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:: Pentecost, Rome 2006 .......... View website >
INTERNATIONAL OPEN CONFERENCE
At the Open Conference on 5 - 9th June It was a blessed privilege for me to attend the International CCR open conference in Fiuggi, Italy, 5-9 June 2006. Among many leaders of the Renewal from around the globe that I had a chance to meet, my encounter with Patti Gallagher Mansfield left a deep impression for me. Patti, a Duquesne graduate in education as a French major, was a witness to the beginning of the CCR on the now-famous ‘Duquesne weekend’ in February 1967. Patti serves in the CCR in New Orleans, where she lives with her husband and their four children. Below is personal testimony she shared during the conference. Some parts are added from her book, ‘As by a New Pentecost: The Dramatic Beginning of The Catholic Charismatic Renewal’.
Searching for God I always begin my testimony everywhere from Mary’s Magnificat, the very words the Lord gave to me on the night of my baptism in the Holy Spirit, ‘God who is mighty has done great things for me, Holy is His name!’ (Luke 1:49). Throughout my life the Lord has always been gracious to me. I’ve known the love of family and friends, the blessings of good health and a wonderful home, the gift of my Catholic faith. As I finished high school, I felt a growing desire to deepen my understanding of Catholicism. To that end, I decided to search out a Catholic university where I could study theology and form relationships with other young Catholics. What many people might not know is that Duquesne was not my first choice at all! It was only due to my family financial situation that I accepted the admission to Duquesne University, instead of Boston College, my first choice. I still remember during my early weeks in Duquesne, I often stood at my small and old dormitory room, looking out my window at my old and slum campus buildings, I cried out to God in disappointment, “Lord, what did I ever do to deserve this?” Wanting to KNOW God While I found it helpful to study theology, I quickly realized that theology alone could not satisfy my hunger for God. What I really desired was not simply to know more ABOUT God, but to KNOW God.. to know Him in a deeper, personal way. In September 1966, I decided to join Chi Ro meeting, a Scripture study group in campus. I was warmly welcomed and quickly made wonderful friendships with the people there. Months later, they announced the plan for the group retreat, to be held on 17-19 February 1967. I was nervous when I heard that news, believe it or not, it was my first ever retreat in my life! I was afraid that something might happen to change my life. However, the desire to experience God’s presence kept me going for the retreat. As a part of preparation for the retreat, we were asked to read the Acts of the Apostles chapter 1 to 4, the theme of the weekend, and The Cross and the Switchblade (a book by David Wilkerson, a Pentecostal pastor who was led by the Holy Spirit to minister to drug addicts in New York). As I was reading, I found rising in my heart the desire to be led by the Lord myself. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if an ordinary person like me could really know the guidance of God in my life?” But I concluded that this kind of guidance must be reserved for special people, such as missionaries, priests, sisters or evangelists. But after finishing the book, I had enough faith to reach out to God in prayer. “Lord, I believe that I’ve already received your Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation, but if your Spirit can be more at work in my life than He’s been up until now, then I want it!” After that prayer, I opened my eyes. Nothing happened; I was disappointed. Jesus, be REAL for me! Friday, 17 February 1967. We started our ‘Duquesne weekend’ in the Ark and the Dove retreat house. We began the first day with a reflection on Mary, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, continued by a communal penance service. On Saturday morning, we heard a talk on Acts chapter 2, given by an Episcopalian woman. I have to admit that I was skeptical to have a non-Catholic giving a talk in our Catholic weekend. At first I thought she couldn’t be for real as she spoke about knowing Jesus Christ personally. She said that the power of the Holy Spirit could be experienced on our daily lives. I was quite resistant to her words, but before she finished speaking I was longing to have what she had and I wrote in my notes, “Jesus, be REAL for me”. God has another plan After her talk we broke into small discussion groups. One young man in my group, David Mangan, proposed that we ask our chaplain if we could conclude our retreat on Sunday with a ceremony in which we would renew our Confirmation, much the same way we renew our Baptismal promise on Easter. Later, two of us, me and David, were agreed to renew our Confirmation and to seek a release of the Spirit even if no one else did. What we didn’t know was the Lord didn’t want to wait for the closing ceremony on Sunday to answer our prayer. A birthday party had been scheduled for some of the students on that Saturday night. But the party just never materialized, there was a kind of listlessness in the group; people were milling around. God has another plan for us. Because the birthday party never really got started, I decided to go to various parts of the retreat house and call all the students to gather downstairs for the celebration. It was at this point that I wandered upstairs to the chapel. I wasn’t going in to pray.. just to tell any students there to come down to the party. As I entered