We Are Friends of 

Personal Testimonies of our Experience 
with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal:

Ultimately, the faith of my parents led me down the road of acknowledging Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.

I was blessed to be born into a home with parents who came from strong religious backgrounds. Although both were very well grounded in their faith, neither was Catholic. At the time I was born, both Mom and Dad were Presbyterian and I was baptized as one.  So, I guess in the truest sense, I'm a convert myself. 

Through contacts my father had around town, he began searching for what was missing in his religious experiences. Somehow, he got to know Father Louis, and began instruction back in 1953. Soon after that, both my brother and I were baptized again as Catholics. Mom, however, never converted, and went to her death a Methodist. An interesting sidebar is that Mom studied the Catholic faith so that she could instruct my brother and me. She even used to set her friends straight if they dared to speak against the Church!

Of course, my parents sent me to a good Catholic school.  I owe a great debt to the Benedictine monks and Dominican sisters who were great teachers of faith in my early years.  They laid a foundation that endures to this day.

Unfortunately, as the years went by some things happened that caused a loss of my own faith for a time and shook me very deeply.  First, when I was 15, I lost dad to cancer. Although mom tried her best to keep us in our faith, I soon became disillusioned, and fell away from the Church.

Also, with Vatican Council Two, many of the familiar things Church used to be were no more.  The Latin Mass I grew up with was gone, as was the reverence attached to it.  My falling in with the wrong crowd didn't help, either. I eventually got drafted and served in Vietnam.  Three days before leaving for overseas, I was in darkness and was a Catholic in name only. 

The war taught me that I was just a kid and had a lot to learn.  Namely, I had to learn to appreciate what most of us take for granted.  While I was thankful God saved me from death in Southeast Asia, I still saw organized religion as something that I really didn't need. Heck, after all, I was a 21-year-old man who had escaped death in the war and was in perfect health.

After I returned home, I married my wife Denise.  I think that it was the prompting of the Holy Spirit, because even though I was away from the Church, I made a good confession, and was married at a Nuptial Mass.  Four children were given to us, and yet all during this time, I was away from the sacraments.  That was about to change.

When Denise and I found out that a fourth child was on the way we were both concerned as to how we could provide for her.  We went through a very tough time deciding whether or not to have an abortion.  I was really scared when Denise made an appointment with a doctor about one.  I didn't know it at the time, but she later told me she couldn't have gone through with it.  But I was scared that this situation was actually happening in my family.

That's when I realized that I was trying to run our family, and it was about time I let God take the reins.  Heather's birth and baptism had brought the family back to the sacramental life of the Church!

I went to confession during Lent that year, and received Jesus for the first time in 15 years!  It was so good to be back. Actually, now I can't picture a day without Mass, never mind a Sunday. But, now I had to relearn my faith!

I did a lot of reading, and began going to daily Mass during Lent. A year later, I was attending daily Mass year round.  I had a pretty good grasp of Scripture, thanks to the daily Mass readings, and saying the Office.  My father had taught me this when I was a child and as an adult, my pastor re-taught me.  Around this time I began spiritual direction. A friend suggested that I make a Cursillo retreat. 

I remember my dad going on retreats and coming back so happy, but I would wait two more years before getting on this weekend retreat.  Even though I could say that I knew Jesus when I left, my heart still was not wide open to his graces.......But, by the time it was over I was!  I came back home full of joy, and realizing that I had come face-to-face with Jesus on that weekend.  I knew He had more for me, and I was now open to it, but, what next?

Well, I didn't have to wait too long. I had an appointment with my spiritual director the next week. I had heard that his friend, Fr. Jeff was to celebrate his first Mass in a couple of weeks.  I also knew there was a plenary indulgence for attending a priest's first Mass. I didn't want the indulgence for myself because I knew I'd go out and blow it the next day.  I did want it for my parents, so I asked Father Joseph if there was some way I could attend this Mass. 

I didn't know Father Jeff, had only heard of him, and here I was, inviting myself to his First Mass.  (The Holy Spirit can make us do some pretty BOLD things!) The Holy Spirit wanted me there, for a different reason than a plenary indulgence.  I had never been to a Charismatic Mass and I was blown away by all the love and joy I saw. 

The priest who gave the homily spoke about how much Jesus loves us.  Father said that many of us had 'head' knowledge about God, but we had to let Jesus into our hearts! 

