TOS100 Taking a Catholic Look at Revival For audio only PPN
Summary
Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner is Taking a Catholic Look at Revival. The troubled times we live in are ripe for revival to turn hearts toward God. Several non-Catholic revivals have taken place in America the last 250 years but Catholic Revivals are common throughout the 2000 year history of the Catholic Church. Patti Brunner has witnessed the move of God and shares the Lord’s willingness for revival grace to transform individuals, culture and the Church itself.
BLOG
Do we need revival today? When you look at Catholic families today you find many who are absent from the pew each week. Whether sin has cast a division in the Body of Christ within the family or whether poor catechesis failed to share the Truth that sets all men free there are many mothers and grandmothers who turn to Mother Mary in prayer through rosaries for their children to be filled with the desire to once again be close to Jesus. Mothers and grandmothers are thus praying for revival. Mother Church feels the same way.
You’re listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host Patti Brunner.
When the children of the Church rebel like a teenager who focuses on self rather than what is best by wisdom, they can easily lose focus and take a path away from Jesus and the Way. Where do they go? Some find solace in traditions that remove certain barriers of the recognition of sin—these accept divorce, contraception and even grave sin of abortion. Once black is called white and white is called black the path of truth is nowhere to be found. And the lost fool themselves. What does the Church do about this? We turn to the Lord for revival.
Divine Mercy is celebrated by the Church as a means of hope. The forgiveness of egregious sin has always been available to the repentant heart but when the lost are unaware there can be no repentance. This is where revival comes in. The Church asks the Lord to send revival. Revival grace convicts the soul with truth coupled with hope and the power of Resurrection. When St. Theresa of Avila brought revival and reform to the convents of France they changed from being sorority clubs to places of intense prayer and service. When Francis of Assisi heard the voice of the Lord, revival grace transformed the priesthood toward the understanding of humility, obedience and reliance totally on God. When Pope Paul VI opened the doors of the Vatican to the grace of revival the structures that operated within the Church took a long step back to see how the train was getting side-tracked in pomp and circumstance and had left truth in worship as an aside rather than the source and summit of the Catholic Church.
Where is the Lord in times of darkness within the Church, especially the domestic Church of the home? He is right beside us. He never leaves our side; when we seek his help He gives it. He is always with us. I believe it is time to seek his help.
The darkness of times in the history of man calls for a light to be shone to dispel the darkness of those near it. In the liturgical season of the Epiphany we celebrate the manifestation of the Light of the World, Jesus. Perhaps you wondered why the light of Christ did not suffice in our generation. Don’t you know that the sun is still shining during dark stormy days? The sun still reflects upon the moon even when night is upon the earth. It is not visible when the earth itself blocks the light. This is an example to help us to understand. When a reformer or a grace filled moment is sent, there is still the free-will choice to respond to it. Yet, the joy of the Presence of the Lord helps the soul to respond, ‘Yes! Come Lord Jesus!”
If you look at America’s history you see that suffering in Europe, especially during famine and persecution, sent families across the ocean to plant the faith. The spirit of exploration brought the faith before the American countries were established. Freedom of worship allowed those fervent souls to make the moves. When the Holy Spirit spoke truth the dissolute people were filled with hope. Truly the prompting of the Holy Spirit is basic to revival.
America has witnessed several revivals that have been forgotten. It does seem that the Lord prepared America to be sustained by his grace before every major conflict of war and destruction. Non-Catholic revivals included the First Great Awakening in the colonial United States in the 1730s and 1740s. In the early 1800s, the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky kicked off the Second Great Awakening. People came from around the world to witness the Holy Spirit’s power at Azusa Street Revival of 1906. Each time the Lord’s people have been in great darkness He has sent a season of grace. In America the non-Catholic revivals as well as Catholic revivals helped to bring transformation to the suffering hearts. The darkness of World War was healed through signs and wonders. These signs repaired the memories of the horrors of war. The healing of the Civil War was also promulgated by the grace of revival.
