Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The “Gifts of the Holy Spirit,” what is this to us Franciscans and Christians in general? I think of the parable Jesus gave us about the king and the money he entrusted to his servants before he went away — $100 to one, $200 to another, and $500 to a third.

     On his return he was well pleased with the two who produced a 100% return. But the one who produced nothing, he condemned.

     What has this to do with our Secular Franciscan Order and the Holy Spirit?

     If we ask for it, the Holy Spirit floods us with grace — it is a pure gift.  We can’t buy it and we can’t earn it — we receive it gratis. And that is where the parable begins to have meaning for us, because through the grace of God and the Holy Spirit we can begin to develop our God given talents.

     Every living person is blessed with a talent, or talents. To strive to develop these to the best of our ability brings a smile and a joyful “Well done” from God.

     Let no person say he or she has no talent. God has gifted you with something special. For most of us, our abilities are not all that great. But, ability we have, because as human beings created by God we have been endowed with a body to enable us to work; an intellect to enable us to know what it is we need to do; a free will to spur us on and an immortal soul to lift us up higher than ourselves.

     Irradiated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we accept from the Holy Spirit the gift of faith. We believe in God and receive the gift of hope. We can reach beyond our human capacity to a share in that which is divine.

    As Franciscans, we are a quiet people, or should be. We accept the gifts the Spirit gives us with gratitude. Most of us do not ask for greater gifts. Some of the more spectacular ones of the Holy Spirit, which are His alone to give and to whom He wills to give them are the gift of tongues, of discernment, of prophecy and the supernatural. Most of us, humbly, obediently, are satisfied to receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which are ours for the asking — and ask we should for them – they are ordinary gifts, if any gift from the Holy Spirit can be called ordinary.

     First of all let us ask for the “Gift of Wisdom,” which is a beginning. Let us pray intensely for this one which, when God told King Solomon he could ask for whatever he desired, Solomon replied that he would like wisdom so that he could rule his people wisely and justly. God was enormously pleased with this reply.

    With the “Gift of Wisdom,” we can move on to the “Gift of Understanding” which is the understanding of our relationship as humans to a God who is our loving Father, our Savior, and our Love and Consolation.

    And with the “Gift of Understanding” we now begin to have a greater awareness of Jesus and receive the “Gift of Knowledge.” We bring Him alive out of the pages of the Gospels into our daily living. We are now in the position of what St. Paul was talking about when he said: “…in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life; nor angels nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[1] We become fixed, firm and immovable, set in concrete in this love. No pain, no sickness, no heartache, no frustration, ridicule or put-down can take it from us. It is ours to have and to hold. This powerful fact is the “Gift of Fortitude.” And on we go — now we are able to transmit this Good News we have come to understand and to know how to evangelize, not necessarily by words or preaching, but simply by our example. Our light now is shining clearly before men, and this is our “Gift of Counsel.”

   We are now reaching towards the level of St. Francis (at least we are striving towards it) to where Thomas of Celano wrote of him: “He was a man so steeped in love for Jesus Christ that he had Jesus in his eyes, Jesus in his ears, Jesus in his mouth, Jesus in his hands, Jesus in every member of his body.” This is our “Gift of Piety.”

   And finally, we come to the “Gift of Fear of the Lord.” We can hesitate over this one.

   Are we afraid of Him?

   The answer could be, fear of ourselves — of our human weaknesses. We love God so very much that we fear we are not pleasing Him. Is He satisfied with what we are doing or the way we are doing it?

   We become afraid of doing something that will hurt Him, like that dear, lovable rough fisherman, Peter, hurt Him. Remember that day when the cock crowed and Jesus looked at him and that look stabbed deep down into Peter's heart and he stood there aghast at what he had done. His head dropped down to his chest and he remained there sobbing like a little boy who realizes he had done something awful that had hurt his beloved father.

    What Peter felt was not fear. It was contrition born of true love — deep, deep love. Fear of the Lord is such a love.

    All these “Gifts” are ours — this is what it is to be a Franciscan and a good Christian and walk the Way of the Gospel. We are rising out of our mundane drabness, lifted high above our own poor abilities into the realm of the Divine.

    This is thrilling, a real marvel that this should be ours, we who are just little ordinary people, the minor brothers and sisters, the Poverelli. We do not aspire to perform center stage under a spotlight. We are content to use our little natural talents in a supernatural way.

    This is the tremendous message of St. Francis.

    God grant that we use our minds and hearts and wills to bring these “Gifts” to a very pinnacle in our lives so that God can call out to us joyfully, some day, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.”[2]