Apostolic Tracts The Gifts of the Spirit Part 2
WHAT ARE THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
PART 2
Besides the
sanctifying gifts of the Holy Spirit which enables us to grow in holiness and
in our relationship with God, there are the charismatic gifts which are more
for mission or ministry. These later
gifts are meant to build up the Body of Christ, the people of God in the
service of others. The following is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but
some of the many ways the Holy Spirit gifts us to fulfill the work of the
Gospel.
1) Word of Wisdom: This is different
from the sanctifying gift of Wisdom, which enables one to see things from God’s
perspective and is intended for one’s personal sanctification. The Gift of Word
of Wisdom is to help someone else.
An example of this
is found in the Acts of the Apostles.
Stephen, inspired by the Holy Spirit was able to share with those, who
confronted him, God’s plan as it had unfolded from the beginning and culminated
in the person of Jesus Christ. Stephen already believed. He was anointed with
inspired clarity concerning God’s plan throughout salvation history, so those
who did not yet see could see Jesus as the Messiah. He was the instrument used
by God to help others.
The Holy Spirit
desires to do the same in each of us- to give us words to touch the heart of
another. When it happens, the person will know that this wisdom did not come
from himself or herself. It came from God, as a gift through to help someone
else. Whether the other accepts the wisdom or not is not the issue. The person
is responsible only to be open to God.
2) Word of
Knowledge: This too is different from the sanctifying gift of Knowledge.
Like the Word of Wisdom its intent is to help another. Recall the time Jesus was dialoguing with the
Samaritan woman at the well in John’s Gospel. He saw her situation and her
thirst. To open her up to the message he was sharing with her, he told her: “Go
call your husband and come back.” The woman correctly answered and said to
Jesus: “I do not have a husband.” Jesus, led by the Holy Spirit in the Gift of
Word of Knowledge, answered her: “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a
husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your
husband. What you have said is true.”
How did Jesus know
this? The Spirit inspired Jesus in his humanity with this gift in order to move
the woman along to greater openness to understand God’s plan for her. Sometimes
the Holy Spirit reveals something that we couldn’t possibly have known
otherwise on our own. When we share it with the person we believe it is meant
for, it touches the heart of the person to be more open to what God is or wants
to do in his or her life. Again, we are mere instruments. We are not
responsible for what the person does or does not do with the Word of Knowledge.
We are only responsible to be open to the Spirit and follow his lead.
3) Faith:
There is the virtue of faith and the spiritual Gift of Faith. The Catechism
of the Catholic Church says: “Faith is the theological virtue by which we
believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that
holy church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself” (CCC No.
1814).
Because we believe
in God and all he reveals, the Gift of Faith empowers us to step out and
activate our faith in God in a specific way that may result in something
miraculous. How often Jesus would say to the persons requesting a healing, “Be
healed according to your faith.”
Through the power of
the Holy Spirit their faith in Jesus that he could heal them opened them to
receive healing.
Jesus stated it very
clearly in the Gospel of John during the Last Discourse with the disciples.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father” (John
14:12).
4) Healing:
the Gift of Healing is evidenced frequently both in the Old Testament and the
New Testament. Jesus exercised this gift on numerous occasions. He healed the
blind, the mute, the deaf, the paralyzed, the crippled, the leper and the deformed.
He healed by touch and by word of command.
Jesus himself said
to lay hands on the sick and to pray in faith. This is what he sent the
disciples to do and what he expects us to do. When we do what Jesus commands,
we may or may not see any external manifestations of healing. But our
understanding is that Jesus is doing something in the person, whether we see it
or not. Jesus is the healer. We are instruments through which his power and
love are ministered.
5) Gift of
Miracle-Working: Besides healing there were other signs and wonders which
Jesus performed, such as the multiplication of loaves and fish, the changing of
water into wine, walking on water, and raising the dead to life.
At times Jesus would
use these signs to prepare the hearts of his hearer to receive the message of
salvation. At other times, Jesus would confirm his teaching with a sign or
wonder.
In the same way the
Spirit may act through us: to prepare the hearts for the truth of revelation or
to confirm what has been said. Over the centuries similar signs performed by
Jesus were experienced by different people in different places. One that comes
to mind is the multiplication of food on Christmas Day at a Mexican dump site.
A group of Catholics felt the Lord wanted them to share with the poorest of the
poor a simple meal on Christmas Day. They brought enough food for about 500
people. But to their surprise over 1,000 came. The believers began to pray a
simple prayer that Jesus would once more multiply the food to provide for his
people. Not only did they feed everyone but they were able to give something to
each person to take home. The situation called for faith and prayer and action.
The believers responded and God acted. This is just one recorded modern day
example of the Gift of Miracle-Working.
6) Prophecy:
A prophet is a spokesperson for God who speaks in the person and name of God.
An example of this is when God used someone in the community of Antioch to
reveal the choice of Paul and Barnabas as missionaries: “Set apart for me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Comparing the use of
the gift of prophecy and the gift of speaking in tongues, Paul has this to say:
“Now, I should like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy.”
Way before Paul, it was Moses who said, “Would that all the people of the Lord
were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!”
(Numbers 11:29).
While God has used
people to prophesy about future events, the main focus of the gift is that of
encouragement, hope and edification. Like all the gifts, it must be tested to
ascertain if it is of the Spirit of God or from another source.
7) Gift of
Discernment of Spirits: This gift enables someone to know whether another
person’s deeds or words are from the Holy Spirit, from an evil spirit, or
merely from that person himself or herself. Through this gift one is able to
distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error. This gift of
discernment of Spirits is different from the gift of discernment or counsel
which enables one to come to a clarity of God’s will in a particular situation,
such as choosing one’s vocation in life or in choosing a new direction in life.
8) The Gift of
Tongues: There are two different expressions of this particular gift:
· Speaking in tongues as a prayer language ((1Corinthians
14:2, 4, 5). Tongues as a prayer has been referred to as a child’s prayer
language or the language of the angels. It is a gift of praise and thanksgiving
in utterances other than in languages we have learned to speak. As such, it
needs no interpretation. It is the heart of the person speaking to the heart of
God in the Spirit (Romans 8:26-28).
· Tongues as a message: This is a message from God for the
assembly and needs an interpretation so that the assembly would be able to know
what God is saying to it (1 Corinthians 14:5, 22, 27-28).
9) The Gift of
interpretation of Tongues: When someone speaks in tongues prophetically in
the assembly, according to Paul, the group should pray for someone to interpret
the prophetic message for the building up of the community. When someone gives
an interpretation under the lead of the Spirit, it is not a word for word
translation of the tongues but a sense of the message of God to the assembly.
Like any gift, the interpretation given must be discerned by the community.
10) The Gifts of
Deliverance and Exorcism: Both Jesus and the Apostles through the Gifts of
Deliverance and Exorcism confronted head on the demonic power at work in the lives
of people. The influence of the power of darkness in today’s society is no
different than in the times of the
Apostles. In the vast majority of cases this influence is manifested in
harassment and oppression. In rare situations it is true demonic possession.
The Gift of
Deliverance should normally be exercised by people who are properly prepared
spiritually to confront those who are discerned to being harassed or oppressed
by demonic power. No one should presume to use this gift unless led by the Holy
Spirit. The exercise of the Gift of Exorcism has been reserved by the church to
one designated by the bishop to act in his name, because of the more serious
nature of demonic possession.
There are other
charismatic gifts, but this should suffice to awaken an awareness of the many
marvelous ways God empowers us to help others in his name and through his
power.
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