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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Layman laying on of hands and	Larry	Friday, January 1, 2010
Question: Dear Brother, Some years ago, I attended a Charismatic prayer meeting in my parish church. No priest was present at this meeting. During the meeting, we were invited to talk about what was troubling us in our lives, and offered help. That day I had been involved in a bad row at work over which I was still angry. People spoke about various things that were troubling them. I felt compelled to join in, and mentioned the first thing that came into my stupid head; namely the row at work. At the end we were asked to come up for a blessing and laying on of hands for healing, from a parishioner that I knew. At the end the layman called up people by name and putting his hands over them he called down the "spirit"? to heal them. To my surprise he called me up and offered me the same thing. As I watched this I was growing increasingly uneasy. The "feeling" that what he was doing was wrong became so strong, that I politely refused his offer. I may be mistaken, but surely only a properly ordained priest or bishop can do this sort of thing? I had been to other prayer meetings but, I had not felt like this at them. The uneasy feeling I had at this meeting was so negative that I have never gone back to them. It may seem a stupid question, but why did I feel like this at this particular meeting, when the others had felt okay?
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Larry: Your gut-feelings are accurate. While there is a time and place where laymen may lay hands on people to bless them (such as a Father blessing his children), we must be very careful not to do something that too closely resembles that which is reserved to a priest. That is not my opinion, but the official word of the Church. The Charismatic Renewal can be a great asset to the Church, but it must remain close to the Church not only in orthodoxy but also in worldview. It must also remove from itself the contamination of "Pentecostalisms". These Pentecostalism are practices derived from Protestant Pentecostals who are extremely flawed in their theology in this subject. I would advise reading the detailed essay, Charism Gifts Building Up the Church. This document details the good and bad things about the Charismatic Renewal and outlines the Pentecostalisms. Why did you feel something was wrong and other's didn't? Because you, not them, were truly listening to the Holy Spirit. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Layman laying on of hands and

Larry

Friday, January 1, 2010

Question:

Dear Brother,

Some years ago, I attended a Charismatic prayer meeting in my parish church. No priest was present at this meeting. During the meeting, we were invited to talk about what was troubling us in our lives, and offered help. That day I had been involved in a bad row at work over which I was still angry. People spoke about various things that were troubling them. I felt compelled to join in, and mentioned the first thing that came into my stupid head; namely the row at work.

At the end we were asked to come up for a blessing and laying on of hands for healing, from a parishioner that I knew. At the end the layman called up people by name and putting his hands over them he called down the "spirit"? to heal them. To my surprise he called me up and offered me the same thing.

As I watched this I was growing increasingly uneasy. The "feeling" that what he was doing was wrong became so strong, that I politely refused his offer. I may be mistaken, but surely only a properly ordained priest or bishop can do this sort of thing? I had been to other prayer meetings but, I had not felt like this at them. The uneasy feeling I had at this meeting was so negative that I have never gone back to them. It may seem a stupid question, but why did I feel like this at this particular meeting, when the others had felt okay?

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Larry:

Your gut-feelings are accurate. While there is a time and place where laymen may lay hands on people to bless them (such as a Father blessing his children), we must be very careful not to do something that too closely resembles that which is reserved to a priest. That is not my opinion, but the official word of the Church.

The Charismatic Renewal can be a great asset to the Church, but it must remain close to the Church not only in orthodoxy but also in worldview. It must also remove from itself the contamination of "Pentecostalisms". These Pentecostalism are practices derived from Protestant Pentecostals who are extremely flawed in their theology in this subject.

I would advise reading the detailed essay, Charism Gifts Building Up the Church. This document details the good and bad things about the Charismatic Renewal and outlines the Pentecostalisms.

Why did you feel something was wrong and other's didn't? Because you, not them, were truly listening to the Holy Spirit.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum