Do any catholics speak in tongues?

[Anhelyna]

I have to admit - I am most unhappy about the Charismatic Movement . It just does not resonate with me.

The Church does not say we have to join it - we can , if you would excuse the expression , take it or leave it .

It's most definitely not for me

 

[Goatee]

I have to admit - I am most unhappy about the Charismatic Movement . It just does not resonate with me.

Same for me

 

[tadoflamb]

wrong thread

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Colin
Are you a member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal? Are they big in the UK?
Sorry if that was an intrusive question. And sorry if this thread is causing you pain. "Gibberish" is kind of insulting I guess, to someone who uses it to communicate with God.

 

[ewq1938]

It is an insult to the Holy Spirit to refer to one of Its gifts as gibberish .

Only if it were a true gift. If it's just fake gibberish and is passed off as a gift then it would be an insult to claim it was a gift.

I've heard a lot of "tongues" spoken whether in person or in videos and I have yet to hear any true tongues being spoken. 100 percent has always been gibberish or babble that has no meaning and was not inspired by the Spirit.

I am aware others will disagree but that is my experience.

 

[Colin]

I have to admit - I am most unhappy about the Charismatic Movement . It just does not resonate with me.

The Church does not say we have to join it - we can , if you would excuse the expression , take it or leave it .

It's most definitely not for me

Have you had ever personal knowledge and experience of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which would give you some basis for saying it's not for you ?

I thank God that Popes Paul VI , John Paul II , Benedict XVI and Francis have not been so dismissive of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal , rather they have welcomed it .

It's a pity that Catholics can't follow their lead , or , if at least they can't follow their lead , not be so negative .

 

[Colin]

And can they cast out demons?
I was recently told that many protestants believe they have the power to cast out demons in themselves and others by speaking in tongues.
Must be a useful skill to have.

The title you gave to the thread , Paul , is "Do any Catholics speak in tongues ?" .

Well you have got your answers .

Many Catholics have been granted the charism of speaking in tongues by the Holy Spirit , including myself .

Speaking in tongues , glossolalia , usually takes three forms .

The charism granted me was to be able to speak in tongues as prayer , usually quiet , a very quiet whisper .

I find it very beneficial to pray in tongues during Eucharistic Adoration . Before such a mystery of faith when I find myself at a loss for words I can use the charism as part of my adoration .

 

[Colin]

Colin
Are you a member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal? Are they big in the UK?
Sorry if that was an intrusive question. And sorry if this thread is causing you pain. "Gibberish" is kind of insulting I guess, to someone who uses it to communicate with God.

Thanks Paul , I have found the posts you have made in the thread positive , and you are clearly wiling to learn .

I learned about the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the early 70s .

I liked what I learned , but it was only through the medium of books .

A friend in a neighbouring parish used to meet with fellow parishioners to discuss Catholic topics . They met in a pub where they used a private room ......a good place to hold any Catholic discussion groups .

He told me of a Benedictine monk who was coming to talk about the Catholic Charismatic Renewal at one of their gatherings in the pub . He was called Father Jackson , and my friend invited me along .

Father Jackson , with the assistance of two friends who were head teachers , talked and responded to questions .

The response he got was very negative . I recall one man asking them , "Do you do Kung Fu?"

That's was that , but after several months I felt the need to contact Father Jackson , who replied , "At last ! One positive response from our visit to Accrington !"

To cut a long story short , he put me on to his two head teacher friends , and my involvement in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal began .

I need to say that before all of this my Catholicism was at a low ebb . I was "practising" my Catholicism just to keep people happy , but was very unhappy myself , on the verge of leaving the Church .

The Lord , through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal saved me . I developed a deeper love for the Church , especially for those in authority who had become people I would usually criticise . The Eucharist , Scripture , personal prayer , the Liturgy , Ecumenism , Christian fellowship etc. took on a deeper and more spiritual meaning for me through the Renewal .

I have seen this renewal take place in so many Catholics , including a good few from the meeting in the pub who had been so negative .

In all of this I was blessed in having priests and lay people who were well grounded and knew their stuff .

Praised be Jesus Christ for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal .

 

[Anhelyna]

Have you had ever personal knowledge and experience of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which would give you some basis for saying it's not for you ?

......

In a word , and very briefly - yes

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

The Lord , through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal saved me . I developed a deeper love for the Church , especially for those in authority who had become people I would usually criticise . The Eucharist , Scripture , personal prayer , the Liturgy , Ecumenism , Christian fellowship etc. took on a deeper and more spiritual meaning for me through the Renewal .

