Fr. Franco's Letters

The Flame: January/February 2024

Dear Readers of the Flame,
Charismatic prayer is often associated with loudness. There is joyful song and vocal prayer that acclaims the Lord, at times shouting out of his titles. This vocal prayer and song is adorned with the grateful praises his of name. It is a beautiful way to enter into God’s presence. Psalm 100:4 teaches, Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.

This was my first experience at a charismatic prayer group. And it was used by the Holy Spirit to convict me of a number of things. First, that God was present in that room. Secondly, that what these people were doing was good. The Holy Spirit was convincing me that our response to God ought to be wholehearted and joyful. Finally, that if I yielded to the Holy Spirit in this manner (and I wasn’t sure at that time if I wanted to!) I would be changed for the better. Eventually, I did surrender wholeheartedly to the Lord. He did change me and it certainly was for the better.

However, I also noticed that the loud prayer and praise at prayer meetings or a conference was often followed by a profound silence. And that God was deeply present in the silence. Sometimes this silence was accompanied by a prophecy or a word that God was doing something in the group at that moment. And sometimes the silence was simply filled with God’s presence and that was enough.

As we begin this New Year, amid the confusion of our culture and troubles of our world, I want to encourage you to earnestly seek to deepen your relationship with the Lord by deepening your prayer life. Part of this deepening may simply be revisiting the experiences you have had in prayer and relearning those prayer lessons. Some of the lessons we would do well to relearn are:

• The power of praise: Praise is powerful because it lines us up with the reality of God. When we “magnify the Lord”, God does not get any bigger. However, our sense of God’s grandeur, His power, His mercy, the victory of His Son Jesus Christ over sin, death and Satan, all become more alive in us.
• Gratitude is foundational: Giving thanks to God is powerful, not because God needs to be thanked. He has no ego issues. Giving thanks to the Lord helps us recognize his providential care in our lives. As we give thanks to God, it helps us see how blessed we really are.
• Praying in the Spirit: By this I mean praying in tongues. This prayer language lifts us beyond our limited understanding and helps us adore “His indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15) as well as intercede for the needs of others and our world “with inexpressible groanings”. (Romans 8:26)
• Silence: This is a fruitful practice. It counteracts and cleanses us from the noisiness of our times. We will be able to recognize those times when our train of thought gets off track, when we become critical, self-righteous, discouraged or simply out of touch with the Lord. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is especially fruitful in this regard. As we gaze on Him, the Lord can look into our hearts. He is able to console us, convict us and restore to us His peace.

Shifting gears: Two people who have been involved in the General Service Committee of CRM passed away at the end of 2023. Sally Hudgins passed away on November 16. She had been the CRM sacristan for a number of years as well as our conference coordinator. Previous to Sally, the conference was often the work of a married couple on the GSC. Sally said that she would embrace this task only if she could form a committee. Her foresight made handling the details of the conference much more manageable and expanded the number of people who assist CRM. Sally was a Third Order Secular Franciscan with a sincere love of Christ and the Church.

On November 12 Denise Calabrese passed away. Denise was known for her heart to serve the needy as well as her desire to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. She was currently serving on the General Service Committee as the Editor of the Flame. Her passing at the relatively young age of 59 has a left a void in her family as well as Catholic Renewal Ministries.

Please commend both of these women to the Lord and pray that the Lord bring consolation to their families.

Also, Catholic Renewal Ministries is looking for someone able and willing to take over for Denise and become the editor of this newsletter, The Flame.If you are interested, please contact me at frbobfranco@gmail.com or call me at St. Peter Parish 440-327-2201.

In these times that seem a bit shaky, may our ever-deepening prayer make our roots in Christ unshakable.


In Christ,
Fr. Bob Franco