WOW, he was talking to ME! Later on, the priest invited those who wanted to accept Jesus into their hearts to pray with him.

I gave my heart to Jesus, and my life hasn't been the same since.

Soon after, I joined a prayer group at St. Frances in Metuchen, and was baptized in the Holy Spirit later that year.  Jesus has given me so many graces since then, I keep wondering, "What next?"  But, I press on with my eyes fixed on Jesus, who helps me see Him and His love for me every day.  May his Name be forever praised!

I grew up in a Catholic home where we attended mass every Sunday.  I went to Catholic grammar school and Catholic high school.  Unfortunately,  my faith wasn't something that affected my day to day life.  As a teenager I was pretty discontent.  I was always looking ahead to something in the future that might bring me happiness: a relationship, job, or vacation for instance.  I grew increasingly restless when I started to obtain some of my desires but instead of being content I felt emptier than ever.  Partying, material possessions, popularity, nothing would satisfy.  When I was sitting in church on Sundays, I would often ask God, "Is this all there is to life?   Just going to school everyday, watching TV, hanging out with friends?  If neither life nor God could offer me something deeper and more meaningful, I was not sure that I even wanted to live.

When I was seventeen, I was invited by my neighbors to attend a youth conference at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio.  For the first time in my life, I started to look at my Catholic faith as a possible source of fulfillment.  That weekend I saw thousands of young people who obviously loved God.  They were singing songs and shouting out praises to God with all their hearts.  I never witnessed so many people who were my age that were so happy.  What blew me away the most was that I could see that somehow their joy was a result of their relationship with Jesus.  They talked about Jesus like they really knew Him.  Like they just ate lunch with Him!

Although I had an intense and intriguing weekend at the youth conference,  my usual click of friends at home had not gone with me.  The peer pressure I  met with when I came home was too strong for me to make any substantial changes in my attitude or my worldly priorities.  For the next two years I played the game of having one foot in the world and one foot in God's kingdom.  I experienced the tension that always accompanies such double mindedness.  I would attend an occasional youth group meeting or Charismatic prayer meeting but they were not high on my priority list.  Part of me yearned for a deeper relationship with God, while the other part of me was concerned about what people would think if I became a "Jesus Freak".

When I was nineteen, I went through a rough time as I quit a particular job and I tried to figure out what I was going to do with my life.  At this time I had an opportunity to go on another weekend retreat.  Over the course of that weekend a few life-changing revelations hit me and God demonstrated His power in my life in a way I will never forget.  First, the message that God loved me and that He had a plan for my life started to sink in and bring me peace.  Second, the truth of who Christ is and what He did for me by dying on the cross started to go from my head to my heart.  As I started to truly believe the Gospel message, I was convicted of my disordered life.  I came to understand that because of who Jesus is and what He did for me, a response was called for on my part.  A gift was being offered to me, the first of a loving relationship with my Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier but it was up to me to accept this gift.  I started to believe that the only way I was ever going to be as happy as I wanted to be and as happy as God wanted me to be was if I would place God and His will for me first in my life.

During one of the sessions on the retreat I approached the retreat team for counsel. I relayed my position.  I wanted to follow Christ with all my heart but I felt incapable of meeting the demands of a true disciple.  One of the retreat leaders read to me Acts 2, the story of Pentecost.  He then explained that the first apostles were just like me, sinful, weak, human beings in need of God's Holy Spirit.  Then he offered to pray with me for a release of the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.  I accepted the offer for prayer, and in doing so I was also making a firm decision for Christ.  It is hard to put into words what I felt during those moments of prayer.  Probably the best analogy is to say I felt like a pressure cooker.  As I yield to the Holy Spirit and said "Yes, Holy Spirit take control of my life", it was as if someone flipped the switch on top of the pressure cooker.  What I was left with was a deep, deep peace.

I had no idea that what happened during this retreat was going to affect me in a radical way from then on.  In the days and weeks that followed, I noticed a new strength seemed to have been awakened within me.  When conflicts arose and I had to choose between good and evil there was a new compelling force steering me in the right direction.  I had what seemed to be an almost unquenchable desire to pray and read the Bible.  Prayer meetings and youth group meetings soon became a priority in my life.  I wanted to share my faith with other people, even if they thought I was a "Jesus Freak". It wasn't long before I said to myself, "Boy oh boy, this Holy Spirit stuff is real!"