I truly believe that you are only doing what is right for you. At no stage here have you suggested it is for everyone. I admire anyone who chooses the path less travelled. God Bless you Colin.
What prompted me to start this thread? My brother is a Pentecostal. (has been for a few years now) But he is going through a hard time at the moment because he wants the gift of tongues but God is not responding to his prayer. I think to be surrounded by people who have the gift of tongues and not be able to do it oneself, can affect one's mental health. He is in fact quite depressed at the moment. He used the words going through "spiritual warfare".

 

[StanJ]

It is an insult to the Holy Spirit to refer to one of Its gifts as gibberish .
This is probably one of the most negative threads I have seen at The Lord's Table .
It is sad to see the charisms , gifts of the Spirit treated with such disdain .

This is tame compared to other threads on tongues here.

 

[Goatee]

The title you gave to the thread , Paul , is "Do any Catholics speak in tongues ?" .

Well you have got your answers .

Many Catholics have been granted the charism of speaking in tongues by the Holy Spirit , including myself .

Speaking in tongues , glossolalia , usually takes three forms .

The charism granted me was to be able to speak in tongues as prayer , usually quiet , a very quiet whisper .

I find it very beneficial to pray in tongues during Eucharistic Adoration . Before such a mystery of faith when I find myself at a loss for words I can use the charism as part of my adoration .

When you are praying in tongues, do you understand what you are speaking?

 

[Paidiske]

Not in my experience, antletems, no.

 

[Goatee]

Then i dont see it being from God.

Why would God / Holy Spirit enable 'speaking in tongues' when nobody can understand what is being said?

In the Apostles times, everyone around could understand what they were saying?

Today, we have these 'tongues' which seem like 'Gibberish' (No offence meant). For all we know, these 'tongues' could be devil sent!

I read once where someone could understand someone speaking in a tongue at a service and it was all blaspheme! Everyone else didnt have a clue what was being uttered!

For me, i will stay well clear. Something about this speaking in tongues does not seem right. It seems more 'new age' that Christian.

 

[pdudgeon]

When you are praying in tongues, do you understand what you are speaking?

no, because it's not us that is praying, but the Holy Spirit.
to anyone observing us it does look as though we are directing what is comming forth from our mouth
and being given sound from our vocal chords, but that is not the case.

the best way to describe it is that the Holy Spirit within us uses our vocal chords to commune for us to the Father.
as such, it is not us who voluntarily speak.

the prayer language itself used by the Holy Spirit on our behalf is a process that originates with Him.
the thought process to originate the tongues and the contents of the act of speach itself
come from outside of and totally apart from our brains.
He initiates and controls the communication on our behalf, speaking to God for us but using our bodies to do so.
in the same way, when we hear the voice of God speaking to us, that also comes from outside our bodies.

we are aware that what we hear ourself saying in tongues is not formed in our brain,
but comes from outside of our bodies.
it sounds exactly as if someone (like a defense attorney in a court of law) were indeed standing next to us
and speaking on behalf of us.
but the words we hear are comming from our mouths.
we can feel our tongues and mouth moving, pronouncing the words,
but we also know that we ourselves did not instigate the speach.

our tongues move and words are formed and uttered by us from His direction, and not by our direction.
it's a difficult process to explain because it's not what we are used to doing.
in short we surrender our control and our thoughts to the Holy Spirit,
and He takes it from there.

 

[Goatee]

no, because it's not us that is praying, but the Holy Spirit.
to anyone observing us it does look as though we are directing what is comming forth from our mouth
and being given sound from our vocal chords, but that is not the case.

the best way to describe it is that the Holy Spirit uses our vocal chords to commune for us to the Father.
as such, it is not us who voluntarily speak.

the prayer language itself used by the Holy Spirit on our behalf is a process that originates with Him.
the thought process to originate the tongues and the contents of the act of speach itself
come from outside of and totally apart from our brains.
He initiates and controls the communication on our behalf, speaking to God for us but using our bodies to do so.
in the same way, when we hear the voice of God speaking to us, that also comes from outside our bodies.

we are aware that what we hear ourself saying in tongues is not formed in our brain,
but comes from outside of our bodies.
it sounds exactly as if someone (like a defense attorney in a court of law) were indeed standing next to us
and speaking on behalf of us.
but the words we hear are comming from our mouths.
we can feel our tongues and mouth moving, pronouncing the words,
but we also know that we ourselves did not instigate the speach.

our tongues move and words are formed and uttered by us from His direction, and not by our direction.
it's a difficult process to explain because it's not what we are used to doing.
in short we surrender our control and our thoughts to the Holy Spirit,
and He takes it from there.

