Let us begin with the Prayer to the Holy Spirit:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I believe that these days, you will be hard-pressed to find a person who has nourished all Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. While many have taken care of, say, fortitude and piety, it seems that they have not fostered wisdom and counsel in themselves. And it seems that only the Saints raised to the altars were able to perfectly nourish all these gifts.
Why these gifts are important
We received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and yes, they are sealed and strengthened in us in Confirmation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1830) states that these gifts “sustain the moral life of Christians, and make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.”
But along with the rise of modernity and inventions, so emerged the secular world and its effects, such as atheism, low moral standards, perversion, deviations and permissiveness. Even Catholics are not safe from these effects; for we often find ourselves struggling with the temptations from living in this secularized society. And unless fortified in the will and in good relationship with the Lord, which enable us to battle all these, many of us Catholics repeatedly fall into sin, which affects our sanctifying grace and the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
That is why more than ever, we need to be more conscious if we are truly cultivating the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit through prayers, the Sacraments, penances and sacrifices, to be able to fight off all the evils of the world, and therefore, lead good lives pleasing to God, and serve Him and our neighbors in perfect faith, hope and charity.
Confusion among the gifts
What I have always noticed in the articles you find on the internet is that they are using overlapping definitions of these Gifts instead of distinguishing them apart, which is rather confusing. They define Wisdom in similar terms with Counsel, for example. I also see ones with interchangeable meanings of Wisdom, Fortitude and Counsel. But while all related, the gifts of the Holy Spirit actually differ from each other. Each one is unique.
My Reflection
These Posts will explain the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I tried to really comprehend what they actually mean and recognize what makes them different from each other. By using examples, I will define and distinguish every gift and give more clarity to it. This way, our Readers will be able to focus on cultivating each particular Gift of the Holy Spirit. I will also make the explanations more understandable for all laity, speaking in layman’s terms.
4. FORTITUDE
The Gift of Fortitude, the fourth gift of the Holy Spirit, enables us to endure persecutions and contempt from people, difficulties, sufferings or humiliations—for God and the Catholic Faith. It also helps us battle and overcome temptation, fear, desire for worldly respect and our own will. This gift directs our souls to be like those of the Martyrs, who accepted sacrifices, temporal loss and even death than deny Jesus Christ, renounce the Catholic Faith, and go against God’s will. It also makes us stand up for God and His truths.
It is really a trying time these days for us Catholics to keep our faith and defend it, when the world finds anything Catholic as “offensive.” In public settings, people say we should refrain from mentioning in conversations or speeches anything about God and His Saints or the Catholic Church because “It is offensive to the rest of us.” The world’s most persecuted religion is Catholicism.
In Asia, majority of food items in the supermarket, as long as qualified, are marked as “Halal,” which means that aside from being “permissible” or “lawful” for Muslims, the meat and poultry or ingredients with meat used are slaughtered and offered in the name of Allah. The world also does not find it offensive to request for “Kosher food,” which is food prepared in accordance with “Jewish Dietary Laws.” for Jews. People try to get a long with these religions. But when you say that you abstain from meat because it is Lent, they shun the idea. During Christmas Season, saying the word “Christmas” seems rather offensive or inappropriate, whether on television or in person. So the secular world uses our holiday, and replaces it with the word “holidays,” because that is what’s considered respectful. People want the Nativity Scene removed from public displays, as it would seem offensive to those who want to enjoy just the ‘holiday’ decorations. But the secular world seems more accepting of other religions, such as regarding Muslim, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism practices and symbols as ‘cool’ and must be respected. Why do they not do the same for Roman Catholicism? Here in the Philippines, the largest local sect strictly requires its members to go to their service on Thursday nights. Whether there are school or work tasks that need to be done, no one should refuse these heretical sect members from leaving earlier, or even skipping the activity, because these people are strictly ‘required.’ In my experience, however, should you dare say to others that you need to go ahead for your First Friday Mass Devotion to the Sacred Heart, they’d insist that you must stay, that the school practice or overtime work suddenly becomes ‘too important.’ The Gift of Fortitude is what helps Catholics not get swayed by the hostility of the world.