And in the 1990s, thousands flocked to the Toronto Blessing [Canada], the Brownsville Revival [Pensacola, Florida] and the Smithton Outpouring [Missouri]. These modern day revivals continued week after week increasing the intensity of the presence of God in anointing and signs and wonders. And in Philadelphia at the Presentation Blessed Virgin Mary Church, the Catholic revival was strong, week after week. When my husband and I attended the one in the little town of Smithton in 1998 we stood in line hours before the service to make sure we got in. That was quite an experience in a culture that generally only stands in line for restaurants, shopping and entertainment.
Revival graces are like a wind that is so strong nothing is left untouched. The effect is only lasting when the hearts who are moved allow the grace to take root in the depth of their souls. That’s how I felt in 1996 when I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit during a Catholic retreat in Arkansas the same year as revival broke out in a nondenominational church in Missouri. It intensified God’s love within me and changed my whole focus of life toward Christ. My desire was to do everything I could to allow others to receive the same thing. This revival grace led me to Catholic Charismatic Renewal to receive the benefits of revival given to other Catholics and to grow to become an evangelist and a teacher of spiritual truth and to share signs and wonders of charisms. What brings revival? Many people who read the writings of the saints of revival are touched by the grace that faded with time as it is stirred into flame once more. Open Your hearts, pray for the Lord to send the grace of revival to you, to your family.
The face of revival is not just wonder and awe. It also comes from sacrifice and prayer. The desire for change is a gift; most do not enjoy change until the need for change is realized. Many saints set themselves apart from status quo and thus recognized the need for change. Not change to embrace and accept sin but to work tirelessly to bring conversion away from sin and towards God.
How do we become revival minded? Does the blind lead the blind among your friends? How about in what you watch, read or listen to? These are also areas of influence. The world has begun to look upon the “blind” to emulate as role models. We are living in a difficult time, indeed. However, this is not the first such time. In the past, in the history of faith and of the Church itself there has upon occasion been a need for a righteous man or woman, called by God, to step forward in truth and trust in God to lead by showing others the Way. The Gospel of John 14:18 “I have not left you orphaned”. I have not left you alone. He sends us his Most Holy Spirit to be one with us.
On a previous episode we heard how the visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Aztec Catholic Juan Diego set off a revival of huge numbers of pagans becoming Christians. Within 5 years of the visit of Mary to Juan Diego and her miraculous picture on the Tilma there were 5 million conversions. Have you ever wondered about how that revival felt?
During the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, the infant John was given a grace of revival when he leapt in the womb of his mother Elizabeth. This sign of life manifested again to prepare the people before the Lord Jesus began his ministry on earth. John the Baptist drew large crowds not by signs and wonders but by proclaiming the truth with revival grace. People came to the desert to listen to and accept his call to repentance. Prophesied to be an Elijah, John the Baptist fulfilled his destiny by making smooth the hills and filling in the valleys in the hearts of his disciples preparing them to be open to the light of Christ. Jesus came to John to be baptized and recognized as the Lamb of God before beginning his public ministry bringing the good news of salvation. John’s disciples, prepared by revival grace then turned toward Jesus as Jesus’ first words in preaching repeated the call to conversion: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
The Lord has raised many saints who brought reform of some sort. But if we look to the massive change of heart – like Mary’s appearance in Mexico– we find saints of revival that continue to bring change of heart even today. If you look at the darkest days in the body of Christ, you find the light of these saints. St. Juan Diego was evangelizing the Catholic faith to millions of new Catholics at the same time generations of Catholics were leaving the Catholic faith to accept King Henry the VIII as head of the protestant Church of England and leaving the Church to follow Martin Luther as Lutherans.
Francis of Assisi, born in 1181, lived at a time that Christians were battling death at the hands of Muslims and famine. When God spoke to him saying, “Go, repair my house which, as you see, is falling completely to ruin” he began by physically repairing small churches embracing poverty relying on God for sustenance. He later realized that God wants the whole Church repaired. After getting approval for a new order from the pope he quickly had over 5,000 brothers who become emissaries and missionaries. Francis died at age 45 but the effect his revival graces are still felt today. Strong grace has to be accepted for full revival to take place.
