Author Archives: Christy Whiting
Celebrating 50 days of Easter
Easter celebrates the greatest event of all time, so it is meant to be the greatest celebration of each year. “The first eight days of the Easter Season make up the octave of Easter and are celebrated as Solemnities of the Lord” (Universal Norms for Liturgical Year and Calendar, 24). Divine Mercy Sunday concludes the […]
Humility That Brings Healing
Last fall I took a grad class at Sacred Heart Major Seminary that required writing a research paper on an ecumenical topic. The professor emphasized that the purpose was to teach us to listen closely to what others are saying, and not to respond with pre-packaged apologetic answers that we assume will apply, but may […]
Lent is Here – Praise God!
Praise music isn’t usually associated with Lent. We tend to associate it with joyful celebrations, and consider Lent a different, more sober time. While there is a necessary sobriety to Lent, this does not mean that Lent is supposed to be devoid of joy, nor of praise. In fact, one of the greatest effects of […]
Close Encounters of the Third (Person of the Trinity) Kind
“There is more!” resounded throughout the Encounter Conference we hosted, welcoming 1,000 people here from Jan. 4-6. Our God is infinite love, truth, beauty, goodness, and power. And unless we are all those things as well (obviously not), He always has more for us. This is more than a generous offer on His part: this […]
Prayer Ministry: Receiving What God Has For You
Prayer ministry is a unique way of receiving God’s blessings. Anyone can bring the prayers of their heart to a team of prayer ministers, so that together they can intercede. Jesus said, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Mt 18:20). To receive the most from prayer ministry, come […]
At the End of the Double Jubilee Year
Wait. What? It’s a “Double Jubilee Year”? Um…what jubilees? 2017 has been the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima. (Yep…now you remember.) It’s true that it hasn’t been talked about much besides the February “50 Years of Amazing Grace” conference, the Annunciation event in […]
Welcome the Word
Jesus is revealed to us as the “Word of God” (Jn 1:1, Rev 19:13). He is the communication of God’s love for us, the “Word Made Flesh” (Jn 1:14). As Word, Jesus is constantly communicating. Just as He is Love and Truth, and never ceases to be Love and Truth, He also never ceases to […]
“Pursue Love and Strive for the Spiritual Gifts”
With these words, St. Paul begins 1 Corinthians 14. He has just written about both love and spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12-13, concluding, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Love is the heart of the spiritual life, but the spiritual life is not complete […]
Welcome to Upper Room!
Christ the King Parish is now publishing a monthly newsletter, The Open Door. Upper Room will have an article in each issue, to encourage growth in our charismatic life. Those articles will be posted here on our blog as well. This first article invites everyone to come encounter the Holy Spirit at Upper Room. In […]
From Springtime to Summer in the Church
By Christy Whiting, Upper Room Director Pittsburgh is not only the birthplace of the modern Catholic charismatic renewal, but it is where three rivers—the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela—come together. It proved to be a symbolic location for the National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR)’s Jubilee Conference. There, an estimated 6,000 people gathered, […]
