I hope you all read my last post about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I want to clarify what we are talking about here, because there are gifts of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, virtues, and even gifted "jobs" for the faithful. Maybe we can talk about those, too, in future posts or videos.
When we speak about The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are specifically referring to the seven expressions of Faith granted to Christians via the Grace of God.
In chapter 11 of Isaiah, the writer describes the ideal king for the nation. It is obvious the writer is speaking about his future messiah king who we know as Christ Jesus.
"But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
"Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall graze, together their young shall lie down; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the viper’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea."
What a beautiful vision of PEACE because of JUSTICE! This is what I teach all people of good will and faith desire. Peace and justice is the ultimate mission of God, through his church, in the name of Jesus Christ, here on Earth, now. Pope Benedict wrote about justice when he stated, "Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is 'mine' to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give to other what is 'his', what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. I cannot 'give' what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. IF WE LOVE OTHERS WITH CHARITY, then first of all we are JUST towards them." - Caritas Varitate
That's the equation of BELIEF I teach.
Belief - everyone believes something
Faith - your belief in action
Hope - expecting your faith fueled mission to ultimately bear fruit
Joy - your expression of hope made manifest through how others experience you, regardless your struggle or suffering
Love - full of joy, you can now bring what Christ has for you to others
Justice - through the loving of others you recognize what they need and attempt to offer what you have to them in response, primarily and most importantly - Jesus
Peace - your acts of love filled justice begin to create peace in your community, and a degree of healing "shalom" grows on the Earth - "The Kingdom of God is near."
Shalom - what the redeemed world presents to all those engaged in it.
Your soul is SAVED not just FROM sin and death, but also, and maybe more importantly it is saved FOR Shalom!
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit can empower you to bring this equation to life. Those gifts can be broken down into two categories. The first being gifts of the mind or will of God.
Knowledge
Understanding
Right Counsel
Wisdom
The second category can be more related to HOW one's faith is expressed outwardly.
Fear of the Lord
Piety (an expression of joy or "delight" in the Fear of the Lord)
At your baptism you receive these Gifts. Why? Isaiah speaks above of how these describe the messiah. However, you must remember, you are a co-inheritor with Jesus of all that God has to offer. You too can and should manifest these gifts as Christ Jesus did and does. With your Confirmation you are declaring to God and to your Church Family that you will fully receive that inheritance and begin to exercise it - or better, utilize it to grow the Kingdom - spread Shalom.
I think I will leave the blog behind now in regards to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and instead talk about each one separately in YouTube videos. Look for those postings, soon.
Blessings and good health,
DJ|AMDG