Feast of Pentecost, Cycle A - June 8, 2014

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Feast of Pentecost

Cycle A

June 8, 2014       4:00 PM, 7:30 and 9:00 AM

Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air

 

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

This past week, I was looking ahead to today’s celebration of Pentecost and I got thinking about what we call the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Our Catholic catechisms have always taught that there are Seven Gifts that we receive from the Holy Spirit.  These Gifts are something like virtues. 

The idea is that they should emerge from within us because of the presence of God, the Holy Spirit.  I decided that I wanted to think about these with you this weekend and there is a handout in your seats to help us to do this.

I ask that you pass down the handouts so that each person has a copy.  You may want to follow along with me.

I recommend that each of us try to see if these Gifts are really alive in us.  Are we allowing them to emerge?

1. Wisdom

So, first, the Gift is Wisdom frees us from being superficial.  With this Gift, we look beyond facts and events to what they really mean.

Wisdom helps us to see the long range consequences of things and the big picture of life.  It helps us to form perspectives and opinions that have depth.

 

2. Understanding

The Gift of Understanding frees us from being narrow-minded.  With this Gift, we “stand under” – to flip the syllables of the word – we “stand under” another person and see things from their perspective.

Understanding or “standing under” means that we try to think and feel what another person is thinking and feeling.  It helps us to experience common ground with persons of a different faith or ethnic group or lifestyle.     

3. Knowledge

The Gift of Knowledge frees us from spiritual ignorance.  With this Gift, we are able to see light and not just darkness.

Knowledge helps us to live with a sense of where we came from and where we are going.  It helps us to know the way to live that is grounded in the gospel and in the tradition of the Church.

4. Counsel

The Gift of Counsel frees us from the loneliness of personal decisions.  With this Gift, we are moved to turn to other persons of faith and maturity to assist us in making important choices.

Counsel also helps us to offer enlightenment and guidance to others.  It helps us to listen well and to know when to speak up and how to say what we feel called to say.

5. Fortitude

The Gift of Fortitude frees us from caving in when the going gets tough.  With this Gift, we will be consistent and steady in our behavior.

Fortitude helps us to do what we believe is right.  It helps us to do the good thing even in the face of peer pressure and rejection.

6. Reverence

The Gift of Reverence frees us from insensitivity.  With this Gift, we are not destructive or harmful or diminishing of others.

Reverence helps us to respect human life and the dignity of all persons.  It also helps us to act differently and appropriately when dealing with the things of God, as when we are here in church or receiving the Eucharist.

7. Wonder

Finally, the Gift of Wonder frees us from self-absorption.  With this Gift, we sense, almost in a contemplative way, that we are always in the presence of God.

Wonder helps us to hold all reality as loving parents would hold their children – with tenderness and great care.  It helps us to pray on our own and to seek to become closer to God.

Conclusion

So, these are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

I recommend that we pick one, just one of these Gifts that needs to emerge more in us.  The Gift is there, within us, and we just need to remove the blocks.

For example, maybe we need to work at Understanding – at “standing under” some other person and really being open to what they are thinking or feeling.  So let’s try to do this, to work at one of these Gifts, and in that way allow the Holy Spirit to be more alive in us.