Photo By WILLIAM RIETER
Marge Vallo, a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Cleveland, prays during the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference last weekend at Magnificat High School. The event drew Catholics who were moved by the Spirit to spread the good news to others.
Marge Vallo, a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Cleveland, prays during the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference last weekend at Magnificat High School. The event drew Catholics who were moved by the Spirit to spread the good news to others.
Moved by the Spirit
Catholic Charismatic Conference inspires
faithful to listen, spread the Word of God
ROCKY RIVER-“Listen to the Word.”
This simple message, delivered eloquently by Father Robert Franco, the bishop’s liaison for Charismatic Renewal, rendered old friends and young people attending the 26th Annual Catholic Charismatic Conference, Saturday, July 19, nearly mute.
But moments later, several voices shouted, “Amen” from their seats in the auditorium at Magnificat High School, Rocky River, clearly moved by “Father Bob’s” keynote address.
A prayer rally, Friday, July 18, kicked off the two-day conference. Bishop Richard G. Lennon celebrated Mass to start Saturday’s sessions and workshops.
Father Franco has been active in the charismatic renewal movement since age 19.
“We are gathered here to listen to Him,” Father Franco began. “As I listened to the Lord to prepare for today’s address, I heard one word: urgent. It is urgent to listen to the Lord—and of course, respond.”
When our first parents did not listen to God’s words, Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Paradise, evil descended upon the earth and the human race was doomed to suffer, he said.
“We need to pray for open ears and an open heart,” Father Franco said. “I wonder why the church is not more charismatic. The way back to God is by listening.”
He related the biblical story of Jesus at Mount Tabor with Peter, James and John when suddenly ancient prophets Elijah and Moses appeared to the apostles’ astonishment.
Moses had a spiritual intimacy to God and Elijah was the prototypical prophet, once raising a widow’s only son from the dead, Father Franco said. It is believed that both Elijah and Moses were “whisked up to heaven” after they died.
“Peter hardly knew what to say so he said something,” Father Franco joked. Figuring the prophets would stay awhile and chat, Peter asked Jesus, “Rabbi, why don’t we build three tents?”
A bright cloud then descended from the heavens and God admonished Peter: “My full word, my full message. You need to listen to Him. (Jesus),” Father Franco said.
“We live in a time where we are bombarded with messages on billboards, television, radio, the Internet, books—and not all information is good,” he said. “But so many messages can drown out the voice of Jesus or dull our sense of truth.
“We listen to the Lord through creation, the stunning red in autumn,” Father Franco said. “We listen through the written word of God; through the people … and we need to listen to our own heart.
“As charismatic Catholics, you are the cream of the crop,” Father Franco said, urging his followers to spread the Word.
Dee Harouvis-Roth of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Sheffield Lake, said afterward, “I felt called to come … to get filled spiritually, to be inspired, to learn something new. When people of a like mind come together, they are hungry to draw closer to God and grow in His holiness.”
Both she and her husband, George Roth, are eucharistic ministers and called to the prison ministry where they have witnessed the spiritual awakening among inmates.
Harouvis-Roth recalled being converted to the Charismatic Catholic movement on September 18, 1981 at her Lakewood home.
“I just yelled at the kids to clean their rooms, walked down the stairs and suddenly felt overwhelming peace and joy,” she said. “I had been praying to understand who the Holy Spirit really was and wondered, is this it?”
She signed up for a retreat that day and returned a believer.
Maria Ciccotti, a member of Holy Spirit Parish, Garfield Heights, became a convert to the Catholic Charismatic movement after first believing “it was not for us.”
Today, Father Franco is a personal friend and a spiritual adviser to her husband, Peter Ciccotti, she said.
Joshua Georgy traveled from his family home in Pennsylvania to attend the conference. His home parish is Our Lady of Peace in Manhatten, New York, near Columbia University where he is writing his doctorate thesis on the history of the Coptic and Muslim religions.
Georgy was inspired by speaker Patti Mansfield’s talk on the “Face of Jesus”.
“Really looking at Jesus’ face on the cross, you can contemplate the depth of suffering that Christ has suffered for us,” he said.
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