Thought of the Day May 22, 2020 Gift of Understanding
By
nature we have the ability to understand, we have the intelligence to grasp the
realities around us. But there is more to human existence than what we can see,
feel and touch. There are the mysteries of God, the revelation of his Word, the
truths of faith which God desires us to come to a clearer understanding of.
Thus God endows us, when we are baptized, with the Gifts of the Spirit, one of
which is understanding.
Here is what Pope Francis
has to say about this gift. “It is
a grace that only the Holy Spirit can infuse and which awakens in the Christian
the ability to go beyond the outward appearance of reality and scrutinize the
depths of God's thoughts and His plan of salvation….When the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and enlighten
our minds, it makes us grow day by day in the understanding of what the Lord
has said and done. Jesus himself said to his disciples: I will send the Holy
Spirit and he will make you understand all that I have taught you.
Understanding the teachings of Jesus, to understand His Word, to understand the
Gospel, to understand God's Word.”
It is like a
light bulb that goes on in our minds enabling us to see more clearly the truths
of faith that had laid hidden because we lack adequate understanding.
A charism
related to this gift of understanding is the Gift of Interpretation of the Word
of God. Jesus exercised this gift when he interpreted the scriptures to the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter. As a result, their hearts were burning
on fire, because of the new understanding they had of the mystery of the
Christ, as revealed in the Word of God by the prophets. It is what the Ethiopian
eunuch experienced when Philip interpreted the prophet Isaiah to him. The gift
of understanding gave him new clarity.
The fruit of
the gift of understanding is an inner peace which comes from having a clarity
of a mystery of revelation. It is the peace that surpasses all human
understanding because it brings us into the presence of the one who is Truth.
It is the peace that foreshadows the eternal peace we will have when we are
eternally one with the All in All.
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