When the Spirit Comes in Power: Rediscovering the Charismatic Dimension of the Christian Life

Mr. Herbeck is a Catholic lay evangelist in the charismatic tradition. He points out how we are called to desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit (p. 147) and how receiving the Holy Spirit anew completes our sacramental baptism (p. 71). He gives us personal spiritual counsel on receiving the Holy Spirit and clarifies confusion about the oft-heard term "baptism of the Holy Spirit." The book also analyzes the predicament of the Catholic Church in Western countries that reject the Gospel. The author sees a "New Pentecost" which reinvigorates the Catholic Church in her challenge to secular culture. He is both realistic about long-standing problems and optimistic about the future: "The lukewarm, timid, politicized, secularized version of Christianity, which has gripped the Church in our time, has had its day. A new day has dawned, a day born of the Spirit in power" (p. 131). This Spirit-filled faith is sweeping the Third World. It is surely also needed in the so-called advanced nations.