“Pentecostal ideas have unwittingly entangled themselves in popular Catholic charismatic thought, creating a confusing cacophony of prophetic activation workshops, impartation services, and schools of supernatural ministry.”
In the past two decades, the number of Catholics worldwide identifying as charismatic has more than tripled.[1] Without accessible catechesis, leaders of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal have looked to Pentecostal leaders for formation, inviting their pastors and worship leaders to keynote conferences and co-author books.[2] As a result, Pentecostal ideas have unwittingly entangled themselves in popular Catholic charismatic thought, creating a confusing cacophony of prophetic activation workshops, impartation services, and schools of supernatural ministry. In this theological climate, faithful charismatic Catholics must struggle to distinguish authentic Catholic spirituality from Pentecostal heterodoxy, especially regarding the current treatment of the gift of prophecy. Providentially, the Catholic has only to study the works of St. Thomas Aquinas and Jordan Aumann to find the philosophical foundation necessary to discern the truth about the Church’s teachings on prophecy. By utilizing a Thomistic understanding of the gift of prophecy alongside Aumann’s insights into spiritual theology, this essay will offer a simple catechesis on the gift of prophecy by defining the nature of prophecy, its modes of operation, and recommending guidelines to safeguard its use.
“Unlike the sanctifying gifts that abide in the soul as habits, Aquinas characterizes prophecy as a passing manifestation of the Holy Spirit and not a part of the supernatural organism of the prophet.”
In his book A Key to the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church, Msgr. Vincent Walsh defines the charismatic gift of prophecy as “…a gift whereby God manifests to man His own thoughts so that a message may be given for the individual or for a group of individuals, or for the community.”[3] It is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that Saint Paul listed in 2 Corinthians and among the gifts predicted by the prophet Joel to be poured out upon the world.[4] Given the gift’s importance, Aquinas treats it in his Summa Theologica. He begins by affirming that prophetic revelations involve Divine knowledge and, thus, can include information from all realms of knowledge: past, present, and future.[5] However, this does not mean that the prophet receives all knowledge, only a part of all knowledge.[6] Unlike the sanctifying gifts that abide in the soul as habits, Aquinas characterizes prophecy as a passing manifestation of the Holy Spirit and not a part of the supernatural organism of the prophet.[7] Consequently, the gift falls under the gratis datae graces, meaning ‘gratuitously given.’[8] This results in three key ideas regarding prophecy, including that a person can yield to prophesy while in a state of mortal sin, that the manifestation of the gift does not indicate personal holiness, and, as Aumann warns, “it is something outside the realm of personal merit.”[9] Thus, an individual can yield to prophesy and not merit for Heaven.
“God can communicate to an individual through any sense power. Prophetic messages can be received as visions, locutions, smells, flavors, and physical sensations. For example, Elijah heard the whisper of God in the wind, Daniel trembled at the touch of God’s hand during a dream, and Ezekiel tasted honey as he consumed the scrolls God handed him.”
Aquinas divides the operation of the gift into two parts: first, the knowledge imparted into a subject by God, and second, the subject’s sharing of that knowledge.[10] Regarding the first part of God’s revelation, God can communicate to an individual through any sense power. Prophetic messages can be received as visions, locutions, smells, flavors, and physical sensations. For example, Elijah heard the whisper of God in the wind, Daniel trembled at the touch of God’s hand during a dream, and Ezekiel tasted honey as he consumed the scrolls God handed him.[11] Though God can communicate to a subject using any sense power, the predominant mode for sharing prophecy in Scripture and the lives of the saints occurs through visions and locutions, with the other senses being affected only secondarily.
Aumann defines visions as “the supernatural perception of an object naturally invisible to man” and can occur as corporeal, imaginative, or intellectual. [12] The corporeal vision is “in which the bodily eyes perceive an object normally invisible.”[13] For example, the Fatima children experienced a corporeal vision of the Virgin Mary when the children could see the Virgin while she remained invisible to other spectators. Corporeal visions manifest externally to humans and sometimes leave behind physical signs like smoke or charred marks. An imaginative vision is “the representation of an image supernaturally produced in the imagination.”[14] These visions originate internally and will continue when one closes his eyes. They seem to occur during focused prayer most often, like when Saint Catherine appeared in the mind of Saint Joan of Arc. However, visions can also occur during sleep, like when Pharaoh saw the seven cows in Genesis 41.[15] In contemporary charismatic circles, prayer teams often claim to receive imaginative visions. For example, an intercessor might claim to see an image of Mary wrapping the supplicant in her mantle. The final category of intellectual visions encompasses revelation where there is no “sensible image or impressed species in the internal or external senses.”[16] This is a kind of vision God gives to the soul. Teresa of Avila describes the intellectual vision as,
So far down in the depths of the soul does this contact take place, so clearly do the words spoken by the Lord seem to be heard with the soul’s own faculty of hearing, and so secretly are they uttered, that the very way in which the soul understands them, together with the effects produced by the vision itself, convinces it and makes it certain that no part in the matter is being played by the devil.[17]
Locution, the next dominant mode of receiving a prophecy can be defined as, “an affirmation or statement supernaturally effected.”[18] During visions, a person ‘sees’ whereas during locutions, a person ‘hears.’ Similar to visions, locutions can also be corporeal, imaginative, or intellectual. Corporeal locutions originate from outside the subject, like when Elijah heard the voice of God in the wind.[19] Imaginative locutions originate within the individual, like when God speaks to an individual in his mind, in a manner like a thought, or if the locution comes during a dream, like when St. Joseph heard the Angel’s warning.[20] Lastly, an intellectual locution, where God speaks to the soul, occurs when “words are perceived directly by the intellect, and the activity is similar to that by which the angels would communicate ideas to each other.”[21],[22]
