Without the Holy Spirit there is No Church

Uploaded by vatican on May 23, 2010

There is no Church without Pentecost, the Pope said this morning before the Recitation of the Regina Coeli, from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square. " Benedict XVI explained that the Church constantly lives in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit without which it would exhaust its strength, like a sailboat if the wind were to fail." And Pentecost is renewed especially in some moments, on a local and universal level, both in small gatherings and large encounters, from the Second Vatican Council to local prayer meetings "in which young people clearly feel the Gods call to root their lives in love". And there is no Pentecost without the Virgin Mary - concluded the pope, so it has always been ..

Fr. John Randall



* Suggested Reading *   Father John Randall's book,--No Spirit, No Church

Comments: Fr. John Randall tells it like it is, no Spirit, no Church! It is a journal of his ministry of fifty-five years, focusing on the dying of a seminary and the rising to new life of two parishes in the inner city.
My heart was set on fire by this account, and it will enkindle your heart as well. - Father George Kosicki, C.B.S.

I'm really grateful that Fr. Randall has put a lifetime of experience and wisdom into his new book. This is truly a gift for the Church. - Ralph Martin

Fr. Randall has stood beside me for the past forty years as a fellow disciple of Jesus, working for the renewal of priestly and parish life. This book is his account of that journey. - Fr. Bob Bedard, C.C.-Founder of the Companions of the Cross

*No Spirit, No Church.  By Father John Randall, STD (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Koinonia Enterprises, 2009)

Father John Randall has been involved in the Charismatic Renewal since its beginning. He has had many experiences regarding the Holy Spirit's role in the Church as well as first hand experience on what happens when the Spirit is excluded from religious formation. All too often Catholics can think that they are doing the work of the Holy Spirit when they are really doing their own work. What is not of the Spirit is doomed to failure; what is of the Spirit cannot be suppressed.

No Spirit, No Church is Father Randall's personal journey as a Roman Catholic priest. The book is filled with stories of conversion, including Father Randall's, and of anecdotes that show how the Holy Spirit is moving in the Church and how He wants to move.

Father Randall drives home the point that the Holy Spirit's role is to glorify Jesus. Jesus is Lord! That truth must be recognized and taught if the Church is to grow. Being relevant to the world all too often means conforming to the world. It means, as Father Randall points out, that the Church is not so much in the world as that the world is in the Church. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit brings hope. Even as God purifies the Church until the true followers and believers remain, those embracing the truths of the faith will grow stronger through adversity. Father Randall sees our age as similar to the one in which St. Francis of Assisi lived, and he sees God calling us in the same way that He called St. Francis. "Go and rebuild My Church which, as you can see, is falling into ruin."

Father Randall does not sugarcoat what is happening in the Church today, nor does he fall into despair or discouragement. The Holy Spirit is still in charge. This book will give the reader hope that God is moving in a world that largely ignores Him. We have to put our finger to the wind, as Father Randall says, and see where He is active. He may be closer than we suspect.