the eloquence of speech.
In Acts 4, after persecution, they gathered and prayed, and the place shook, and they were renewed again with the Spirit. The Spirit gave them boldness.
In Acts 8, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Spirit.
In Acts 10, even before Peter finished speaking, the Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household.
In Acts 13, the Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work.” The Spirit was the one guiding mission, not mere human planning.
Everywhere in the early Church, the Spirit was not neglected. The Spirit was the heartbeat. To remove the Spirit from the apostolic Church is to take away its very breath and to cripple the Church.
So why should we today, in our so-called modern church, filled with education and systems, start to act as if the Spirit is an option or for a specific people or denomination?
Why We Should Not Neglect the Spirit
Some argue: “We have sacraments, we have the hierarchy, we have tradition. Is that not enough?” But remember, sacraments are channels of grace. Without the Spirit, they become empty signs. The Eucharist itself is consecrated by the calling down of the Spirit—the epiclesis. Baptism gives new life because the Spirit enters the soul. Confirmation is the seal of the Spirit. Holy Orders confers the Spirit for ministry.
Our very liturgy is saturated with the Spirit. The problem is not the absence of the Spirit, but our neglect of Him. We speak less of Him. We train priests more in administration than in openness to the Spirit. We preach morality without power. We argue theology without fire. And people go away hungry.
The Charismatic Renewal has been God’s reminder to the Church: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). This Renewal is not a parallel Church. It is a current of grace, a reminder of Pentecost within Catholic life. It teaches us to pray with the heart, to sing with the Spirit, to listen for God’s voice, to exercise charisms—prophecy, healing, discernment—so that the Church may be alive. So that the Church will do exploits and persevere like the early Church.
Exegesis of the Neglect
Neglect happens subtly.
We neglect the Spirit when our homilies are dry lectures, without anointing.
We neglect Him when parish councils are more about human politics than listening in prayer.
We neglect Him when we fear the gifts—tongues, healing, prophecy—because they are not tidy, not predictable.
We neglect Him when we substitute programs for prayer.
We neglect Him when young people are not taught to expect God’s living presence, but only to memorize doctrines.
Doctrines are vital. Without truth, the Spirit is misrepresented. But without the Spirit, truth becomes theory. We need both—the solid foundation of doctrine, and the living breath of the Spirit.
Theological Reflection
Saint Paul tells us: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17). That freedom is not chaos; it is the liberty of sons and daughters of God.
Saint Augustine said: “Without the Spirit, the sacraments are dead letters.” Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that grace is the Spirit’s gift in the soul.
Theologically, the Spirit is the soul of the Church. Pope John Paul II, in Dominum et Vivificantem, called Him the “hidden God” who animates everything. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. Pope Francis has again and again told us to “open ourselves to the surprises of the Spirit.”
How then can we neglect Him and still claim to be Church?
Pastoral Appeal
My dear brothers and sisters, pastors and faithful alike, I write not as a critic of the Church but as one who loves her. I say with love: Let us not neglect the Spirit.
When a priest prays over the sick with faith, he is allowing the Spirit to heal.
When a parish gathers to praise with song and clapping, they are opening to the Spirit’s joy.
When a mother at home teaches her children to pray in the Spirit, she is planting seeds for the future.
When we discern together in prayer before a decision, instead of only relying on strategy, we let the Spirit guide us.
Charismatic Renewal is not a movement of the past. It is a present call. It began in 1967, but it is Pentecost continued. In Africa, in Latin America, in Asia, it is still breathing life into parishes. If in some places it has grown cold, it is not because the Spirit is absent, but because we have neglected Him.
The Spirit Cannot Be Controlled
One fear pastors have is: “If we give room to the Spirit, things will get out of control.” But is the Spirit a spirit of disorder? No. Saint Paul says in 1 Cor 14:33, “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” Yet Paul also said, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thess 5:20-21).
Control belongs to Christ, the head of the Church. The Spirit does not overthrow Christ, but glorifies Him. What we fear is not the Spirit, but our own loss of control. Yet, it is better to lose control and let God lead, than to keep control and suffocate the Spirit.
A Prophetic Warning
If we continue neglecting the Spirit, our churches may remain full of activity but empty of power. We may have many members, but little transformation. We may have money, but no miracles. We may have choirs, but no conversion.
But if we open ourselves again, if priests preach with fire, if the faithful pray with expectancy, if communities discern together, then the Church will not only survive but thrive. Our time needs the Spirit more than ever—amid secularism, confusion, moral crisis. Only the Spirit can renew the face of the earth.
Conclusion
The Charismatic Renewal is not a fashion, not a passing wave. It is a reminder that Pentecost is now. The Apostles never neglected the Spirit. The saints never neglected Him. Why should we? Remember we are their successors. Are we now walking a different path they never walked?
Let us pray again: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.
My brethren, may we never quench the Spirit. May our churches not become graveyards of faith, but gardens of grace. May the Renewal not be a memory of 1967, but a living fire in 2025 and beyond.
Are we now neglecting the Holy Spirit in our churches? May the answer from our hearts be: “No, Lord. Not anymore.”
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