Haban R ...me?

In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Holy Spirit visited the Catholic Church in a weird and wonderful way. A group of students and professors were on a retreat at Duquesne University, a Catholic college in Pittsburgh. They were all familiar with the Book of Acts, which tells how the early Church gets its start when the Holy Spirit comes on Pentecost and showers it with all sorts of spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, and tongues being some of the more spectacular ones. The retreatants wondered why these gifts were not apparent in the Catholic Church at present. Could it be that they weren't around because nobody was praying and asking for them? The retreatants decide to lay hands on one another, just like in the Book of Acts, pray and ask, and, yep, that proved to be the way to receive those gifts, just like in the early Church. Those students and professors experienced a profound presence of God as well as all the spiritual gifts the early Church received on Pentecost. This Catholic Pentecostalism, later called the Charismatic Renewal, now spread like wildfire through the Catholic Church. Soon many parishes had charismatic prayer groups where people laid hands on one another, asking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They prayed for the Holy Spirit to give them a closer relationship with God. They prayed for healing, words of prophecy and the related gifts. They prayed in tongues. In short, these charismatic prayer groups resembled the early Church as seen in the Book of Acts. As a high school senior, I became part of such a group in my local parish, renewing my relationship with God and saying yes to all the wonder and weirdness that went with it. (Praying in tongues? Seriously? Yeah...)

Reading this book had a profound impact on me - 1969 edition!

The summer after my senior year in high school, several months after I became involved with the prayer group, I was pumping gas at a gas station when a hippie-esque guy at the next pump with a flannel shirt, long hair and a southern drawl struck up a conversation. He pointed to a copy of the then ubiquitous Good News for Modern Man New Testament I had lying on my dashboard. “Hey, man. Are you saved?” he asked. (Really, just like that...) I wasn't certain how to answer. “Saved” was not part of my Catholic vocabulary at the time. I hesitated, then said, “Well, I'm a Catholic Pentecostal...” The southern gentleman's eyes got real wide and he said, “Wow! Cool, man! I didn't know Catholics were allowed to do that!” (Really, just like that...)

Up until this point, I thought my spiritual renewal/prayer group experience was a uniquely Catholic thing. After my gas station encounter I was left with questions: If the hippie-esque guy didn't know that Catholics were allowed to do “that”, what other religious groups out there did he know that were allowed to do “that”? Was what I was experiencing now in my spiritual life not a uniquely Catholic thing? Two months later I started my freshman year at a state college, rubbing shoulders with all different flavors of Christians. I found out that, indeed, I was “saved”, and I certainly fit the description of being a born-again Christian, having given my life over to Jesus Christ in a decidedly committed way. I remained a Catholic Pentecostal/Charismatic and was accepted as such by most of the other Christians I met on campus, though, like the guy at the gas station, some were puzzled by the Catholic/Pentecostal combo of this Catholic born-again-saved Christian girl.

In reading through the (small) Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren, Volume II,* I found several entries describing a life lived by the Hutterites in a decidedly Book of Acts manner. They relied on God for everything... just like in Acts; they laid hands on those they sent out to spread the gospel...just like in Acts; certain godly leaders had prophetic visions and dreams...just like in Acts.**
  In Johannes Waldner's introduction to his edition of the Chronicle, he highlights the second chapter of Acts, describing the coming of the Holy Spirit:

“...the power of God's Holy Spirit as it came visibly upon the gathered believers in Jerusalem at Pentecost. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in new tongues, telling in every language under heaven of the great things God had done.”

He then goes on to emphasize the part of Acts 2 that fleshes out the uniquely Hutterite call to hold all things in common, the life they sought to live for God's glory:

“They met constantly to hear the apostles teach and to share the common life, to break bread, and to pray. A sense of awe was in every soul and many marvels and signs were done through the apostles. Those who were now believers came together and had everything in common. They sold their property and possessions and distributed them to all, as the need of each required. All were of one mind, daily attending the temple together, breaking bread together in their homes and sharing their meals with heartfelt joy as they praised God; and the people looked on them with favor. Day by day the Lord added to their number those whom he was saving.”

Prophetic words, like those in the book of Acts, are related in a matter-of-fact manner. In a 1551 entry in the Chronicle, after describing an incident of robbery where the Hutterites did not resist the plundering, the chronicler credited God with both His forewarning and His deliverance.

“Certainly, the prophet spoke the truth when he said, “In all the neighboring places there will be a violent attack on all who fear the Lord. They will be like doves; not one will be spared. Their enemies will plunder and destroy all who fear the Lord. They will take their goods and drive them out of their homes. Then it will be known who my faithful people are, who have stood the test like gold in the assayer's fire. 'Listen, my beloved,' says the Lord, 'understand that the days of harsh suffering are here, but I will rescue you. Away with your fears and doubts, for God is your leader!'” And truly God rescued his people and led them, otherwise not one would have been left. They would have been swallowed up like water on dry earth. But God upheld them and protected their faith.”

In a 1555 entry, a nobleman, pretending to be in sympathy with the local Hutterite believers, asked if the Holy Spirit came to a person through the laying on of hands. The “faithful servant of God” responded firmly, “Yes, but to varying degrees.” The nobleman did not want to hear that, but it was a very Hutterite/Acts/Charismatic answer. And throughout the Chronicle there are references to the Hutterites living a very Acts/Charismatic life. Prophetic words warn and encourage, people are prayed for and have hands laid upon them as they are sent off to be missionaries to the surrounding towns. God is called upon and trusted to do amazing acts of deliverance, quite literally, from prisons, not unlike the apostle Peter's supernatural jail break in Acts 12.*** All in all, the Hutterites were living life with the Holy Spirit.

It's been over 50 years since I first called myself a Catholic Pentecostal/Charismatic. If I had to describe what I am now, I'd say I'm still at heart a Catholic Charismatic, but one who finds herself on what is turning into a long and possibly permanent sabbatical in the Protestant evangelical church. I've come a long way since the gas pump epiphany, going from what I thought was a uniquely Catholic experience to a bigger vision, seeing myself as part of the larger Body of Christ. But as I look back at my Haban/Hutterite family history, I see that I did have a decided hereditary leaning to that Book of Acts life that my ancestors immersed their lives in. I found that Haban R...me.

* My primary source for details on the Hutterite life.  See https://habanrus.blogspot.com/2018/07/imnot-making-this-stuff-up-ihave-love.html

**I personally believe that everyone should read the Book of Acts once a year. Its a great picture of what the Christian life could and should look like in all its wondrous glory and weirdness. No wonder those retreatants at Duquesne University wanted in after reading it...

***You really so have to read Acts. Great stuff...