The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are our topic today
and how they help develop the Theological and Cardinal Virtues. First we had
better define our terms in case people do not know what we are talking about.
Name the Theological and Cardinal virtues and state their purpose.
The
Theological Virtues are Faith, Hope, and Charity. They are called theological
because they are gifts that come from God that are for the purpose of leading
us back to God.
The
Cardinal Virtues are Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. The word
Cardinal means, hinge, like a hinge in a door. These four virtues are a hinge
to all of the other virtues.
What are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit?
I have
made an acronym to help remember these, it is KFCPUFWings. Kentucky Fried
Chicken Puf Wings.
It is kind
of silly but it helps remember them. These are Knowledge, Fear of the Lord,
Counsel, Piety, Understanding, Fortitude, and Wisdom.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are connected to
the Virtues – How so?
CCC 1831 … They complete and perfect the virtues of
those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine
inspirations.
Let’s go through each one and see how these are
connected exactly.
The Holy
Spirit gives us the gift of Understanding
to nourish the virtue of Faith. Understanding helps us to have insight into the
truths of our faith and be confirmed in our belief. When you have that Ah-ha
moment when you hear a good program on this radio station and say – so THAT’s
how it all fits together. That is the gift of Understanding strengthening your
faith. We can exercise this gift through studying the faith.
DRA Psalm 118:73 Thy hands have made me and formed me: give me understanding, and I will
learn thy commandments.
Piety is the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen
our Hope. Piety turns our feelings, or affections to God and Religion so that
we can have a holy joy. This gift develops respect, love, and obedience toward
God and things that belong to God like Mary, the Angels and Saints, the Bible,
the Church and the Pope. We can develop this gift by meditating on the parts of
the Bible that reveal his goodness and mercy toward men. Another way to develop
this gift is to take your ordinary actions and then do them to show God that
you love Him.
RSV Romans
8:15 For you did not receive the spirit
of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship.
When we cry, "Abba! Father!"
The next
Gift of the Holy Spirit is Wisdom
which perfects Charity. This gift of wisdom, like Charity perfects all of the
others gifts. Wisdom shows us that all things come from God and that all things
lead us to God. We can cultivate this gift by begging for it, pursuing it, and
longing for it continually.
Wisdom 9:1 "O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy, who hast
made all things by thy word, 2 and by thy wisdom hast formed man, to
have dominion over the creatures thou hast made, 3 and rule the
world in holiness and righteousness, and pronounce judgment in uprightness of
soul, 4 give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne, and do not
reject me from among thy servants.
What
gifts help us develop the Cardinal Virtues.
Prudence is given to us to help us choose the good and
avoid evil. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of Counsel so that we can make these decisions promptly and correctly
especially in hard situations. We can help this gift grown by humbling
ourselves and recognizing our weaknesses. Then we must listen to the voice of
the Holy Spirit who will send us little promptings and if we are docile to
those then we will be accustomed to listening to him in larger matters as well.
RSV Psalm
25:4 Make me to know thy ways, O LORD;
teach me thy paths.
The cardinal virtue of Justice is strengthened by the gift
of Knowledge. This kind of knowledge
is very specific because it communicates to us how things are related to God.
This gift helps us to see clearly what will help us and our neighbor get holy.
We can help this gift grow by looking on creation and created things and
creatures as God sees them.
The gift of Fear of the Lord helps us be temperate. This
fear is not a fear where we are afraid of hell or something like that. This is
a fear where we are afraid to hurt God’s feelings because we love Him. We can
practice this in three ways. 1st Know that God is great and that he
loves you more that you could ever imagine. 2nd Have a sorrow for
your sins that offend him. 3rd Take care to avoid persons, places,
and things that make you fall into sin.
We can help this gift by making a frequent examination of
conscience – Most books that I read recommend every night. Also meditate on the
Greatness of God.
Psalm 118:120 120 Pierce thou my flesh with thy
fear: for I am afraid of thy judgments.
Finally the gift of Fortitude
helps us practice fortitude. The virtue of fortitude helps us to do hard
things and stick with them. The Gift of Fortitude helps us do those same things
joyfully and fearlessly. To help this gift grow we must keep our eyes fixed on
Christ and know that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us to helps us to
do all things.
Understanding - - Faith
Piety - - - - - - - - - -Hope
Wisdom - - - - - - - Charity
Counsel - - - - - - - Prudence
Knowledge - - - - - Justice
Fortitude - - - - - - Fortitude
Fear of the Lord - Temperance
2 comments:
I just heard you talk about this on the Son Rise Morning Show - this is fantastic! Thanks!
Susan
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