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Illustration: Tabernacle wayside shrine in Taisten. Christ on the Mount of Olives
Pope Francis’ Catechesis: The Spirit and the Bride 14.
Saint Peter’s Square [ Wednesday, 20 November 2024
“The Bride’s Gifts. The charisms, gifts of the Spirit for common use”
First Corinthians Chapter 12:
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the last three catecheses, we have talked about the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, which is carried out in the sacraments, in prayer and in following the example of the Mother of God.
But let us listen to what a famous text of the Second Vatican Council says:
“It is not only through the sacraments and the ministries of the Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and enriches it with virtues, but, ‘allotting his gifts to everyone according as He wills’”
(1 Cor 12:11 – All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills).
We too have personal gifts that the Spirit gives to each one of us.
Charismatic Action
The time has come, therefore, to speak also of this second way in which the Holy Spirit works, that of charismatic action.
There are two elements that help to define what charism is. It is a difficult word, but I will explain it.
First, the charism is the gift given “for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7 – To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good), to be useful to everyone.
In other words, it is not primarily and ordinarily intended for the sanctification of the person, but for the “service” of the community
(1 Pt 4:10 – As each one has received a gift, use it for one another, as good stewards of God’s manifold grace).
This is the first aspect.
Secondly, the charism is the gift given “to one”, or “to some” in particular, not to all in the same way, and this is what distinguishes it from sanctifying grace, from the theological virtues and from the sacraments, which are on the contrary the same and common to all.
The charism is given to a particular person or community. It is a gift given by God.
The Second Vatican Council also explains this.
The Holy Spirit, it says, “distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank.
Through these gifts he makes them fit and ready to assume the various tasks and ministries which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church, according to the words of the Apostle: ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for his or her own use’”.
Charisms are the “jewels” or the ornaments that the Holy Spirit distributes to make the Bride of Christ (the Church) more beautiful.
One can understand, then. why the Conciliar text ends with the following exhortation:
“These charisms, whether they be the more prominent or more simple and widespread are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation, because they are perfectly suited to and useful for the needs of the Church” (LG 12).
Pope Benedict XVI has affirmed: “Anyone who looks at the history of the post-conciliar period can see the process of true renewal, which has often taken unexpected forms in living movements and has made the inexhaustible vitality of the holy Church almost tangible”. And this is the charism given to a group bua person.
We need to rediscover the charisms, because this will ensure that the promotion of the laity, and especially women, is understood not only as an institutional and sociological fact, but also in its biblical and spiritual dimension. Indeed, the laity are not the least, no!
The laity are not a kind of external collaborators or auxiliary troops of the clergy, no!
They have their own charisms and gifts with which to contribute to the mission of the Church.
Let us add another thing: when we speak of charisms.
We must immediately dispel a misunderstanding: that of identifying them with spectacular or extraordinary gifts and abilities. On the contrary, they are ordinary gifts.
Each one of us has his or her own charism which acquires extraordinary value when inspired by the Holy Spirit and embodied with love in life’s situations.
Such an interpretation of the charism is important, because many Christians, when they hear talk of charisms, experience sadness or disappointment, because they are convinced that they do not have a charism and feel that they are excluded or second-class Christians.
No, they are not second-class Christians, no, each person has his or her own personal, and also community charism.
St. Augustine responded to this in his time with a very eloquent comparison.
He said to his people, “If you love, it is not nothing that you have: if you love unity, whoever has anything in that unity has it as well.
In the body, the eye alone sees; but does the eye for itself alone?
It sees both for the hand and the foot, and for all the other members”.
This reveals the secret of why charity is defined by the Apostle as “a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12, 31).
It makes me love the Church, or the community in which I live and, in unity, all charisms, not just some, are “mine”, just as “my” charisms, little though they may seem, belong to all and are for the good of all. Charity multiplies charisms; it makes the charism of one, of a single person, the charism of all.
Thank you!
_____________________________
Summary of the Holy Father’s words:
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
In our catechesis on the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, we now turn from the Spirit’s work of sanctification to his building up of the Body of Christ through the outpouring of charismatic gifts. Charisms, in all their rich variety, are special graces given to individuals for the building up of the Church in unity and holiness.
The Second Vatican Council spoke of the importance of the special charisms given to the lay faithful, by which they, and especially women, contribute to the mission of the Church.
Saint Paul reminds us that these gifts, great and small, are at the service of charity, the love of Christ which is their source and to which they are directed.
Let us thank the Spirit for adorning the Church with these manifold gifts and ask him to continue to bestow them in abundance.