Ok. But, for me, i see no reason why God would do this. You are supposedly speaking a language you cannot understand and have no control over?

Why would God go through all that when he can communicate with you in a 'normal' way?

Sorry but i cannot see this as coming from God. I am extremely wary of it to be honest. It all seems rather sinister and dark. To me this is how i would perceive how forces of evil would act.

 

[pdudgeon]

Then i dont see it being from God.

Why would God / Holy Spirit enable 'speaking in tongues' when nobody can understand what is being said?

In the Apostles times, everyone around could understand what they were saying?

Today, we have these 'tongues' which seem like 'Gibberish' (No offence meant). For all we know, these 'tongues' could be devil sent!

I read once where someone could understand someone speaking in a tongue at a service and it was all blaspheme! Everyone else didnt have a clue what was being uttered!

For me, i will stay well clear. Something about this speaking in tongues does not seem right. It seems more 'new age' that Christian.

There are two uses of tongues:
the first is given from God for the purpose of general instruction and revelation.
this is the one given publically and which must be interpreted so that it can be understood and benefit everyone.
God never sends a word in this fashon but that He also sends the interpretation through a second person so that it can be independently confirmed. If that doesn't happen, then the word did not originate with God.
and if the interpretation does not line up with God's word, then it did not originate from God.

the second use is for private prayer.
this communication is done privately between one person, the Holy Spirit, and God or Jesus .
as such there is no need for interpretation because this kind of tongues is essentially
like a defense lawyer speaking on behalf of his client to a judge in chambers. no one else is involved.

 

[pdudgeon]

Ok. But, for me, i see no reason why God would do this. You are supposedly speaking a language you cannot understand and have no control over?

Why would God go through all that when he can communicate with you in a 'normal' way?

Sorry but i cannot see this as coming from God. I am extremely wary of it to be honest. It all seems rather sinister and dark. To me this is how i would perceive how forces of evil would act.

the difference here is in what comes forth.
God cannot speak against Himself, nor can Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

as to why God uses tongues, they are the easiest way to communicate the pure and unadulterated word of God.

We accept that the Hoy Scriptures were the inspired word of God and not just the observances of men.
one of the proofs of that is how they have come down to us virtually unchanged.
As a child you might have played the game "telephone" where a message was whispered from one child to the next on down a line, until the last child in line repeated out loud what they had been told.
sometimes the message was correct,
but other times what came out at the end bore no resemblance to the message at the beginning.

the problem is not that God can't communicate directly with us,
but that sometimes we are hard of hearing, hard of speach, or just plain hard of heart.
other times it's like we have all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle but we can't see how they go together.
When we turn the problem over to the Holy Spirit
He can ask God to show us the whole picture of the puzzle, how they all fit, and not just the jumble of pieces that we see before us.
in other words, the Holy Spirit prays the prayer to God that we should have been praying all along.

your other concern that it might not be inspired by God is something that can be easily proven. If the interpretation given in any way contradicts the Word of God, then it was not from God.
God cannot curse Himself, nor can anyone who is a Christian curse God.

 

[Goatee]

Look at the video above:
Danny Castle - Why We Don't Speak In Tongues
This guys speaks the truth!

 

[pdudgeon]

I truly believe that you are only doing what is right for you. At no stage here have you suggested it is for everyone. I admire anyone who chooses the path less travelled. God Bless you Colin.
What prompted me to start this thread? My brother is a Pentecostal. (has been for a few years now) But he is going through a hard time at the moment because he wants the gift of tongues but God is not responding to his prayer. I think to be surrounded by people who have the gift of tongues and not be able to do it oneself, can affect one's mental health. He is in fact quite depressed at the moment. He used the words going through "spiritual warfare".

there are 3 questions you might want to ask him that would shed light on the problem.
1. why does he want the gift.
2. what would he do with it.
3. is he ready to be responsible for the gift if it is given to him.

his answers to those questions should help him to see things in a new light.
p.s. God always responds to prayer with one of three answers;
yes, no, and later.