Maturity in Charismatic Leadership

Last Sunday, 23 August 2009, we were having a day of recollection with the rest of SACCRE (Singapore Archdiocese of Catholic Charismatic REnewal). The 9 of us (Oka, Maya, Christine, Priscilla, Elizabeth, Philip, Leo, Lisa, and I), met first in CCK MRT platform in the morning and from there we went together to CSC (Catholic Spirituality Centre).

The three talk was brought by Fr. William Goh. I think this is appropriate for those in leadership position and those in the service team. So please take a look and read :)

The paragraphs might not connect with each other because I was writing my notes in point form. 

Holiness and Ministry

Father emphasized that for Charismatic Renewal, it is not the programme that is important. Jesus is more important, Jesus is the programme.

And to be fruitful in the ministry, holiness is needed. Holiness means to be available for the Lord. If there is no holiness, Lord can't use us leaders, and we can't be fruitful in our ministry.

In contrary, when leaders live in sin, they will discredit themselves, they will destroy the community that they lead. How can they live a double live and ask the community they lead to pray, to fight against sin? How can the blind lead another blind man? 

It is the holiness of the leaders that is important. It is not about being able to preach well, to sing well. They are just the means, not the end themselves.

That's why St John Mary Vianney becomes the patron saint for the priests. He is a humble priest and his education level is very low. But his holiness does not need to be doubted.

To cry out for holiness is not only for my own self, but it is also for the community.

A question to ask for the leaders in Charismatic Renewal, "Have your people grown in holiness?". After so many years in the ministry, if I am to die now, can I give account to the Lord? 

Holiness is the way of life. We can refer to Matthew 5, 6, and 7 where the way of perfection is described there.

Or are we the modern Scribes and Pharisees? Jesus asks us to do better.

And what is the depth of my spirituality?

There are two things devil does well in this age:

Devils destroy the leaders of the church first. If he is to destroy one person, only one person will die. But if he destroy the leader, for example the parish priest, all the parishioners are affected. Devil starts destroying from the top.

Refer to 1 Timothy 3 for advices for leaders.

Therefore, a bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with perfect dignity; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of the church of God? He should not be a recent convert, so that he may not become conceited and thus incur the devil's punishment. He must also have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, the devil's trap.

Leaders must be able to manage their family first before they can take leadership.

Devil also destroys families well.

Holiness means to be faithful to the state of life. We must manage our own household well first.

To be leaders is a big sacrifice. There is no privacy and become the target of public scrutiny. People are watching the leaders. If the leaders only focus on their own self interest, the public will know. And also, if the interest of the leaders is the people's interest, they will be known too.

The higher the position of the leadership in Christ, the higher the consequences.

We as charismatic people should have felt Holy Spirit personally. If that is true, it means to know the heart of Jesus from within.

To grow in holiness, we must struggle against sin. When we have felt the Holy Spirit, we must be more sensitive to sins. Sin isn't as much about breaking the Father's rules as it is about breaking the Father's heart. 

People that hurt us the most are those people that we love the most. It is the same for God our Father. Our Father loves us so much that when we sin, we really hurt God because God really loves us.

So we should put our lives in order first, then we can think about leadership.

Do I do examination of conscience everyday? Because to feel Holy Spirit means to be sensitive to my own sins and weakness. All the mortal sins, venial sins, and imperfections should undergo purifications. It can't be just left there and be treated as secondary or not important.

Spiritual Integration

From 1 Cor 12:4 onwards St Paul speaks about spiritual gift. But after that he emphasizes on the more important stuff, which is Love.

Spiritual integration is important for discernment within Church. Because there is danger of creating church within the Church. Or creating new spirituality within the Church. The danger of 'experiencing' the Holy Spirit can cause division within the Church. 

We as charismatics people should not treat ourselves as elite group. There must not be superiority complex. We must not think that we are the only group that has the Holy Spirit.

In fact, we as charismatics people should always ask ourselves, "Ever since I am entering Charismatic Renewal, am I more Catholic today than yesterday?". Or do we ask ourselves, "Am I more Protestant today than yesterday?" instead? This should not be the case.

Charismatic renewal means personal encounter with Jesus Christ. All the singing, clapping, those are not the essentials because they are just expressions. 