It has been almost thirteen years now since I was "baptized in the Holy Spirit", as it is known in the Charismatic Renewal.  That is the release of the Holy Spirit in my life and the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  During those thirteen years I have never again said to God "Is this all there is to life?"  Nothing compares to a life lived in relationship with Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit.  God's plan for my life has unfolded and continues to unfold in ways I never imagined.  Little did I know that saying "Yes" to the Holy Spirit would one day bring me to the other side of the world as a Catholic youth evangelist in Australia.  Then to my surprise, God gave me a burden for the poor and called me to serve as a missionary in New York.  These days I serve the Lord as His ambassador in a dental office.  I am so grateful to God for revealing His truth to me.  Now I know that the meaning of life is found in knowing, loving and serving Jesus Christ.

 I would like to briefly share my experience of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal through the Body of Christ Prayer Group at St. Francis Cathedral in Metuchen, New Jersey.

I was brought to the prayer group in April of 1993 by a friend. When I began attending, I was a practicing Catholic but I did not have a close, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My friend did not tell me anything about the Renewal except that I should keep an open mind. After a few meetings I didn't know what to think. At first I was not interested in some of what I was experiencing at the meetings. But something deep inside told me to give the group some more time and not to turn away from it. Because the "voice" inside me was very persistent, I listened to it. 

In June of 1993, I signed up for a 'Life in the Spirit' seminar. I had no idea what it was, but someone at the prayer group informed me that it would be a good way to learn more about what it meant to "walk" with Jesus. Shortly after the seminar started, things inside me began to change. I began noticing Jesus in ways I had never noticed Him before. I started to see myself and the world in which I lived in a whole different way. In July, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and my life has never been the same again.

Shortly after the Baptism, I began reading the Bible for the first time in my life. The scriptures seemed to come alive. The words that I had heard so many times throughout my life started jumping off the page and began taking root in my heart. After this, I learned how to pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Then I found myself longing for Jesus in the Eucharist. I needed to be closer to Him. This need to be closer eventually led me to daily Mass. 

By February of 1994, my whole life had changed. I was very active in the Charismatic Renewal and the Body of Christ Prayer Group. I also was becoming active in various ministries and other organizations. I began picketing at a local abortion clinic and was becoming more involved in the pro-life movement. I was attending every prayer meeting, conference, retreat and seminar I could find. I longed to learn more about Jesus, and my new journey with Him, and how the Charismatic Renewal could help me along on the journey. The more involved I became in the renewal, the more fulfilled I was. I was not at all disappointed in anything I was experiencing as a result of my involvement in the renewal. My only regret was that I had been a Catholic my whole life and was only now learning about the renewal. How come I didn't know about it sooner? I somehow felt a little cheated. 

During the rest of 1994 and all of 1995, my relationship with Jesus and my involvement in the Charismatic Renewal was a real experience. It was very exciting and at times it was a bit scary too. But through it all I knew Jesus in a way I had never known Him before. He became my whole life and I never desired to go back to my life prior to my conversion. Things weren't always easy and peaceful but with Jesus standing at my side, they were at least bearable.

It was by the end of 1995 that I knew Jesus was calling me to something else. The Lord had blessed me with many gifts and had given me plenty of opportunities to explore and discover those gifts more deeply. So I knew it would only be a matter of time before the Lord would call me to use these gifts in a very special way. A way that would mean a life of total self-giving and service to Him and His Church.

It was in April of 1996, after unexpectedly losing my job in the graphic design field, that the Lord's plan for my life began to unfold. Through much prayer, advice from wise and experienced people, meetings with my Spiritual Director, frequently receiving the Sacraments, and the love and support I received from my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ Prayer Group, I discovered that the Lord was indeed calling me to something else - He was calling me to religious life.

I've been discerning this call to the Sisterhood for almost 2 1/2 years now. I hope to join a religious community in the Camden Diocese in the spring of 1999. Without the renewal and the prayer group there would not have been a conversion, and without the conversion there would not be a religious vocation. Therefore, I am very grateful to the Lord for all of the goodness I've received during my life. And although I plan on leaving the Diocese of Metuchen sometime in the near future, there will always be a very special place in my heart for St. Francis Cathedral, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the Body of Christ Prayer Group.

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