Fr Dwight Longenecker Asks: Are You Scared of Spirituality?

By Fr Dwight Longenecker
11/29/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The faith does need to come alive and there's nothing wrong with seeking a true and living encounter with Christ

Why is it that among "conservative Catholics" there seems to be so little interest in spirituality? We're big on apologetics. We're big on dogma. We're big on the moral teaching of the church. We're big on the rules, the rubrics, the regulations and the routine.

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GREENVILLE, SC (Catholic Online) - Why is it that among "conservative Catholics" there seems to be so little interest in spirituality? We're big on apologetics. We're big on dogma. We're big on the moral teaching of the church. We're big on the rules, the rubrics, the regulations and the routine.

But I think we're a little bit scared of spirituality. If my hunch is right, then there are some good reasons for it. Over the last fifty years of the revolution in the Catholic Church 'spirituality' has developed a bad reputation. Catechesis which should have focused on doctrine focused on 'relationships' instead. People substituted sentimentality for spiritual direction and relativity for true religion.

Sister Sandals and Father Folkmass wanted to make the faith 'relevant' and so they began to explore Buddhism and labyrinths and "earth religions" and "feminist spiritualities". Spurred on by spurious psychologies they were all about "self discovery" and their favorite mantra became, "The kingdom of God is within you" which they interpreted as "You are the kingdom of God" or "Whatever turns you on baby. That is the kingdom of God."

This was a swing back. They were reacting to a pre-Vatican II Catholic religion that they had experienced as legalistic, harsh and rigid. They were reacting against a religion that seemed to be over sacramentalized and under evangelized. They were reacting against a religion that was highly institutionalized and formally structured. They wanted something good. They wanted their faith to be real and they wanted people to "have an encounter with Christ." They wanted the faith to "come alive"!

The problem is that they were not properly grounded and rooted in real Catholicism. They went off on some New Age tangent and cut themselves off from the riches of the church. In their attempt to affirm they couldn't resist denying. They couldn't be content to snoop through other religions and spiritual traditions and perhaps glean something from them or allow the other perspective to lighten their way a little. In their enthusiasm they had to throw out what they had, and adopt something totally alien to the Catholic faith.

Consequently those who want to be faithful Catholics have swung back the other way. "Spirituality" is now associated with nuns dressed in overalls and priests in jeans either conducting workshops on "Channelling your Spirit Guide" or "the Wild Man's Journey"-- which means getting naked and howling at the moon in a sweat lodge.

At the same time the "charismatic renewal movement" took Catholics in yet another direction-one which was also subjective, sentimental and suspiciously un-Catholic. Catholics who were not taken over by New Age Nuns and Flakey Friars were captivated by "gifts in the Spirit", "healing ministries" and "signs and wonders".

Still others substituted social activism for spirituality. It was all about justice and peace and making the world a better place. The spirituality of social struggle became their prayer.

No wonder ordinary Catholic became suspicious, and for "spirituality" the conservative Catholic is more likely to resort to the tried and true classic Catholic spiritual writers and devotional practices.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not down on St Francis de Sales or St Louis de Montfort. I'm all for novenas and scapulars and all that good stuff. However, there is also room for a more creative spirituality-a truly Catholic spirituality that is rooted in Scripture, the magisterium and the lives of the saints, and yet is also creative, positive and which connects with ordinary people alive in our world today.

The religious climate being what it is, I suspect that anything new and creative will be met with suspicion by some conservative Catholics. That's okay.

But at the same time, we do need to be open to the Holy Spirit and seek new ways to share not only the apologetical arguments and doctrinal and moral teachings of the church, but also a spirituality that touches people's lives and deepens their commitment to Christ and his church.

The faith does need to come alive and there's nothing wrong with seeking a true and living encounter with Christ. The tragedy is, the more conservative Catholics retreat from this sort of religion and remain suspicious of it, the more we will find ordinary Catholics wandering off to find what they are searching for elsewhere.

Therefore we must help the faithful find that real religion by digging deep and discovering all the riches of the church. A true spirituality is found embedded within the riches of the church. True spirituality is not something we make up, or something we shop for at the spirituality supermarket. Instead we find it as we are immersed in the -the riches of theology, liturgy, music, art and architecture, literature, prayer and poetry, meditation, contemplation.

As we explore these spiritual riches the whole person comes alive in Christ--body, mind and spirit. To drink deep of the whole artistic, historical and learned tradition of the church is to bring refreshment to the deepest part of our being.

It brings our roots rain.