Saint Catherine of Sienna born in 1347. While still a small girl, about 7, Catherine was touched by revival grace as an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit was present in her community and she saw a vision of Jesus with Peter, Paul, and John the evangelist. In her mid-20s the conversion of all sorts of sinners was placed on her heart and she wrote to them pleading for personal conversion and public reform sharing the image of Christ the redeemer through truth, virtue and love. The Lord continued to inspire her with personal intense mystical experiences. She lived during a time of clerical corruption that stemmed from the papal move from Rome to Avignon and influence by the French monarchy. Her letters and visit to the Pope influenced him to return to Rome and to deal with reform. In Florence she was attacked by an anti-pope mob. During this dangerous time she wrote down her mystical experiences in The Dialogue. As she turned 30, her efforts began towards a new pope but the reforms failed and the Great Schism occurred in the Church. Catherine died at age 33. The Dialogue and her letters remain as a tribute to the revival grace and power of her experience of God and life in Christ through which this Doctor of the Church continues to influence people.
Another dark time in the Church in need of revival grace was in the early 1500’s. Teresa of Avila was born in 1515, five years before Martin Luther burned the canon law and the papal bull written by Pope Leo X to stop his rebellion and command him to work within the Church for reformation. We all know how that turned out. But the Lord did not leave us orphaned! A major highlight in the life of Saint Teresa of Avila was the whole concept of conversion or reform. With Saint John of the Cross, Teresa was the primary instrument that God chose to reform the Carmelite Order. Teresa was keenly aware of this truth: to convert others we must start with ourselves. The writings of these saints continue to open our hearts to conversion; both Teresa and Catherine have been named Doctors of the Church. It is clear through such saints as these: John the Baptist, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna, and Francis of Assisi, that revival comes through a surge of grace given by God.
A Catholic revival in Europe that started with the appearance of the Blessed Virgin in Lourdes, France, in 1858, also spread to the United States in the late 1800’s through large numbers of Catholic immigrants who left Europe due to famine and persecution from Ireland and Germany. There are still lines to visit the healing waters of Lourdes. The shrine to visit the Miraculous Our Lady of Guadalupe Tilma of Juan Diego at the Basilica in Mexico City is so popular there is a moving sidewalk to keep the crowds moving during their pilgrimage visit.
Charismatic Catholic revival began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1967 and spread through the 1970’s and beyond with a resurgence in approaching the Jubilee Year of 2000. As one area disseminates by spreading into various ministries and services to benefit the general and Catholic populations others arise; Charismatic Renewal currently attracts Haitian, Hispanic and Filipino Catholics. Charismatic revival graces have spread to Latin America, Africa, Australia, Brazil and Asia.
When does revival come? Patrick Morley, who has researched the history of times of spiritual revival in North America, concludes that revivals emerge during times of spiritual and moral decline because it leads to intense prayer. He also concedes that God puts a longing into the hearts of many to pray for revival. He writes that other things in common include: the preaching or reading of God’s Word and The Holy Spirit taking people to a spiritual depth they could not achieve on their own and giving God the glory and credit. The result of revival is the conviction of the hearts of affected sinners, inconsolable except in Christ and lasting fruit of conversion and reformed morality in society. Manifestations vary by culture and denomination and suspicious controversies can arise from those not affected. Morley also concludes that revivals are cyclical with crest and decline. During a women’s retreat, Sr. Francis Clare shared that the defining moment of revival was the presence of God. She said, when the anointing falls: claim it. Let the joy and laughter bubble out and the glory comes down.
What does revival look like? Personal Conversions, Signs and Wonders, changing hearts and society. There is always the freedom to embrace or reject revival. Still it is a moment of time of great grace. Please join me in praying intensely for the great grace of revival to come upon our nation, our Church, our families, and into our own hearts. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Bring your light and truth into our world. Amen.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host Patti Brunner. I invite you to check our playlists and listen to our earlier episodes. And as you do, ask the Lord for revival! And then, come back for more. Because with the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
