During a recent lunch with a man who was a Trappist monk for 25 years, we were discussing charisma. He noted that priests are trained to restrain and diminsh themselves, to nurture public self-abasement so that they might allow the focus to be on the Eucharist that they administer.
Is personal charisma generally helpful - or does it tend to obscure Christ? I tend to think that the ancient traditions which seek to spiritually form their ministers to restrain themselves probably have the right idea.
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3 comments:
I tend to agree with you.
Good thoughts. We tend to talk about Chrisma as the up front attention seeking type. I think there is a quiet Charisma as well. That can be just as dangerous or helpful.
Is Charisma a gift that like anyother gift must be used in the correct way to bring glory to God as opposed to glory to self?
Another question enters my mind after reading steve's thoughts. Is charisma ("personal magnetism"), as we understand it today, a "gift" at all?
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