Confirmation for many is a distant memory and one for which few were prepared to expect a coming of the Holy Spirit in power to bring alive the grace and gifting of Baptism. There is now talk of having Baptism and Confirmation brought together as in the early Church. My fear would be, when are we then to have any form of initiation into the Faith for those who are still drifting and unaware of the potential power within; who are ignorant of the responsibility this brings us to respond to the God who is calling us to carry out our individual missions in life?

As a Roman Catholic the grace I receive from God is given mainly through the sacraments which mark the stages of my Christian journey. Sacraments are signs of God’s grace whereby we are enabled to share in God’s divine life. Each Sacrament is a sign which, if we cooperate, gives us the grace to become the sign itself. In doing so we begin to bear its fruit; that is we grow and change. We signify what we have received. To be able to do this or expect this, however, we need to know that this is possible. Do we really know and expect this?

Jesus gives us work to do

In Baptism we die to ourselves and we rise with Christ. We offer our lives for service. In Baptism the Holy Spirit gives us all the gifts we need for the upbuilding of the Church which we have become members of (through Baptism).

In Confirmation we “re- member” ourselves into the Church, accept the responsibility of our Baptism and with adult responsibility cooperate with the gifts we have received and begin to develop their fruit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit in Baptism are mentioned in Isaiah 11;1-2. They announce the coming Messiah and the gifts that the Spirit of the Lord will give Him. “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Later the gift of piety was added to these bringing the total to seven. Biblically these are the gifts of a great king, as already seen in David, Solomon, Josiah and Hezekiah. These gifts work in unity and each supports the others.

Jesus expressed these gifts in their fullness. He is the tree who died but grew new shoots and came back to life. We are the new growth. We are the place where Jesus dwells. Mary was told that the Holy Spirit would descend upon her and she would be filled with grace. Like Mary, each one of us who gives birth to Christ, receives these gifts also. We are not sinless as Mary was, however, so we receive to a lesser degree. Nevertheless Jesus calls us to salvation in Him, to new life and through the Holy Spirit, gives us work to do. We all live in faith and these gifts perfect our Faith.

What do these gifts mean for our lives?

Wisdom
This is the gift of coming into the mind of God through the Holy Spirit in order to understand who we are before God, as Jesus did. We are given the grace to fully appreciate that we are adopted sons and daughters, that God is our Father, and all that this entails for us in the way we live our lives. Wisdom gives us divine energy for the work we are called to. It energises us to put our gifts to work. We learn all that Wisdom brings to us in Mary’s Magnificat. We are enabled to differentiate between the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God; the values and the cost of the Christian Life. “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to little children.” says Jesus in Mt 11-25. This Wisdom is not learned; it is given.

Understanding
In Jesus we see this gift with clarity. He could sense with developing clarity where his course of action was leading Him, while the apostles on the other hand did not understand at all, until after Pentecost. They were perhaps too afraid to see the truth and its full consequences. Jesus was enabled to overcome fear. (Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Eph 6;10). The trials of life are many but we believe that God is with us throughout, no matter what life throws at us. Understanding gives us the strength to see this and Wisdom supports this by enabling us to see God working through it for our good (See Romans 8).

Counsel
This is the gift which works closely with Understanding. The Spirit guides us through this gift leading us in the right direction, highlighting false paths, false teaching and false instincts.

Fortitude
Once we have understood what we are called to and we have understood the path we are taking, Fortitude gives us the grace and the energy to be able to work towards it- and to avoid the obstacles in the way. It gives us the power to resist temptation and to persevere on our path, despite difficulties. It provides us with the armour for the journey which Paul highlights in Eph. 6:11-17.

Knowledge
This gift enables us to link what we know to what God and the Church is teaching us. It allows us to see all things through God’s eyes and to live out our lives professing the Faith we believe. It enables us to link the things of God with the things of the world, to understand the needs of those we meet and to respond to them; to play our part in enabling the kingdom to come as God envisaged it. To live as Paul says as ‘children of the light.’ Eph 5.

Piety
This gift fills us with a knowledge of how much we are loved by God. It allows us to call God ‘Abba’ as Paul tells us in Romans 8;15. It brings with it the gift of prayer and reliance on God. The grace of Piety aims to replaces pride and all sense of self, to replace it with compassion for others and a dependence on God for our own needs and life. By this gift we are enabled to lay down our lives.

Fear of the Lord
This gift reminds us of the omniscience of God, His majesty and power. It guards us from the sin of presumption; from forgetting our own sinfulness while at the same time helping us to understand the mercy of God. It is not a gift which brings fear, but rather a determination to carry out His will as Paul tells us in Gal; 2;20-21, from a spirit of gratitude and a desire to serve and live in faith. It is through this gift that the other gifts of the Holy Spirit are brought to perfection in us.

Cardinal Martini says that every Christian lives by Faith Hope and Love. Faith is perfected, he says, by understanding, knowledge and counsel, Hope, by fear of the Lord and fortitude and Love comes to its fullness in piety and wisdom. Love is the greatest fruit of the Holy Spirit. Fruit is a sign that we are connected to God’s mission and purpose. Jesus, in Jn 4;35 says that the fields are white and ready for the harvest. This is the reason we have been given the holy Spirit - through grace to nurture and produce the fruit of a Christian Life well lived.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT...

1 - Is there anything that has come to mind that is new for me?
2 - Do I need to do anything about it?
3 - Who can help me in this?
4 - Am I using my gifts?
5 - Where can I see my gifts being put to use?

Pat Kennedy has a Masters Degree in Pastoral Theology. She is a member of the English NSC, the chairwoman of the DST of the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese, where she is clerk to the Council of the Laity and works in Adult formation.