SEP/OCT 2020
Open to the Holy Spirit: THE CHARISMATIC PRAYER GROUP
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here are a lot of images that immediately come to mind when we think about God — pictures that we mentally shape, and that help us grasp and connect with the Divine. For many, God the Father appears as a wise, elderly man, while Jesus appears more like a brother, a friend. But then, it becomes more abstract as we picture the third Person of the Trinity — a dove, or perhaps tongues of fire. For many people, the Holy Spirit is the most mysterious of the three Divine Persons. However, for those who have come to know the Holy Spirit and His work in their lives, it is difficult to imagine going back to practicing the faith without inviting His active presence. Fifteen years ago, parishioners Dean and Anita Graf were encouraged to attend a “Life in the Spirit” seminar, a series of classes and prayer experiences hosted by the Charismatic Prayer Group — and it forever changed the way they prayed. Dean was a cradle Catholic, and Anita had converted to Catholicism when they got married, nearly 43 years prior. But for the Grafs, there was something unique about the experience. “It was just so inspiring,” Anita says. “It was just great — people told their personal experiences and there was lots of prayers and they prayed over us at those meetings.”
While Anita would never have initially considered herself to be “charismatic,” she now can’t imagine not being part of the group, which has been meeting since the 1980s. “Afterwards, we just said, ‘We’re going back,’” Anita says. “Starting out, I was a little bit overwhelmed by speaking in tongues and people praising the Lord, but you just fall into it — we’ve gone weekly since. “It feels so good,” she adds. “You want to go home and praise the Lord some more.” The Charismatic Prayer Group meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, with prayer meetings that include a time of praising God in song, sharing Scripture passages, and praying for one another’s needs. Once a month, Fr. Marty joins the group to celebrate Mass with them. For Anita, being part of the group has been an opportunity to grow in faith and prayer. “I think my prayer has improved and my faith has improved,” Anita says. “I am closer to God because of this group, and I place more of my trust in Him and I accept things without questioning more than I used to. You just know that God is there and He knows what’s best. “His presence is definitely felt at our meetings,” she adds. “The Holy Spirit has come down and given that desire to pray more, to continued on back cover
