Extraordinariness and novelty in the Charismatic Renewal movement. How to tell the gift of the Holy Spirit from man’s creation?

The Charismatic Renewal movement, in whose wake a number of evangelizing communities of prayer and new religious congregations have appeared, is nowadays identified with what is unusual – with extraordinary forms of devotion and the like phenomena. The author reminds us that 50 years ago, which is exactly when the movement began to unfold, it was perceived as one of the most significant signs of the New Pentecost, or the Holy Spirit’s intensified work in our times. Paul VI and the subsequent popes pointed to the Holy Spirit’s “intensified activity”, deeming Him to be the Reviver of the Church and the Font of the world’s new life. Alas, the mighty presence in question, as well as the Holy Spirit’s intensified activity in the Church, have been overshadowed by, on the one hand, ever-increasing focus on the part of the members of the movement under scrutiny on what in the first place satisfies the needs of people, i.e. healing and unusual phenomena; and, on the other hand, by the excessive scepticism of theologians and pastors, who for the 50 years of the Renewal existence have not equipped the faithful, unable to tell the essence from the unusualness, with their theological reflection. The author pays attention to the fact that the categories of “ordinary” and “extraordinary” with regard to the New Pentecost do not put anything in order, but, subjective as they are, they hinder the theological reflection itself. Thus, he suggests that we focus on the diff erentiation of what is the Holy Spirit’s gift from what is man’s creation. In the article he compares from this point of view two “ordinary” areas of the Holy Spirit’s activity – the baptism in the Holy Spirit and contemplative prayer. By doing so, Guzowski proves that the emphasis on the person of the Holy Spirit and His work of sanctification allows us to tell the essence of the New Pentecost from secondary issues