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.
5. KNOWLEDGE
The Gift of Knowledge, the fifth gift of the Holy Spirit, enables us to know God and learn things about God through the use of human intellect.
Some people tend to be self-centered in their relationships—talking only about themselves, such as their likes, hobbies and personal stories, while hardly showing interest in listening, considering only their enjoyment or benefit, and not caring about the happiness of the other. But a person who truly loves is attentive, considerate, and mindful of their beloved, desiring what is best for them, and seeking to achieve great things together.
This is all the more true in our relationship with God. In loving Him, we are not content in simply identifying that He is God. If we do love God, we yearn to know Him, to learn things about Him. There are Catholics who always pray to God to ask for temporal blessings, like by praying novenas. But they never have had the desire to know Who He really is. In our modern times, just about everyone has access to the internet, and there are thousands of resources on the web about God and Catholicism that could be read with just a few clicks (This is also the reason why I write this Blog. My articles are my humble contribution to God and the Catholic Church). But some never bother to do so. It is one-sided, and anyone would be unhappy in this type of relationship. God, Who loves us perfectly, feels hurt and offended in His relationship with Catholics who are self-centered and selfish.
We are able to know God by reading His Word in the Bible. When my immediate family and I got deeper in the Faith, we found ourselves very keen in learning the Story of God beginning in the Old Testament. A person who truly loves is eager to know the other person more by listening to anything he or she has to say, be it information about themselves in the past, such as childhood and family stories, their goals and fears in the present, and their aspirations and hopes for the future. In the same way, we know the Eternal God and His Eternal Word by everything He says in the Scripture—the stories of Salvation History in the time of old Israel and the ascendants of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, how the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, how the Word Made Flesh was conceived in the womb and born of the Blessed Virgin, how the Holy Family journeyed, dwelled together and united in love, and how Jesus Christ revealed the Coming of the Kingdom of God, being the Firstfruits, and fulfilled His Promise of the Resurrection and the eternal life.
As Catholics, we do not end with reading Scripture. We fortify our knowledge of the Word of God by learning the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It instructs us in detail about the various aspects of our Church teachings, beliefs and religious practices so as to direct our paths to know and arrive at God as the ultimate source of Love. Perhaps, it is no mere chance that the Prologue of our Catechism opens with “The Life of Man,” which is “To Know and Love God.”
“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength…”
— CCC Prologue I, 1
Furthermore, we enrich what we know about God through Sacred Tradition, which is the living gift of Jesus Christ to the Apostles, handed down from one generation to another. The Saints and the Catholic theologians in the last two thousand years have written intensive analysis and reflections on Sacred Tradition, such as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and Marian dogmas. All of their writings continue to invigorate our knowledge of the Faith up to this day.
By the way, Knowledge as a gift of the Holy Spirit is not simply a matter of acquiring new ideas about life in general by studying in school or going through personal experiences. In having Knowledge as a gift of the Holy Spirit, we are given the intellectual ability as well as the genuine desire to get to know the Almighty God in His divine revelation through Scripture and Tradition, which would make us holy in our relationship with Him.
In knowing God, we learn about the Church—His people. Just as a person tries to know the other person more by learning about the people he or she cherishes, such as family and friends, God wants us to get to know Him by also learning how all of us who belong to His Church are interrelated in this life and in the next—we, the “Church Militant,” who are alive on earth, battling sin and evil to attain salvation, the “Church Suffering,” who are our ancestors and loved ones that died, and are being purified in Purgatory, and the “Church Triumphant,” who are our ancestors and loved ones that died, and are now in Heaven, belonging to the communion of saints. Again, we are able to learn such knowledge by reading Scripture and Church teachings.
Let me relate to this my experience as a student. Back when I was in school, I excelled in all classes that were about words, facts and details. I have always joked that I would have made a great detective as any subject that dealt with putting the puzzle pieces together and needed an inquisitive mind was my cup of tea. And even after years, I still remember majority of the information I learned in school and university.