The Holy Spirit has never been missing or lost in Catholic Church. There are many manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Saints are charismatic people. If St Francis could talk to birds, then he is charismatic. Other saints such as St Padre Pio, St John Mary Vianney (who can hear confessions for 15 hours a day and can tell the person the sins without them telling him first), they are truly charismatic.

When we really encounter the Lord, the Lord is fully alive in Holy Spirit in our lives. It is not just about historical Jesus, a person in the past.

Therefore charismatic renewal should be integrated in every movement in the Church. The charisms that we have, we should use them for the service of others. 

We must look out for real transformation in life. Sometimes we are just thinking about resting in the Spirit, about people to fall down. The important thing is not about the falling down. Rather, a question we want to ask for that person is when he gets up, not when he fall down, what is he going to do? 

Therefore, in a community, are the members growing in holiness? Do they become more committed in their responsibilities?

There are crazymatics, which are the people that neglects their daily life for managing charismatics activities itself. Some people may neglect their work. The contrary should be true. If we are students, then by being charismatic we should do even better in our studies. If we are working, then we as charismatic people should always win best worker award. 

The people that neglect their families due to ministry is not suitable for leadership positions. If they can't lead or manage their own households, how can they manage or lead the community?

There are also charismania, which are the people that emphasizes on charisms itself. They think that people outside charismatic prayer group or not involved in Charismatic Renewal does not have the Holy Spirit. That's not true. 

Charismania thinks charisms are the important ones. And there is a danger of creating church within the church. 

For leaders, deep prayer life is not a choice, it is a must. Because with deep prayer life, the leaders will have deep union with God. Leaders should resign if they do not have prayer life. If they have no prayer life, they also can not pray for the community.

Communion and Unity

Converts are not the same as disciples. Disciples are the ones that really live the life of Christ. 

When people is about to die, their last words most of the times are very important. It is the same with Jesus. His last words is to pray for unity. Pope John Paul II said that we must cultivate the spirit of communion.

We must take a look again at the definition of Charismatic Prayer Group. Is it the same as prayer meeting? Is there a need to re-define this?

Leaders are always at service. And the greatest service leaders can render is to promote unity. They are to make sure the group stays together.

Similar to a father, or the head of the household. As a leader or father, he should promote unity within the family. If the head is broken, the body also suffers.

Leaders of Charismatic Renewal must promote unity and communion with Church leaders. There is no opposite between the office of the Church and the charisms. There is a need for self control. And leaders can't always take everything into their own hands.

When we have prayed for our community and we think that prayer does not do anything, we should ask ourselves, "Have I done fasting? Have I offered sacrifice? Have I done mortification? Have I done these things for the people I pray for?".

Leaders of Charismatic Renewal must also promote unity with those outside the Charismatic Renewal movement. Leaders need humility and love. They must have mutual understanding and respect each other. 

Leaders must go for retreat at least once a year. It is not like going a few hours of recollection or 1-2 days of retreat. The retreat should last at least 4 days. Can't we even allocate 4 days a year to go for retreat? But most of the times we can still go for holiday, for cruise, in which we pay even more expensive amount of money. We can't afford to go for retreat of 4 days that costs of 80 SGD, but we can go for holiday that costs 3000 SGD.

Sacrament of reconciliation is a must, at least once a month. It keeps our conscience clear. How can we be sensitive to the Holy Spirit if we are numb by the sins? Even Pope Benedict goes for confessions once a week. Do we think we are holier than Pope himself?

Leaders also must avoid idolatry. When there is someone else that is more suitable to become leaders, are we willing to step down? And most importantly, after we step down, can we still stay enthusiastic in our community?

As leaders, we must trust in God. If we have seen the wonders done by God through Charismatic Renewal, why can't we trust God for big and small stuffs?

Leaders also must walk the talk. We can't ask other people to follow us if we have not done it ourselves. Everyone is under obedience. Pope is obedient to God, the bishops are obedient to Pope, the priests are obedient to the bishops, the parishioners are obedient to the priests.

Leaders must have Eucharistic faith. We can't say that we love Jesus if we leave the Church. How can we just love the head (Jesus) without loving the body (Church)? So exactly we are in the ministry because we love the Church.

After all, the price of leadership is suffering. Because to love is to suffer with your loved ones.