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So I hoped to portray in a neutral way how things look from "your side."

THANK YOU Dawg, for an attempt at understanding.

Is it fair to say that in your, what, vision of the ecclesial community the Holy Spirit often gives rich and wonderful and obvious manifestations of his work and presence?

YES. Emphatically so.

If that's right, then "prophecy" is one of those gifts.

Without a doubt.

[...] would describe this prophetic activity as a kind of ecstatic utterance (maybe?) but "in a language understanded of the people", and, in a way, "oracular" in the sense of being FIRST, not really chosen by the speaker and THEN vague or, treading carefully here, lacking in concreteness at least to those who are not members of the particular ecclesial community?

Not necessarily on any of these points, IMHO, but generally, considering the nature of prophecy, a reasonable assertion.

This utterance would however present itself as an accurate presentation of God's word, both with respect to future events and with respect to personal spiritual activities.

Yes, but according to whom? There's the sticking point.

How am I doing so far?

A fair and equitable inquiry.

Then, the underlying theology would include ideas that the utterance was in and for the local ecclesial community AND for those who (by the activity of the Holy Spirit hear in it the word of God. Therefore, since it is, in a way, irrelevant to those who are not members of the community, they are not competent to "judge" it because it really is discontinuous with their own particular personal life in Christ?

My opinion on the matter is this:

IF one accepts the premise that the offices of the Church are all still in full effect, including apostles and prophets (which I do);

AND IF one believes the gifts of the Spirit to be as described, and as evidenced (which I do);

THEN: One is happy to be looking for works of the Spirit in one's life, and to a great degree, in the Church at large. Such works are confirming of the power of God in the lives of men, and confirming of the promise of Christ.

Those who believe see God's power in their lives ALL_THE_TIME. Great works of the Spirit are abundantly given to those who love the Lord, and who believe on Him - even as it was promised.

Those who are not looking, will not see, and for the most part, REFUSE to see. For such as these, the Spirit can do no works, and the Church has no power. Their minds seek after carnal things, so the carnal is what they find.

What about slanderers, “prophets” who state baldly that another has committed a crime for which he should be in jail, even though they present no proof?

And what about when the “prophet” states that Earth will shift out of its orbit, and the atmosphere will lighten, even though nowhere in scripture does it mention the Earth’s shifting out of its orbit or the atmosphere lightening?

Do you accept ALL who prophesy, including those who accuse others of committing crimes whilst not presenting any proof of those charges, or those who state that earth will shift out of its orbit?

Is there any penalty affixed to people who makes prophecies that are false? Do you find fault in those who accuse others of committing crimes that they don’t present proof of?

I, too, believe in prophecy. I’m not charismatic but I go to a church where people speak in tongues, and I think it’s perfectly acceptable, and belongs in the modern era.

What amazes me, though...is the alarming number of people here who take Jed at face value while ignoring his prophecies that did not come true and ignoring the fact that he accused Bob of either committing a murder or theft, and no one, not a one of you, addresses those facts.

I think that I am most touched, and our strong point of contact will be here, when you write:Those who believe see God's power in their lives ALL_THE_TIME. Great works of the Spirit are abundantly given to those who love the Lord, and who believe on Him - even as it was promised.

This is increasingly my experience as well. It's like the "dirty little secret:" GOd is ALL OVER your life and little miracles are happening ALL THE TIME! REJOICE you dopes!

Here's a vague impressionistic way of talking about the Catholic, what, uneasiness about all this:

The general idea seems to be that for 100 years or more the Catholic Church held unquestioned sway over Europe. People don't really know this but throughout it's history the Faith has been assailed one way or another -- Arians, Docetists, Donatists, people who denied the incarnation Or the Divinity of Christ OR the goodness of Creation.

As WE remember it (allowing that we might be wrong) there was a very serious heresy around 1150 and for a while afterwards, called Albigensianism, for example. It was in response to that the the Dominicans got their start.

So, while we would love to rejoice in wonderful manifestations of spiritual events, we remember back as far as Marcion and the Montanists whom Tertullian joined.

SO, we are hesitant, circumspect, careful, lest people are led astray. Even now, while "everybody" including John Paul II is happy to endorse the truth of the Fatima apparitions, it is NOT required of Catholics to believe that they were real. And there was (to us) no suggestion of heresy or any kind of disagreement from Fatima. But even in that seemingly innocuous event, our official response is mild

So leaving aside the Church affiliation issues, we have an institutional memory of disaster following charismatic leaders -- or leaders with a bogus charism.

Also, I think Catholic History is, (at least to Catholics, is heroic missionaries backed up by talented and careful theologians many of whom were wonderfully pious intelligent and thoughtful men and women.

So the "Catholic in the Street" is either going to want to "vet" a "prophecy" or to have somebody higher up in the food chain to vet it and pronounce it okay.

I hope this is a useful description of the sort of emotional side of how we react when somebody professes visions and inspiration.And then, don't let this get around, but some (all) of us are sinners too.