“In all modes of sharing, a prophecy requires the participation of an imperfect person who may not perfectly distinguish God’s thoughts from his own”
The prophetic act reaches completion when the prophet shares the revelation received. Just as there are multiple modes for receiving a prophetic message, prophets can communicate God’s message in various ways. For example, Jonah preached to the Ninevites, while Hosea married a prostitute to symbolize God’s relationship with Israel prophetically.[23] In all modes of sharing, a prophecy requires the participation of an imperfect person who may not perfectly distinguish God’s thoughts from his own.[24] For example, an individual may receive a vision of two doors opening. Not understanding the message, he may ignorantly supplant the revelation by ascribing his interpretation and saying, ‘God is opening doors in your life.’ Thus, Aumann encourages those who believe they have received a prophetic message to share it openly and accurately without adding or subtracting from the original message to avoid inadvertently perverting the prophecy.[25]
To safeguard the use of prophecy, scripture instructs, “Do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God.”[26] While the best test of prophecy comes through the supernatural gift of discernment, Aumann lists several natural rules for spiritual directors to help discern the validity and accuracy of prophecies. First, one must reject false details within a prophecy and disregard revelations contrary to morals or dogma. Next, Aumann warns that the fulfillment of a prophecy does not mean the inspiration originated in God. The word’s fulfillment could be attributed to a demonic influence, natural causes, or the natural knowledge of the alleged prophet. Lastly, he advises directors to consider the suspected prophet's spiritual life and psychological health and be suspicious of lengthy prophetic words.[27]
“The object of prophecy is the building up of the Church. Thus, when rightly considered, the wonders of God should lead to a more profound love for the God of wonders. ”
God has employed prophecy to communicate with individuals and communities from the beginning of the Church to the present day. It is an important gift that should be welcomed in religious communities, for as Saint Paul teaches, “Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good.”[28] As the gift requires the participation of a human person, each manifestation of the gift must subject itself to proper discernment. With the rise of supernatural ministry schools that encourage the development of prophetic gifts, it is more important than ever to consider prophecy within its proper spiritual order. As Lumen Gentium warns, “Extraordinary gifts are not to be [rashly] sought after…”[29] There is a great danger when groups prefer the manifestation of supernatural gifts over the ordinary means of sanctification or disorderedly exalt a prophet for his prophecies and not his holiness. This is because, like all gratis datae graces, prophecy is not a sanctifying gift; one may operate in this grace in a state of mortal sin, and the gift is not meritorious. Christ cautions against finding assurance in prophetic gifts when he warns, “many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?...Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’.[30] The object of prophecy is the building up of the Church. Thus, when rightly considered, the wonders of God should lead to a more profound love for the God of wonders. The end of prophecy is not its expansion but its extinguishing - for in Heaven, prophecy will fade away, and love shall be the only gift that remains. While the gift of prophecy is “useful and fitting for the needs of the Church,”[31] it is good to remember Aumann’s advice that, “Far more precious is an act of love than a charismatic gift.”[32]
FOOTNOTES
[1] "Catholic Charismatic Renewal Worldwide Statistics." WWCCR. Western Washington Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Accessed September 24, 2023. https://wwccr.org/blog/the-catholic-charismatic-renewal-worldwide/.
[2] For example, Pentecostal worship leader Misty Edwards is leading a prophetic activation workshop at the 2023 Pentecost Today USA National Conference, and Dr. Mary Healy, former head of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service office in Rome, recently published a best-selling book about the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the popular Pentecostal pastor, Randy Clark.
[3] Msgr. Vincent Walsh, A Key to the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church (Merion, Pa.: Key of David, 1976), p. 60.
[4] See 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, Acts 2:1-32, Joel 2:28
[5] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II q. 171, a.1
[6] See ST II-II q. 171, art. 4 and 1Cor. 13:9
[7] ST II-II q. 171, a. 2
[8] See ST I-II 111, a. 1
[9] Aumann 422
[10] See ST II-II, q. 171
[11] See 1 Kings 19:11-13, Daniel 10: 7-12, Ezekiel 3:1-3
[12] Aumann 425
[13] Aumann 425
[14] Aumann 425
[15] The Catholic Encyclopedia lists dreams as the most common mode for receiving imaginative visions. (See The Catholic Encyclopedia. 1996. “Visions and Apparitions.” Vers. Electronic Version. EWTN.com. Edited by Kevin Knight. New Advent, Inc. Accessed September 2023. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/visions-and-apparitions-12553)
[16] Aumann 425
[17] Teresa of Avila. 1946. Interior Castle. Mineola, NY: Dover Thrift Editions, p. 100
[18] Aumann 427
[19] See 1Kgs 19:11-13
[20] See Matthew 2: 13
[21] Aumann 427
[22] The intellectual locutions can be further categorized as successive, formal, or substantial. Intellectual locutions are said to be successive when they seem like human dialogue. They are called formal when the message is coming only from one another. Lastly, they are called substantial if, upon receiving the locution, the soul is immediately affected. Aumann gives the example, “If God says to the soul, ‘be humble’ it at once feels the inclination to prostrate itself before his Divine Majesty.” (Aumann 428)
[23] See Jonah 3 and Hosea 1:2-3
[24] See ST II-II q. 171, a. 5
[25] Aumann 430
[26] 1 John 4:1
[27] See Aumann 430
[28] 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
[29] Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, no. 12, in Austin Flannery, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, vol. 1, Vatican Council II (New York: Costello, 1998), p. 363
[30] Matt. 7:22-23
[31] Lumen Gentium, no. 12
[32] Aumann 423