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Fr Dwight Longenecker is the parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, South Carolina. His latest book is Catholicism Pure and Simple. Visit his blog called Standing on My Head and go to his website to browse his books and make contact.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: spirituality, religion, devotion, piety, renewal movement, prayer, meditation, dialogue, contemplation, Fr Dwight Longenecker

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

Ted Ward
5 months ago
Leading a school of healing prayer fashioned after a model put forward by Francis MacNutt we are struck by the need expressed by all who come, Catholic or not, for the real presence and healing love of the Father through our Saviour, Jesus. As we worship, pray and open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit, it is amazing to see physical, spiritual and inner healing take place. We encourage people to speak to our Lord audibly and extemporaneously as one would to a parent, often a totally new but liberating experience for those who have grown up praying by rote or from printed text. Yes, we subscribe to and seek the gifts and fruit of the Spirit as set out by St Paul in I Cor 12 and Rom. 12. However, our experience tells us that so many are seeking "spirituality" in the occult and eastern paganism because they have never learned to live the Gospels, meditate, to speak to and ask questions of the Lord expecting a response. It is pathetic to hear the Charismatic renewal condemned by clergy who should rather identify with and provide leadership to their people/prayer groups rather than isolate them which so often appears to be the case. Perhaps the approach to ministry and true Christian spirituality needs to be examined at seminary level because the clergy we so often encounter may be great theologians but lack the kind of relationship with God in Jesus Christ that people are seeking.
It is all very well to promote the reading of literature, the lives of saints and the magisterium, etc but nothing fundamental will happen unless a person seek and find a truly personal relationship with Jesus, our Saviour, brother and friend as He called himself and receive the very fullness of God Himself (Eph 3:19). Let's get real!
Faith E. Sharkey
5 months ago
I agree with Fr. L on many points in his article. There have been many movements in the since Vatican II that have been filled with the "Spirit of the Council" in order to seek a deeper relationship with our Lord and have, indeed gone awry if not fallen into apostacy or heresy. I was saddened to read in his article his less than stellar assessment of the Charismatic Renewal Movement. I became part of a Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group in Louisana in the late 1980's, however, I had always been a Conservative Catholic. I did not find the Regional Conference in New Orleans anything but conservative. It promoted faithfulness to the magisterium, Marian Devotion, solid teaching on the Early Church Fathers, Doctors of the Church, and solid teaching on living your faith in the "Market Place" and the new evangelization. I can admit to being initially "captivated by: the gifts of the Spirit, healing ministries, and "signs and wonders"...... Let's see....should we or should we not be CAPTIVATED by such a loving, benevolent, merciful God. Should we or should we not enjoy being loved by such a ....magnificent Creator....and actually there are no appropriate adjectives that can quite describe His greatness. The Charismatic Renewal gave me better catechesis and introduced me to more orthodoxy than any other venue in the church thus far....and I am a convert to the Catholic faith since 1978. I will, however, give Fr. L a pass on his comment. I now live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and I would probably feel the same as he had I only been associated to the Charismatic Renewal in this state. There are some lovely people in it's movement here, but I have experienced them to be an aging population and their conferences rarely have youth tracks which is not encouraging. I guess my advice would be...."Ask and you shall receive, Seek and ye shall find" and you don't need to look further than the Catholic Church.
Benjamin from Cali
5 months ago
It's the same reason why modern-day "conservatives" have such a horrible track record on Creation care, aka ecology conservation. (Ref: Pslams 24:1 as to the true ownership of this world and the universe). Many conservatives have abandoned the defense of organic community and holistic principles in favor of cold mechanical drives for materialistic power. Consumerism is the currency of modern-day conservatism, and that is a horrid tragedy.

Faithful Catholics can and should help restore the conservative philosophy to a more genuine, spiritual force.
techwreck
5 months ago
Fr. Dwight says, "The faith does need to come alive and there's nothing wrong with seeking a true and living encounter with Christ." But, where do adult Catholics learn to have a real relationship with Jesus and an to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives? The bishops only recognized the value of adult education in the late 90's and are just beginning to implement programs in their dioceses. (Kudos to Fr. Robert Barron and the "Word on Fire" ministry for his priceless "Catholicism" program!) But, where is the witness? Where are the clergy, religious, and laity witnessing to how Christ is working in their lives? The laity have good reason to believe that Catholicism is only about knowledge, based on weekly homilies on the Scripture readings in the Mass. Until Catholics are taught by word and example that Christianity is about love of God and love of their fellow man, Catholicism will continue to be an intellectual exercise for most adults. They will keep their faith to themselves instead of sharing it with those around them, and the world will grow more secular because we didn't grow in our love of Christ and share that love with those around us.
Daniel
5 months ago
Interesting how Fr Longenecker encourages us to be open to the Holy Spirit and yet seems to disparage the Charismatic Renewal. Gamaliel suggested to the Jews that they leave "the Way" alone, since if it is not of God, it will fall on its own; but if it is of God, you may find yourself fighting against God. The Renewal has been going 45-years and is planning on the 50-year Jubilee. Unfortunately, too often, I have been to Masses at Charismatic events where liberties have been taken in the liturgy. This is wrong and it truly rubs me raw. (I personally think our liturgies need to be uniform in the Roman Rite--and reverent and solemn akin to the TLM.) God poured out the Charisms for the edification of the young Church. Considering the state of the Church and the world, it would seems that now would be a great time for God to show His power once again through the Holy Spirit. And being part of the renewal does not mean you have to be shaking a tambourine with your hands in the air...it's not about that--at least to me. It is about God the Holy Spirit. If you are charismatic and you think you are being told to violate the teachings of the Church, including the Divine Liturgy, then you best ignore the message.
abey
5 months ago
To live in the Spirit is beginnIng to understand the love of the Son & The Holy Spirit to the Father rendering ones own Spirit to begin crying through the day in & night out calling "ABBA".

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