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I was
invited to a breakfast after Mass, a Catholic Woman’s Society. . . .
For the most part their aims seemed holy enough. A desire to promote Consecration
to Our Lady, Eucharistic Adoration, holiness within the family, supporting
the poor, etc. After the discussions there was a bit of prayer, and those
who felt the desire to pray in tongues were invited to do so. I was very
taken aback by this, and embarrassed as people around me began to sing in
unintelligible words. There was also group discussion where people would
propose their ideas, and how they felt the Holy Spirit was motivating them,
and then everyone around the table would punctuate this with “Praise
Jesus! Thank you Jesus!” which is all quite well and good, but I felt
like I was at a Protestant thing I’ve seen on TV. You know? I could
only hang my head and pray silently that He would guide these good people
as they seemed to think they were being guided. I think it was their certainty
that it could only be the Holy Spirit that guided them, that frightened me
a bit.
Now, when it comes to tongues, I myself have never desired to pray in this
way, but I cannot condemn another if God inspires them, and I mean a genuine
inspiration. But what is real and what is false? What is the Holy Spirit
and what is simply human emotion trying to find satisfaction in the wrong
places? When I read St. Paul in 1 Corinthians, it seems tongues are kind
of a pointless thing as they bear little fruit, and he more or less tells
them to stop wasting their time. Or so it seems to me.
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 peaking in tongues is first mentioned
in Acts in regard to Pentecost when the Apostles spoke to the crowds, and
everyone from the various nations heard everything in his native
language.
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Then there appeared
to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of
them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in
different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now, there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because
each one heard them speaking in his own language. |
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—Acts
2:3–6 |
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Notice that, in this case,
speaking in tongues had the purpose of increasing communication, so
that the “mighty acts of God” (viz., the Incarnation, Passion,
and Resurrection of Christ) would be proclaimed to all nations; it had nothing
to do with babbling unintelligibly.
Nevertheless, in his Epistles,
Saint Paul does mention that speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit,
and we know that he was referring here to unintelligible speech because he
also mentioned the gift of interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians
12:10).
Now, the problem, as you well
perceive, is that speaking unintelligible things can lead to abuse. If we
don’t know what is being said, then it can just as well be something
diabolical as it can be divinely inspired. Plus,
when people get together in groups, social
pressure can easily lead to hysteria, shared delusion, and spiritual
pride.
In fact, Saint Paul had to correct
this very problem of spiritual pride within the Corinthian church. Paul told
the Corinthians that “building up” the church—edifying others
through encouragement and solace (1 Corinthians 14:3)—is far more important
than speaking in tongues. So he reminds them, “if you, because of speaking
in tongues, do not utter intelligible speech, how will anyone know what is
being said?” (1 Corinthians 14:9). Thus he gives his summary rebuke
against the Corinthians’ inflated
“spirituality”:
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Otherwise, if
you pronounce a blessing [with] the spirit, how shall one who holds the place
of the uninstructed say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since
he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks very well,
but the other is not built up. I give thanks to God that I speak in tongues
more than any of you, but in the church I would rather speak five words with
my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a
tongue. |
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—1 Corinthians
14:16–19 |
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Paul truly understood the meaning
of dying to the self in the service of others, in the imitation of
Christ’s love for us. Therefore, he offered pure,
practical advice to the Corinthians: set aside personal
pride and self-satisfaction, and instead seek always
the salvation of others.
Paul is telling us here that
if we want to speak in tongues privately, to express simple feelings of
thanksgiving or happiness, it can serve our own edification. If others are
present, however, it’s a different matter. So again listen to Paul’s
counsel:
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If anyone speaks
in a tongue, let it be two or at most three, and each in turn, and one should
interpret. But if there is no interpreter, the person should keep silent
in the church and speak to himself and to God. |
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—1 Corinthians
14:27–28 |
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Note that
when Paul speaks about someone who should interpret he is not referring
to self-interpretation, for if that were the case, the whole experience could
be a matter of self-delusion. Interpretation is a real gift in itself, distinct
from the gift of tongues. It’s also a gift rarely manifested today in
prayer groups that encourage speaking in tongues. In my opinion, that lack
says quite a bit. Just like in psychotherapy, when
interpretation [1]
is absent, there is no healing meaning to what has been said. It’s all
just a lot of “talking to the air”
(1 Corinthians 14:9).
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1. In
psychotherapy,
interpretation is a process whereby the well-trained and experienced
psychotherapist brings out into conscious awareness the
unconscious
meaning of the client’s speech.
  
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