Without REGULAR TEACHING, the prayer group is in trouble. We need a foundation to grow from. Be humble and use resources that are available. We need to plan our meetings. For instance, when we will have a series of meetings on praise and worship, or on the role of the Holy Spirit and the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Fanning the Flame is a must for all Catholic charismatics. It shows how the baptism in the Holy Spirit relates to the sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. It is the best explanation available to place the charismatic renewal into the Catholic context.

Fr. Hogan has developed a modified Life in the Spirit Seminar which heavily uses the four following resources:

1) Fanning the Flame, mentioned above.

2) Miracle Hour by Linda Schubert, mentioned previously.

3) Coming to Life: Being Baptized in the Holy Spirit by Fr. Robert DeGrandis. This is very helpful. It goes through the basic themes of the Life in the Spirit Seminar with simple explanations and stories.

4) An Introduction to Catholic Charismatic Renewal by John and Therese Boucher. This is a new pamphlet that came out just a couple of years ago.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Fr. Hogan�s own modified seminar, Renewal in the Spirit Seminar, has more teaching than the traditional Seminar, while maintaining the same basic outline. He has included 45 minutes of teaching for each seminar, more thoroughly showing how the baptism in the Holy Spirit fits into the Catholic setting. He also has made an outline of reading assignments from the above mentioned four books for each of the seven weeks of the Seminar.

Charicenter Newsletter is available from Charicenter USA, P.O. Box 628, Locust Grove, VA 22508-0628. They would appreciate a $10 donation for the newsletter, although none is required. It helps support the work they do, such as a recent symposium on �The Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the Church,� which was attended by 70 theologians. Together with the bishops, they are helping to create a context in which the baptism in the Holy Spirit can be understood by Catholics.

SPECIAL MEETINGS. It is good, after listening to the Lord, to plan special meetings from time to time.

EMPOWERING FOR SERVICE MEETING. Every two months or so, even if the prayer group members do not minister together but individually, it is good to meet for this purpose. Start out with praise as in a regular meeting. This is to come into the presence of God, to immerse ourselves in the Holy Spirit, to put on the mind of Christ. Then each person is invited to reflect in quiet for 15 or 20 minutes on his life of service, whether in family, at work, in the parish, or in the prayer group, etc. We allow the Lord to speak to us about this service. Is He calling us to let go of some area, or to focus on another? Believing that we have indeed heard the Lord, we then break up in to small groups to share what each person has heard. Then we pray over each other to receive God�s power in that area. A spiritual gift can be any area of ability or responsibility that we surrender to God and begin to experience His guidance and power.

PUTTING OFF THE OLD SELF, PUTTING ON THE NEW SELF MEETING. Again, start with praise and worship to focus on the Lord. Then spend some time in quiet, after reading, perhaps Galatians 5 or Romans 8 which tells us that the Spirit puts to death the deeds of the flesh. We want to get the old self off of us and put on the new self in Jesus Christ. We want to be formed in the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, etc. What deeds of the flesh is God trying to put off of us? What is my struggle now? Bring it to Jesus, Who took all our sins and all our wounds and our old self to the cross. If we bring it to Him, He has the power to free us and create a new self in us. After time for reflection and listening to the Lord, we again break into small groups, share what we have heard, and pray over one another for the graces of inner transformation.

FELLOWSHIP FOCUS. Once in a while, have praise and a party! This gives us a chance to share what�s going on in our lives. But we must make sure we pray first and are centered on Him.

YEARLY RETREAT. It is good to have a special day when we all get together other than the normal prayer meeting time. Again, we may need to be humble and take advantage of resources provided by other groups.

INTERCESSORY AND HEALING PRAYER. The focus of the prayer meeting should not be on intercessory or healing prayer, even if you are a healing ministry. Worshiping God is what opens us to what God wants us to do. What is more important to deal with in my life: my hurts or my self-centeredness? Even though our hurts are more immediate, and may lead to self-centeredness and fear, etc., the biggest healing we need is to be freed from our self-centeredness. Then we can be God-centered and other-centered. If we pray over people too often, it may lead to an increase in self-centeredness. This could be happening if we do not witness any growth after repeated prayers. It is true that we all need support and prayers, but that should never be the only reason to come to the prayer meeting.

MORE RESOURCES:

New Covenant Magazine. Write Our Sunday Visitor, 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750-9957.

WWCCR (Western Washington) Publications. They have many resources for growth, including Ron Ryan�s Prayer Group Leadership Development Program, Born in the Spirit Seminars (similar to the Life in the Spirit Seminars), Alive in the Spirit Seminars (a follow-up growth seminar).

Presentation Ministries has lot�s of good resources, including One Bread, One Body, many other pamphlets and tapes, and a Discipleship Program for ongoing training. This is a great resource in our area. Write 3230 McHenry Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45211 or call 662-JESU.

Franciscan University of Steubenville Summer Conferences. Going to conferences together can be a great way to be renewed and re-focused.

Servant Book Express. Many helpful books.

Charism, the Long Island Charismatic Renewal Office has many excellent teaching tapes. Fr. Chris Aridas and John Boucher.

Charismatic Renewal Services, 237 North Michigan Street, South Bend, IN 46601. Should be the first place to look for any of the above resources. They have the best prices anywhere and free UPS delivery, with a special discount for orders over $125.

St. Boniface Parish in Florida has an excellent leadership training manual. They have formed small groups in the entire parish.

The Spiritual Enrichment Seminars, a video by Fr. Paul Feider. Comes with booklets for leaders and participants. This is an excellent for smaller prayer groups which may not have the resources to put on their own Life in the Spirit Seminar.