(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Part 1
Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Part 2
As such, this gift is a special illumination, which enables the person to realize the emptiness of created things in themselves so that they do not become roadblocks to union with God. At the same time, it enables the person to see through created things to the God who created them. Therefore, instead of seeing created things as obstacles to union with God, the soul views them as instruments for union with God. As such, a person sees how to use created things rightly and even in a holy way. Moreover, the gift gives to the person a sense of faith, sensus fidei, meaning that the person has a divine instinct about whether or not something, like a devotion, is in accord with the faith even though he may never have had a formal theological education.
This gift produces several effects which have great value for sanctification of the soul: introspection, enabling the person to see the state of his soul; detachment from material things; and repentance for the misuse of material things or when they have been allowed to become obstacles to God. St. Thomas taught that the Gift of Knowledge brings to perfection the virtue of faith, but is linked also to the perfection of prudence, justice and temperance.
With the Gift of Fortitude, a person is able “to overcome difficulties or to endure pain and suffering with the strength and power infused by God.” As with the other gifts, fortitude operates under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, and gives strength to the person to resist evil and persevere to everlasting life. This gift brings the virtue of fortitude to perfection, charging it with energy, perseverance and promptness. Moreover, it brings a confidence of success to the virtue. For example, St. Maximilian Kolbe not only had great fortitude to offer promptly his life in exchange for another and to endure a horrible death, but also had the confidence of success that he would overcome the powers of evil and gain everlasting life. Lastly, the Gift of Fortitude enables the individual to live the other virtues heroically, to suffer with patience and joy, to overcome all lukewarmness in the service of God.
The Gift of Counsel is “to render the individual docile and receptive to the counsel of God regarding one’s actions in view of sanctification and salvation.” Primarily, this gift enables a person to judge individual acts as good and ought to be done, or as evil and ought to be avoided. The counsel is made in view of one’s own personal sanctification and one’s ultimate supernatural end. Therefore, this gift prompts the person to ask himself, “Will this act lead to holiness? Will this act lead to Heaven?”
Clearly, this gift is linked with the virtue of prudence; however, while the virtue of prudence operates in accord with reason as enlightened by faith, the Gift of Counsel operates under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the counsel given may be that which reason would not be able to give an explanation. For example, using the example of St. Maximilian Kolbe, such an act of self-sacrifice for another is the right thing to do but does not necessarily follow the normal, reasonable course of self-preservation.
Also, counsel can deal with the immediacy of the situation. For example, through the Gift of Counsel, the Holy Spirit helps a person in a dilemma reconcile the necessity of guarding a secret with the obligation of speaking the truth. Counsel aids the virtue of prudence, and brings it to perfection. This gift also has great effects: preserving a good conscience, providing solutions to difficult and unexpected situations, and helping to give counsel to others, especially in matters of personal sanctification and salvation.
Understanding is a gift “to give a deeper insight and penetration of divine truths held by faith, not as a transitory enlightenment but as a permanent intuition.” Illuminating the mind to truth, The Holy Spirit aids a person to grasp truths of faith easily and intimately, and to penetrate the depths of those truths. This gift not only assists in penetrating revealed truths, but also natural truths in so far as they are related to the supernatural end. The essential quality of this gift is a “penetrating intuition” — in a sense, the moving beyond the surface. This gift, penetrating the truths of faith, operates in several ways: disclosing the hidden meaning of Sacred Scripture; revealing the significance of symbols and figures (like St. Paul seeing Christ as fulfillment of the rock of the Exodus account that poured forth water to quench the thirst of the Israelites (1 Cor 10:4); showing the hand of God at work in a person’s life, even in the most mysterious or troublesome events (like suffering); and revealing the spiritual realities that underlie sensible appearances (like penetrating the mystery of the Lord’s sacrifice in the ritual of the Mass). This gift brings the virtue of faith to perfection. Accordingly, St. Thomas said, “In this very life, when the eye of the spirit is purified by the gift of understanding, one can in a certain way see God” (Summa theologiae II-II, q. 69, a. 2, ad. 3).
The last of the seven gifts is that of Wisdom: “to judge and order all things in accordance with divine norms and with a connaturality that flows from loving union with God.” The Holy Spirit aids the contemplation of divine things, enabling the person to grow in union with God. With this gift, even an “uneducated soul” can possess the most profound knowledge of the divine. For example, St. Therese of Lisieux had no formal education in theology, and yet was wise to the ways of the Lord; for this reason, she has been declared a Doctor of the Church.
While this gift contemplates the divine, it is also a practical wisdom. It applies God’s ideas to judge both created and divine matter. Consequently, it also directs human acts according to the divine.
This gift has great effects: With this gift a person will see and evaluate all things — both joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, success or failure — from God’s point of view, and accept them with equanimity. With Wisdom, all things, even the worst, are seen as having a supernatural value. For example, the Gift of Wisdom gives value to martyrdom. Here a person arises above the wisdom of this world, and lives in the love of God. For this reason, the Gift of Wisdom brings to perfection charity.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are without question great gifts essential for our sanctification and salvation. Each baptized and confirmed Christian should implore the Holy Spirit to inflame in his soul these gifts. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II said, “With gifts and qualities such as these, we are equal to any task and capable of overcoming any difficulties.”
