What is a Catholic Pentecostal?

"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. ² And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind,  and it filled the entire house in which they were. ³ Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim." (Acts 2:1-4) New American Bible

 

Recently a coworker and I were discussing spiritual matters. I told him I was a Catholic Pentecostal and asked if he had ever heard of us. He replied that I sounded a bit confused. Actually, the term "Catholic Pentecostal" is redundant. I use it in this culture as an evangelistic tool to witness to others about what God is doing today within the context of the Catholic Church.

Pentecostal experience has been a part of the Catholic Church since her founding, even though it has been obscured at different times in her history.

 

In recent history, the term "Catholic Pentecostal" was the title of a book by David Duplessis. This book told of the move of the Holy Spirit in the Charismatic renewal all over the world. As on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been falling on lay and ordained. This is significant, because the Lord Jesus Christ occasionally imparted the Holy Spirit only on the Apostles. (John 20:21-23)

One of the people present in the upper room that day was the Virgin Mary. Even after a life of sanctified obedience as the spouse of the Holy Spirit, she met him in a new way on the day of Pentecost.

 

The Sacrament of Confirmation is the rite  within the Church, of the conferral of the Holy Spirit. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." As in the sacrament of Baptism, the desire to live out the sacrament of Confirmation is the fruit of a decision to follow Christ and all that he has for us.