the chapel, I knelt down in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Then something unexpected happened. Come Holy Spirit! As I knelt there that night, my body literally trembled before His majesty and holiness. I was filled with awe in His presence. He was there.. the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Great God of the universe! This sense of awe and wonder before the Lord made me surrender to Him, unconditionally. For the first time in my life, I prayed this, “Father, I give my life to You, and whatever You want of me, that’s what I choose. If it means suffering, then I accept that. Just teach me to follow Your Son, Jesus, and to learn to love the way He loves”. When I prayed that, I was kneeling before the altar. The next moment, I found myself prostrate, flat on my face, stretched out before the tabernacle. As I lay there, I was flooded from my finger tips to my toes with a deep sense of God’s personal love for me.. His merciful love. His love is so completely undeserved, so lavishly given. It is freely given, generously given, out of the abundance of His mercy. Although I just wanted to remain there and bask in the presence of the Lord, I knew that I needed to share this experience with others. Like the apostles after the Pentecost, I wanted to ‘proclaim His marvelous deeds’, to give witness to the Living God. From a girl who had been afraid of speaking about Jesus, I suddenly became very bold. I started to call every student I could find, this time for the ‘real party’, in the ‘upper room’. Taking each of them by the hand I beckoned, “Come into the chapel with me”. After gathering few students at the chapel, I began to pray out loud for them. “Lord, whatever You just did for me, do it for them!” I was asking the Lord to baptize them in the Holy Spirit without even realizing it. That was probably the shortest Life in the Spirit Seminar on record! Although I don’t think anyone ever called the birthday party downstairs to a halt, within about an hour, almost all students were up in the chapel praying. The Holy Spirit had drawn us there, in the ‘upper room’, as on the day of the Pentecost. That night, 25 of us were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Alleluia! Too much new wine The day after we returned, a friend asked me what had come over me. He was walking me home after an early morning French class. “If I didn’t know you better, Patti, I’d say you were drunk!” he exclaimed. Of course, I was quick to point out to him that this was the very thing said about the apostles after the Pentecost. “They had too much new wine!” (Acts 2:13). Yes, I was drunk, but not on wine! I had tasted the intoxicating love of God when the Holy Spirit came upon me. I knew for myself, yes from personal experience, the goodness of the Living God. After the weekend, we started to discuss intensely about our personal Pentecost experience as well as the Charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of the first things I did was to take the documents of Vatican II Council and look up every reference to ‘Holy Spirit’, ‘charisms’ and ‘spiritual gifts’. I said to myself, “As intense as my experience of the Holy Spirit on the weekend was, if the Church tells me this is not authentic, I would rather renounce my experience than ever leave the Catholic Church.” I rejoiced as I read the following from Lumen Gentium, article 12: It is not only through the sacraments and Church ministries that the same Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and enriches it with virtues. Allotting His gifts ‘to everyone according as He will’ (1 Corinthians 12:11), He distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank.. These charismatic gifts, whether they’re the most outstanding or the most simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation for they are exceedingly suitable and useful for the needs of the Church.. The Church was clearly telling me that my experience of the Holy Spirit was valid and authentic. The gifts are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation! Praise the Lord! After 40 years I am always overflowed with wonder and awe at what God has done throughout these 40 years in the Renewal of His Church. There were 25 of us in 1967, and today there are more than 125 millions of Catholics who have experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It must be the work of God! Being part of this since the beginning, I feel very humbled, and I feel very united to Mary. God chose unlikely people, like me, to unfold His plan on earth. “He scatters the proud-hearted.. He raises the lowly..” (Luke 1:51-52). I remember few weeks after the sovereign outpouring of the Holy Spirit in ‘Duquesne weekend’, I stood at my dormitory room, looking out my window and I cried out to God the same prayer, but this time in thanksgiving and wonder, “Lord, what did I ever do to deserve this?” As you listen to my testimony, I would like to say to you: the Lord is calling us for a greater sensitivity, greater docility to the prompting of His Holy Spirit. And to those who might not yet be baptized in the Holy Spirit: Ask God to grant you this grace. Seek after it. Find others who will pray with you for this release of the Holy Spirit and the charismatic gifts in your life. Holy is His name! Amen.~ Note: Please contact the charismatic prayer group nearest to you to find out more about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit or Charismatic gifts.
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© 2006 SACCRE Youth. All rights reserved. Last updated 14 August 2006 |
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