However, I always got grades that were, shall we say, a bit ’embarrassing’ when the lessons involved numbers, anything with Mathematics, that was. And it was kind of a shock to my classmates considering that I was consistently among the Top 3 or 5 students of my class every year in High School (In the Philippines, at least during my time in the 90’s and in the early 2000’s, to be among the “Top 10 students” of the class or the ranking was ‘everything’ for both the kids and their parents every year, from Elementary to High School. Sometimes, the enthusiasm for their kids to be among the Top 10 students of the class even started among parents here as early as Nursery and Kindergarten.) and a consistent “Dean’s Lister” throughout my 8 Semesters or 4 years in college. So my intelligent sister (who was Class Valedictorian in both Grade 6 and 4th Year High School, the ‘undefeated’ First Honor of her class from Elementary to High School, a BS Community Nutrition graduate, cum laude, from University of the Philippines Diliman, which is the number 1 university in the country, and was Top 2 in their board exams) would tutor me on numbers and formulas for hours before the tests and exams. But right after the exams, I mostly had forgotten almost all that I learned in Algebra and the like just the day and the sleepless night before; some sort of amnesia, I would often joke.
In my First Year, First Semester in college (I’m an AB Legal Management graduate, cum laude, in Faculty of Arts and Letters in University of Santo Tomas, which is the Catholic university in the country), the professor in my English course gave our class a homework regarding a flowchart of words and shapes with severely complex rules. I wonder why he made the grading process as such, but you would get a point for every mistake you found in the work of a classmate whose paper you were checking.
Having a mind of a detective, I easily spotted numerous mistakes in her work because it was about puzzles and complex rules that needed a keen ability for details, which my classmate badly lacked. I wasn’t sure if I should have just chosen to be lenient in checking so that she wouldn’t fail the assignment, and of course, for the sake of peace between us… so she wouldn’t hate me. But my younger self chose to be honest. I still remember what I learned about her in that moment that she had a tendency to get physical when she slapped my hand in anger as I pointed out what’s wrong in her flowchart from start to finish. I did not tell any of our classmates though about what she did to me.
But anyway, I compare the above scenario in our need for Knowledge from the Holy Spirit. If you still remember what I have said in the Part 2 of this Series, some people have Knowledge but neglect the gift of Understanding. They know many things regarding the Catholic Faith, which is a good thing, but misinterpret it, or refuse to comprehend it. They also argue against some Church teachings which they find unsuitably ‘wrong’ for them. But before we gain understanding, we first need the knowledge. This means that, in relation to my story, my classmate could not make a decent flowchart because she did not study the rules and pay attention to details to apply them. And being unable to retain the lessons on algebraic formulas, I could not score well in Math back then. Sadly, to a much greater extent, some find themselves unable to acquire and retain information about our religion. They may hear, but their minds never seem to absorb them. Such people miss the gift of Knowledge, which as I have said earlier, aids us in learning ideas, concepts and teachings about God and the Catholic Faith using our intellect. Not knowing diminishes the meaning of what it is to be Catholic.
You might ask me how this happens. I have often met Catholics who go to Mass every Sunday, but do not know, for example, what the Ten Commandments are, nor objectively know what is happening in every part of the Mass. They speak the words of the Credo not knowing that we are professing our faith during the Liturgy of the Word, or they kneel not knowing that we are witnessing the Consecration during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. I have also met Catholics who do not know that we should receive Holy Communion in state of grace, and the last time they went to Confession was for their First Communion. I have actually observed many other instances.
Those people literally have no idea about these things. And without such knowledge, they seem absent-minded during the Mass, or ‘fail’ to excel in the Catholic way of life, much like students who cannot catch up during classes, and get poor grades as a result. Among Filipinos, “Absent ako noon,” is what a person jokingly says as an excuse when he or she doesn’t know something that is common knowledge. In English, “I was absent (in class) then (when it was taught in school).” And for those of us who are religious and pious, we might think, ‘How could some Catholics not know, especially the basics?’ There is really a serious lack of knowledge among some of the faithful about our rituals and Sacraments, prayers, Biblical figures, the Saints, and many other essentials of the Faith. Consequently, this dampens their relationship with God, and hinders them to tread the way of the Lord.
Nowadays, there are plenty of ways to nourish the gift of Knowledge from the Holy Spirit. It could either be through attending Catechism classes, getting a formal education in school or university, or doing self-study on Catholicism at home. The Internet and social media quite obviously make it easier and more convenient to find Catholic resources, read up a digital copy of the Holy Bible, and see the latest updates on the Church from outlets such as Catholic News Agency as a foremost source. Every faithful ought to make good use of all these avenues to fill oneself with knowledge about God—and as this Saint and Doctor of the Church reminds us, knowledge is an instrument of love:
“Some seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge: that is curiosity. Others seek knowledge that they may themselves be known: that is vanity. But there are still others who seek knowledge in order to serve and edify others, and that is charity.”
— St. Bernard of Clairvaux
***
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
Fortitude: The Fourth 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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