I met Catholics who seem to be ‘passionate’ when in the presence of fellow Catholics like me. But once in front of people whose practices were opposed to the Catholic Faith, such as those who were in homosexual relations and marriages, or friends who conceived children via In Vitro Ferlization and surrogacy, they did not simply show them respect as human beings, but rather, they showed them all their support, and gave them various compliments to flatter them, almost as if bowing to their anti-Catholic stance. They and other Catholics like them relish maintaining close friendships and connections with people who are against the Faith, such as atheists, not because they are ‘kind.’ Whenever such people say that being Catholic is very important to them, but they just wouldn’t let their faith “ruin their friendships,” you know that it’s bogus. Connections in the modern world are their higher priorities, actually. They do not want the secular world, which is greater in number than Catholics, to leave or hate them. They want to be liked by these cool, rich or powerful unbelievers because being “solely Catholic” is to be rather sad and unpopular.
What I have just said reminded me of Saint John the Baptist, a Saint that I love so much. He had been filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. All his life, he perfectly demonstrated the Gift of Fortitude. When he said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife,” Herodias harbored a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. She then got her opportunity after her daughter danced for Herod and his guests in his banquet. Most likely, the dance wasn’t simply entertaining; it must have provoked sensuality and lust among them, enough for Herod to tell the girl that he’d give her whatever she wished, even half of his kingdom, along with other promises he made to her. (Mark 6:17-20)
Saint John the Baptist, the “Martyr of zeal for God’s holy law,” withstood the impiety of Herod. He bravely preached, called out a powerful ruler for his immorality, and risked his life, rather than be liked, gain worldly respect, and maintain worldly connections. True enough, Herodias found a way to take his life.
In the Gospel of Mark (6:20), it is said, “Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.” This was a really striking verse that many Catholics often miss; a fearless Herod was afraid of the humble John, ‘enjoyed’ his preaching, and even acknowledged his righteousness and holiness.
But the thing is, in a way, there are many Herods in our times. These are the Catholics who ‘enjoy’ whatever there is in the Church—be it young adult groups, Theology on Tap and the like; attending talks of priests and other Catholic speakers; joining group devotions—just as Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist. But in the face of temptation, those Catholics have no Fortitude to withstand it; they easily get swayed. For example, a person has this ‘Catholic’ facade when he is with other parishioners. But then, he befriends unholy and indecent people, seeing nothing wrong in associating himself with them; same with how Herod’s guests mattered to him more. Inside the Church, a person ‘feels’ every song or prayer during Mass. And yet, when he is with unholy friends, he laughs at their indecent conversations, and shows supports to their sexual exploits, directly or indirectly. He depends emotionally on these people more than he surrenders himself to God. This type of person prefers worldly respect, acquiring material benefits and experiencing worldly pleasures with these unholy friends, much more than they desire to be Catholic.
Remember, “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). I believe that the important virtue to nourish the Gift of Fortitude is fidelity. Saint John the Baptist and the holy Martyrs of the Church stood up for God, rather than renounce their Faith, and be disloyal to their Master. What God thought of them mattered to them more than what the hostile world thought. They endured sufferings of being humiliated, ‘uncool’ and ‘unpopular’ in the society, and the loss of temporal pleasures with the help of the Gift of Fortitude from the Holy Spirit. Their loyalty rested on their Divine Master alone, it was not shared with the world. They gave Him everything they could, including their own selves. “Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt,” which means, “I am all yours, and all that is mine is yours,” says Saint Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort, a favorite Saint of mine, in his book, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin or True Devotion to Mary. And this was what inspired the line, ‘Totus Tuus’ that served as the Papal motto of Saint Pope John Paul II.
***
My other articles in this Series:
Wisdom: The First Gift of the Holy Spirit
Understanding: The Second Gift of the Holy Spirit
Counsel: The Third Gift of the Holy Spirit
Saint Paul the Apostle, pray for us!
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
Mama Mary, pray for us!
Amen.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
Email: [email protected]
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